Desert Born

by Dawn Chapman

  The walk through the rest of the cavern was tough. Even for Dalfol, he almost got stuck twice. I’m not as small as some of the others. He sighed as I worked to dislodge some stalactites to help free him. They were not easy things to move. They clung to the ceiling for dear life.

  Being stuck underground is my worst nightmare. Dalfol lowered his head and waited for us to finally get him free.

  For a creature of the sky, I can only imagine.

  The cool air drifted in as we approached the other side of the cavern. The outside light was just poking its head up. A good a time as any to actually get some fresh air.

  Dalfol stretched his wings out fully when he could. The glinting of the sun on his massive frame astounded us. When he shook, the ground moved.

  Turning to face us, I could swear he was grinning. Are you coming?

  I moved first, towards his front legs, hoping to use them as leverage to climb up. Alex followed me, and when I needed a push, he gave me one. I reached down to help him.

  The back of Dalfol had large sharp spines, so we could each sit between one. “Use your jacket to hold on,” I shouted having almost sliced my hand open.

  I held on with my new jacket sleeves. I hoped the fabric was strong enough to hold.

  Dalfol lowered his wings, and with one powerful leap, he thrust upwards and launched into the air. I let out a scream.

  I never thought it would be so cold up here. The sky so blue, clouds above and below us beautiful and fluffy. . .and freezing. Wisps of the atmosphere whizzed past my face, and I wanted to try to eat them.

  Alex reached forward and managed to wrap his arms around me. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

  I wasn’t sure why he was thanking me.

  The journey took less than an hour. I thought I heard Fie behind us but couldn’t see her. I hoped the Hog wasn’t going to land in some field way out in the desert smashed to smithereens. That would put a real dampener on our progress.

  I pointed to the City of Trox. Do you know where to drop us?

  No, I only know of the city. If you wish to go somewhere else, point to where now.

  The only landmark I thought I might see from the clouds was the town’s main halls. Its large white three-story structure should stand out. Dalfol circled until I pointed further out where he could land discreetly.

  Dalfol set himself down with ease, but the ride was bumpy for us. I fell off and landed on my ass, and Alex almost did the same. Dalfol turned to face us, his tongue hanging out.

  Behind him, Fie and another Tromoal were carrying the Hog in a hammock, and they managed to land with only a slight bump. They glanced to Dalfol and then left without another word.

  I must leave you, too, he said. I need to hunt.

  I understood. Reaching over, I scratched the side of his face, a low rumble echoing within him. Alex and I walked towards the Hog.

  “Where are we going?” Alex asked. “I’ve never seen this side of the city before.”

  “This is my town. The main organiser of all the Runners is here, Dresel.”

  “Oh, your boss?”

  “I am the boss of me,” I retorted. “No, he’s just an organiser. He lands the jobs and gives them to the runners he trusts the most. He does a good job, and we pay him a small fee.”

  “Whatever works.”

  I unlocked the Hog, finding him a little worse for wear on the inside, the contents of the back seats strewn all over. “I guess his ride was a rough one.”

  I pulled out a few things and began to repack it with Alex’s help. When we were ready, I started the engine and drove towards town.

  It didn’t seem like many people were about and this worried me. Usually, there was a lot of hustle and bustle around the stations and the main pub and inns. A couple of guys looked over at us as we drove past, but that was it.

  I parked the Hog, and we got out. Dresel’s office door was partially open, and I moved to knock.

  Dresel shouted, “Come in.”

  And I pushed it open. He took one look at Alex and me, and then he let out a breath. “Thank god!”

  Standing up, he moved towards me and grasped me, holding me tight. I pushed him off. “Dres, what is it?”

  “Dail said you were dead.”

  Alex shot me a glare. “He hoped we were.”

  “Dres, we need to talk. This needs to be private. Is your office totally secure?”

  He frowned, and then shook his head. “Come with me.”

  I never once thought his office hadn’t been a safe place. The talks we’d had, the arguments. Our relationship, complicated. As I hated him, I also trusted him. Who else would offer me jobs they knew I’d complete?

  But if he knew the office was being watched, why did he do business there?

  Dresel took us outside to what I thought was a back door to a shed. He removed a piece of wood to reveal a control panel. He palmed the panel and moved to go inside. Once we were in, it seemed to suck the air out. Pitch black, I struggled to see and reached for Alex. He was still there.

  Dresel then spoke. “Don’t be annoyed, Maddie.”

  “Annoyed at what?”

  A soft light broke the darkness at the far wall. “Walk towards it. We’ll take a short trip down. There we can talk.”

  I did exactly as he directed and found myself in a small box with the two of them. Dresel pushed another panel on the wall, and a voice spoke. “Access granted, Commander Dresel.”

  “Commander? Since when? What is this? What’s going on?”

  Alex looked as shocked as I did when the light came on in the box. I had no idea what this was.

  “This is a lift, Maddie,” Alex replied. “It looks like we’re going down under your town.”

  “Correct,” Dresel said and held out a hand for Alex. “I presume you’re Alex Dubois?”

  They shook hands and their eyes locked. “Do I know you?” Alex asked him.

  Dresel turned to me, and something about him changed. I saw a flicker above his head. And I stumbled back and hit my ass on the wall. “You’re a visitor?”

  “No,” he said. “I’m not.”

  “Then what is this?”

  “This is a project I’ve been working on for a while.”

  “Ahh, then I think I know.” Alex smiled, but I didn’t understand their conversation. How could he know when I didn’t?

  Dres waved us to the wall. “Please, come on in.”

  A doorway opened before us, and Dresel stepped out of the square box. Alex followed and held out a hand for me.

  “If you’re not a visitor, then what are you?” I could see where his tag should be, but nothing was there.

  Alex whispered to me, “I don’t see anything. What are you seeing?”

  Oh, so he didn’t know.

  “It’s almost like your player tag. The space is there. There’s just nothing written in it. Why?”

  Dresel moved down a corridor inside this strange place. The walls were white, and a strange smell permeated the air. I shivered but wasn’t really cold.

  Dresel opened another doorway. “You wanted somewhere to talk. This is the only place I have that I know isn’t being tapped by a tech or mage. Please come in, and make yourself at home. I’ll get some drinks then you can tell me why Dail says you’re dead.”

  Alex sat on a couch, placing his feet on a footstool. I thought he looked really relaxed considering what we’d just been through. Then I noticed his health bar. I went to him and sat. “Are you feeling okay.”

  “Tired.”

  I swallowed. The Tromoal were struggling already with his health. Or maybe it was because we were underground.

  Dresel moved to sit, offering up a tray of drinks and some snacks. I didn’t understand everything that was going on, but I took the drink. I was thirstier than I’d realised. “Thank you. It’s got surois in it?” I noted it had healing properties as my Health increased.

  HEALTH – 100%

  He nodded. “I always keep some in stock. In case
.”

  I watched him as he sipped his drink, the buzz from having full health washing over me. He met Alex’s gaze and then asked me, “So, tell me, why are you dead?”

  It didn’t take me long to run through the last three day’s events. Alex backed me up as often as he could, and Dresel didn’t interrupt. He just nodded in all the right places.

  When I finished and sat back rubbing my eyes, he picked up a large flat device off the table. Within a second, he’d tapped into the screen.

  Several views popped in front of me, and I could see the desert plain, Port Troli and the City of Trox. I didn’t understand why he had all of this.

  Alex whistled. “You’ve got quite some tech on hand. Where did you get all this?”

  Dresel placed a finger to his lips. “When Dail messaged me you were dead, I came down here, not wanting to believe it. I tracked back and watched this. . .”

  A moment later, I saw the Hog blasting across the desert plane with the bikes and another car in tow. The view stopped.

  “There’s something very amiss here, and we’ve a lot of planning to do if this town and city are to survive.”

  I pointed to the far screen. As I saw something glisten in the darkness of it. “You’re watching the Tromoal birthing cavern?”

  Alex let out a gasp. One of the eggs at the centre of the cavern rocked, and a crack appeared on the surface.

  “Yes, I watch them every year. I was the one who snuck in and placed the cameras around the chamber. I make sure that nothing is amiss and that all the young are healthy.” Dresel grinned. “I asked you not to be mad at me, yes?”

  I sat forward on the edge of my seat, but all I really wanted to do was grab him by the scruff of the neck and order him to tell me what the hell was going on.

  Alex coughed. “I understand, Maddie. Dresel is one of the game’s designers.”

  “The what?” I stared at him, then looked to Alex.

  “All this is where I keep an eye on the world,” Dresel said. “The whole of the world. I am the one who created Puatera.”

  “So why do you look out for me then?”

  “You’re different, the Tromoal are also different. Something changed a few years ago. That day you were attacked, the day you almost died.”

  Alex pulled me back. “Tell her the truth, Dresel. The day she did die.”

  “Alex is correct. That day, Maddie, you did die. You were, however, the first NPC. . .” I scowled at him. “Sorry, you were the first person to re-spawn back here—with memories.”

  I felt Alex let out a breath beside me. “I knew it,” he said, his fists curling—not from anger but excitement. “I knew that was what happened to her.”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t quite believe this. It seemed impossible. The fact I’d actually died out there in the desert at the hands of Riezella. . . she hadn’t said that. Or was it still after the fact? I couldn’t remember, and I needed to.

  I pushed myself back into the chair, placing both hands over my eyes to try to wipe away everything I was feeling. It hurt. My hip hurt, and this hurt my brain a lot.

  Dresel looked to Alex. “I’m sorry you got caught up in all this,” he said. “Your experience and level in this world should be so much more for what you’ve been through.”

  “Levelling up isn’t everything. Seeing the things I have, the loot, the Tromoal was… so much more,” I said as I watched as Alex’s features changed from wonder to anger, though. “We need to do something now, though, to aid all the people around here. We can’t let this world fall apart.”

  “I don’t want to add any more influence than I already have.” Dresel sighed. “I guide the game by nurturing quests and players, but I can’t alter the paths that are already deep seeded.”

  Struggling to follow, I asked, “You’re not going to help us rally the city to get food for the Tromoal?”

  He lowered his head. “I can’t. What happens from here on out is something the players and the people must do.”

  I breathed in. I was going to fail them. I was going to fail them and let them die.

  “Fine.” I pushed myself up, and grabbing Alex’s hand, I moved to leave. “Then we have a lot of work to do. I must speak with the Runners.”

  Dresel moved to follow us out. “Maddie, I am with you, I just—”

  “I understand,” I said. “Alex, go on to the box thingy, please. Let me speak with him alone.” Alex reluctantly moved away from us, and when he was out of earshot, I followed with, “I also understand why everything went wrong for us.”

  Dresel lowered his head, heat flushing up his neck.

  “Don’t be upset,” I said softer now. “I never regretted us giving it a go. I just hated the arguments we got into over jobs. You never wanted me out on the more dangerous ones. And now I think I know why. . .” I paused. “What would happen to me if I died again?”

  Chapter 6

  Dresel displayed genuine emotion for me as he gazed into my eyes. I wanted to shy away, to pull back. “Dres?”

  “When Leon left you, you were devastated. I picked up the pieces. Remember?”

  Memories passed through me of our first few romantic encounters. “I do. You brought me back around. Treated me with respect…” I let out a breath. “Tell me. I can take it.”

  His eyes dimmed, and he looked away when he answered. “I don’t think you’ll get another chance. Of course, you’ll respawn, but you might be the person you were before, without memories. What happened between you and the Tromoal was unique. It wouldn’t be played out in the same way.”

  I swallowed, watching his emotion change again. This time, tears brimmed in his eyes.

  “Maddie, the day you re-spawned was the worst day of my life. Do you remember it at all, really?”

  I hadn’t wanted to, but I looked back. “Bits and pieces from it, but no, not all of it.”

  “We fought all morning over a job you wanted to do. I knew something was going to happen to you, stupid game programming, and I’d begged you not to take that job. You went anyway. I kept track of you in the lab, and then I watched you die.”

  “It must have been horrible.” I wiped a tear away from the side of his cheek.

  “It wasn’t just that, though. When you re-spawned, I expected our relationship to have ended. But,” I felt him physically shudder, “you re-spawned with your injuries.”

  I took in the words, not remembering much of the ordeal after the Tromoal attack. I listened, though.

  “Not just injuries, which I’d tried to help with immediately. You were screaming at me to help you. Screaming you didn’t want to die, that I could help you. You looked around the lab, and it was like you knew everything. You hated me but didn’t want me to leave you. Can you imagine how horrific it is to watch someone you love in that amount of pain?”

  I could only shake my head. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It might have been the death of us… a good thing if I’m honest. But the re-birth of something no one expected.”

  The pain, I didn’t want to remember. Much worse than just my hip. Broken bones, torn muscles, burnt skin. “You drugged me and took me to Shalice?”

  “Yes. She did everything she possibly could to heal you. It wasn’t pretty, though.” Dresel wiped away his own tears, eyes blinking.

  I understood more of him now than I ever could. Pulling him to me, I embraced him, feeling the tense muscles of his shoulders relax after a moment. “Thank you for being honest.”

  “I promise I’ll be honest from now on.”

  I pulled back from the hug to stare into his eyes. “Just keep pointing us in the right direction, if you can.”

  “I will. But everything that happens from now on is not part of our programming. This is a totally unique event that will change the life of Puatera.”

  “Let us hope for the better then.” I frowned, still not understanding everything. “Oh, do me one thing,” I asked. “My programming to fall in love. Remove it.”
r />   Dresel nodded. “I promise.” Moving to the strange box they called a lift, we returned to meet Alex. This lift thing was really weird. I wished we could have more of them in the world, especially to take us down into the Tromoal caves.

  Alex walked beside me as we headed back to the Hog. “To the bar it is. We’ll pick up the other runners there.”

  “How many of them are in this town?”

  “Enough to make a difference.”

  Alex grinned. “Good. Meanwhile, a drink or two would go down well.”

  The short trip to the bar was quiet. The horses and Ebolos were grazing in buckets as usual outside, and Alex exited the Hog first. I recognised a couple of the horses and knew which of their riders would be inside. A few rivals, but more importantly, one of Dail’s close friends, Josh. I wanted to see who he was aligned with since he was still in town.

  I pushed the door open, and we strode inside, going straight to the bar where three guys were standing with pints in their hands. They stopped laughing when they saw me.

  “To what do we owe the pleasure, Madz?”

  Josh was Dail’s friend. Yet he never asked me where I’d been? Why I wasn’t dead? He didn’t know about it.

  I motioned the barkeeper over. “A bottle of whisky and several glasses, please.”

  He seemed reluctant at first, but when I stared him down, he complied. All three sets of eyes were on me. “First, I’d like you to meet my partner Alex. Alex, this is Josh, Brey, and Mrish.” Alex greeted them all. But they looked reluctant to shake his hand. Josh placed his pint down, and I poured them all a drink. “I want to hire you all and those who you’d trust with your lives.”

  “You couldn’t afford to pay us for any job like that!” Mrish laughed.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the gem I’d taken from the Tromoal cave system. Alex gave me daggers. “Sneaky!”

  Mrish took the gem, and I saw his eyes light up. “Where did you get this?”

  “You won’t get to know that, but you will receive more than your share of the wealth. If you listen to me and gather your men, we’ll meet at the edge of town before sunset. Drink, then get sobered up. You’ve a long ride ahead.”