by Evan Klein
“’Nay, good Whisperer,’ Thomas said pulling a coin from one of his pouches. The grooves of this coin fit a similar image carved into the door and the light faded and the door slowly clicked open.”
Hearn tossed a few logs into the dying fire. He stared at it lost in his thoughts. I feared I wouldn’t get the rest of the tale. He turned to me and asked, “Have thou loved anyone before? The kind of love you would die for?”
“I have,” I said.
“Aye, then thou will understand this next part. We opened the door into the Queen’s large chambers, her greeting room. The bodies of the queen’s elite footmen littered the floor. Entangled among them was just as many dead orcs and goblins. Moans of pain came from the mouths of the few living. Whisperer walked among them plunging her blade into any of the enemy that still breathed. Thomas the Razor spoke with a footman who was on the border of the Grey Man’s home. He pointed to the queen’s personal chamber beyond. ‘Come, this way,’ Thomas called to us. We made our away around the mangled corpses. So many corpses in such a tight space. The blood of ally and foe pooling together as one. What say yee to that?” he asked, though I believe more to himself than to me. I am not sure that he even knew I will still there. His tale was on autopilot now.
“Aye, the door to her chamber was also magically closed and Thomas once again removed a magical coin from his pouch, held it to the door, which slowly creeped open. We heard the din immediately. The howls and hoots of orcs, goblins and other foul creatures of the dark. Their fists and war hammers beat upon a great shield of magic that the queen stood behind. But there were several cracks beginning to form on the barrier and it would fail any moment. Beyond the barrier, the mad queen had one hand on the shoulder of one of her servants and the other hand upon the fading shield. ‘She is using the life energy of the servant to fuel her shield,’ Whisperer said.’”
Hearn took a long swig of moonshine.
“One of the beasts saw us and the battle was joined. Half of them assaulted us while the others kept pounding on the barrier. I thought I saw the terrified face of my lovely Jenni huddled in a corner beyond the shield but I could not be certain. All was lost to me in the heat of battle.”
The big man got up clumsily to toss a few more logs of wood on the fire. He rubbed his hands over them – either to warm them or to burn off the invisible blood.
“Flex fell first, with Whisperer following him to the Grey Man a few moments later. My stout companions for many a year gone in a breath. Thomas and I fought back to back. How many we hewed I cannot say. How many cuts and gashes and thrusts I gave and received I cannot say? There was the clatter of swords and shields followed by deathly silence. We looked about and all of our foes lay dead.” The big man fell silent for a moment and then sat back down on the stump.
“Queen Regina released her grip on the shoulder of the young servant girl. She crumbled to the ground like a sack of spent cornmeal. Several of her ladies in waiting lay dead about her. Their life energies spent. But my Jenni was not one of them. She ran to me and wrapped herself around me saying, ‘I had lost all hope my love. All hope.’ She whispered to me, ‘You saved me. For she would have drained me next till I was just a husk.’ She kissed me over and over. No kisses before or since have meant more to me than those at that perfect moment of time.” He paused again. I was starting to think that all of his pauses were perhaps for dramatic effect – a technique created by the writers and programmers to keep the player’s engaged.
“Thomas and the red headed queen spoke in a loud whisper. Then the queen’s voice boomed with a thick power that none could resist. ‘It will be done Lord Thomas!’ It looked like he wanted to say more but he held his tongue. I had never seen Thomas back down from any fight. But with the mad queen it was different. We followed them through a hidden passage behind a tapestry then through some narrow corridors that ran behind the walls. We entered into a chamber of some kind. Perhaps chamber is wrong…alter room is more precise. It was empty except for a stone pedestal and a thrumming red stone the size of fist that sat upon it. ‘It is the only way,’ Queen Regina said to Thomas the Razor. Gentleness in her cruel voice.”
I stared at the virtual creation known as Hearn and marveled at him: his facial expressions, him movements, the cadence of his voice. If I did not know he was a computer creation, he would pass as real. Perhaps Shannon Donally has done it. Created the most advanced A.I. the world has ever seen. I began to feel bad for the man as I did not think his story would end well.
“’Come here dear,’ the Queen said lovingly and tenderly to my dear Jenni. ‘I do not wish to my Queen,’ Jenni responded, her voice barely audible as she hung to me. The queen said it again. This time not as a request but as an order. Jenni had not power against that deadly voice and came to the her like a bitch when its mistress calls it. I looked to Thomas. ‘No!’ I shouted. For I had heard rumors, murmurs in the dark, of this room and this talisman upon the pedestal. ‘It is the only way,’ Thomas said to me, though I did not think he believed it. I ran towards Jenni or the queen, I know not which, and Thomas seized me ere I could reach either or both. I struggled against him. But it was like wrestling with a bear and I couldn’t break from his iron grasp. ‘It will be okay he whispered to me.’”
I had been silent much of his story – not really thinking it wise to break Hearn’s flow of consciousness. Thinking I might lose the man and never get the rest of the story and perhaps not get the quest I was certain was to follow.
I finally asked, “What was the talisman?”
“Did you ask me something?” Hearn responded, looking at me as though seeing me for the first time. I was right he had been reliving his story not for me but for himself.
“The talisman. Aye, the talisman. I know not what it was called or who made the wicked thing. All I know is the mad queen was going to use Jenni’s life energy – sap every ounce from her – to spark the magic inside the talisman. Once ignited it would send out a magical pulse throughout the castle and surrounding areas that would kill every living being – enemy and foe alike – elder and babe alike - tree and animal alike. The magic did not care who or what it killed. The only ones who would escape – what is the term you Starborn use – this genocide – would be the ones who now stood in that chamber. The queen grabbed Jenni by the shoulder with one hand and placed the other upon the reddened stone. I fought against Thomas’s grasp. I wriggled, and head butted and kicked, but could not break free. Jenni began to whimper, tears falling down her comely face. I thought my heart would shatter. ‘You cannot do this,’ I pleaded to Thomas. ‘The innocent should not die for the guilty. You taught me that.’”
“’We have slaughtered many an innocent,” he said back to me. ‘We are mercs. We are paid to kill with no questions asked.’”
“My love began to scream and flail. The queen’s humming grew louder. ‘But I love her Thomas. She is all I have loved,’ I said to this man who was like a brother, father and friend to me. You took me from the cold streets and fed me and taught me the way of the sword.’”
“’I know. But this is the way it must be.’”
“’Yes it is,’ I said mournfully as I plunged the dagger into his stomach. I had been talking to him to try to distract him long enough. He looked down in shock. And I stabbed him again and again. ‘Forgive me brother,’ I said, stinging tears rolling down my eyes. The man slumped to the ground. I soon came to my senses and ran forward, barreling into the queen who was lost in her spell. The Queen fell to the ground. I scooped up Jenni who was near collapse and bounded out of the room and back into the secret passages behind the walls. I ran down and down and down until my arms grew weary and my back strained. I would have stopped and dropped my armor and weapons but I feared to do so. Finally, I could see moonlight streaming into the passage. We emerged at the underground river where a small rowboat was docked. Jenni awoke from her stupor and I helped her into the boat. I gave the boat a push and jumped in. I grabbed the oars and began to push and pul
l. Several minutes later, we emerged from the river beneath the walls of the keep and into the bay beyond and to our freedom.”
He held the jug of moonshine to his eager mouth; it was empty except for a few drops. He looked at the bottle, his face reddening in anger, and tossed it into the fire. I expected it to smash into a thousand small shards of glass. But it landed in the midst of thick ash. The fire quickly consumed it, melting it back into sand.
“The sounds of battle echoed above us and around us.”
I was standing. He had hooked me. So Jenni did survive? I thought.
“I heard them. It sounded like an army. Orcs, and goblins, and trolls appeared at the ramparts far above. They should not have been able to see us. Specks in the vast ocean. However, the moons were bright that night – traitors to love. Beacons showing forth our doom. My arms strained. I pushed and pulled through the pain, needing to get as far away from the keep as possible. Another hundred feet and safety was ours. The beasts noticed us and many of them drew back bows to launch at us. But we were far into the water by now and their arrows fell short.”
Hearn, who had spoken almost non-stop for the last several minutes, now took a long breath. He stared up into the sky above, a million bright stars in the virtual night.
“We had escaped,” he finally repeated after a long pause. “I turned back to tell Jenni everything was fine. That we were free of the death and slaughter. She struggled to speak. Blood gushed from between her lips. Then I noticed the arrow sticking out her back.”
Hearn looked at me and said, “What was the chance? What was the chance?” A shot from an orc’s bow would have had a one in a thousand. Nay a one in the number of the stars above to hit my poor Jenni from that distance. Perhaps it was payment to the Grey Man for all the lives I had taken for silver and gold.”
He paused again. His eyes welling up. “I held my Jenni as the life slipped from her. A blinding light flashed over Brakenmoor Keep. A wave of energy rippled over the ramparts. And the orcs, goblins, trolls all just faded away into wisps of smoke. The work of the mad queen for certain.”
“I am so sorry,” was all I could say to Hearn.
“Aye, Aye,” he said wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
“But how did she channel the spell?” I asked. But I knew the answer once I asked it.
“Aye, I can only guess that she drained Thomas of what constitution he had left – though voluntarily or not I cannot guess. I held my poor Jenni and wept. I tossed the oars overboard. The ocean could have me. I just held Jenni and wept. Fatigue and exhaustion overtook me and I fell asleep.”
I needed Hearn’s story to come to an end. I had promised my wife that I would only be online for a few hours and it had already been much longer than that. I knew a fight was coming if I did not log off soon. As though reading my thoughts, Hearn concluded his tale of woe.
“There is little more to say. The ocean is a harsh mistress and she had other plans for me. She did not pull me down into her depths. I awoke the next morning on a beach many miles south of Blacken moor Keep. I carried my Jenni gently form the boat and walked towards the forest beyond. I found a little meadow where with my dagger and bare hands I dug a grave for my Jenni. She lays there still under an Oak tree. I began to walk. I didn’t know where I was heading. I took odd jobs along the way, or hunted for food. I even stole and robbed. After many months, I ended up in the Wilderbrook and soon after found myself in Freehold. My days of being a mercenary and living by the sword were done. And I took an oath that never again would I take the life of any man or beast who could breathe. And I have kept that promise till this day. So now I brew moonshine. Nice and easy.”
“Well thank you for the tale,” I said not really certain what to say after such a sad story. I was expecting a quest to follow – find what happened to Queen Regina, bring back Jenni’s remains to be buried in Freehold, travel back to Brakenmoor and find out what happened to Thomas the Razor. However, no quest followed and no experience was gained. Did I just waste several hours I asked myself? I knew the answer.
There are greater rewards a man can gain than quests and experience. And I had been rewarded with a great boon.
*Thus ends Book 1 of the Immersion Online Lit RPG series. Look for Book 2, The Zealot, in the coming months.
Dear reader,
I am pleased you made it to the end of the book. That means I must have done something right, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I know it is a bit raw in places, but it is the first real writing I have completed in over 30 years. Not much good came out of the pandemic. What it did afford, however, was time to commit to finishing this book. The two hours I would normally spend commuting back and forth from work was used to finish Immersion Online: The Noob. Completing the first book has certainly inspired me and now I am deep into book 2. In book 2, Mace finally arrives in Grandview and takes up his role as one of the city constables. Even though he has been raised to Level 50, he will find that he is still a noob in many ways.
I’d appreciate it if you rate and leave a review on AMAZON. Reviews really assist unknown authors like me with making a name for ourselves. While I wrote the book for me, I have to admit I also wrote if for you my unknown reader. And your feedback and thoughts are welcome.
I also need to thank a few people. First to Seth Moldow and Clark Laird, my beta readers extraordinaire. They found all my annoying little typos (and the few real large ones). Seth also pointed out some stylistic issues that I hope to remedy in the second book. I think you will find book 2 much tighter and much longer. At the rate the second book is going, I expect it to be well above 100,000 words.
I need to thank Karen Dimmick as well for the wonderful covers – ebook, paperback and audiobook. She was great to work with and really captured the image I was going for. If you need someone to create your cover when you publish your LitRPG novel, she is the person you should go to.
I also want give thanks to several Facebook groups. I actually found Karen from one of these groups. Before I set out to publish a LitRPG book, I had no idea that entire Facebook groups were dedicated to the genre. These groups and their members have provided me with a wealth of information, not just about the genre but about indie publishing in general. Thank you to the following FB groups:
LitRPG Guild
LitRPG Authors' Guild
LitRPG
LitRPG Books
That is all for now. Please look for book two coming soon: Immersion Online: The Zealot