The True Enemy Revealed

by Jason Cheek

  “What do you mean no one is coming to my birthday party? Didn’t you send out the invitations?” I silently remarked in Julie’s annoyed voice inside my head.

  “Yes, I had my assistant send them out last week, but no one RSVP’d.” I mentally said in a deep voice to reflect the no-nonsense male player who was facing off against my ex-girlfriend. “No one wanted to come because they say you’re a nasty witch.”

  “I’m a nasty witch?” Julie snarled, her hands waving angrily at the entire group. “I dare you to call me a nasty witch one more time!”

  The substituted words kind of fit the waving hands and angry faced discussion. Not that my MST3k reenactment was particularly good since they never cursed, but it was the thought that counted. I’m sure the real conversation was something about the city being abandoned and they were trying to figure out where everyone had gone. A couple of officers meaningfully pointed at my group, which just made Julie throw her hands up into the air in frustration. I could just hear her reply now.

  “Does that look like the entire population of Telrain?” Whatever she said made the man’s face turn red as he snapped his mouth shut. A few of the officers were fighting to hold back their chuckles as Julie finished up with her rant. A couple sharp words and fifteen of the twenty people around her took off heading for the keep. Glancing at my HUD, I saw that it was nearly noon, which was the supposed deadline for Princess Reeva’s scheduled execution.

  “Prince Lekroth,” I heard Julie’s sickly-sweet voice call out. “It’s time for you to play your part in this drama by executing your older sister or,” she took out a rolled scroll that she tapped in her palm meaningfully, “I’ll slaughter everyone in Telrain.”

  “I know my duty, Battle Priest Sekhmet,” Prince Lekroth unhappily said, loud enough to be heard from the courtyard below. With a polite nod to Councilor Fulrin, the young man made his way over to Julie. Thankfully, none of them noticed the sudden stiffening of the Battle Priests lines as Fulrin focused on the rolled scroll in their guild leader’s hands.

  Their conversation was at more normal tones after that, which meant it was too low for the rest of us to hear down below. I saw Julie playing with the draw strings of the Prince’s silken shirt as the young man leaned away from her in disgust. Whatever she was saying didn’t seem to be calming him down in the least. I was tempted to pull the trigger for everyone to attack, but I hesitated since Princess Reeva still hadn’t appeared.

  While the scroll was the priority on many levels, saving the Prince and Princess was right up there too. Besides, I didn’t see me fighting my way into the keep and past the fifteen Nightmare players that were escorting her to the headsman. If I’d thought Councilor Fulrin had any chance of pulling his theft off, I might have been willing to give the command to commence the attack right now, but I knew in my heart it was best to wait for the optimum moment. As if reading my thoughts, the main doors to the keep swung open as Princess Reeva was led out on a leash.

  The Princess looked terrible. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen as if she’d been crying all night. Her hair was a dirty, tangled mess as if she’d been sleeping in rancid muck. From the harrowing look on her face, it was like she’d endured a month of being a Sea Orc’s slave in the two nights she’d spent with these assholes. Except for giving her a simple white shift to wear for her execution, the Chaos Storm jailors hadn’t bothered to clean her up after removing her from her cell.

  The guards escorting her were the same fifteen officers I’d seen from above. While the order had been given in such a way as to make them look like this was a punishment detail, I understood Julie well enough to know that it had been the most expedient way for her to speak to her commanders, before getting them down on the prepared battlefield. Besides that, they all apparently had Nightmare stats, were in that level 38 to 40 range, and dressed in the same type of armor that the Guardian Knights’ wore.

  Thankfully, the rest of the Chaos Storm members in the inner courtyard were a mix of Advanced and Regular start players that ranged between level 32 and level 36. While their level ranges weren’t too bad to contend with in the grand scheme of things, unlike the Dread Pack, they were all properly equipped for a fight with Royal Knight level quality gear if not better. Even worse, I had no idea what magic professional tree they picked up from Julie’s completion of her Nightmare quest. Before I could contemplate the matter any further, the guild’s officers came to a stop before the Executioner. Roughly, they forced Princess Reeva to her knees before the headsman’s block as Cristiane Sekhmet, aka Julie my ex-girlfriend, hauntingly drew herself up to her full height before the crowd.

  “People of Telrain, we have captured the betrayer of the Kingdom of Kader!” She announced proudly to the audience. “Princess Reeva Isolde is guilty of planning the assassination of King Tervan, conspiring with the northern tribes in a gambit to take over the throne of the Kingdom of Kader, and was caught in Telrain when she tried to take Prince Lekroth’s life. With the strong arm of the Chaos Storm guild, Prince Lekroth’s life was saved and this conniving traitor was brought to justice!”

  I couldn’t help the smile that came to my lips as she waited for a cheer from the crowd below. Instead, she was met with the proverbial sounds of crickets as none of the peasants did or said anything. Instead, they stood motionless like the dead they were as Julie glared down at us with open hostility. Honestly, I didn’t know what she expected. She’d been basically terrorizing the townspeople for the last week and a half, making everyone’s lives miserable. I guess she thought as NPCs they’d just play their part in her play and ignore all of that.

  Fat luck on that, I thought with a snort. I swear, sometimes it felt like I was the only one that had read up on the whole artificial intelligence that went into developing the NPCs of The World. Was this all simply a case of players not understanding what that meant or not bothering to read the information available on the game? Or, was it something more basic than that? Maybe it was simply that most players were so used to taking NPCs for granted that they couldn’t even conceive of treating the people of The World any other way?

  Luckily, my friends were starting to get on board with the whole “People of the World” thing. Sarka, Yun, Tinyr, and Unalia had been on board for a while. Maybe that’s because they hadn’t been gamers before this and they didn’t have any bad habits to unlearn. The Devil Dogs had already accepted the fact that you had to treat the people of this world as if they were real live individuals or you couldn’t get anything done. Hell, even Kenzie seemed to have hopped on that wagon recently, well that, or she was afraid of running afoul of Helgath.

  Changing this type of negative attitude was probably even tougher for hardcore PKers like the Chaos Storm and the Syndicate guilds. Hell, those people had a hard enough time treating real people humanly, so how in the hell were they going to change their antisocial behavior towards digital personalities that they didn’t consider to be anything more than a bunch of ones and zeros? It was an interesting conundrum and one I was going to take advantage of as much as possible.

  As Julie silently fumed where she stood, several of her guild’s officers must have switched over to guild chat to have a talk with their people. I say that because as Julie repeated the whole “With the strong arm of the Chaos Storm guild, Prince Lekroth’s life was saved and this conniving traitor was brought to justice!” the players inside the grounds of the keep all gave a pitiful cheer. While that was better than last time, I could tell she was pissed as she snapped at Prince Lekroth to take her place.

  This was the agreed upon signal that the Prince and I had decided upon the night before. With a thought, I called the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden to my side as a wicked smile split my lips. This was the preplanned signal for our assault to begin. As the soulbound weapon appeared in my hands, Helgath and Neysa launched themselves for the tunnel under the wall.

  Stepping up to the balustrade, Prince Lekroth took a silent moment to look out across the inner courtyard of the kee
p. His eyes sadly noted the Chaos Storm invaders that had taken over his city, before studying the group of peasants that had come to watch the execution of Princess Reeva. For a second, I thought he was going to throw in the towel as a look of defeat crossed over his face. I could almost see him looking at the city’s management console before coming to a decision. Standing up straight, his face took on a defiant look as he began his speech.

  “My father, King Isolde, always put the Kingdom of Kader first. He was a valiant man who believed in honor and honesty in all of his actions. As a young man, I’ve not always managed to follow in his footsteps. Over the years, I’ve been capricious and fickle, mostly because I’d never had to face the cold hard realities of life. However, since my father’s assassination, I’ve learned that there are fates that are worse than death.”

  “It is one thing to face certain death as a man, but it’s a completely different thing to face the deaths of your people when you’re a Prince … or a King.” I noticed the Chaos Storm guild members begin to look at each other in confusion as the young man spoke. Obviously, he wasn’t sticking to his intended script. “There’s a certain level of honor that can only be reached when you’re willing to put everything you have and believe on the line.”

  “This is an easier decision for a warrior when it’s only your life, but it’s a more arduous decision to make when you’re a ruler with the weight of all those you’re responsible for on your shoulders. So for the charges brought up against Princess Reeva, I only have this to say.” He stated with his head held high. “She is innocent of these false accusations.” Immediately a low mutter of shock spread out from the gathered Chaos Storm guild members as Julie’s head snapped back as if she’d been physically hit.

  “The Chaos Storm guild leader, Cristiane Sekhmet, assassinated my father, King Isolde!” The Prince shouted in a clear strong voice as he pointed an accusing finger at Julie. He didn’t stop there as his fingers swept over the gathered newfar below him. “The Chaos Storm and their alliance has betrayed the Kingdom of Kader to the northern invaders and are guilty of destroying the Isolde Line-”

  The Prince’s voice suddenly cut out with a whimper of agony as the point of a blade punched out of his chest, while Julie’s shriek of exasperation rang out across the square. Instead of dying like in the real world, the young man collapsed on top of the balustrade as his hit points dropped by a third. Turning around in agony, the Prince hatefully spat in Julie’s face as his voice rose accusatorily.

  “By my decree, as Prince Lekroth of the Royal House of Isolde, all of you are exiled from the Kingdom of Kader and are marked as outlaws!” As soon as the words left the Prince’s lips, a series of kingdom wide alerts popped up before my eyes as the Chaos Storm guild and all of their alliance members’ names popped up before my eyes.

  Kingdom Alert! Prince Lekroth of the Royal House of Isolde, has decreed that the Chaos Storm guild is now considered outlaws and have been exiled from the Kingdom of Kader!

  Due to their betrayal of their own kind to the northern humanoid tribes, the Chaos Storm guild and their members are exiled from the Kingdom of Kader and considered outlaws to be killed on sight.

  Reward: Any persons that slaughters a Chaos Storm guild member within the Kingdom of Kader’s borders will be awarded reputation bonus with the Kingdom of Kader (x10 the Chaos Storm member’s level), earn the title of Bounty Hunter, and be given silver equal to the newfar’s level.

  The same message was repeated thirteen times, once for each guild that was part of my ex-girlfriend’s alliance: The Syndicate, Pwnguins, Dread Pack, Global Brutality, The Legion of Vengeance, Coven, Roadkill, Triple A, Alliance Zero, Fatal Midnight, Marauders in Arms, Disciples of Anarchy, and Roadkill. As the last message appeared before my eyes, Julie drove her saber through the Prince’s chest again with a savage growl as she stared hatefully into his eyes.

  “You digital worm!” Julie sneered dragging out the “o” in worm. “In a few more days there won’t be a Kingdom of Kader left to carry out your decree.” She gripped the Prince’s chin, forcing the young man to look into her eyes as she crowed triumphantly. “Don’t worry, you won’t be here to see your kingdom fall.”

  Ripping her blade free from the Prince’s chest, Julie drew her arm back to end his life, when she froze in surprise. Her head jerked back as if she’d been hit, while listening to the private message that only she could hear. Her face fell a moment later as she shrieked in anger.

  “What do you mean the graveyards and our quick reactionary forces are under attack?” Sheathing her blade, Julie began typing on her virtual keyboard in midair like a maniac, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. As an alarmed murmur came from the Chaos Storm members around us, I hurriedly cast Bone Shield and Fangs, before commanding my zombies to rush the stage.

  ***

  “Fuck my life!” TJ spat in disgust, as he walked his patrol through the small graveyard for what had to be the fiftieth time that shift. “Sheesh, I didn’t join The World to stand around and play with myself.”

  “What’s your problem, Harden?” An annoyed voice called out from the darkness around him as TJ swore under his breath.

  “Nothing’s the problem, N3rd.” TJ answered, as he pressed his lips together in annoyance. Peering in the direction of the woman’s voice, he searched the darkness for the telltale signs of a player in stealth.

  “I told you to call me, Amazonian.” The female rogue hissed back angrily. “Or, do I need to slit your throat a few more times for you to remember that.”

  Silently cursing, TJ froze as the bossy rogue appeared behind his back with one of her short swords pressed to his neck, while the point of the other one dug uncomfortably into his spine. He had to admit that she was a natural backstabber. There was no way he could shift his shield to block her attack like last time. Not that it would have made much of a difference since her other blade would still slit his throat. He’d still be able to fight, but how much good would that do? He’d be starting out the fight with low hit points against a player that was five levels higher than him?

  “You made your point, Amazonian.” TJ snarled, silently praying she wouldn’t send him to respawn yet again. He could’ve just folded like the other assholes in the raid, but he wasn’t going to be browbeaten like that from anybody. Still, it wasn’t like he wanted to relive the first night when they’d met where she killed him twenty times for made-up offenses. “Besides, if you don’t like the name, then why the hell did you call yourself that in the first place?”

  “That’s not the point to this conversation.” Amazonian said into TJ’s ear. He could almost feel the cruel grin that came to her lips. “Just keep your eyes peeled and your mouth shut.” Waiting a moment longer, TJ shoved her away once he realized she wasn’t going to follow through with the threat. As he whipped around to face her, the Rogue’s eyes glinted mischievously as she continued. “The word is that whatever is supposed to be going down will be happening any time, so keep your guard up.”

  “You could have just sent out the message in raid chat, ya know.” TJ growled uneasily at her mind games.

  “Where would the fun be in that?” Amazonian asked, giving him a mocking salute with her middle finger. Turning around, she sprinted away as she disappeared once again into stealth.

  Shaking his head, TJ watched her go seething with hate. He’d found out a few day later that she pulled that crap on all the new plebs joining the Chaos Storm guild. By the end of the first week, they’d all learned to hold their tongues after being repeatedly slaughtered from the psychotic bitch for any perceived transgressions. Even more annoying, it wasn’t like she wasn’t a basic start player like the rest of them. She’d just been in-game long enough to get a few extra levels up on everyone else and now lorded it over everyone acting like she was the shit.

  TJ had been doing the pro gamer gig for nearly five years now. It was one thing to be told what classes you were supposed to play and what builds you were supposed to
select, that was just par for the course when it came to joining a hardcore raiding guild. He’d been in enough of them over the years to know the drill. While it sounded extreme to regular players, it usually made a lot of sense to have builds that everyone knew what to expect when teaming together. Besides, it also allowed the guild leader to have certain classes scheduled to be online at all times.

  At the end of the day, positions like these were all about the money. These guild slots were paid positions similar to what you’d find on a pro sports team. None of them played for anything so blasé as fun. Even so, this was the first time he’d had to deal with a psycho murdering him whenever she got annoyed with something. Even worse, he’d been required to take a Basic start instead of just purchasing the Advanced start like he’d planned on from day one. That was another thing that ripped him. He had to put his time in as a lower attribute player like he was a pledge joining some sort college fraternity.

  As if that wasn’t annoying enough, unlike most of the online groups that used the Dragon Point system for distributing loot, the Chaos Storm guild had their own twist on that too. Instead of having just one guild of players, they had an inner and an outer circle for their members. The inner circle got first dibs on any loot that dropped, period. While it still cost Dragon Points, no one in the outer group could bid on an item until the entire inner group gave a pass on it. It basically made anyone new like him into a second class citizen within his own guild.