The Great Game Trilogy

by O. J. Lowe

  “Perm!”

  “Oh yeah!” The ghost spun, threw a shadowy uppercut straight into the bear’s nose and the crowd let out a surprised jeer as it was thrown backwards, landed in an untidy heap, eyes glassy and unfocused as the huge body hit the ground. “Think I broke something,” Permear quipped, hovering a few feet off the ground. The wound in the bear’s abdomen was still bleeding, Scott noticed, gore spattering the ground beneath its feet. It looked slippery. “Now, as for my next performance.”

  Hit it in that big bloody gash! Scott bellowed mentally.

  “You a big bloody gash,” Permear muttered unhelpfully but reciprocated anyway, hurling himself away through the air to tackle the grizzly, tearing at the wound with claws formed out of his own smoky substance. “Come on, bleed for me!”

  Bleed it did, Scott noticed with a barely suppressed sense of glee. The ghost might be intangible but when he wanted to reach out and touch the world around him, he could do it in tremendous fashion. The bear roared, tried to beat Permear away but failed utterly on every swipe, even fired a uniblast into the ghost at point blank range yet to the same little effect as the smoky blue body was everywhere around it, untouched by every attack. Gradually they faded away, the attacks losing their vigour as the bear continued to bleed to death, Permear not letting up at damaging the wound, Scott was sure he was even mauling at the organs inside the bear. That’d account for the agony on its face as it collapsed face first with perhaps the final intent of landing on the ghost. Nimbly Permear stepped out the way and kicked it in the head as it lay in a big pile of fur and gore. The foot bounced off with a dull thud, left a deep groove in its skull.

  “Nice one,” Scott muttered. See, it all works out when you do what I say… When you take my advice. Not that I’m dictating to you.

  “You got lucky, bagmeat,” Permear said as the bear was summoned back into a crystal. Any hint of serenity felt by his opponent before was fading, Scott noticed, a frown etched into Theo’s forehead for minutes now, fists clenched at his side and he looked ready to kill.

  His next choice ramped up the temperature even more, sweat beading onto Scott’s forehead the second it appeared, something he had to shield his eyes to look at directly. Was that thing made entirely of fire? It left burning footprints in the ground, smoke rising from wherever its footsteps met bare ground, he couldn’t entirely see what it looked like through the flames, but it stood on two legs, had two arms, maybe a head.

  “Shit dude, that’s just nasty,” Permear commented.

  You know what that is?

  “Yeah, it’s on fire!”

  Ha, I’d never have guessed.

  “Well you know what you feeble humans are like, I got to tell you this stuff or you might miss out on it. Fire ghost.”

  Wait, that’s a ghost?

  “Ah, maybe a spectre or an elemental is more accurate. I don’t fucking know, do I? I do you a solid, bagmeat, tell you what it is, not its damn life story.”

  Fire elemental, Scott thought. He’d never recalled anything about Theo having one according to the data files on him. So maybe they were incomplete. The buzzer brought him back to his senses, told him how much it really didn’t matter right now. He snapped to attention, fired off an order to Permear, adding he needed to be careful.

  “I don’t need to be careful, I…”

  You do know that it can hurt you, don’t you? It was true as well, elementals, spectres, ghosts, they were all cut from the same genetic material. They could interact with each other without any problem.

  “Yeah, I’m… Oh shit!” The fire elemental was suddenly on top of Permear, swung back a fiery fist which he barely avoided, swung back with one of his own that thudded into its chest. The ghost’s features twitched, his knuckles smoking, Scott privately amazed he hadn’t complained about it. “Hey, I heard that.”

  Permear flung an orb of shadowy gunk, struck it hard in the chest, enough to double it over, the elemental retaliated with a stream of flames the ghost had to dodge, executing a series of surprisingly nimble dance moves that had cheers emanating from the crowd who hadn’t been expecting it. Scott hadn’t, for that matter.

  “What, you think I don’t listen to what Mia tells HER spirits?” Permear asked, once more attacking from distance under Scott’s behest, the shadow blast hitting hard but not hard enough. Rather than reply, Scott was too busy thinking about what he knew on elementals which wasn’t as much as he needed. They were stronger than ghosts, wouldn’t have surprised him if Theo had brought it in specifically to counter Permear.

  The two of them continued to circle, Scott sure it was getting hotter, the fire elemental was continuing to ramp up the heat. Any hotter, it’d be dangerous for him and Theo to be in this space, never mind Permear. The protective bubble stopping any stray attacks from going into the crowd would keep the heat enclosed, just making it worse. He gulped, gave Permear his orders, told him he needed to knock it out quickly. The response was just as sarcastic as he’d expected.

  “Well, gee, I thought I talk it to death.”

  Still the ghost did obey, shadow blast after shadow blast landing as he advanced on the elemental, each burst countered with a ball of fire which had the unfortunate effect of nullifying it. It didn’t matter, Scott just needed an opening, he needed to get close enough to land a decisive blow. He heard screams from the crowd, yells about the heat and spun around. Normally you couldn’t see the barrier, but you knew it was there. Like the Divines themselves, yet now he could see it winking out of existence, glowing bright just before fading into nothing. Theo looked just as confused, the stadium announcer screaming about a systems failure before a shadow cast across the arena floor grew prominent, growing and growing more by the second. A winged shadow.

  Scott glanced up, saw it looked like a big leathery bird, something prehistoric but what wasn’t up for debate was how nasty it looked as it soared down, opened its jaws and let loose a series of sonic blasts from its jaws which made him flinch. Both Permear and the fire elemental took the main brunt of the blasts, both went down defeated before she landed, the mount putting a clawed foot atop the downed elemental. Minus its flames, it looked small and frail. The woman on its back looked familiar, it took Scott a moment to remember her name and why he should even know it. Then he realised, she’d been in the media most of the last few days. Most wanted in all the five kingdoms. She cast an eye down at Permear, there was something there he didn’t like in her expression. Claudia something-or-other.

  What the hells?! He got the feeling things had just gotten infinitely worse and he wasn’t going to like where they ended going here.

  Chapter Twenty-Four. Interrupted.

  “Wait, there’s someone down there on the battlefield… Most invaders just run on the pitch, they don’t fly down on… What is that, you know what that is? Some sort of bird, I think… WOAH! She just knocked out the combatants’ spirits! Both ghost and elemental have fallen, they are down, I repeat they are down. What the hells has just happened here? Oh, this has suddenly turned nasty, security is running to apprehend her. Maybe we’ll be able to resume… SHE KILLED THEM! Things have taken a sudden ugly turn here at…!”

  Last few seconds of commentary at the Quin-C final before the power was lost.

  The ninth day of Summerfall.

  It was Claudia Coppinger. Claudia fucking Coppinger here in the flesh, smugly stood basking in the surprise of the crowd, as if she were minus any sort of worry in the world. Managing to look as suave and sophisticated as ever, despite being the most wanted woman in the five kingdoms, not a hair out of place and a big grin of confidence about her features.

  Some boos and jeers rained down on her as she raised a head to the crowd, taking it all on the chin, letting them get it out of their system. Her smile grew. It was cold, the self-satisfied smirk of someone yet to let others in on the joke. Maybe she did have something left yet to offer. Already security was making their move, uniformed guards making to take her off the field. She turned
her head left, then right, nodded to her spirit. The great toothed beak clacked open, Nick somehow knew what was going to happen even before pure golden light erupted from within. Not even ashes remained of the guards, the act had precisely two effects. One, the crowd suddenly shocked into sobered silence and two, Theo Jameson erupted in anger.

  “How dare you!” he said. “Who the fuck do you think you are!?” Thousands of viewing screens around the world heard it uncensored. With what followed next, the dozen complaints to the networks over the bad language, were likely the least of anyone’s problems or cares. All complaints went ignored. Nobody held the companies responsible.

  A videocam focused on her as she stared him down with two red-gold eyes, narrowing them until they were little more than cat-like slits. Nick was sure they hadn’t been that colour before as Theo tried to hold her gaze, failed miserably as a trickle of blood gushed down his cheek, his eyes widening in horror. Nick didn’t even want to think about what he might have seen, the last thing he saw before the giant screen in the roof of the stadium flickered and died, any magnified view of the battlefield lost to them. It didn’t dull her voice though, she remained as clear and concise as before. “Quiet!” she hissed. “And you!” She rounded on Scott Taylor before he could say anything, keeping him stunned into silence. “If you speak, you will be injured. If you continue, you will be hurt further. It doesn’t matter to me. You’re all here to listen, not to speak!”

  With that, she turned back to the crowd, drinking in the atmosphere around her, the air suddenly fetid with fear. Around the stadium, men in black body armour, big boxy assault weapons clutched in their hands were starting to materialise out of the crowd, menace hanging overtly from them. They didn’t look friendly, they moved with purpose and Nick already had a horrible feeling he knew what was going to happen. A statement was going to be made. There had to be dozens of them, it didn’t sound like a lot amidst a crowd of a hundred thousand-ish, but a lot of people would still get caught in the crossfire.

  “People of the five kingdoms,” she said. “Hear me now and hear me well because I have something to say and I can think of no better platform for it to be heard. Because well, I paid for all this. I made it happen. I’ve given you the last few weeks all out of my own pocket. I brought it here, I suppose the least you can do is give me five minutes of your undivided attention.”

  Nick glanced around, trying to see where the closest guard was. Three rows back, seven seats away. Not close. Couldn’t do anything. Not yet. And he wasn’t carrying his weapon either. He cursed silently. Not that it might have made much difference. Right now, he was outnumbered and outgunned, best to just hold tight, see what came of it. People had to know about this outside the stadium, backup had to be on the way. No point overplaying too early. It was always about picking the right moment to act.

  Below on the battlefield, Claudia continued speaking, apparently the most relaxed person in the stadium, like she was talking in the mirror to herself. It was a little unnerving, Nick had to admit. “Of course, I can’t claim that my intentions were all truly benevolent. Anyone who claims themselves for sainthood is a liar, a charlatan and often should not be trusted on general principle. People lie, they see themselves as better than they truly are. Trust not your fellow man for they shall lead you down a dark path if left unchecked. Everyone takes their own path to self-destruction. It is best if you evade following others. Rely on yourself and not others. Are these not the teachings of the book of Gilgarus? You know who else that you shouldn’t trust? Divines.”

  Nick rolled his eyes, paused mid-way. He’d seen too much to discount her as a complete fanatic, was too in control for lunacy. If she walked a fine line, she was going to fall off sooner or later. In a way, that was infinitely more worrying. A frothing at the mouth psycho would blow up under their own machinations, start ranting and raving. There was nothing like that about her. He’d heard the gist of it before and he wasn’t really interested in what she had to say. “You know, recently I engaged in an endeavour. I wanted the answers to the questions the same as everyone else. This island is a fantastic nexus, an absolute veritable fountain of mystic rivers all flowing into one same source. The natives knew that. That was why they refused to leave. And that was why we needed to have it here.”

  Her smile grew. “Well one of the reasons anyway.”

  Silence had fallen in the makeshift Unisco headquarters, a dozen pairs of eyes glued to the viewing screen, not quite able to believe it. Any thought of decisive action had been momentarily kicked out of them by the appearance of the woman. She shouldn’t be here, hadn’t had the nerve, surely. Ultimately, it took Okocha to rouse them into action, banging his fist on his desk several times to grab their attention. “Guess we know who killed them now then,” he said. “I mean, that’s pretty much a confession, right?”

  “Assemble,” Derenko said. If he’d been shocked into inaction before, he’d snapped out of it. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. “Let’s gear up. Get everyone we have together, Okocha, Noorland, you stay here, I want you monitoring the situation. Everyone else with me. We might have to put her down. Scratch that, we need to put her down.”

  “No arguments from me,” Leclerc said, already moving over to the weapons cabinet. In a matter of moments, he had it open, already starting to hand out blaster rifles.

  “Clearly not,” Tod Brumley said. “You know; I think this is one time we should ask questions later.”

  “He’s right,” Derenko said. “Fuck questions. Meet at the speeders in five minutes. We can’t afford to waste any time. We got in heavy, we go in fast. Priority is protecting the people, there are too many innocents for there not to be any sort of casualties, but we need to minimise them. The odds are high, but that’s okay. I’ve got the best here. We have people in there. Second priority is supporting them. Arm them if they need it, take a second weapon. Or a third if you like.” He sighed dejectedly. Always he’d known he might have to give an order like this, but he’d privately wished it would be in better circumstances. “Third priority. Show these fucks that you don’t mess with Unisco or you go out in a body bag.” He glanced around the room then banged his fist abruptly on the wall. “Now what the hells you waiting for?! We’ve lost enough time! Go!”

  “Now I like the nexus theory. I like to think of it as one big boiling pot simmering on the fire. All that pent-up energy flowing through it, through the soil and the stone and the ocean, I wanted to poke it to see what would happen. And what better way than having all you people here. Human beings are the most naturally destructive creatures in any world, not just this one. If there’s something to be done, you’ll do it. Introducing a couple hundred callers to this environment, well I thought something would give.”

  Her face lit up as she rubbed her hands together. “And boy oh boy, wasn’t I right? See, like everyone, I sought answers about the great mysteries of the world. I didn’t want to know who or what the Divines were. I knew all that from the stories, the legends and the tales, from origins to Cradle Rock. Instead I wanted to know why and how. Maybe I even wanted to know a little of the where. Because to see the natural habitat of something, you can learn so much, you can be on the inside. Sort of anyway. A little. I wanted that knowledge, just a little bit more than anyone else. But that’s not entirely true. It wasn’t the only thing I wanted. I wanted to see the wonders of the world from a different perspective.”

  Someone at the opposite side of the stadium yelled something at her. She ignored it with a cool indifferent arrogance.

  “Of course, there always will be those willing to shout you down. I’ve gotten used to that. I heard it as a child and as an adult. I always thought the official motto of humanity should have been, you can’t do that. And yet, if everyone had that attitude, where would we be? Some of our greatest inventions have been fashioned by people who were told that they couldn’t do it. And of course, they did it. Like anything, it’s perseverance, effort, determination. The qualities everyone believes the
y have. Yet when push comes to shove, how many people step up to shove for them? For the most part, people are happy to let themselves be corralled like cattle, keep shuffling towards an oblivion of our own making. Well a long time ago, I decided that I wouldn’t be one of them. I would bring change.”

  “You actually get what she’s going on about here?” Noorland asked, suppressing a yawn. He knew it made him look callous. He didn’t care. You needed a certain level of black humour to survive this game. They’d both being doing it a while now. It was probably closer to the action than Okocha liked, but hey, live and learn. “I mean; I think she’s going to start ranting soon.”

  “Soon?” Okocha said. “I think she’s ranting now. I mean, I’m a genius and you’re not the dullest apple in the barrel…”

  “Oh, how you’ve summed my entire life up to this point up there nicely,” Noorland said sarcastically. “I was worried I’d wasted everything up to this point.”

  “But I don’t get where she’s going with this. Doomsday stuff… I wish that guy would shut up. He’s going to get himself killed.”

  The heckler had gone again, yelling abuse at Claudia, unconcerned for his own safety, just determined to get his vehement point across. She shook her head, sadly, crossing her arms. Already two of the armoured men were moving towards him. Too late he saw them, realising only as they closed in on him what was going to happen. He tried to run, scramble away from them. Their weapons rose, a flurry of shots caught him in the back and he went down, toppling down the stairs across the centre aisles until he came to rest in an untidy bloody heap at the bottom.

  “I detest rudeness. Now, where was I?” she asked. The silence had suddenly turned ugly. “Ah yes, our oblivion. I had no desire to trundle aimlessly towards the end of a pointless life. I sought the answers, opened the doors that shouldn’t be opened. I found out why we were told that they shouldn’t be opened. I did what I could because I was able to. Because for once, I wanted to put one over all those people who always said it couldn’t be done. And you know what?”