The True Enemy Revealed

by Jason Cheek

  We talked about the battle for a bit. Everyone wanted to know about our side mission to take out the Force along the wall and how it went up at the Warden’s castle. I, on the other hand, wanted to hear about how they took out the raids. Thomas, Sarka, and Phoenix all went through their own stories, albeit each of their strategies revolved around the surprise attack Thomas had worked out first with the zombies. Still, it was interesting to hear each of my friends’ styles.

  The large group started to break up somewhat as people went about their own conversations. Getting a second to finally break away from everyone, I laid down and brought up my friends list. While I enjoyed hanging out with my friends, Sarka, Yun, Tinyr, and Unalia had just called it a night. And there was a few more things I had to do before I passed out myself. Well, ate and passed out. I’m sure my body was suffering even now. My first message was to the Russian guild leader of Krasnyy Volki.

  Startum Ironwolf: Hey Dmitry, this is Startum Ironwolf. Sasha said I should drop you a line when I land in the Kingdom of Kader.

  Demyan Volk: Startum Ironwolf, my friend. It is good to from you to hear. How would you say, my brother in arms, Sasha. He told me about your quest to help your friend. Me and my comrades, we give you hand with these cyka blyat.

  Startum Ironwolf: Awesome, my group will be heading out tomorrow for Ironheart Stronghold. It is the northwestern most fortress on the Isolde Line. We should be there in two days.

  Demyan Volk: We are on coast knocking out quest. Is north of Dolurn and west of Lodenburg. If we head out in morning. We come to Ironheart in two days. We meet at base of mountain on your side, fight these cyka blyat, and celebrate new comrades, no?

  Startum Ironwolf: Sounds like a plan, Dmitry. Thank you for the help.

  Demyan Volk: Ha! Is no problem. You help my brother, my family. How you say, girlfriend happy … sister happy. Life is good, no?

  Startum Ironwolf: Life is good. See you in two days on west side of Ironheart.

  Demyan Volk: Do skorogo.

  I couldn’t help the smile that came to my lips as I ended the chat with Dmitry. There was something about the Russians’ ‘we kill them no problem and celebrate afterwards’ confident attitude that just cheered me up. They reminded me a lot of the Devil Dogs, I thought, glancing at my friends drinking and laughing together with my vassals, or maybe it was simply a veteran thing. You now, the attitude of retired combat vets who’d faced incredible hardships throughout their various tours of duty and weren’t concerned about facing off against some loudmouth punks talking shit. Whatever it was, the fist that had been slowly squeezing my heart at the thought of our next face-off against the Chaos Storm alliance seemed to lessen as I looked up my next contact.

  Startum Ironwolf: Dangas, I just hit Darom. You and your mates still up for some fun?

  Dangas Khan: G’day mate, isn’t it a bit late for you to still be online?

  Startum Ironwolf: Somewhat, that’s why I’m sending you a quick message and logging. We’re two days out from Ironheart Stronghold at the northwestern end of the Isolde Line. You still up for a mini PVP war?

  Dangas Khan: You bet your life, cobbler! We saw you were heading to Darom and made sure we were in the area. We’re up around Palnisdale trying to run quests, but something stinks like a day old Dingo here and there are Orcs all over the place.

  Startum Ironwolf: Yeah, from what I understand. The Chaos Storm alliance took down the Isolde Line and made some sort of deal with the northern humanoids to take over the Kingdom of Kader.

  Dangas Khan: Those blokes must have kangaroos in the top paddock! Bet the human king had something to day about that.

  Startum Ironwolf: Yeah, I’m sure he would if he weren’t six feet under. Chaos Storm has the new king wrapped around their finger and that’s not helping with the quests. I figure this whole area is going to be a no man’s land in a few days.

  Dangas Khan: Well fuck a duck …

  Startum Ironwolf: Just think, the game will be that much more interesting.

  Dangas Khan: -_-

  Startum Ironwolf: I have the beginnings of a plan to fight the northern invaders, but that’s not going to stop the shit from destroying the fan. For now, I need to save my friend and retreat back to safety to regroup and rebuild. Once the home base is secure, we can start doing something about the invaders. In two days we’re meeting up with some players from Krasnyy Volki at the base of the mountain on the northwestern side of the Ironheart Stronghold. They’re a Russian Guild led by a player named Demyan Volk.

  Dangas Khan: How’d you manage to team up with some Russkies?

  Startum Ironwolf: It’s a long story that deserves beer in the telling.

  Dangas Khan: We’re in, but you owe us a story and some pints. See ya in a few days mate.

  Startum Ironwolf: Later man.

  My eyes cleared from focusing on the game’s messaging window. I hadn’t bothered asking how many people were coming from either group. Honestly, just knowing we had people willing to take a stand with us against these scumbags meant a lot. Besides, from our talks, both of them sounded like close-knit groups similar to our own. Friends that played together and didn’t take the bullshit that many of the larger guilds liked to bring into the game and were willing to take a stand when needed.

  You’d think that most gamers would be willing to do the same. That was rarely the case. Like high school or anywhere else that bullies like to grief their victims. Most people didn’t want to get pulled into the mix. They’d rather ignore the bullshit happening around them so they didn’t become a target. Besides, what could just a few people do against a large platinum sized guild? That lack of desire to become involved and stop the wrongs going on around you was what destroyed the community on many servers. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one willing to stand up to that crap here. Besides, these relationships were the basis of an alliance that could change the game for all of us later on. Feeling that warm glow in my chest, I messaged the last person I needed to talk to for the night.

  Startum Ironwolf: Hey Kyarina, just checking in to see how everything is going.

  Kyarina Valkyrie: It’s about time you decided to check in.

  Startum Ironwolf: Actually, I was just planning to log out but …

  Kyarina Valkyrie: Don’t be such a baby, you big oaf. I’m just messing with you. Things are moving along fine. I’ve been working with a Devil Dog named Orion Prakoli to get the castle resources freed up so your engineers and blacksmiths can get those weapons you designed crafted. Also, we were able to get the quarries cleared out and the masons working.

  Startum Ironwolf: Sorry, Kyarina. I’m still getting used to the new you … or old you. I don’t think Orion and I ever talked. Is he new?

  Kyarina Valkyrie: Ha! Old me? Sounds like I need to school someone in a duel or two. I’ll show you old. Orion was part of the Battle for Delonshire, but was too low a level to head out with you guys. He’s actually the officer in-charge for the Devil Dog contingent here. Nice guy, but gets loud and a little handsy when he drinks. One of those guys who can’t hold his liquor.

  Startum Ironwolf: Is it a problem? Do I need to have a talk with Thomas?

  Kyarina Valkyrie: Oh, not at all. He’s harmless. Not the first youngin' I’ve had to take a firm hand with. Besides, the last woman he hit on with was Naamro Xlantu and she set him straight right away.

  Startum Ironwolf: He hit on the Plain Centaur’s Mystic Shaman?!?

  Kyarina Valkyrie: Yep. Too much liquid courage and his buddies daring him to give her a ride.

  Startum Ironwolf: Did she kill him … or did he kill her?

  Kyarina Valkyrie: Nope, they’re good buddies now.

  Startum Ironwolf: Did he hmmm … you know …

  Kyarina Valkyrie: What? Ride bareback? No one’s talking, but she did teach him Air Shamanism. Not that you have anything to say from what Vardrid told me about a certain bathhouse scene on your stream.

  Startum Ironwolf: Yeah … about that … it’s
not really going anywhere right now. Fylreh took issue with me being soulbound to a Half-Orc, so we’re on the outs right now, unless she can learn to accept that. Besides, there’s too much for me to focus on with the war and everything.

  Kyarina Valkyrie: It’ll work out one way or another if it’s meant to be, Hon. Either way, I wish you both the best.

  Startum Ironwolf: Thanks for not judging, Kyarina.

  Kyarina Valkyrie: No problem, we all have our fantasies. Anyway, I have a bunch of things Lady Chiara, Theric, and Orion wanted me to run by you, besides a few of my own questions. We’ve got some ideas about slowing down the Hobgoblin army we want to run by you, but it’s too much to type out in-game. I’ll email it to you before I hit the sack tonight.

  Startum Ironwolf: I’ll get something back to you in the morning. By the way, thanks for taking care of everything.

  Kyarina Valkyrie: It’s no problem. Besides, I’m having the time of my life. Now, log out and get some sleep!

  Startum Ironwolf: Yes, ma’am. Have a nice nite.

  Closing the messaging window, I stifled a yawn and looked around to see Neysa and Helgath watching me expectantly. Around me, the party was still going strong. Thomas and Thompson were telling tall tales to a group of Darom girls, while the rest of their group jeered and made sarcastic comments. It was nasty, just hard joking the way friends who care about each other like family do to one another. All of my friends had already logged since it was nearly four in the morning. As it was, I didn’t see tomorrow starting out bright and early.

  Looking back to my soulmates, I mentally told them I was just going to crash here for the night and to please keep a watch over me. Both of them repositioned to sit next to me as I laid down and rested my head against Neysa’s fury side. Before logging out, I quickly pulled up the NPC Recruiter and purchased twenty-five Humans. They were my new specialty race for taking control over Darom. Making one last check to ensure their spawn location was BrokenFang Hold, I closed the window and triggered the log out sequence, before someone else could hunt me down about a problem. As my screen turned black, I silently swore to myself that this guild leader shit was taking too much time as my darkened office took shape around me.

  Stripping off my helmet and the rest of my gear, I stumbled to the bathroom to take care of my biological needs, while sucking down several liters of water. It didn’t matter that it was lukewarm and from the tap as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall while the water drizzled down my bare chest. The game put players in a semi-dream state, but the body was still active and working its muscles. While V-MMORG made it sound all scientific and controlled, I pictured it like a dog running in their sleep while they dreamed. I was tempted to setup a camera to watch my body’s reactions and see which of us were closer to the truth, but I wasn’t willing to take away from my game time that doing something like that would entail.

  Cleaning up, I leaned on the counter top as I looked into the guest bathroom’s mirror. The image reflected back at me looked incredibly ripped. Yeah, my eyes looked sunken into my face, my skin almost hollow, and my body fat was almost non-existent, but other than that, I looked great. I had to start taking better care of myself or I was going to make myself sick, I thought as I splashed water on my face and chest, giving myself a semi-sponge bath in thirty seconds.

  Feeling almost human once again, I made my way to the kitchen and began fixing up a quick meal. Quickly, I threw a tub of mac & cheese in the microwave and pulled out a package of sliced honey-baked ham and a Paulaner Hefeweizen beer. Pouring it into a twenty-two ounce wheat glass, I leaned against the counter shoving ham slices in my mouth as the beer settled. The secret with wheat beer was making sure you poured the entire bottle out in a beer stein that could hold it all to let the beer mix properly.

  By the time the mac & cheese was finished, I’d finished off the ham and half the beer as I took my dinner to the breakfast bar and got to work. I didn’t bother to sit down as I began to shovel food in my mouth like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully, no one was around to watch me wolf down two pounds of food in less than five minutes while I acted like a starving man. Looking at the ribs showing through my skin, my description probably wasn’t too far from the truth. Somehow, I had to figure out a way to put more meat on my skin or I was going to be nothing but skin and bones. Hopefully, the high calorie and protein dinner would be enough to put some meat back on my bones.

  I didn’t bother logging into my laptop to see what was going on with the twitch channel or check my email. Neither did I bother thinking through that day’s gaming session as I inhaled the food in front of me. Honestly, all that I could think about was how freaking hungry I was as I guzzled beer in-between bites. A few times my body forced me to slow down as my food got stuck in my throat and I couldn’t breathe, but that was what the beer was for as I forced everything down gasping for air.

  Even with all of that going on, I found myself dozing off by the time I finished off the last of my meal. Throwing my mess away, I staggered to my bedroom and dropped into bed. If anyone knew how hard I pushed my body for a video game, they’d think I was crazy. Then again, maybe I was. Most gamers and geeks I knew wished they’d wake up one morning to find out that they’d been sucked into a magical world.

  For as long as I could remember I’d always felt out of place in time. It’s not that I had any illusions to the world being rainbows and unicorns. Any magical medieval world would have horrors like those in The World. That I had no doubt about, so it wasn’t a belief that the grass would be greener on the other side of the fence. Maybe playing this hard was my way of trying to make that dream come true, beside it being a necessity to making enough money for me and my friends to live by playing games. I swore my stomach sloshed as I rolled over onto my side. Those were my last thoughts as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Two

  (Monday, May 5th / Day fifteen of The World)

  A blaring alarm insistently going off in my ear finally brought me back to consciousness as I groaned mentally dazed. With my eyes squeezed shut, I fumbled around for the device making the ungodly sound and promptly knocked it on the floor as I swore under my breath. The good part of knocking my alarm on the floor was that it’s piercing shriek was somewhat muted if I laid on my back. The bad thing was that it still was still annoying as hell.

  I managed to doze off back to sleep before the alarm went into phase two, which was a pulsating sound that made my ears bleed. Well, not actually. At the time, I would have argued the point, but the alarm was doing its job as I rolled over onto my side and let me legs slide off the bed. It was another few minutes before I had the strength to actually push myself up to a sitting position, but by the time I’d managed to reach the annoying device, I was on my feet. Clicking it off, I stumbled to the bathroom in a semi-blind haze.

  The first ten seconds of cold water brought my consciousness surging to the forefront as I nearly slipped and fell in the shower. By the time I was awake enough adjust the temperature, the water was nice and hot as I calmed down and leaned my head against the hard tiles. Two hours of sleep for me was never enough … or two hours and a half, since it probably took me a half an hour to crawl out of bed.

  I could function regularly with four hours asleep and had done that regularly for most of my life. But once I dipped down below that, I was usually a wreck. Honestly, it was almost easier to stay awake forty-eight hours in a row then just get two hours of sleep and get back up. You could take a five or twenty minute cat nap and not feel as bad as you did if you only managed to sleep for two hours. It’s funny how that works. Once I got moving, I’d be okay. It was just kick starting everything back into gear that was so difficult. With a groan, I forced my body to get moving as I began my morning rituals.

  You might ask why I didn’t just sleep in. The answer was simple enough. There was no way I could take the extra time away from the game with everything going on. Even though we’d taken over the city, we were still basically in
enemy territory and I couldn’t afford to be out of the game if everything went to shit. Besides, I had to do my guild leader job this morning and make sure everything was progressing as it should in BrokenFang Hold. Otherwise, there’d be no home for us to fallback to.

  The rest of my clean-up went in a mental fog. I didn’t really wake up until my second cup of Cuban coffee and my fourth sausage egg and cheese biscuit. By then I was sitting down at my breakfast bar and going through emails. I still had another four biscuits to eat and even though I was already stuffed, I was going to make sure I had the extra carbs in my system. My ribs hadn’t started to show, but I was starting to get a six pack, which meant I was burning too many calories while playing. Sounds crazy to say as a gamer, but it was none the less true.

  Kyarina’s email had a lot of good news. Most of Lady Chiara’s message was about the current status of BrokenFang Hold, the resources that had been freed up, and the current build order that my vassals were following. She reported that the alliance members were fitting in well, except for a few cultural differences with the Plain Centaurs, but otherwise there were no significant issues. There’d actually been a few additional centaurs that had wandered in from the Plains of Atoll to join them, another eighty-two at last count. The word they were hearing was that the Hobgoblin army was on the march and she was concerned about the Lord of the House of Kayden not being present when the hostile forces attacked.

  She also had a quick update about the new fortress under construction at the Delonshire end of Fang Pass. Bialaer Holaynore, my Ranger Assault Leader in charge, had managed to get the initial base for the fortification and the wall laid out. Within a week, the wall was built out enough to successfully seal off access to our land. From what was being reported by Elandorr Narona, my Rogue Assault Leader, they were making a killing slaughtering newfar that were demanding to enter into our lands. I had a feeling this was going to bite me in the ass later on but whatever. I’d staked my claim and if anyone wanted to dispute it, they could die like the rest.