Neverfall: The Dark Path (Book 2): A Gamelit Lit RPG Series

by C. Wintertide

  “I know better than you what he’s capable of,” Luke reminded her. “I get what you’re saying. But you’re asking a bit much if you want me to--to feel nothing when you tell me my father did care about me!” And the moment those words left his lips, he realized how true they were. “Why didn’t you tell me about being his bodyguard? You knew that was important!”

  “Only to the extent that you could question me about his character. It was not important otherwise.” She swiped a hand through the air.

  “It’s important because it shows that you’re still holding stuff back from us! How can we trust you when you leave out the most important things?” He stood up, looming above her for once.

  To her credit, she gave him a guilty look and muttered, “I didn’t want to weaken your resolve against him.”

  “What about yours? You were protecting him! And I don’t believe you weren’t friends of some sort. He wouldn’t just talk about me and my mom with an employee!” He stared hard at her.

  “You’re reading too much into it.”

  “I think you’re reading too little.” He shook his head. “Alicia, you were friends. Are friends. Tell me that you aren’t worried about him. That you don’t--”

  “No!” Alicia rose up to her feet, towering above him again. “I am not compromised. The best way I can help him, myself, you, and the others is to take him down. That is the only thing I can do.”

  She made a move to stomp off when they both heard the soft snap of a branch. Both of their heads jerked towards the sound. A female figure emerged from between the trees. Luke’s mouth fell open, but then ice filled him and he was reaching for Dragon’s Claw. He drew the sword from its sheath and the flames burned bright.

  “May? May Seguro?” Luke asked.

  “It’s Gloria, remember?” the Beta player said, but then put a hand to her forehead. “At least, I think it is. But I’m not altogether sure anymore. I’ve been having these dreams. Of another life.”

  19

  ALLY OR ENEMY?

  “I need you to put your bow, and any weapons you have to the side,” Luke commanded Gloria. “Alicia, wake the others. Find out if Sorayan’s people have any rope.”

  “If she moves, fry her, Luke,” Alicia growled as she trudged off.

  Luke ignited Firestream in his left hand. Dragon’s Claw glowed brightly in his right. “Not a problem.”

  Gloria was levels above them, but Luke wasn’t afraid of her. Part of him was actually itching to get into a fight. He saw that his Special Ability bar was now filled with purple light. That must be the effect of Drain. He wondered just how much stronger, and different, his spells and martial attacks would be when he used it. It looked like the bar would just drain down as he fought, and he didn’t need to do anything special.

  “I don’t blame you for being suspicious of me.” Gloria slowly removed her bow and several pairs of daggers. She placed them on the ground in front of her, and stepped away from them. She then held up her hands to show she surrendered. “Though, after what you did to Manon, maybe I should be afraid of you.”

  “He got what was coming to him,” Luke gritted out. He wondered how far away she’d been when Asharoth had attacked. Though really, one couldn’t have missed the ancient black dragon even from miles away. Did she know about Bonecall’s part in it all, though?

  “Perhaps he did,” she said softly, and her gaze went distant. “I doubt you would believe this, but there were--are--good parts to him.”

  “Are? So you think he survived being Soul Called?”

  “Yes, I do. I think… I think he can be brought back.” She studied his face.

  Luke reluctantly nodded. “How did you know that I didn’t have Asharoth kill him?”

  She lowered her head as she confessed, “I didn’t go that far away from your battle, and as soon as I saw Bonecall approaching, I knew what would happen. Though… why didn’t you kill Manon?” Her eyes narrowed. “With Asharoth under your control, your power is unlimited. No one could stand before you.”

  Is that why she’s not attacking? Because she believes I can simply call Asharoth to my side at any moment? Best to make her continue to believe that, if so.

  “He’s a real person,” Luke told her.

  “Real? As opposed to?” She gestured around them.

  Ironically, Luke did not want to insult Sorayan. She had fed them and given them a place to rest, but he pointed to the group of travelers anyways. “They are... are constructs. They are programmed to do certain things, respond in certain ways, but they aren’t actual people. Marty is real. He’s not programmed. He’s a person who is interacting with the constructs, just like we are. And if we had killed Marty here, he would have died in real life.”

  She was silent for long moments, but then finally stated, “You truly believe this, don’t you?”

  “I do, because it’s the truth.”

  “Well, Manon is not dead in this world or another.” Her expression went dark. “Bonecall has him, and Bonecall is a monster.”

  But Luke wasn’t going to waste that much sympathy on Marty. “Marty was pretty much a monster, too. He attempted to kill people who weren’t even fighting him.”

  He still remembered Christopher staggering to his sister, only to be cut down by the sorcerer. The flames on Dragon’s Claw burned brighter.

  “I am sorry about that,” she said, and he almost believed her.

  “Even though you and Marty were friends? I can’t quite understand why you aren’t seeking revenge against us,” he said.

  “If I were to lay a hand on you, I would suffer a fate worse than his. Your father has made that clear,” she said. “Besides, you had every right to defend yourself.”

  “I have the rope!” Alicia called as she lifted up long lengths of it.

  “We have another guest?” Sorayan asked. She was awake and alert. Her eyes were on Gloria, and there was suspicion in them. She went to light her pipe again. “I take it not one that deserves food and a place to bed down?”

  “Guest is one way to describe her. I’m sorry about this, Sorayan. We’ll take care of it, and keep your people safe,” Luke answered tightly. “Step over to that log and sit down, Gloria.” He directed her by pointing with Dragon’s Claw where she should go.

  Gloria did as he requested without any hesitation. She sat firmly down on the log, and continued to keep her hands up. Luke felt almost foolish with her doing that, but then he remembered the powers that Marty had. She was just as strong.

  Alicia stomped over to her with the rope. She tied Gloria’s hands behind her back. She also tied her ankles together. Gloria showed no fear. That either meant she didn’t believe that they would really hurt her, or that she was confident she could protect herself against them, bound or no. She was a rogue like Cassie. Would these bindings hold Cassie? Likely not, and Gloria was levels higher. Alicia went over, and shook their friends awake.

  Cassie jerked up, blinking sleepily, and saying, “I’m up! Did I miss my test?”

  “No, you failed it,” Alicia informed her. “You slept on while our camp was invaded by the enemy.”

  Cassie only then caught sight of Gloria. She snatched up her Bow of the Huntress and nocked an arrow as she rolled to her feet. The arrow was aimed at Gloria’s head.

  “How--why is she here?” Cassie asked.

  “I’m here to suggest an alliance,” Gloria explained.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me! Why would you want to do that? And why would we agree?” Cassie shook her head, but the arrow remained steadily aimed at Gloria.

  “Perhaps you should wake everyone first before I explain? I don’t like to repeat myself,” Gloria suggested dryly, and for a moment, Luke could imagine her as a powerful executive of a company who had no time to waste. This was May. She was peeking through Gloria. This was a different person than the woman who had told Manon there was always time for dinner.

  “We do not really care what you like!” Cassie snapped.

  “
Let’s get everyone up. Just so we’re all on the same page,” Luke suggested, though he agreed with Cassie in spirit.

  Mack continued to snore until Alicia toed him in the ribs, which caused his snoring to turn to snorting before he got up and groggily said, “No need to poke! I’m awake!”

  “Sit up or you’ll fall back asleep.” Alicia then toed Mack to a sitting position.

  Mack smacked his lips before finally focusing on Gloria himself. He went rigid. “I thought your dad said no Beta players would bother us, Luke?”

  “Supposedly, she’s not here on my father’s behalf,” Luke answered.

  Christopher got up without Alicia’s help. He had jumped to his feet, and his hands went to his staff, or rather Marty’s old staff. He stared at Gloria with alarm clouding his handsome features. Luke made a gesture to keep him calm.

  “What is she doing here?” Christopher asked, the tip of the staff shaking. It appeared that he, too, remembered all of them being harmed by the Beta players.

  “You are all so suspicious! I am here to form an alliance, as I said,” Gloria explained calmly.

  Mack stroked Cutter’s shaft. “An alliance, huh? I wonder if that word means what you think it means.”

  She let out a laugh. “Your friends are bloodthirsty, Luke! I can see why you like them.”

  “They’ve learned to distrust Beta players.” Luke rolled the fingers of his left hand and the flames went higher. “Now tell us what you want, May.”

  Her brow furrowed when he called her that, and he could almost see her trying to grasp some memory that was just out of reach. His words in that underground temple truly had affected her.

  “I am here for two reasons. The first is that I want to rescue Manon, but I cannot do it on my own,” she said.

  “Rescue Manon? And you think we would help you with that after what he did to us?” Cassie shook her head in disbelief.

  “You would be rewarded, of course, for your help,” she said mildly.

  “Oh, really? We would need a ton of coin to help you!” Cassie laughed sharply.

  “It would be. I am well aware of the value and need for coin in Neverfall. If you are without it, you are no one.” Gloria shrugged. “And any loot we would find on the way, would be yours as well.”

  “Damn straight it would be,” Cassie muttered.

  “I do not see how we can help you against Bonecall.” Christopher frowned. “If you aren’t capable at your level--”

  “She’s Level 28. Puts us to shame,” Mack said, using his Perception Perk.

  Christopher nodded and continued, “Level 28 and we’re not even half that so--”

  “Levels? What do you mean?” Gloria frowned.

  “This.” Luke brought up his Menu and showed her. She leaned over, and her eyes widened. Seeing that, he asked, “Don’t you have a Menu?”

  “I don’t have anything like that. I don’t even know what that is.” But she still frowned as if it rang some faint bell.

  “But then how do you level up? How do you adjust your Stats? Pick Special Abilities and Perks?” Luke asked.

  “I learn things by practicing them. Are you able to just choose abilities like out of a book and know them immediately? Well, you are a battle mage so you could learn spells that way, but other than the cleric, the rest of you have no magic,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Don’t you have to practice?”

  “We do. Like we kill monsters and gain experience points and we get better,” Luke said. “But yes, they, too, can just learn stuff automatically once they reach a certain level.”

  “That is so strange.”

  Alicia grunted as if this made sense. “The first Beta players who experienced the bug claimed they couldn’t access their Menus. It was thought it was related to the programming that was done to eliminate the HUD.”

  “But it wasn’t, I take it?” Luke asked.

  Alicia shook her head.

  “Menu, HUD… this is all beyond me. But my dreams are not. That is the other reason I sought you out. I need to understand all of this,” Gloria said.

  “How do you mean?” Luke asked carefully.

  Gloria tried to raise her right hand to her temple, but both of her hands were tied behind her back so she merely shrugged. “What you said to me, about this being a game and me being someone else in the real world...” She looked intently at Luke. “I’ve had dreams. Dreams of this other life where I have a husband and children, and I’m respected and loved. But something happened that caused me to become deeply unhappy, and I fled that life.” She shook her head violently. Her blonde hair obscured her face for a moment. “I don’t think they are just dreams. And now, when I look in a mirror, for a few moments I see the face that you described, and not the one I have.”

  Luke felt a stirring of sympathy for her. He licked his lips and said, “I know this must be very hard to understand or even to believe. But Neverfall is all a simulation. We are in a very sophisticated computer program, which makes our minds believe that we are other people, and living this life. This world feels as real as the real world. But it isn’t real. This is a game.”

  She gave him a half-smile. “You’re right that I can’t quite believe that. But some part of me worries that you might be telling the truth. I don’t sense there’s any deception in you, and I am very good at telling who is lying to me.”

  Her gaze pierced him, and he felt like she saw far more than he wanted her to. But he stood up straight, and allowed her to look. He guessed she would know that he had started on the Dark Path. But he did not flinch away from her gaze. He met it unwaveringly. He had made a decision, whether good or bad, it was over.

  Luke met his friends’ gazes. Though none of them said anything, he knew that they were thinking the same thing he was: this is progress.

  “We can… ah, we can help you with that, at least,” Luke told her. “But about rescuing Marty. Don’t you have any other Dark Lord followers who could help you in this?”

  It would be good to know how many Beta players there were in Itaeria, and the surrounding kingdoms. That was yet another thing that he hadn’t thought to ask Dr. Armitage.

  “I can’t trust any of them. All of us are in some form of competition to gain the Dark Lord’s favor, for the most part. Friendships are rare. I was… close with Manon,” she explained, and there was heightened color in her cheeks, which confirmed for Luke that they had been more than friends.

  “And taking me back to Dark Lord would put you in the lead? Instead of those other players?” Luke guessed dryly.

  “I’m not to kidnap you, or do anything violent to you or your friends. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try to convince you that being on the Dark Lord’s side is really the only option.” She gave a faint smile. “Besides, he’s the only one truly keeping cretins like Bonecall and his master, the Lich King, in line.” She gave an appreciative shudder.

  That was not something he expected to hear.

  “Why don’t you and the other Beta players defeat them?” Christopher asked.

  “We have. Many times. But they keep coming back.” She shrugged helplessly.

  “Right, of course, they do.” Luke let out a laugh as he shook his head. “They respawn for new players. They can’t be permanently killed. Makes sense.”

  “So if you’ve killed them before, why not do it again? Why do you need us?” Mack pointed out.

  “I never did it alone. In the past, some of us would team up to take down powerful enemies, but after we realized that it did no good, people just scattered,” she explained. “No one would care that Manon had been taken. It would just give them more reason to avoid Bonecall. You are my only chance to get him back.”

  “I don’t truly think there is enough money in Neverfall to entice me to help that prick, Marty,” Mack spat after he said it, as if Marty’s name left a bad taste in his mouth.

  Her forehead furloughed. “You keep calling Manon, Marty. Is that--is that like his other name? Like May is my other name?”<
br />
  Luke nodded. “His real name is Marty Fleumenbaum. I don’t know much more about him than that.”

  “Marty,” she said the name like she was getting familiar with it. “Did we know one another in this other world?”

  “You might have. You are both Beta players, and I’m sure there was an orientation at least where you might have met one another,” Luke guessed.

  “From Luke’s description, he is not as attractive in the real world as he is here,” Alicia pointed out.

  Gloria gave a rueful smile. “And neither am I, according to Luke, so I suppose we are even then.” But then she shook her head.“How can I confirm if any of this is true?”

  “I’m not sure.” Luke shrugged. “Maybe we’ll figure out something in time to show you that will just make it all click.”

  “Well, we would have quite a bit of time together when we go after Bonecall,” Gloria said helpfully.

  “We haven’t agreed to help you,” Luke pointed out.

  “But what do you have to lose?” she pushed. “With me at your side, you can get stronger more quickly. I am a valuable ally. I could help you in whatever quests you are on, and when you’re ready, we’ll go after Bonecall together. You’re going to go after him anyways. I know your sort. You’re heroes. No matter what path you take.” The last was said with a meaningful glance at Luke.

  No matter what path…

  “And I could tell you about your father,” she added to Luke.

  Luke stiffened. He made to say he didn’t care about that, but stopped himself. Shouldn’t he want to know more about the Dark Lord? That would help him in taking his father down. So he merely nodded. He extinguished Firestream and sheathed Dragon’s Claw.

  “We need to discuss this,” Luke said. “Among ourselves. You need to stay put.”

  “You need not worry. I’m tied up. But even if I wasn’t, I have no reason to go anywhere,” she assured him.

  Luke jerked with his head to the side so that the others retreated from Gloria to the other side of the fire. Sorayan was still up, smoking her pipe, looking curiously at Gloria. As Luke passed her, she touched his wrist. He paused to hear what she had to say. She had heard their discussion about the Dark Lord. He had forgotten she was there, and why they should keep it secret. He expected her to react badly. But she didn’t. She didn’t mention it at all.