by Eddie Patin
"Ouch," Amanda muttered, scribbling on her character sheet with a frown.
"Holy shit!" Jason exclaimed, crossing out his hit point total and penciling in the new number below. "Is he a higher level than—?"
"Of course he is, Jason," Amanda interrupted.
"I have improved evasion," Ben said with a smirk.
"I know," Tom replied. "So, Ben’s character flips and tumbles with great skill—maybe using the body of the minotaur dark champion to get away from the explosion—and Jason, your guy manages to dodge back quickly enough to just take the edge of the attack. But Amanda’s paladin is caught right in the middle of it. The minotaur leader laughs with his low, bellowing voice, then pulls his great-axe, looking like he’s thinking of charging. Jason, now you’re up!"
Finally!
"I cast lightning bolt at him!" Jason exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he collected nine d6’s from the mess of papers on the table in front of him.
"Okay, roll," Tom replied, as Ben took another sip of soda. The DM then rolled his own d20 to see how the monster would be able to resist, but Jason knew that it was hopeless—they had this battle. It was already won. Unless the minotaur wizard was immune to lightning or something, there was no way it would survive...
Amanda lifted up her sheaf of papers and started scrutinizing her inventory.
"Don’t I have any healing potions left?" she asked herself.
Jason rolled his big handful of dice, and counted up the damage as Ben pulled out his phone to check its screen.
"Thirty-six damage!" Jason exclaimed.
Tom sighed, then gave a thin smile.
Must have had something else planned, Jason thought with a broad grin.
"Okay, well," the DM said, "that definitely did it. So ... as your lightning bolt streaks from your hand to the wounded leader, the magic hits him full force, and the minotaur throws his big bull head back, crying out in pain and dropping his axe to the floor! He falls, disintegrating bit by bit, but to all of your surprise, he laughs with a booming voice, saying ‘Fools! You cannot stop Baphomet from rising out of the abyss! It has already begun, and he will be here soon to bring about a vicious, dark world of beasts and slaughter! There’s nothing you can do to prevent the end of your world! Bwahahaha!’ The minotaur’s laughter fades into the crumbling and crashing of the castle's black walls. The whole place starts to fall down all around you as he falls down dead...!"
"Crashing?" Ben asked, cocking his eyebrow. "The castle is literally falling down around us?"
"Yes!" Tom replied, his eyes gleaming as he looked at all of them over the rims of his glasses. "Huge chunks of the black stone walls are falling inward as the entire castle begins shifting under your feet! A huge crack opens in the middle of the room, and some of the dead minotaurs’ bodies slip down into darkness. It looks like mere moments before the ceiling collapses on your heads! What do you do?!"
"The amulet!" Jason exclaimed. "Get the amulet!"
"I’m on it," Ben replied, looking at Tom. "I go in as fast as I can and take the demon lord’s amulet from the minotaur’s neck..."
"You do that," Tom replied.
"I pick up his great axe," Amanda said, then, she looked to Jason. "Time to use that teleport scroll!"
"Okay!" Jason replied with a grin. "I pull out the teleport scroll and get to where I can reach everybody..."
"You do that," Tom said, looking at his wife, "Amanda, you’ve got the axe. It’s big, made of a shiny, black metal, and looks either really ornate, or like it’s probably enchanted. Are you guys going to let Jason’s character touch you for the teleport?"
"Yes," Ben and Amanda replied at once.
"The castle continues to fall around you, huge pieces of stone smashing down nearby. Where do you teleport to?"
"Okay," Jason said, rubbing his hands together. "Teleport to ... the magical forest!"
"Alright," Tom replied with a smirk. "Where in the magical...? Oh well ... you already said it." The DM looked down at his papers, and started rolling dice, hidden behind his screen. "Let’s see where you end up..."
"The magical forest?" Ben asked dryly, raising his eyebrow again. Even though Tom and Amanda were starting to look older, Ben was still as thin as he was ten years ago, and didn’t look much different. The faintest lines showed around his eyes. "Not somewhere more specific? If you don’t know exactly where you’re going—"
"It’s just regular teleport," Amanda added. "Not teleport without error. Besides, the magical forest is magical! Areas with high magic might make you more likely to miss!"
"Well, hey ... it’s better than the collapsing castle, right?!" Jason asked, hiding behind a long sip of soda. He smiled uneasily as his friends sighed.
"So," Tom said finally, capturing all of their attention. "You guys all teleport away from the dark castle with a flash, and reappear in a beautiful green meadow surrounded by a forest of tall pine trees, with the colorful lights of tiny fairies drifting around you, high above the ground. The problem is, you also teleport in too low, and each of your characters appears waist-deep in the ground, taking nine points of damage."
"Damn it!" Jason exclaimed.
"See what I mean?" Amanda asked, adjusting her hit points.
"Through the extreme pain of having rocks and dirt mingled with your legs," Tom went on to say, "you recognize the village in the distance where they told you about the minotaur cult and gave you the map to the castle."
"Trying to get out of the ground," Ben said.
"Okay, all of you can roll strength checks until you hit ... fifteen."
All three of them started rolling their d20’s. After a short while, Tom looked down at his papers again, and rolled more dice.
"What are you doing?" Jason asked. He rolled his red d20, getting a twelve, then a nine, trying to break free...
"I'm out!" Amanda said.
"Random encounters," Tom replied. "Okay, while your characters are trying to pull your lower bodies out of the ground, you all hear a terrifying screech in the distance!"
"That’s not good..." Ben muttered.
Tom went on. "If any of you choose to look in the direction of said screech, you’ll see a large creature flying through the air, heading your way. It’s got long wings, scales, looks reptilian, with a long neck and lots of teeth and spikes on its head. The long tail behind it is tipped with a big stinger, like one on a scorpion’s tail, and—"
"Wyvern!" Jason exclaimed, rolling his lucky d20 again and again, but not passing fifteen. "Come on!"
"Okay, seventeen—I’m out," Ben said. "I’m helping Jason’s character."
"Alright, add two to your rolls, Jason. The wyvern is flying toward you guys quickly!"
"Does anyone have a healing potion I can have?" Amanda asked. "I’m almost dead..."
"I have one!" Ben replied, looking up at Tom. "I give her one."
"Finally!" Jason exclaimed, rolling a sixteen. "I’m out! Running for cover!"
"Running for cover," Amanda echoed.
"Running for the village!" Ben said. "Come on, guys!"
"As you three run for cover and toward the village, the wyvern catches up. It’s much larger than it seemed when you first saw it, and it dives down in your direction! Roll initiative!"
Everyone grabbed for their dice...
"Mommy?" a small sleepy voice said suddenly, pulling Jason out of the fantasy world and making everyone gasp.
Coming from the hall leading away to the bedrooms, Tom and Amanda’s little boy stood, rubbing his eyes. Josh, Jason thought. They must have been making too much noise; getting too excited.
Amanda stood, rushing over to the little boy standing in Minecraft pajamas, and hugged him close to her legs.
"Hi, Joshie," she said. "You okay, honey? Did we wake you up?"
Ben took another drink from his soda, tilting the can all the way back to empty it. He set the empty can down on the table with a ting.
The little boy made a small sound. "Is it tomorrow yet?"
Josh asked, mumbling against his mom’s leg.
"Not yet, baby," she said. "Go back to bed now. It’s late. Get some sleep, okay? We’ve got a long drive in the morning."
With that, little Josh turned and disappeared down the hall, his little feet padding away on the carpet. Tom chuckled, looking after the boy with a smile. He gazed up at Amanda as she made her way back over.
The energy changed in the room, and Jason felt a stab of loneliness.
It was over. Everything was over...
Ben stood, pulling all of his papers and books together.
This was the end.
"Yeah..." Tom groaned with a stretch, folding up his DM’s screen, revealing his dice and papers behind it. "It’s probably a good time to stop."
"It is getting late," Amanda added with a sigh, walking up and giving her husband a little side-hug.
Seeing his friends starting to pack everything up, Jason suddenly felt a crush of disappointment. This was it. It was finally the end of the group. It’s not late, he thought. It’s only—he looked down at his phone—not even midnight, after all!
"Come on, guys!" Jason said, staying in his seat. "Let’s kill the wyvern and finish the quest! How long will it take to get back to town and total everything up? Not even an hour, I bet!"
"No, it’s alright," Ben replied, pushing in his chair. "It doesn’t matter. This is the last game. We don’t need to total up."
The words were chilling, but for some reason, Jason noticed that his friend didn’t seem all that broken up about it. Ben’s thin, black face was serene, and he smiled at Tom and Amanda while he packed up his things into his laptop bag.
"But we used to play until like three," Jason said. "Hell—it’s the weekend, right? Do you guys even have to work?"
"Well, we don’t have to work," Amanda said, "but we do have a long drive ahead of us. Sorry, Jason, but it’s nineteen hours to Portland, and Tom’s new job wants him there on Monday morning. We’ve really got to wake up early to get going."
"Yep, unfortunately," Tom added, organizing all of his stuff into a neat pile. The longtime DM smiled at all of them, then looked warmly at Amanda and pulled her in close. "Hey, it’s gone on a long time, right? Good, long game. Things change. I’ll miss our gaming, but, you know, we’re really looking forward to the move. It’s a good thing!"
"Bittersweet," Amanda said.
"But how about just another hour?" Jason asked. "If you wake up an hour later, what difference will it make?"
Jason felt comfortable with Tom and Amanda, and Ben was the closest thing he had to a best friend. But still, after his last-ditch effort, Jason decided to pull back and preserve some form of his dignity. He didn’t want to beg. But it felt bad—terrible—like the end of an era. Ever since Jason’s accident, he’d been playing DnD with these guys since ... God, had it really been over ten years now? A little more? Players came and went over the years, and some of them were part of the group for a long time, but eventually, they all moved on to something else. They all moved on with their lives.
But he, Ben, Tom, and Amanda were the core of the group.
And now the core was breaking. The game was over.
Jason didn’t want to face it.
They were leaving him all alone...
Amanda sighed and gave Jason a smile, which also became a hug when she sauntered over. Jason stood and returned the hug, squeezing her tightly, feeling a strange, intangible desperation in that she was almost gone from his life. Jason felt like Amanda understood him more than any of them. She had to know that their moving away would be hard for him. As Jason moved around the edge of the table with her hug, his bad right knee complained.
"We don’t want to get into Portland too late on Sunday," she said gently.
"Yeah, we’ve got to be prepared in case there are any delays," Tom added.
Jason sighed miserably. "I’m gonna miss you guys. Ten years, you know?"
"Thirteen, actually," Amanda replied.
"Yeah, and I’ll miss you, too," Ben added, directed at the two of them. Then, he walked up to Tom and gave him a long, solid handshake. "Good luck in Portland, Tom. Keep in touch."
"Of course, Ben."
"And hey—I’m always looking for new clients all over," Ben said, "so if you come across anyone in the company that needs some web design or content or anything..."
"Sure, we’ll pimp you out, Ben," Amanda said with a smirk.
Ben walked over and gave Amanda a hug while Jason stood, feeling like he was drifting away on an iceberg, broken off from a very large piece of his life...
"Bye Amanda," Ben said with a broad smile. "And you guys be careful on the road. It’s probably still pretty slick over the pass."
"We will," Tom said. "Jason..." Tom extended his hand, and Jason shook it.
"Maybe we can play some more next time you guys visit, if you do," Jason offered. He smiled, desperate for a glimmer of hope that one day he’d have his friends and his life back again...
"Sure, probably," Tom replied quickly. "Take care of yourself, Jason. Take care of your folks’ house, alright?"
"Okay," Jason said, giving one last uncertain look at Amanda. She smiled and gave him another hug.
"Bye, Jason," she said. "I’ll let you know when we get there safe and sound, okay? I’ll call you."
"Alright."
Jason picked up his things, wanting nothing more than to rewind several minutes and stay there forever. But then Tom walked to the door to see them out and Amanda started picking up around the kitchen. Ben lifted his bag and turned to leave as Tom opened the door to the apartment building’s bland and empty hall.
Grabbing his books, his CamelBak backpack, and picking up his cane from the corner of the room, Jason cast one last look and smile at Amanda, who smiled back, then followed Ben to the door. Tom clasped Jason on the shoulder as he limped through.
Everyone quietly goodbye said to each other then Jason made his way out into the hall, leaning on his cane to take the stress off of his right knee.
He didn’t want the night to end just yet. He didn’t want to feel alone.
"Ben, hold up!"
Chapter 3
Jason ran after Ben, stabbing the old carpet of the apartment complex’s hall with his cane every other step of his right foot.
"Ben! Hang on! Ben!"
Ben slowed his long legs and brisk walk, his laptop bag swinging as he moved, and turned around under the harsh glare of the apartment hall lights.
"Yeah, Jason?"
"Hey man, it’s Friday night and it’s early still. Wanna get a beer across the street?"
Ben ran a thin, dark hand through his close-shaven hair, looking up at the ceiling for a moment, then smiled.
"Yeah, sure man. That bar down there?"
Sometimes after gaming, Jason and Ben went to the bar across the street from Amanda’s apartment building. Most times, Jason just went straight back home to his parents’ house after gaming. But every once in a while, he and Ben got a beer or two afterwards. Even now, Jason couldn’t remember the name of the place.
"Yeah," Jason said. "I’ve just got to stop at my car to disarm first."
"Alright."
Ben and Jason descended the two flights of stairs at the end of the hall, Ben taking his time so that Jason could keep up using his cane, and they stepped out into the cold, dark night. A freezing breeze kicked up drifts of snow, and Jason pulled his collar closer to his neck.
"I’m over there," Jason said, pointing at his old Ford Escort sitting in the slush, wet and dumpy. "Just a sec..."
Taking his time across the hard-packed snow of the street to keep from tweaking his knee, Jason made his way to his car, then unlocked and opened the driver’s door. After quickly checking to make sure that no one on the street was watching him, he reached behind his jacket and pulled his Glock 26 handgun from its holster on the inside of his belt. Jason carefully set the pistol down on his passenger seat, grabbed a random extra jacket from the back seat, th
rew it on top, then locked up the car again.
"Good to go?" Ben asked, waiting nearby.
"Yeah, let’s go."
After a short walk, they stepped into the sports bar in the strip mall across the street from Amanda’s. It wasn't as crowded as it normally would be on a Friday night—probably due to the cold. There were a few groups of people and individuals here and there. When the wave of stale warmth just inside hit his face, Jason sighed, happy to be out of the cold.
He and Ben headed inside and straight to the bar, climbing onto stools. Jason looked around at the many Halloween decorations: cheap cardboard figures of vampires in doublet vests, skeletons with linking skeletal hands, and big orange and black paper pumpkins. The music was loud enough to enjoy, but not too loud to get in the way of conversation. Journey was playing over the speakers.
I’m forever yours ... faithfully ...
"What can I get ya?" a middle-aged woman asked, walking up and cleaning the space in front of Jason and Ben.
"Heineken," his friend said.
"Laughing Lab," Jason said. "And a water too, please."
"Yeah, I’ll take a water as well," Ben added, raising a finger.
Jason turned to Ben and leaned his elbow onto the bar, smiling, then let out a scoff.
"Jeez, I can’t believe the group is breaking up, dude!" he said.
Behind Ben, a chalkboard up against a wall was decorated with purple and orange depictions of bats and skeletons around big, friendly chalk words that read, ‘Join us for Spooky Poker on Monday, Halloween Night!’
What’ll I be doing Halloween night? Jason thought glumly. He figured that he'd be turning his porch light off and most likely just playing video games. After this weekend, he’d have no friends left other than Ben.
Ben raised his eyebrows and pressed his lips together in response, then nodded. "Yeah, man. It’s just you and me now."
"It’s been a long time. I kind of ... don’t want it to stop, you know?"