For the first time, the ice demon showed some emotion. It looked down at Mitch and laughed. The laugh was in a tone so deep that it made the entire cavern shake. The demon swung its mighty arm at Mitch, sending him flying back about twenty feet. The half-wolf landed on his back, -27 HP floating above him. The demon held his arms wide and started to inhale once again.
Stephanie held both her arms up in the air as she finished reciting her spell. High above the demon's head appeared dozens of large icicles. One by one, the massive ice spears crashed down on the demon's head. Stephanie was eager to see how much damage they'd do. But the ice spell didn't do any damage. Instead, every time an ice spear hit the demon, +99 HP appeared above its head. Stephanie just shook hers.
The ice demon, now fully healed from the little damage they'd done, locked its eyes on Mitch. He'd managed to get up and was running back over to the demon to continue attacking it, even though he wasn't doing much damage. But before Mitch was able to take a single swing, the ice demon leaned down and blew its frigid wind at him. Instantly, Mitch was frozen in place like the others.
Stephanie stood amongst her frozen friends, utterly terrified. She knew she was next. The thought of running crossed her mind but she couldn't leave her friends. If they were all gonna freeze to death, she was gonna freeze to death with them.
She looked around the room. Luke was frozen in a defensive stance. Alyssa was frozen running from the demon, Mitch frozen running toward it. The ice demon was staring right at her with what almost looked like a grin on its face. An evil, sinister grin. Stephanie looked over at the witch, who was still standing near her rocking chair. She had an equally evil grin on her face – maybe more so – and was watching her demon freeze the adventurers, one by one.
Stephanie looked from the witch to the demon, then back to the witch. She tried to remember what the crazy crat lady said to them. It sounded like the ramblings of a mad woman at the time, but Stephanie was starting to think that maybe there was something to it.
“What was it that she said?” Stephanie mumbled to herself. “She said something about the witch's cold heart. Something about warming her heart.”
Since nothing was working against the demon, Stephanie turned her attention to the witch. She flipped to the Fireball spell and started reading. The demon opened up its arms a fourth time and started to inhale.
With the spell book practically shaking in her petite little hands, Stephanie read the incantation. The ice demon's eyes locked onto her as it inhaled. She held out her trembling hand at the witch and pointed right at the center of her chest. The ice demon started to lean down just as Stephanie finished reading the spell.
Fireball after fireball shot out of the elf's finger. One direct hit after the next landed dead in the center of the witch's chest. Stephanie anxiously watched her to see if the spell was doing any damage. The fireballs didn't seem to be having any effect on the witch. She just stood there and took it. No numbers floated above the witch. No hit points gained or lost. Stephanie was beyond disappointed.
Then, she looked over at the demon. It was no longer leaning down to unleash its freezing breath. The demon was stumbling around, barely able to stand up. Every time a fireball hit the witch, -999 HP floated above the demon.
One after another, the fireballs kept shooting out of Stephanie's finger. -999 HP, -999 HP, -999 HP, -999 HP, -999 HP, -999 HP, -999 HP, -999 HP appeared over the demon's head. It stumbled around, causing the whole cave to shake like crazy. The fireballs kept coming and for a second, Stephanie thought they were never gonna end. But then, they did.
After the last fireball struck the witch, Stephanie immediately started reading from her spell book again. But within a few seconds, she realized that it wasn't necessary. After stumbling around throughout the fireball attack on the witch, the ice demon finally fell over, shattering. Shards of ice went flying in every direction. Stephanie held up an arm to shield her eyes. The witch just stood there, emotionless.
Defeated, the pieces of the ice demon quickly started to melt. Within a minute, it was completely gone. +999 EXP appeared. Congratulations! You've reached level 35 floated above Stephanie's head. She put her extra stat point into intelligence.
One by one, the three frozen friends started to melt in the order they were frozen. First Luke, then Alyssa, and finally Mitch.
“What the fuck?” Luke yelled. “What happened to the ice demon?”
“I killed it,” Stephanie said, proudly.
“Really?” Alyssa asked. “Go Steph! But how?”
“By warming the witch's icy little heart,” Stephanie answered, pointing to Esmeraldazela.
The four friends turned their attention to the witch. They walked over to her, cautiously.
“Well?” Luke asked. “We defeated the ice asshole. You gonna tell us where to find the Orb of Displacement?”
The witch crossed her arms and eyed the four friends.
“Fine,” she answered. “I'll tell you. But that orb is powerful beyond your wildest dreams. It's dangerous. It's wonderful. It's...”
“Yeah, yeah,” Luke interrupted. “Where is it?”
“You'll find the Orb of Displacement to the north. Leave here and go back the way you came. When you come to the main road with the rock, you want to go north. Follow that road between the mountain ranges until you get to a town. It's to the north. And it's even windier than the town with the big lake. But I forget the name of it. It doesn't matter. Once you get to that town, go all the way to the most northeast part. It's mostly farmland up there. You’ll find a single house – more like a shack, really. Talk to whoever's there. Then you have to go deep underground, deep down in the mines. You don't have to do any actual mining, mind you. Well, that's up to you, really. You'll find what you're looking for down there. Your precious Displacement Orb. That's where you'll find it.”
“You're sure?” Alyssa asked.
“Are you calling me a liar?” the witch shot back.
“Of course not,” Mitch said. “But it's really important we find that orb. You're sure that's where it is?”
“Trust me. You'll find what you're looking for there,” Esmeraldazela replied.
She sat down in her chair and started rocking back and forth. The four friends tried to ask the witch more questions, but she didn't answer.
“I guess we're heading north,” Mitch said.
“It's late,” Alyssa said. “Why don't we get out of here and make camp outside somewhere along the mountains. Then, we'll start heading north at first light.”
“Sounds good,” Stephanie replied.
The friends left the eerie cavern and walked along the mountains until they found a good spot to spend the night. They settled in, ate some food, and talked about the adventure that was ahead of them. The witch didn't give them much to go on, but at least it was something. After they ate, Alyssa fell right asleep. Luke spent some time sharpening his sword before turning in. Mitch and Stephanie sat by the fire, talking.
“You have no idea how freaking proud of you I am,” Mitch said. “We'd all be ice statues right now if it wasn't for you.”
Blushing, Stephanie replied, “I'm just glad it worked.”
“You don't give yourself enough credit,” Mitch said, putting his hand on Stephanie's leg. “You're amazing.”
Stephanie looked into Mitch's eyes and he into hers. They could see the light from the fire flickering in each others' pupils. Mitch wanted to kiss Stephanie more than anything in the world, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he just smiled and she smiled back.
“You're pretty amazing, too,” Stephanie replied.
They sat there next to the fire together for a little while until Stephanie fell asleep. Half relieved from defeating the ice demon and half anxious about the adventure ahead, Mitch stayed awake, taking first watch. As he kept an eye on his sleeping friends, Mitch thought about the four characters in the real world. He couldn't help but wonder what they were u
p to.
Chapter 10 - The Not-So-Great Beyond
“Hey Arnold69,” Ethelwulf said. “Check this out.”
Ethelwulf had found Mitch's cell phone.
“What is it?” Arnold69 asked.
“I'm not sure. It's some kind of magical device. There are all kinds of different things I can press. Facebook. Google. Messages. Contacts.”
“Touch contacts. See what happens.”
Ethelwulf pressed it and Mitch's contacts came up. Both of their eyes widened when they saw a picture of someone who looked a lot like Alalia.
“It says Stephanie but she looks just like Alalia,” Ethelwulf said. “I wonder what'll happen if I press it.”
“Let's find out,” Arnold69 said, leaning over and pressing the button.
The phone started ringing. Ethelwulf nearly dropped it he was so startled. The two of them eagerly waited to see what, if anything, was going to happen. After six rings they heard a clicking sound, followed by several seconds of silence. Then, they heard two females talking.
“I don't know,” they heard through the phone. “It kept making that annoying sound so I started pressing different things. And it was vibrating in my lap, which startled me at first but then felt kinda good.”
In a second voice, they heard, “Why does it say Mitch and have an image of someone who kinda looks like Ethelwulf on it?”
Ethelwulf got excited when he heard his name and said, “Ethelwulf – that's me! Alalia, Dwyndolin, is that you? Are you trapped inside this magical device?”
“Ethelwulf?” the boys heard through the phone. “It's me, Alalia! I'm not trapped inside a magical device. You are! I'm holding a rectangular, um, something. I don't know what to call it. It's almost like a seer's orb, but rectangular. It shows an image of someone who looks like you and your voice is coming out of it.”
“Same here!” Ethelwulf replied. “It says Stephanie and has a picture of someone who looks like you. Under it, there are several buttons labeled Speaker, Video, Keypad, and End Call.”
“I wonder what would happen if we pressed them,” Alalia said.
For the second time in as many minutes, Arnold69 leaned in, pressed a button, and said, “Let's find out.”
He was aiming for the Speaker button, but Arnold69's finger firmly pressed Video. None of them were used to the delicate touch that electronics require. The video camera activated and Ethelwulf's face appeared on the screen in a little box. He made a couple different faces, checking to see if it was really him. Both Ethelwulf and Arnold69 were amazed by the technology. Of course, they thought it was some kind of magical device.
“Press Video,” Ethelwulf said.
Alalia did and a moment later her face appeared on Ethelwulf's screen. Her and Dwyndolin could see him, too.
“Oh my...” Alalia said. “Ethelwulf, is that you?”
“Yes, it's me!” he replied. “I know I look a little different than usual, but it's me.”
“And me,” Arnold69 said, leaning over and putting his face next to Ethelwulf's so the girls could see him on the phone. “Where's Dwyndolin?”
Alalia turned the phone slightly so the boys could see Dwyndolin.
“Right here,” she said. “Where are you guys?”
“We're in what looks like our living quarters,” Ethelwulf answered. “We haven't really left yet because, well, it's kinda scary out there.”
“What do you mean?” Alalia asked.
“When we went out the front door, there were machines going up and down the street really fast. And the buildings, they're huge! They go way up into the sky. We must be in some kind of big city. And all we saw were humans. No dwarves, elves, nothing. Hey, speaking of which: You look human, Alalia. Your ears, eyes, everything.”
“I am human,” she replied. “And Dwyndolin can't shift. She's all human, too. Can you shift?”
“I haven't tried,” Ethelwulf answered, “so I'm not really sure. Where are you guys?”
“Like you, we're in some kind of living quarters. Just two beds, a wash room with hot water, and these strange magical devices. We haven't ventured out too far yet, either. We should try to meet.”
“Definitely,” Ethelwulf agreed. “But how?”
“You know how some of the major roads have names and most houses have numbers back in our world?” Alalia asked.
“Yes.”
“Does your road have a name? Does your house have a number?”
“Hold on.”
Ethelwulf walked to the front door, taking the phone with him. Arnold69 was right behind him. They opened the door and went out on the steps again. Like before, cars whizzed up and down the busy city street. Ethelwulf noticed a sign at an intersection a little bit down the road.
“I think this street is called Massachusetts Avenue,” Mitch said. “That's what the sign says, anyway.”
“Okay, great!” Alalia said. “Does your building have a number on it?”
Ethelwulf and Arnold69 turned around and looked at their building. They didn't see any numbers at first. Then, Arnold69 thought to look at the outside of the front door. He shut it halfway, looked around to the front, and saw the number 1216.
“One two one six,” Arnold69 read aloud. “Our door says twelve sixteen on it.”
After talking with Dwyndolin for a minute, Alalia said into the phone, “Why don't you guys stay there. Dwyndolin and I are gonna try to come to you.”
“How?” Ethelwulf asked.
“We have no idea. But we're gonna do the best we can.”
“Okay. We'll stay here. Make sure you bring your magical communication device with you. I just pressed Contacts, the picture of you, then the green button that said Call and then we heard your voice. If you need to contact us, just do the same thing with your device.”
“Sounds good,” Alalia said. “Hopefully we'll be seeing you guys soon.”
Ethelwulf pressed End Call and the phone hung up, which is what he figured would happen. He and Arnold69 returned inside and eagerly waited for their female friends to hopefully show up. To kill time, they sampled a variety of foods that Luke and Mitch had in the apartment.
“Ethelwulf, you gotta try one of these,” Arnold69 said, mouth full of chocolate sugary goodness, crumbs falling out of his mouth.
“What is it?” Ethelwulf asked with a mouth full of Doritos.
Looking at the box, Arnold69 answered, “They're called Devil Dogs. Sooo good!”
They continued trying a variety of different foods. Mitch had an impressive collection of stoner snacks. Just when they thought they'd found a new favorite, they'd try something else that blew their minds. This went on and on for a while.
* * *
“So how are we going to do this?” Alalia asked.
“First thing we need to do is get dressed,” Dwyndolin answered. “Then, why don't we just go out there and ask someone?”
“Sounds good.”
The girls looked through their closets and drawers. Each of them had a good laugh. No one would ever wear most of that stuff where they were from. They were both impressed with the quality of the stitching and everything, though. Both of them picked out an outfit that looked comfortable with a pair of sneakers.
“These are great!” Dwyndolin said, skipping around the dorm room. “It's like I'm walking on air.”
Alalia found an equally-comfortable pair of sneakers and was equally impressed. The girls grabbed their cell phones – or magical communication devices, as they called them – and headed out the door. Dwyndolin took note of their room number on the way out.
The hallway was empty. They walked to the end of it and took the staircase downstairs. On the first floor, there were a few students in the hall.
“Excuse me,” Dwyndolin said to the first guy they passed.
“Sup?” he replied, looking her up and down.
“We were wondering if you knew how to get to twelve sixteen Massachusetts Avenue.”
“You mean you'd cast an Ubermensch spell?” Alalia asked. “How would that help us?”
He shot Alalia a confused glance, then looked back to Dwyndolin and said, “You ever use Uber? It's super easy.”
“I... I don't think so,” Dwyndolin answered.
“I'll show you how. Here, give me your phone.”
“My what?”
“Your phone,” he said, pointing at her pocket. “I can clearly see it.”
Dwyndolin took the device out of her pocket and handed it to him. He pushed a couple things and handed it back to her a moment later.
Inside Out_Bloodfeast Book 1 Page 7