Dullahans and Tablets

by Daniel Kolade

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “What in the world is this place!”

  “It’s Eden.”

  Somehow… I was expecting that. He sighed.

  “Are you okay? You seem tired?” She leaned in.

  Yeah, probably because nothing makes sense! “But yeah, I’m fine,” he nodded.

  “Want to go back? Or would you like continue for a bit more?”

  “Sure, one last kill.”

  In hindsight, it didn’t make sense that he’d continue with so many things left unanswered. But something about Levi seemed safe. It was like she was the only thing that made sense. And maybe because they had been hunting for so long, Hyde didn’t want it to end… he didn’t want another thing to change.

  On their quest for combat, the gentle tune that rang in their ears was slowly distorted, replacing the pleasant sound with a more ominous one. But even so, they remained on their course, paying little attention to the omen.

  A series of small stone monuments stood in the field as they exited the forest. Without a thought in mind, they approached the point of interest, expecting to find some goblins, but as they reached the stone pillars, the ground shook.

  “What the hell is that?” he cried, losing his balance.

  “Oh no,” Levi whispered, just before she pushed him.

  “What are you doing?” He staggered back and as he did, the stone monuments broke out of their earthen shackles.

  “Elementals.” She turned back, only to see a hulking animated creature of earth standing before her with a crag shield and a rocky lance that had already been sent her way.

  “Levi!” Hyde screamed, seeing the deathly spear approach her, but it was already too late.

  Her lips moved, but he couldn’t tell what she said.

  He regained his footing and forced his body forward, but just to add insult to injury, a pair of smaller elementals rose, blocking his passage. They stood like conscious rocky bodies fused with glowing cores and veins that ran across them.

  “Get out of my way!” Hyde screamed, drawing his sword.

  Desperation fuelled his actions and adrenaline supported them. He furiously swung his sword, trying to get through the pair of shields that the smaller elementals carried. Despite his forceful strokes, it seemed impossible. Yet, he continued.

  Levi’s life depended on it. But he couldn’t get past them, the two elementals refused to let up. The sparks from his sword colliding with the shields quickly disappeared as subsequent strikes soon became impossible for his blade, which was needed to harness and unleash all his ferocity, had broken.

  The entire weapon disappeared the same way the goblins he’d defeated had. It vanished, leaving crystal dust and empty hands. With no weapon to wield, he still threw himself at the shields, trying to force his way through, but that was as successful as his previous attempts.

  The smaller elementals abandoned their defensive strategy, jabbing at him with their spearlike arms.

  Am I going to die?

  No—I can’t die… not yet.

  His body moved, almost on its own. He pivoted his feet and in the last moment possible, dodged the attack. A sword appeared in his hand, the one that he’d looted from the larger goblin earlier. With it, he rendered his foes of their momentum and pushed back. The one-handed sword offered close maneuverability, which he needed, but lacked the force of his longsword. So to compensate, he Shoulder Bashed, hoping that it’d further his advance.

  It did and one of the elementals staggered backwards, losing grip of its shield. He took advantage of the opening, snatching the shield away, Bashing the other with it, giving him room to see Levi again.

  What he saw before him wasn’t a favourable situation. His want to save her seemed impossible. She had already been impaled by the great lance of the hulking elemental.

  Through the feeling of helplessness came emotions rushing in like an electric shock. Rage. It’s hard to say why, it could have been the fact that he felt so weak, it could have been the fact that he let her down. Or maybe, it was the small bloody smile on her face that said, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

  “Get away from her!” Hyde screamed, rushing forward, armed with a sword and shield.

  Before he could think he’d already leapt from the ground. His strong momentum carried him to the face of the elemental that had pierced his friend. He didn’t notice it then, but his arm and shield glowed as he fired it at the stony creature.

  He struck the elemental, and with that single blow he was able to defeat the creature.

  He didn’t know it, but a single blow wasn’t exactly normal.

  In that moment as the larger elemental fell, the other two behind him disappeared too, leaving nothing but dust.

  “Levi!” Hyde screamed, looking around, but she too was gone.

  All that was left of her was the small tag that she had been holding. He picked up the small cloth and on it was written, Hyde’s Will. Just looking at those two words made his chest tighten, suffocating his lungs. His pain was indescribable. He knelt down at the site where she’d been killed, crying his eyes out.

  In that moment, he knew how fine the line between victory and failure was. So fragile and paper thin.

  CHAPTER 3

  It’s my fault, Hyde thought, sitting at a desk in a room he’d gotten for the night with the spare change he didn’t know he had.

  How he got there was a mystery to him. How he survived was another one.

  I should have said ‘no let’s go back.’ He leaned on the table, covering his face. His attempts to stop the tears failed again as they slowly trickled down his fingers. Why did I have to say that… He relived the horrific experience of seeing Levi die. Seeing that sinister smile.

  Her death made it blatantly obvious that this was no heaven, no safe haven, no place to take refuge. Death in this world was as permanent as the one he was more intune with.

  He sat frozen in the wooden chair, wallowing in his despair of have lost the only friend he knew. Now he was alone in a world he was still not accustomed to, without memories of where he came from or of who he was. This was a special kind of loneliness. One far colder than simple solitude and far more painful than the silence of seclusion.

  I’m sorry. His words resonated, until a thought sparked in his head.

  What if—he reached for his tablet and with it, he navigated to the mysterious system options, hoping to find something that could help him escape from this world. Or something that could undo what had happened… or just something that could make the pain go away.

  But he found nothing.

  “Dammit!” He threw the device at the wall. “Dammit!” He slammed his fist against the table.

  He looked up, glancing out of the window at the darkness cloaking the city and the faint lights glimmering from the buildings.

  What should I do now?

  Where should I go?

  How do I get out of here?

  Maybe—just maybe if I—an idea sprung to mind. A self-destructive thought. One which could only bring tears to his eyes. One which gave a little relief but also forced him to relive the memory of seeing the elementals rise from the soil. The moment where she’d pushed him back to protect him from dying.

  Why did you have to die? He thought, laying his head on his arms as he sunk into the chair. With his eyes red and tired from crying, they closed. Sleep followed closely behind.

  The day after he walked out to the very same field where he had been with Levi. This time, however, he was alone.

  He marched with a growling stomach and apathetic eyes. With a sword and shield in hand, he charged at any creature that appeared in his crosshairs. He forced them all to yield against his ferocity. His shield was never held high, survival and protection was an after-thought. Instead, the shield was used as a second off-hand weapon to maximise his offence. With it, he strong-armed the goblins he met into submission. With his sword, he delivered the final blows that rendered them nothing but dust.

 
Through his anguish, he was diligent enough to retrieve the loot of every kill. Some swords, some trinkets, some even carried some money. Here and there, he was getting a little bit richer after every kill.

  But that wasn’t what he was after. All that mattered to him was to expel the feelings that boiled up in him. Rage, sorrow, pain, regret. All of them fuelled his reckless behaviour, his desperate attempt to grow stronger.

  Blinded by it all, combat seemed like his only choice. What else was he to do. Rot in that room? He wouldn’t have enough money to have it long enough.

  However, when he saw a pack of elementals wandering in the distance, his body stopped. His breathing became excessive, his heart went into overdrive and his vision blurred. His skin grew cold and sweat broke out on his neck. He wanted to scream, but his voice was gone. He wanted to cry, but there weren’t any tears left.

  In that moment, all that he could see was Levi getting impaled by a huge rocky spear. He saw her helplessly hanging there. The pain in her eyes, the soft smile on her face, the relief that she was attacked and not him.

  All of it swelled up and before he knew it, he was running in the opposite direction of the elementals. The wounds that he’d endured from the fights didn’t stop him. His health bar was slowly filling up, but the agony in his chest remained.

  He made it all the way back to Genesis, before collapsing. He crawled into the city and sat on the inside of its walls, holding his ears and closing his eyes just as tight.

  He did his best to regulate his breathing, but it seemed impossible. Levi’s face kept appearing. The ominous sound kept playing.

  His panting soon stopped after the images faded and the distorted soundtrack in his ears silenced. He remained seated, completely idle, detached from the world. The shock of her death and his loneliness finally settled against his chest. The thought of daring to throw himself into the fray without a companion quickly rushed to mind. The fear of experiencing such pain with the very likely possibility of dying welled up inside as it became almost unfathomable.

  He glanced up from the ground and what he saw was something he thought he’d never see. It seemed like an eternity ago, but that didn’t stop him from racing to her. Levi.

  She was walking without a care in the world. She was healthy and most importantly she didn’t have a spear in her chest.

  “Levi!” Hyde screamed. “Levi!”

  She didn’t react, it was as if she didn’t hear him.

  “Levi,” he said, appearing in front of her.

  Instead of stopping and reacting to her name and the person calling it, she adjusted her feet and walked right passed.

  The thought of her ignoring him was unthinkable. He raced to her, blocking her path once more.

  “Levi?” he stopped her, preventing her from leaving.

  She replied with a gentle smile.

  “How are you alive?”

  She said nothing.

  “I’m sorry, I let you die.”

  She remained silent.

  “Levi?” he whispered, realising the strangeness of her behaviour.

  She stood frozen like a voiceless mannequin.

  “Levi?” he said, gently shaking her. “Levi!”

  “Don’t bother,” another voice came. It wasn’t Levi’s.

  Hyde turned and saw a girl wearing a warrior crown.

  “She’s an NPC,” the girl said.

  “NPC?” he repeated.

  “Non-player character.”

  “Non-player character…” The words sunk in. “Are you telling me tha—”

  “Yeah, she’s not a real person,” the girl explained. “She’s not a human being, just an AI.”

  “AI?” he said, letting go of Levi and without saying a word or bidding farewell, she walked off. “Artificial Intelligence.”

  “Oh. And they aren’t real people?” he said, watching Levi disappear in the distance.

  “Nope.”

  “Are there more… NPCs?”

  “Tonnes.”

  “What does that make you?”

  “Me? I’m the same as you,” she smiled.

  “How do I know that for sure?” He narrowed his eyes on the girl.

  “Because I have one of these,” she smirked, lifting up her own Status Tablet.

  “You have one too—”

  “Everyone who has one is a player character—or in other words a living person and not a program.”

  “A program?” he repeated. “What the hell is this place?”

  “Haven’t figured it out yet?” She tilted her head to one side.

  “How can I when I don’t even know who I am…”

  “Oh—amnesia is quite common here,” she said as she looked up. Now he could see her face clearer. She had dirty blonde hair with sharp, light blue eyes. “Most people come here bearing little to no memories at all.”

  “And where is here exactly?”

  “Well, I can’t directly answer that without saying this place—this land is called Eden. But I can tell you that, what we’re in is a game.”

  “A game?” he repeated. “You mean, like chess?”

  “Think a little more modern,” she smiled. “It’s more of a reality game, one where you’re transferred into this world. Where there are no schools or regular jobs, with some exceptions. There’s no logging out and no loading previously saved data. There’s just one rule here. Kill or be killed.”

  “What happens if you die—do you end up like an NPC?”

  “That only happens to NPCs, we are a little more fragile than that. However, NPCs tend to not die unless, they’re part of the Tutorial.”

  “Tutorial? Is that why she took the time to explain everything to me?”

  “Sadly, yeah.”

  “So what now—”

  “C’mon,” she said, starting to walk towards the shopping district. “Where are we going?” he said, following her as she obviously knew more about Eden than he did.

  “You’ll see. My name is Zora by the way.”

  “Oh, uh, mine is Hyde—I think.”

  “If you have any questions go ahead and ask away.”

  “The people like Levi—”

  “Levi?”

  “The NPCs, I mean, are they capable of talking to us outside of the Tutorial?”

  “Yeah, most of them are, I doubt you’d notice that they’re an NPC if you spoke to them.”

  “So they can hold conversations?”

  “Sure,” she said, taking the next turn into the packed shopping district. “It’s one way to extract information.”

  “Are all these people NPCs?”

  “Not necessarily—here I’ll show you,” she said and without warning she slapped the ass of the first girl she saw.

  The girl yelped and then quickly returned the favour by slapping Hyde in the face, before walking off angrily.

  “It wasn’t me—I didn’t—” he tried to clear his name, but she was already gone.

  “See, they’re pretty much like extremely well-designed people. It’s quite hard to notice a difference if you’re new here.”

  “You didn’t have to slap her ass to show me that.”

  “Yeah, but its more fun that way,” Zora smiled.

  “Mmm, so who aren’t NPCs?”

  “As a rule of thumb, assume most people. Think of the people who have what seem like regular jobs as NPCs, like shopkeepers and so on.”

  “So does that mean all adventurers are human?”

  “It’s not that simple. In my experience I’d say, the surest way to know is if you can see their Status Tablet.”

  “So the tablet is the key?”

  “Yep.”

  Soon they left the more crowded part of the shopping district, turning corners into strange alleyways.

  “Where are you taking me exactly?” Hyde said, feeling as if she was going to mug him.

  “To my guildhall.” Zora replied.

  “Guildhall?”

  “We’re here,” she said, stopping in fron
t of a door.

  “Okay…” He stopped next to her, looking unimpressed at the normal looking door.

  “You’ll see,” she smiled. “Take my hand.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it,” she emphasised her gesture.

  After surrendering his caution, he did as he was instructed.

  “Hold on tight and enjoy the ride.” Zora squeezed his hand.

  “What ride?” he yelped.

  But it was already too late. She did something with her tablet. But just before whatever happened happened, he noticed that hers was a little different from his. Hers had a symbol etched into the back cover. Before he could get a good look at it something extraordinary happened.

  His body was turned into a bluish light and dissolved. It happened so quickly, from his fingers and toes, across his entire body. Before he knew it, the sight of the door was replaced with a room filled with faces he hadn’t yet met before.

  But something was far more urgent. The feeling in his stomach. He collapsed to his knees clutching his gut and covering his mouth as though something was slowly crawling up his throat.

  “Yeah, teleporting can be a bit of a hassle in the beginning,” Zora said.

  A bit… he thought, finally fighting back the urge and putting his stomach to rest.

  “Don’t worry, it’s your first time—you’ll get used to it.”

  I hope so… he forced his wobbly legs up while still holding one hand over his mouth for good measure.

  “Hey, you’re back—” said a boy with light brown hair and a friendly face.

  “Who’s your friend?” Asked another, he, however, looked significantly more serious, almost threatening, with his darker hair and sharp eyes.

  “It seems like we have a new recruit,” said a younger girl with pitch black hair and a cloak that she wore in the most dramatic of ways.

  “How exciting,” added another, who had a reddish pink bob-cut and a warm smile.

  “Would you like some tea?” the question came from a girl who had flawless turquoise hair, and a blank expression.

  “Sure, tea would be great,” Zora smiled. One by one the answers came, until Hyde was the only one who hadn’t given one.

  “Um… tea?” the blue-haired girl asked.

  “Uh… Sure,” Hyde said, set back by the situation. “Who are you guys—”