by K. T. Hanna
She couldn’t remember where she was, how she’d gotten here, or why it was so cold. Her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
And then there were hands enveloping her, holding her close, hugging her and stroking her hair. A small chittering echoed through to her, the concern of her Tiachi reaching through the haze. But nothing could overshadow the soothing pattern of Sinister rocking her gently.
She clung to the person that meant the most to her regardless of what world they were in. Very slowly, the pain in her mind began to recede. Suddenly a sense of peace washed over her.
Sorry. I couldn’t get through. I’m not sure what you did, but you managed to block me to where I was basically static. It took me this long to reestablish my connection to you. I’ve lent you some reinforcements to your own connection. It seems your thought waves may have been infected with the virus.
What? Murmur couldn’t quite believe what it was she was hearing, especially not on the tail end of the sensations sweeping throughout her system. Her entire perception was attempting to reorient itself, sending her tumbling into confusion and dizziness.
I apologize for not realizing sooner that your connection left you at least as vulnerable as the rest of them. It won’t happen again.
Murmur didn’t say anything, didn’t think anything in the direction of Somnia, and instead hugged Sinister back mumbling softly. “I’m so sorry. I am so, so sorry.”
She could feel Sinister smiling where her lips rested on Murmur’s head. “It’s okay, I get it. There’s been something wrong since you woke up, something I haven’t been able to put my finger on. But it’s okay, we’ll get through this.”
Murmur sat there for a few more seconds, drinking in the warmth and the safety. Without Sinister, and to an extent Somnia, she was quite certain she would have been swallowed whole.
Shakily, and with the help of Sinister, Veranol, and Devlish, Murmur managed to stand. She gripped her hand in the fur at the back of Snowy’s neck, and took stock of herself.
“Sorry, guys. I think my lack of sleep caught up to me.” She let out a self-deprecating laugh, and the rest of the raid joined in. “Didn’t mean to hold up the raid, let’s buff up, be cautious about our debuffs, and AoE the fuck out of whatever these little ones waiting for us are.”
A cheer went up from the rest of the raid, and Murmur squeezed Sinister’s hand tightly not letting go even when combat began.
Somnia Online
Tieflos Dungeon - Version 22.4283, activated by Murmur of the Guild Fable
First Incarnation of This Zone
Late Day Twenty-Eight
The strange ringing in Jirald’s ears wouldn’t quit. It wasn’t a remnant from the explosion, nor had he died in this dungeon, so it wasn’t an after effect of death. He shook his head several times trying to rid himself of the sound and barely heard Murmur’s directions about the up-and-coming creatures who’d be in their way.
He thought this first fight would be an AOE fight, not his strong suit for damage, but he could hold his own. That was if the damned ringing in his ears would stop upsetting his equilibrium. Looking down at his hands and the daggers in them made it seem as if both his appendages and weapons were doubled and blurry.
He ran over the uneasy alliance he’d temporarily made with Risk and grinned to himself. That particular amusement had pretty much run its course, but it definitely yielded good results. Risk and Murmur were wary of each other. That was all he’d needed. Sowing those seeds of doubt had been fun.
Suddenly there was a commotion at the head of the raid, and he heard a cry of anguish and pain. As several people in front of him parted he was able to see Murmur on her knees clutching her head. The only reason she wasn’t on the ground was that her wolf held her upright.
A portion of him was glad to see her in pain, happy that she was uncomfortable and showing the world her weaknesses just like she had done to him. The other parts of him were writhing inside, like they were trying to reach out through him and grab her. It was a hunger he’d not felt before, a yearning, an unsatisfied craving.
All at once it felt like his head was about to explode, like every envious thought he’d ever had was spilling out at once making him rotten from the inside out. It leeched into his thoughts twisting them further than they’d ever been before, until he didn’t quite recognize where he began and these new thoughts ended. It was all him, this power, his ability to reach out and infect those around him.
He could feel the grin as it spread across his face, not just his face, and their faces. He wasn’t alone anymore, and no one could ever show him up again not with what he knew and not with what he could do.
Slowly, watching even as Murmur righted with Sinister’s assistance, he straightened his own posture, glad of the assassin’s mask he wore which made his solid black eyes stand out less. He observed her, both of them for the time being. Even as the enchanter spoke, he could see the effort it took her to simply shrug off the heavy thoughts that were plaguing her. And he deduced that the main reason she was able to do so lay with Sinister and the blood mage’s support.
Not everyone tinkered with their headsets like he had. Not everyone decided to make the quests they received about them and their own choices. And Jirald was definitely not everyone.
He cracked his neck from side to side and moved the rest of the raid. as he pulled abreast of Masha he patted his friend on the shoulder. “Good raid. We’ve got this.”
The cleric looked at him quizzically as if he couldn’t believe Jirald had praise for a raid led by Fable. “Great. Let’s kick some ass.”
As Masha moved away, Jirald grinned to himself at the sight of the sticky black substance on the cleric’s shoulder that was sinking in through the material of his tabard.
Murmur stood panting in the center of close to three hundred ice worms. It had been a rocky start while she figured out the slightly adjusted cast rotations she needed in order to maintain her stun lock. She hated getting battered about by the monsters she was trying to control. Being a punching bag for these creatures was all sorts of slimy and icky. While the ice worms weren’t in themselves difficult opponents, there were fucking hundreds of them.
So many tiny creatures were almost overwhelming. Murmur needed a break once they littered the floor two feet deep. It didn’t appear as if more were incoming, and Sinister had insisted on standing next to her, luckily safe inside Murmur’s stun circle with her.
“Remember to keep moving.” Veranol’s voice rang gruffly out over the raid. Murmur knew he was still irritated with her, but that he’d also realized something was seriously wrong and was leaving his questions until later.
Sinister squeezed the hand she had around Murmur’s waist. “You sure you’re up for this?” she asked only loudly enough for Murmur to hear.
Murmur wanted to say no. She wanted to scream, laugh and then log out and never log back in. Maybe not never, maybe just for a little bit. Instead, she smiled. “I have to be. Though I could really go for some sleep. Thank you again.” She didn’t feel like she deserved Sinister. Hell, after coming to Somnia, she felt like she didn’t deserve anybody. So much shit had happened, a lot of it involving her mind. She wasn’t sure she could tell anyone yet that sometimes she had trouble distinguishing realities.
“We have three sets of four ice giants coming up.” Murmur closed her eyes for a few moments counting the number of opponents to double check and verifying what she’d learned about them so far. “Rangers will need to kite two of them, Esolan will off tank one, and Devlish will main tank the other. Assist Devlish.”
From what she could gather, as long as the rangers could kite those two without pulling one of the other groups, they should be fine. As if reading her thoughts, which after her last episode was slightly spooky, Merlin nudged her in the side.
“You want more than one of us on each, correct?” He eyed her, his expression fi
lled with concern that she knew he was biting back as well. She almost didn’t want the raid to end.
“Yeah. You and Exbo lead the other rangers and make sure you all stay well ahead of the ice giants. These guys are going to hit hard.” She glanced around at the entire raid, sensing their readiness, their excitement, and their exhaustion.
“What about the healers?” Masha sounded odd as he stood in front of her, his arms crossed. The squelch of the dead worms released a foul stench, but Murmur still didn’t think the expression of irritation on his face was because of that.
“You and Veranol will work your magic.” Murmur put as much friendliness into the words as she could, but Masha just glared and turned on his heel with a grunt.
“That was…strange.” Sinister spoke softly, only for Mur to hear. “I’ve never seen him that gruff with you.”
Murmur shook her head. She had no clue what was up. Had she pissed him off when she almost broke down a short while ago? Did he regret having followed her into battle because of that? She’d always thought they were friends of sorts. After Risk turned out to be a bit of a dick, she’d been grateful that Masha trusted her. Now, she wasn’t so sure.
“Worry about it after this dungeon,” Sinister said gently. And she was right, they had too much to do right now, but Murmur couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that something had happened with Masha that he wasn’t telling her about.
She took another deep breath as she scanned around to figure out exactly what was coming after this wave of ice giants. If she wasn’t mistaken, the next opponent they faced would be the boss. All she could tell was that he was large, because his power put him on a level that made reading him deeper impossible even with her range.
You know you haven’t been using your full power, don’t you? You have Snowy and your abilities for a reason.
Murmur didn’t welcome the intrusion this time, not so shortly after almost losing herself. You’re not helping. I can’t risk fucking up again.
I see. Human brains might have computation capacity, but they are far different from the AIs. I know you will emerge victorious. Good luck.
Thanks. Murmur could almost see Somnia nod before retreating. Maybe this world was learning. Maybe that was something she could help with. After they got out of this bloody portal inflicted merry-go-round.
“This is it guys. The beginning of the final fight. I think.” She glanced around as she heard some muttering, and her eyes fell on Masha, looking up at her defiantly. Murmur tried not to let it bother her and continued with her instructions.
“Be as conservative as you can with long time Cooldowns, and even though we have more mana regen, don’t overdo it. Don’t forget your debuffs, plan accordingly, and keep an eye on Devlish.” Murmur only hoped they couldn’t tell how very scared she was.
She glanced over at the main tank, and Devlish nodded, a grim smile plastering itself on his lacerta features. Ice giants were scattered through most VR MMOs, through most RPGs, but by the way the icy ground quivered beneath them as the ice giants approached, Murmur was pretty certain that Somnian ice giants were going to be yet another story.
Somnia Online
Tieflos Dungeon - Version 22.4283, Activated by Murmur of the Guild Fable
First Incarnation of This Zone
Early Day Twenty-Nine
Jirald stretched his fingers, holding them up in front of his face and watched the smoke rise from his skin and through his gloves into the darkness around him. He grinned as he narrowed his eyes, able to see every single person he’d clapped on the back in encouragement or given some sort of solace to during the raid so far. Thin, dark fingers of smoky shadow drifted back to him, lending him a power he’d never wanted, nor had before.
Risk hadn’t let him close enough to tap since their blow up. Pity, really; he could have done with his makeshift ally feeding him power as well. No mind though, since he’d grazed the back of Karn’s hand with his fingers during one of their previous fights. It was easy to pass on the shadows, to turn their thoughts darker and have them question and revile the very person who had made this raid possible.
Masha stood next to him, the usual easy-going expression on the cleric’s face gone and replaced by a light scowl. The connection to him was the strongest, and had also been the first. He turned to Jirald with a furrowed brow. “What?”
“Just wondering if you’re enjoying this so far?” Jirald asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible. He watched his friend mull over the words instead of giving his usual immediate answer.
“I’ll enjoy it more when we’re done. This whole zone reeks of glitches. There’s no way this is how the game was intended.” There was bitterness in Masha’s voice, a sentiment that didn’t suit the cleric.
For a moment Jirald almost felt guilty, but it was fleeting. “Why did you agree to come then?”
“So we can learn from them and then beat them.” Masha’s eyes narrowed, a hint of greed shining through.
Perfect. If his friend was this far distanced from his usual self, then it wouldn’t take long for the rest of the raid to start causing trouble for Murmur. While Jirald might want to defeat the rest of the dungeons and complete the endgame content, he also wanted to fuck with Fable and reach the end of his quest and the rewards that came with it.
Pushing himself away from the wall as the ground beneath them began to tremble, Jirald grinned at Masha. “Guess we have some incoming shit to kill.”
“Don’t we always?” Masha squared his shoulders and cracked his neck from side to side. “Time to fight. Time to make Exodus shine.”
In his peripheral vision, Jirald noticed Ishwa watching them. He’d not yet been able to touch the little gnome and infect his persona too. The mage was far too perceptive, and at this rate would figure out something was up. Fable might not crumble, but he’d make sure they were on shaky ground when all was said and done. Jirald was willing to bet it would be far too late when Ishwa recognized what was happening.
The walls around them shook even as the ice giants moved into view. They weren’t as stocky as she’d expected, but lankier, with long arms that almost trailed to the ground and thick eyebrows that looked like mounds of snow. Their white eyes gleamed out as they surveyed the raid, making their ice bodies appear entirely too blue.
Her mind still reeled with how close she’d come to giving into that void where she could separate herself from having to care. It had never been her intention to do that, but it made making decisions so much easier. She gave herself a vicious pinch to try and bring her attention back into focus.
Sinister watched her from the side, silently knowing and understanding that something was seriously wrong. Except she didn’t berate or question—this wasn’t the time for it, and Murmur was immensely grateful for her.
Ice giants in a zone where the ice creatures had a resistance to fire. Merlin, Exbo, and the other rangers might be able chip away with their fire arrows, but it would barely make a difference. Their fire wasn’t hot enough to overcome the natural defenses. The mages on the other hand were another thing entirely. Ishwa and his ilk were solid. Havoc could disease them, and Merlin might be able to use his acid potions.
She racked her brains to figure out other combinations. Anything strong and metal would hack away at ice pretty easily. Their approach was measured, like the beat of a war drum as the first three began to move closer. She couldn’t see any more, but knew from the feel of the area, and the sound of the marching that three definitely wasn’t all there was.
Taking a breath, she attempted her first Mez from the greatest distance possible while Devlish was readying himself to tank. Everyone in their positions, the first wave of three would mean a lot of figuring things out.
Except her Mez didn’t hold at all.
This is an ice giant. Ice giants do not believe in your ability to control them, for they are their own ent
ities. Do not attempt to Mezmerize these creatures again. You have been warned.
She gulped and tried not to freeze in place while she thought. They didn’t have mana pools for her to drain, so they had a decent option. “Root! Maintain root on the two rear ice giants.”
Merlin and Exbo moved their aim and rooted the huge creatures. Murmur only hoped they wouldn’t suddenly be able to fling ice balls at them. A moment later, a snowball whizzed past her head, scraping her cheek in the process. Ice ball, definitely not soft snow. She could feel the warm blood as it dripped down from the wound before a heal hit her to close it up.
Devlish battled the one not being rooted to the spot, and she was relieved to see that its punches were nothing to be scoffed at. In fact, it hit like a truck. If ice balls were the least of their worries from the remaining two, Root had been the right call.
Targeting Devlish so she could modify his hate generation, she noticed a split-second cast by the ice giant he was fighting when the thing let out a brief guttural call.
Rumble.
Oh, how she didn’t like the sound of that. Although, since the floor wasn’t breaking up into pieces, she figured it couldn’t be too bad.
Sinister would have killed her if she’d said that out loud considering what happened next. The rumbling preceded a massive jolt that shook the ground beneath them. Several of the casters lost their footing, and Murmur only remained upright because of Snowy. His increased size helped in a lot of ways now.
Looking around, Murmur tried to find the source of the continued reverberating ground. The sound of something heavy grinding against the ice drew closer to them, moving faster and faster.
She glanced up the way they’d entered the cavern, hoping her supposition was incorrect. “Behind us! Watch the tunnel! Move!”
Murmur yelled out the words and cast out her Forcefield Shield to push people out of the way of the incoming boulder. It barreled down aiming straight for the raid. She only hated being right about things like this. Most of the raid managed to get out of the way, but out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Jirald and Karn went flying into the far ice wall. She didn’t expect him to get back up with that impact. As he slid to the floor, she noticed that the ice behind him had cracked and winced at the thought of the amount of pain that had to have caused. Neither of them stood back up, and they couldn’t afford to be down two of their best damage dealers.