by Terry Schott
“So far.”
“I’m glad to find this room here and intact. Especially that.” He pointed to a large wooden chest sitting on the middle dais. “The other items are nothing but bonus loot. As long as that one has not been emptied, then we are still in business.”
“What does it contain?”
Shale flipped the lid open and gazed into the chest, her smile widening. “Seb? Are these healing potions?”
With a nod, his gaze met Mercy’s, and she smiled. “It looks as if we have healing once more.”
62
ARC Gaming has announced that it has created a new feature during beta testing of Blades VR. They call it tagging, and it will allow people to watch live play inside the game. We aren’t sure what benefits this can bring to players, but one thought is that it could open up possibilities for professional tournaments inside the game. How would that work? Call in and let us know what you think.
Janet Drimond, Games of the Net magazine
Shale and Fen jogged back to the group.
“Wow.” Shale’s eyes were wide.
“What did you see?” Sebastian asked.
“Exactly like you said,” Fen shook his head. “A very tall oak tree in the middle of a forest.”
“Wow,” Shale repeated.
“Are you sure we are still inside a mountain, Seb?” Fen asked.
“Positive.”
“We saw sky. Blue, wide-open sky.”
“Filled with clouds,” Shale added.
“There was a breeze and even sunlight.”
“We are still inside the mountain.”
“That’s impressive,” Fen shook his head.
“Smaller trees surrounding the big one?” Sebastian stroked his beard.
“Yep,” Shale said. “Everything is exactly like you said it would be.”
“Anyone in the treehouse?”
Fen laughed. “Shale wanted to go look, but I made sure she stayed back.”
“From my limited vantage point,” the ranger rolled her eyes, “I was unable to see if anyone was in the treehouse.”
“Dryads live in treehouses?” Xander asked.
“It’s not like you’re thinking,” Fen answered. “The tree looks like a normal tree, with only slight bulging and natural-looking holes that must be windows. If we didn’t know what to look for I doubt we’d have spotted the differences. Not really sure that ‘treehouse’ is the correct term.”
“It’s a tree,” Sebastian said. “Dryads live in it. Which makes it their house.”
“Good enough for me,” Fen said.
“This is it, then?” Ezref asked.
“Looks like it.” Sebastian smiled. “We’re about to face the final boss of this dungeon.”
***
They walked around the tree for the fourth time, occasionally looking upward through the branches.
“Hey!” Fen screamed, as he banged mace loudly against shield. “Come out and fight us, tree hag!”
Shale giggled as she skipped behind him. “Louder.”
“I’m yelling as loud as I can,” he grumbled.
“Try banging your shield.”
He frowned. “Are you blind? I’ve been doing that for the past hour or so.”
“Exactly.” She jogged past him and batted his shoulder. “If you’ve been making a huge racket for all this time and they haven’t come out, then why bother continuing?”
“I don’t know. Makes it feel as if I’m doing something.” He pointed his chin toward the base of the tree, where Sebastian, Xander, and Ezref sat. “Look at them, sitting there, doing nothing.”
“Saving their energy, maybe?” Shale offered.
“How are we supposed to beat the final boss when there doesn’t seem to be one?”
“Seb?” Shale called. “Fen wants to know—”
Sebastian laughed. “We can hear you. My answer hasn’t changed. I’m not sure.”
Shale nodded and turned to face Fen. “Seb’s not sure.”
Fen rolled his eyes and kept walking.
“Let’s sit down for a bit,” Shale said.
“I will, after one more lap around this big ol’ tree.”
She sighed and followed along.
***
Kieran sat in a chair beside Aleron’s bed, with arms crossed and eyes closed. There was a knock at the door. “Come in.” His hands moved to his eyes and he rubbed them gently.
Ansko entered and stared down at the young Scout. “How’s he doing?”
“Better.”
“Is he going to make it?”
Kieran nodded. “Tansa has assured me that he is out of the worst part and will make a full recovery.”
“Good.” His gaze slid to meet Kieran’s. “Sebastian and his group have made it to the treehouse.”
“That can’t be true.”
Ansko smiled. “I was there and saw them myself.”
Kieran laughed. “Wow.”
“Right? Maybe levelling them was a bad idea.”
“The levels wouldn’t have enabled them to make it to the treehouse. When I left them at the halfway mark, they were under-geared and without a healer.”
Ansko shrugged. “Well, they are sitting in the Dryads’ forest waiting for the last boss to spawn.”
Kieran tapped his lip with one finger. “They need to win the final battle for the door out to appear.”
“What final battle?” Ansko laughed again. “We didn’t bother creating one. Nobody was ever supposed to get anywhere close to the end.”
“I suppose we could leave them there. It’s not the stasis that everyone else got, but they won’t bother anyone if they never get out.”
“They will remain in this world. And something tells me Sebastian would eventually find a way to leave the place.”
Kieran groaned. “You’re likely right.” He crossed his arms and looked at the ground, considering options. After a few moments, he spoke. “Grab four others and come join me in front of the main building. Let’s do what should have been done a long time ago.”
“We’ll take care of them ourselves?”
“Exactly. We will give them unbeatable odds once and for all.”
“Sounds like fun.” Ansko moved for the door.
“One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Before we leave, tell Grenda to begin releasing the 1,200 from the instance.”
“Put them back into the world?”
“Sure. The NPCs will take care of them soon enough.”
63
Isaac finished reading the report and looked up. “The medical department warns against removing any player from Blades while they are still immersed and playing.”
“That’s nothing new.”
“It is.” He let the page slide onto the desk. “When Aleron died, I asked them to look closely into the subject. They tried to remove a dozen other players, and all crashed.”
“They died?”
“No.” He shook his head. “As soon as they started to fade, they let them go back into Blades, but the information was conclusive. Before, it was theory; now it’s a fact. Removing players while their avatars still live will kill their bodies here.”
“That goes against every trial prior to beta testing.”
“I know.”
“We brought out dozens of subjects with zero issues.”
Isaac nodded.
“More reprogramming of the system?”
“That’s the only thing that makes sense to me, unless you have a different theory?”
Kara pursed her lips together and shook her head. “To go from one hundred percent safe to the exact opposite. Someone had to have tampered with it.”
Isaac licked his lips.
“I find it hard to believe Sebastian would do that.”
“There’s no one else who could have done it.”
“That you know of.”
He took a breath and then sighed.
“I think it’s a bad idea to be
so certain of a fact with such little proof. We could miss valuable clues if we stop questioning every aspect of this.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Okay. This means that we’re stuck with players inside the game for who knows how long.” Kara nodded and stared at the desk. “Do we have to wait for every beta tester to come out of the game before we can begin working on the system?”
“Not at all. The infrastructure and system remain as stable as ever. Players being bounced was the only issue, and that seems to have slowed down. Let’s leave it at that for now. No one re-enters the simulation once they come out. Those still living inside can safely remain while we keep working and learning to perfect the game.”
“Then we’re still on track to release this to the public in a couple of months?”
Isaac nodded. “As long as we find and deal with Sebastian,” he paused, “or whoever else is causing these issues. We deal with that, and going public can happen the next day.”
“What will you do when you find him?”
Isaac ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “I guess I’ll have time to figure that out while we search.”
64
Kieran stepped out of the treehouse and walked to the edge of the balcony. Ansko appeared at his side, and Kieran stepped into the empty air, summoning a cushion of wind to stand on and willing it to lower him to the ground. He stepped onto the ground and felt crunching under his boots. As he began to walk, the sound persisted and he looked down. Fine white powder lay in between the blades of grass. It was everywhere. He looked up and saw his quarry in the distance. Sebastian’s group had not noticed him yet.
Kieran turned and waited for the others to join him from above. Ansko looked at the grass. “What’s with the white powder?”
“Not sure.” Kieran shook his head. “Must be dropping from the trees. Wait here. I’ll start things off. Watch for my signal.”
Ansko slapped him on the back. “Good luck. Let’s all have fun out here today.”
Kieran laughed. “It will be a treat for us to flex our muscles for a change. Good luck, kids.”
***
Shale looked past Sebastian and whistled softly. Heads turned to watch Kieran approach, stopping a few dozen feet away. The party stood, and Sebastian moved to the front of the group.
“Five more back by the tree,” Fen spoke softly.
“I see them,” Sebastian muttered.
Kieran began to clap slowly, a grin on his face. “Congratulations, players. Who would have guessed that a group such as yourselves would make it this far. We certainly did not. The most optimistic estimate was that you would die before your third encounter. But here we are, at the end of the instance.” He shook his head and stopped applauding. “Absolutely outstanding.”
Sebastian bowed. “That’s the great thing about the human condition. Beating the odds seems to be one of our special talents. Now if you would be so kind as to send out the Dryad Queen, we will soundly kick her ass and be on our way.”
Kieran laughed. “I feel a little embarrassed right now. You see, there is no Dryad Queen.”
“Splendid.” Sebastian took a step forward. “Then it appears we are finished. Open the door and let us out.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“Of course it is.”
Kieran shook his head. “We weren’t sure how dangerous you were when you entered this dungeon. But now,” he spread his hands. “After seeing what you’re capable of accomplishing…” He shook his head.
“You don’t intend to let us out.”
“Put yourself in my place. It’s our job as Scouts to keep this world safe. And you, Sebastian, are the biggest threat that we have ever encountered. No. We will be sending you back to your home world now.” He raised a hand, and the other five Scouts began walking toward them.
“You’re going to kill us?” Sebastian frowned.
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Sebastian nodded, his eyes flicking to the Scouts behind Kieran. “Bone dust.”
“Pardon me?”
“The powder you’re walking on. It’s bone dust.”
Kieran frowned. “How do you know?”
“Because we sprinkled it there. The dungeon had so many skeletons and undead that we began to powder the bones and store it in bags during the second half of our adventure.”
“Why?”
“In case we needed it.” Sebastian raised one hand and dragged the back of his thumb across his throat. “Turns out that we do.”
Kieran’s eyes widened, and he turned, one arm raised. “Shields!” he screamed, “Shield yourselv—”
Mercy and Xander appeared behind the Scouts, flicking into existence as Mercy dropped her shadowstep spell. Xander’s Death’s Kiss flared a brilliant silvery-blue, and he threw his hands straight out, fingers splayed.
Before they could react, the bone fragments came to life and streaked toward the five unsuspecting Scouts from all directions, a silvery glow encasing the bones and transforming them into millions of tiny knives that shredded everything in their path—including the five Scouts. There was a great boom of thunder and the silver shards flashed skyward in a thick column. Caught in the bone storm spell, the unsuspecting group was gone in an instant, obliterated in a fantastic spray of flesh and blood.
Sebastian and his group waited to see what Kieran would do. He stood with his back to them, watching from behind the protection of a force field spell as the bloody mist that had been his comrades drifted in the air beyond. Long seconds passed. Then he turned to face them, his expression calm but his eyes filled with rage.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, his peripheral vision telling him the rest of his group was now standing behind him, weapons ready. “And then, there was one.”
The yellowish-green spell shield flickered and then disappeared. Kieran took a step forward, his head tilted down.
“Let me guess,” Sebastian said. “That was a bit of a surprise for you?”
Kieran opened his mouth and screamed, a loud bellow of rage that grew in volume as his form swelled and increased in size. The group retreated as the humanoid appearance of the Scout leader was replaced by that of a gigantic dragon with two heads.
Fen stepped forward, placing his body between Sebastian and the monster. “Looks like this might be a tough fight.” He glanced at his friend, a grin on his face. “Which makes sense. Final battle and all.”
“Let’s all be careful,” Sebastian warned. He turned and locked eyes with Mercy as she strode forward, Xander beside her. “Finally you get to join in, Lady.”
She drew her swords and smiled. “I will tank.”
“Split tank,” Fen said. “When he gets ready to breathe fire, I will interrupt and get his attention from you for a few seconds, allowing you a free strike at his throat.”
Mercy nodded curtly and strode forward.
The rest of the group—no longer untested novices, but now battle-hardened veterans—drew weapons and followed her, preparing to take what had become their accustomed combat positions.
65
The group held back and waited for Mercy to achieve the monster’s full attention. Waiting wasn’t hard, since it was their first opportunity to witness Mercy’s skills and prowess.
One dragon head reared backward while the other snaked toward her. The attack was lightning fast, but Mercy was faster. One second she was standing in the dragon’s path, the next she had moved out of the way. As its jaws passed through air and sank into the earth, the impact sent dirt and grass exploding upward. Impossibly, Mercy stood beside the great head, a smile visible to the group as her blades flashed and bit into the dragon’s neck. It roared in rage and pain and reared back, but not before Mercy had landed another half-dozen strikes. By the time it was beyond the range of her blades, the head hung limply, half-severed, with eyes closed and gushes of blood pulsing from exposed arteries.
The beast’s body twisted violently from side to side, th
e motion ripping the now useless head from the stump and sending it flying into the forest. The dragon took two big steps backward, with the remaining head pulled into the air, eyes blazing.
The party cheered and moved closer, maintaining their position and distance from Kieran, ready to do their part when the next attack came.
“Damn,” Sebastian muttered from his vantage point outside of the battle. Two small heads were rapidly growing out of the bloody stump. Within seconds, the dragon loomed over them, now possessing three necks and heads with which to attack.
“No fair!” Fen shouted. “It’s a friggin’ hydra.”
Mercy turned and shouted, “Xander, with me.” The young Death Stryker sprinted to her side, head cocked and ear to her mouth as she spoke. Seconds later, the hydra lashed down. The Death Strykers separated, Xander closing in on one head, Mercy another. Rather than making cutting swings, this time they used alternating stabs to bury their swords deep into the flesh, so that they could climb upward.
The hydra roared, raising two heads high into the air and eyeing Mercy with the third.
“Attack the third head before it strikes!” Mercy shouted from the air.
Shale’s bowstring sang as she began to release her arrows. The first missile bounced off of the armoured scales three-quarters of the way up. The next struck higher, also bouncing away, as the third ricocheted at a higher point still. The fifth arrow hit home, sinking deep into flesh near a vulnerable spot between the top and bottom jaws. The hydra’s head roared loudly and swivelled to train its gaze on Shale.
“That’s right,” she shouted. “Come for me, ya ugly bastard.”
While Shale was firing, Fen had made his way toward the hydra’s tail. Now he roared and brought his blade down against it, with both hands. The blade bit into flesh, and a bright spray of blood spurted from the wound. He hacked again and again, trying to get the beast’s attention.
Without warning, the hydra pitched sideways, throwing its body flat against the ground.
“Fen!” Sebastian’s eyes widened as his friend disappeared beneath the behemoth. Momentum from the drop sent all three heads speeding to the ground, where they struck with tremendous force. Xander’s blades were wrenched from the hydra’s flesh. He went flying through the air and collided with an oak tree. He crumpled and fell limply to the ground, unmoving.