Fusion (Somnia Online Book 6)

by K. T. Hanna

  Fable would probably be ready in about six days to raid by themselves. If Murmur wanted to have an alliance to do it as soon as possible, then there had to be a pressing reason. Why not go along with them and learn the dungeons and see their methods in action? Perhaps the experience could strengthen their leadership and help Exodus match Fable head to head in the future.

  No one stayed on top for ever.

  “Yes, that’s the plan. At least for the next week or so. We’ll probably get through all three dungeons by that time. Then Fable will have enough people to raid themselves, and we should be very close. We’ll learn what we can from Fable, and perhaps help give ourselves a leg up for future raids.” It didn’t seem dangerous or bad to let Jirald know that. It was honest thinking, logical thinking even. With any luck, it might make the rogue less likely to backstab their allies. Literally.

  Jirald watched him, the black of his armor constantly blending in and out of the darkness surrounding them. “That’s a good point.”

  “Can I count on you to be on your best behavior?” Masha pushed the question, needing the rogue to answer before he’d be able to relax.

  Jirald grinned, showing rows of tiny sharp alien teeth. “I’ll do my best, Masha. In every way possible.”

  Masha blinked and the assassin was gone. He could only hope Jirald meant what he said, but he had a really bad feeling about it.

  Sleek obsidian doors rose high above their heads, blocking the entrance to the dungeon beyond. They were intimidating, and for a moment Murmur felt positively minuscule, insignificant. For all the work she’d performed to keep the tunnel in one piece, for all the power that flowed through her, in that moment, in the presence of imposing size, a sense of helplessness suffused her.

  While they’d made it to the end of the tunnel she’d reinforced with little resistance other than wading through mobs with too many hit points, she felt like the Ciricians had been a test.

  She was getting really sick of tests. So far, the whole game was one big test. Puzzles and riddles. Fights that weren’t solely mechanic-based.

  “Mur, what aren’t you telling us?” Jinna spoke up, determination in his words.

  She blinked at him in surprise. Hadn’t she taken care of that? Her first instinct was to reach out and placate the dwarf, but then she realized that Rash, Veranol, Beastial, and even Mellow were glaring at her with their arms crossed.

  Fantastic. She sighed. “I’m not not telling you things. This is how my class seems to work. I see something, I will something, and sometimes if I’m lucky enough and have pushed the boundaries of a spell, then I create a new one. Sometimes I die. I’ve done it during multiple fights now, multiple dungeons. It’s no big deal, really.” She shrugged, trying to just get them to drop the subject.

  Jinna’s eyes opened wide, but it was Mellow who stepped in front of her, their face grave. They reached out and grabbed her upper arms, forcing her to look at them before dropping their hands and speaking. “Mur. I don’t know how to tell you this, but you look different.”

  She raised an eyebrow, even though she knew that it didn’t make her locus face look all that attractive. “I’m the same as always. Maybe a bit more determined and tired.” She glanced up at the imposing doors, their tips swooping upwards in defiant spikes.

  “Mellow doesn’t mean that you seem tired, Mur.” Rashlyn moved closer and squeezed Mur’s hands, pulling out her arms to show her. “Look at your body. Whatever you did back there with Telvar, it changed your entire character makeup. Your runes run all the way across your body, across your face. Your hair changed, too. Even the way you sound when you cast is different.”

  Murmur took a step back and raised her arm to look at it. Sure enough, the runes were different, etched inside, all the way onto her fingers and up her arms as far as she could see. While she knew her hair had changed, she hadn’t realized the rest. Somnia needed some damned mirrors.

  Her runes appeared to run everywhere, and now her attention had been drawn to it, she could even feel the subtle shifts in her face, beneath her skin.

  Rash continued, her voice gentle but filled with a steel Murmur remembered all too well from being deep in battle. “We aren’t being dicks. We are worried about you, and damn it, Mur. Stop trying to make me feel like there’s nothing to worry about. I can feel you for fuck’s sake. Every time you do it. Don’t forget that we also have hybrid classes. I’m not sure about everyone else, but I know you’ve been trying to calm me down every time I’ve brought something up lately. And I’m not taking it anymore. Stop it. I do not give you permission.”

  “Permission?” Murmur ground out the word incredulously. What the fuck was Rash talking about? Why did she need permission? She was just trying to make them feel better, to fix things, to protect them.

  “She’s got a point.” Beastial ran a hand through his hair. “I haven’t felt you do it to me, because let’s face it, Charisma and Intelligence are not the strong points of this character. But I’ve felt it when something hits Shir-Khan, because of the way my bond works. I didn’t put two and two together until Rash mentioned it just now.”

  “I didn’t say you could try and make me feel better.” Mellow choked the words out. “Do you understand why you shouldn’t do that, Mur?”

  Their voice was so soft and filled with sorrow it hit Murmur right in the chest. Had she really been doing something wrong? It was just so easy to make them feel better, to make sure they didn’t worry. Somnia had given her the ability to do these things, then shouldn’t she use them to the benefit of the people she cared about? She could play along with this. Of course she could. She had to, to protect them all.

  Mellow sighed and looked away, studying their fingers intently. “My feelings are valid, and I’m allowed to have them. Stop making my reactions invalid.”

  “Sorry. I just didn’t want you to worry about me. I didn’t want you to have to stress while we tried to get through these obstacles.” She paused, running through all the instances she’d attempted to calm them down in her head. It left just enough time for Merlin to butt in.

  “You know. It’s a multiplayer game. Not a solo one, Mur. You can lead a team, but if you don’t trust us, this shit is all going to fall apart.” He was somber, nothing like the usual jokester he could be. She searched his face for a hint of humor and found none. That alone made her examine her reasoning.

  Sinister looped her arm around Murmur’s waist. There was no silent judgement, and no recrimination in Sin’s eyes. She stood there for support, just like always.

  Murmur sighed, kicking herself for making them worry even more through her heavy-handedness. “Sorry. I’ll try to do better. It’s just…”

  “Easy, isn’t it?” Dansyn spoke up, a haunted look in his eyes. “My songs effect everyone in range. I have to choose what I play carefully so as not to influence the wrong set of players, or the wrong set of mobs, or anything. You have it easier, Mur. Your spells for the most part have distinctive range, or targets. So refraining from adjusting our feelings shouldn’t be hard. When you feel like it’s the easy way out, just realize that it’s the worst thing you could do.”

  Murmur swallowed past the thick lump in her throat. Even Dansyn…fine. She had to be subtler, learn more finesse. Maybe save her help for moments when it was the only option. After all, she was the one Somnia had connected with, she was the only one who could make sure that Michael paid for what he was doing to the world, to the AIs, and all the players inside it. She might need their help, but they didn’t need to come out the other side just as damaged as she was.

  “Sorry. I’ll do better.” She sold the statement, conviction underlaying the words because she wasn’t lying. She was telling the truth. There wouldn’t be a next time, because if that next time arrived, she’d be subtle, careful. She’d need to work on her technique, to make them not worry, to not lose sleep, and to just let Somnia connect to their b
rain waves.

  “Mur?” Havoc leaned in front of her, a concerned look on his face. “What do you think?”

  She blinked at him, fully aware that she’d just missed whatever it was he’d said. “Sorry, was spacing out a bit. That earth healing thing I did, well. It wasn’t easy.”

  Havoc watched her for a moment, his eyes slipping to Sinister’s hand around Murmur’s waist before he continued. “When will the other guilds get here?”

  Murmur checked her chats, knowing they’d gone to have naps a few hours ago. It should be close to time. “Maybe about thirty minutes.”

  Devlish spoke up. “Everyone take quick breaks. Grab a snack, do what you’ve got to do. Stretch your legs. Mur, we need to discuss strategy and rules for the alliance to follow.”

  She nodded, relieved to have something else to focus on. Not only for her sake, but for the others too. It would mean less for them to think about, and less chance for them to notice when she tried to take care of them. They’d been so watchful while she was in the coma, making sure she didn’t die, protecting her even while she hadn’t had a clue. Protecting them now was the best way to thank them, to make sure that whatever had infected the world didn’t get them too. She’d just have to be more careful about how she went about it. There was no way she’d let what happened to Telvar befall any of her friends, not while she guarded them.

  Murmur, Devlish, Rash, and Veranol ran over the plans together.

  “So you want them to field a total of three groups between them? And you want at least one of us in each group.” Veranol frowned. “I need to stay in the same group as Rash, just so I can keep an eye on her. I don’t trust other guild’s healers.”

  “Makes sense,” Murmur muttered over the plans she’d spread out in front of her vision. She frowned. “I’m not overly fond of the makeup we have. But the good thing is that they’re both bringing two healers. No other blood mages though, which is a shame since they do good damage as well as healing.”

  “No one would be like Sin though.” Rash grinned. “She’s badass. I don’t think she’s playing the class as intended.”

  Murmur snorted. “Probably not. But she’s playing it Sinister style, which is always better.” She wondered if the others could hear the way her heart beat when she had those thoughts. It was the one thing she wouldn’t mind people being able to read her mind about.

  “Esolan is a good tank. Keep him with Masha.” Veranol paused, eyeing Murmur. “What about the elephant in the room?”

  Murmur sighed. “Jirald?”

  “Duh.” Rash began to tap her foot. She was glaring at Murmur, but the enchanter could tell even without using her sensing nets that her friend was worried for her.

  “I’m sure he wants gear. I’m sure he wants recognition,” Murmur began. “Frankly, we can’t afford to leave him out of the raid if his damage logs are anything to go by. He has a huge output.”

  Merlin butted in smoothly. “And I’m sure he wants to plant one of those nice curved blades in your back. Et tu, Brute-style.”

  “Can’t betray me if I don’t trust him in the first place,” Murmur rebutted, unfazed. “I’ll keep a shield active at all times. Veranol always has a ward on me. Sinister never lets me out of her sight. I’ll be fine.”

  “Sure you will.” Merlin still didn’t sound convinced. He shrugged and pulled out his bow, feigning tightening the string.

  “Failing that, I can always respawn. Can we move on now?” She paused, watching each of them in turn.

  “Each group needs to be able to stand on its own. Dev, you’re main tank, of course. Rash, do you want to off tank, or should we leave that to Esolan?” Murmur frowned as she mulled over the group make up.

  Risk: We are on our way. Any instructions?

  Murmur sighed, trying to multitask more than she already was. Just follow the path down until you see a cave-like entrance and then follow the well-worn tunnel. We’re at a staging area before entering the dungeon itself.

  Risk: Got it.

  He was a man of few words. Which sat well with Murmur. She wanted them to listen and not fuck up. This whole alliance thing was one big roll of the dice. So many things could potentially go wrong, including wiping multiple times—if the alliance even worked out.

  “Mur?” Rash was suddenly right there, in her face, peering up at her. “You really need to listen when you ask me to answer a question, please. Try not to let me feel totally redundant.”

  “Sorry. Spiral’s leader contacted me. They’re on their way.” Murmur squared her shoulders. “What did I miss?”

  “Rash was saying perhaps to have two off tank groups that we can alternate between depending on the combat situation.” Veranol sounded tired, or perhaps he was fed up. His expression spoke volumes that she didn’t understand, like he wanted to lecture her. Murmur didn’t have time to figure it out.

  “Great idea. You’re staying with her anyway, so it should work.” She bit her lip, relieved to feel Snowy’s gentle presence at her side.

  Masha: I take it we head down to that cave entrance then?

  Murmur smiled. Masha might be a rival, but he was an almost friend. She’d never been in a guild with him, but they’d always had this mutual respect friendship thing going. Yeah, that would be it.

  Masha: See you soon then. I’ve got him under control. I think.

  Murmur didn’t respond, but she did manage to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine at his words. She really hoped he did have Jirald under control. That rogue was the one variable that Murmur couldn’t account for. She couldn’t tell with definitive certainty that he would play the role she needed him to.

  Jirald always seemed to have his own agenda. And since she knew he’d absorbed shards as well, she was certain some of the powers he had were morphed by the getashi he’d ingested. She didn’t understand his link to them, simply because he didn’t have an adjusted headset. Perhaps the company hadn’t done it, though. Maybe he’d tinkered himself, maybe he’d broken it in a fit of rage. It would explain a lot of things.

  She pushed him out of her mind and concentrated on figuring out the groups. The others would be there soon. They were going to enter those sleek doors, and she had no idea what to expect.

  Organizing the groups was going to kill her, if Jirald didn’t get to her first.

  Somnia Online

  Mikrum Isle - Almost-Completed Fable Guild Headquarters

  Day Twenty-Five

  Neva was working away fervently on several sets of armor at once. Her luna brow knit with concentration, but her tail gave away her excitement at having come so far. She was obviously proud, and the joy she found at creating shone in her eyes.

  Telvar stood at the doorway observing the entire crafting operation. Along the way they’d had to expand the crafting facility to compensate for the influx of crafters they’d received when Neva began recruiting them instead of Beastial. Still, she had this way of ferreting out exactly what they needed and putting them to immediate use. Not one of the crafters in the guild wasn’t constantly busy when they were online.

  “You know. You could take a screenshot and stare at me that way instead of interrupting my train of thought.” There was mild reproach tempered with amusement in Neva’s tone, and Telvar felt a little sheepish.

  “Sorry. It’s just that the castle has come so far in such little time.” Telvar didn’t move from where he stood. He didn’t want to break the spell.

  Neva, her eyes still on the piece of leather armor she was tempering, cocked her head to one side. “I’m not sure you’re entirely correct there. Sure, it’s not long in the real world, but here in Somnia, we’ve had this castle for almost forty days. I mean, that’s a decent amount of time.”

  He grinned, but his mood turned somber as the scans he was running in the background flagged several trouble spots in the Somnian coding. “How are they for sup
plies?”

  Neva looked up from her work for the first time, a grim smile on her face. “If they go through the sheer amount of supplies we currently have, even if they’re helping outfit two other guilds, then they’re in deeper than anything I could do to help them.”

  Telvar chuckled. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes, they’re good’ then.”

  Neva nodded, a small smile playing at the ends of her mouth. She looked like a happy sunning puppy, just with opposable thumbs so she could work on fine details. “I have work to do, Tel. Trying to craft a surprise for Murmur. Her new look needs new digs.”

  The worry that creased the luna’s brow was subtle, but Telvar noticed it. She wasn’t the only one bothered by Murmur’s new appearance. Telvar couldn’t figure out what had happened. She was still undeniably Murmur, but now there were softer lines where there hadn’t been, and her hair had changed. Runes ran all along her body now, including her face. She looked even more alien than she had before, and yet at the same time somehow more human. Like she was her very own creation.

  Telvar nodded. “Have fun.”

  “I always do” Neva answered, distracted now by the armor she was enchanting.

  Telvar meandered away, back toward the inner keep with its regal appearance. Carvings had been restored filling the halls with the life that teemed over Tarishna. Vikings, dark elves, locus, and luna. Intricate and defined, almost lifelike. New carvings had been added where restoration was impossible. Dozens of rooms with three sets of bunk beds in them made up the majority of the living spaces in the castle. It made it easier for those who grouped together to stay together, adding a cohesive air to the whole thing.

  He moved into the area he’d reserved as his office. It was for Murmur too, but she never sat still long enough to use it. The second floor housed beautiful views of Mikrum Lake, and he stood in front of his window looking out over it until there was a knock on his door.

  Of course, Hiro knew he didn’t have to knock, Telvar was aware he was standing there, but it was the polite thing to do.