The fighter farthest from me grunted in pain as Cass’s arrow stuck into his leg. The other man on her lunged, but I didn’t have time to watch as my own attacker closed with me and brought his sword down at my head.
“Cleave!” Noah screamed. The sword slicing toward me spun off into the chasm along with the arm holding it, which had separated neatly from its owner. I stumbled to the side as the man who’d been about to cut me down toppled forward, his remaining hand over the bloody stump at his shoulder, his face pale under his bandana. He hit the ground and didn’t move.
I turned to help Cass, but she didn’t need it. One of her opponents was still trying to pull the arrow from his leg as the other turned and ran. Noah pointed at him with a long wand of bleach-white wood, blinked, then put his arm down. Behind him, Magpie let go of his hovering drone and dropped to the cavern floor. The drone rose a few sudden feet before catching itself, then stayed still.
“What the hell spell was that?” Cass gasped. She spared one glance for the gaping maw of the chasm only inches behind her, then joined us at the foot of the bridge.
“I think it’s supposed to be for surgery,” said Noah.
“Yikes,” said Magpie.
“And what—” I shook my head. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Magpie said. “Thanks to Sepharad. You can control drones manually from the handheld, you know.”
“Jesus Christ,” sighed Cass. “Linnaea, super job with the magic. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I said tightly. “I cast the spell properly, I know I did. It just didn’t work.”
“No harm, no foul,” said Cass, turning away. “So much for Hero’s Bane.”
Magpie laughed and scratched his head. “Yeah, sorry about that. Maybe we can come back with a ladder.”
“You can go first,” said Cass, then her head shot up and she grabbed an arrow from her quiver. “Freeze, PK!”
The would-be player-killer with an arrow in his leg stopped dead in the gloom of the cavern, where he’d been trying to limp away while we talked. He slowly turned, favoring his hurt leg, and put his hands in the air.
“Time to find out what these assholes want,” said Cass. “Sepharad, Magpie, strip him.”
“Strip him?” Magpie’s eyebrows went up.
“Not completely!” said Cass. “Just his armor and weapons. Jeez.”
Magpie kicked the man’s sword away and unwrapped his bandana as Noah set about unbuckling his armor. The wounded fighter kept his hands up and let it happen, clearly resigned to his fate. My first impression of the face beneath the bandana was that he sort of looked like Magpie: olive skin, though pale with the pain of his wound, and thick black hair. But I wasn’t ready for what was revealed when his armor came off. His scarred, muscular body was covered in tattoos just like Magpie’s, little strings of words and numbers.
“Shit,” Magpie said.
“Tie him up,” said Cass. “And then I think it’s time for an explanation.”
***
“They’re here for me,” said Magpie. The tattooed fighter was safely tied up near the edge of the chasm; we sat in a little circle farther away, lit only by the glow of my dagger, our cameras turned off. Cass had her bow and an arrow near to hand.
“Why?” I said. “What are those tattoos?”
“Hell—sorry, the Hellenic Austerity Zone—isn’t a good place,” Magpie said. In the faint upward light his face looked gaunt and pale, his bones obvious beneath the skin. “There’s no government there anymore. No laws. Athens is a warzone.”
“Who’s fighting?” asked Cass.
“Criminal families,” said Magpie. “There’s endless skirmishing and raiding and every once in a while, a proper battle. But mostly there’s the normal sort of crime: drug deals, shakedowns, hits, that kind of thing.”
“What do your tattoos mean?” asked Noah.
“I’m getting to that.” Magpie smiled, but his eyes were in shadow and his grin had lost its flash. “I grew up on the streets. An orphan. I think my mom was a junkie, but that’s just an educated guess. Anyway, pretty much the only way off the street is to make yourself useful to one of the families, so that’s what I did. I went to the family that controlled my neighborhood, Vyronas, and I signed up as a contract boy.”
“Contract boy?” I said.
“When two thieves do a deal it’s hard for them to trust each other. Paper contracts are easy to forge, lose, change…” He flashed another smile, this time with the faintest hint of his usual easy attitude. “Plus it’s hard to get paper when there’s no infrastructure. So they use kids like me. They tattoo the contracts on us: names, numbers, that sort of thing. We follow the bosses around like a posse. The older contract boys act as bodyguards if they have to, but mostly it’s so the bosses always have their contracts at hand.”
“That’s crazy,” said Cass.
“I guess.” Magpie shrugged. “It was a good job for a while. You’re protected by the family and you don’t really have to do much as long as you don’t mind going under the needle all the time.”
“Did they teach you to read?” Noah asked.
“That’s a weird question,” Cass said.
Magpie laughed. “No, it’s a good one. The answer is no. They don’t like contract boys knowing what’s on them. I taught myself to read.” His eyes were vague and far away. “I spent so many hours in the library, or what was left of it. As it happened, the science fiction shelves all survived.”
Noah smiled, his real smile.
“You make it sound almost okay,” I said. “What changed?”
“Well…” Magpie ducked his head, and for a long moment his entire face was lost in shadow. “I decided to get out. They don’t like their contract boys leaving, but I thought if I could get to the Summerlands, they wouldn’t be able to follow me.”
“How did you afford a ticket?” asked Noah.
“How do you think?” said Magpie.
“You stole the money,” I whispered. “From a mob boss. Oh, Magpie…”
“It’s easy when you’re at every meeting,” he said. He blew out a heavy breath and looked up at the cavern ceiling. “Guys, I’m so sorry. I’m putting you all in so much danger. They’re not going to stop coming until they get me. I’m not going to hand myself over. I’m not. But I’ll leave you alone.” He put his hands on the floor, getting ready to push himself up.
All three of us, Cass, Noah, and me, reached out at the same time to stop him.
“Like hell you will,” said Cass.
“You’re our friend,” Noah said.
I patted his knee. “Welcome to Hearthammer.”
***
Uncertain what else to do with him, we left the hitman tied up at the base of the bridge. A cloud of questions still hung around the whole thing: when had they come through? How did they always know where to find us? How were they resistant to my magic? Why weren’t they being punished for attempted player-killing? And as good old sharp-eyed Noah had pointed out: where were their drones?
More than anything, though, we wanted to know if we’d hit number one. As we headed for home under a low-slanting sunset, Cass had her head bent over the handheld, tapping through the screens.
“We better have,” she murmured. “That one had it all, drama, magic, traps, extreme PvP violence. We better have, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Well?” said Magpie. He walked with a spring, almost a bounce, in his step, far peppier than I would have expected from someone who’d stared death in the face less than an hour ago.
“Oh my God,” Cass said.
“Did we do it?” Magpie said. “We did it, didn’t we? Did we?”
“I have a message from my dad,” Cass said.
That stopped us all dead in our tracks, and we clustered around Cass, trying to see the handheld screen.
“How did he afford it?” asked Noah.
“Didn’t he have to turn in his phone when he was fired?” I asked.
“Every
body shush!” said Cass. “I’m sure he’ll explain. Back off, I just need—give me some space, okay?”
We gave her her space, but Noah and Magpie paced nervously and I fiddled with a coin as Cass read the message. It took a few minutes, and when she finally finished, she looked up with tears in her eyes.
“Is he okay?” I said. I hadn’t meant it to, but my voice came out as a whisper.
“He didn’t say anything about the pain,” said Cass, just as quietly. “Which means it must hurt more than ever. But he’s okay. Mr Vogler helped him get to the library to use a computer there.”
“The library?” I said. “He can’t afford a library card, right?”
“Yeah, funny thing about that,” said Cass. “He said it cost him the last of his money.”
“The last of his money?” I repeated dumbly.
“Well, how much have we sent home?” asked Cass. “Assuming Agony cheated us, which I think is a pretty safe bet at this point.”
“None,” I said, “but—”
“And how long have we been here?”
“Twenty-nine days,” said Noah.
“Which means…” Cass wiped the fledgling tears from her eyes, which had the same iron look that I’d seen at Jason’s funeral.
“Oh no,” I said.
Cass nodded. “Time’s up,” she said. “He’s gonna be evicted in three days. His medical bills are piling up. And guess what?” She held up the handheld, showing me the glowing screen. “We’re number two.”
***
We split up when we reached Wellpoint. I said I needed to touch base with Naila and Seidenberg, and I did, but first I had a message to send. I borrowed the handheld and sat on the stoop of our flophouse on Bad Luck Alley, where we’d never bothered to move out. A few ragged adventurers watched me through disinterested eyes as they shambled down the alley, but nobody stopped.
Dave,
I saw we hit #2 today. Can’t that be good enough? We’re regularly in the top ten now. Most parties take years to get the kind of following we have. We did it in a month. I’ve done everything you wanted. I even found a way to learn new spells. I’m trying to play the game and make the fans happy but we could really use your help. Please. Keats is counting on us.
Emma Burke (aka Linnaea)
I hit SEND and put the handheld down. Leaning back on the stoop, I could just see the last sliver of the Summerlands’ red sunset over the shingle roofs of Wellpoint. As I watched, it disappeared, leaving the alley in blue shadow. A few lights went on in windows around me. Somewhere far away, on some other street, a woman laughed.
Bad Luck Alley, they called it, where adventurers went when their luck ran out. Bad Luck Alley, because it was never their own fault. I had been so sure that we could reach number one again so easily. I was giving my viewers what asked for, wasn’t I? Lectures for the nerds like me, dangerous exploits for everyone else. What more did they want from me? What more could they take?
The handheld pinged softly, and the screen glowed in the failing light: 1 NEW MESSAGE.
Linnaea,
I hear you, I do. I really want to help but I’ve got to keep my bosses happy. You know how it is. I know you’ve got something really great for me. Give yourself some credit, Linnaea, you’re a superstar. Let’s prove it and then they’ll let me make all your problems go away.
Think big!
Dave
I sighed and set the handheld on the stoop. There was already so much I should have done differently. I’d managed to make the wrong decision at almost every opportunity, and now I was out of ideas.
Well, almost all out. I shook my head, trying to drive away a thought that had been scratching at the back of my mind since we’d first decided to fight for rankings instead of treasure. I’d been able to put it aside before, but this time it wouldn’t leave me alone.
It was a crazy idea that would involve breaking at least a few of Expedition’s rules of the game. We’d have to leave all the comfort and safety of Wellpoint behind, striking out into the wilds of the Summerlands where only the ranger groups had penetrated. Those same rangers would be looking for us as we went, trying to stop us by absolute decree of Expedition Games. There would certainly be no treasure at the other end. But if we did it, our numbers would explode. I was sure of that. More than that, we’d be legends, written into the history of the Summerlands forever.
It was a crazy idea and the rest of Hearthammer would almost certainly shoot it down, but it was all I had left. Even if they didn’t want to, I could always go alone… Before I realized it, I’d made up my mind: I was going to the Wall.
International Relations
“What’s the Wall?” asked Magpie.
“Seriously?” I said, setting down my empty bowl. Naila had really outdone herself this time, with pan-fried noodles and spiced meat that melted in our mouths. “It was in the legal stuff we signed.”
“I didn’t understand most of that,” Magpie said. It was just us at Open Seasoning, at least until Cass and Noah came back from the Expedition Hall. “It didn’t really seem important.”
“Me neither,” I admitted. “But the Wall is a pretty big one. Basically, it’s the boundary of Expedition’s territory in the Summerlands, at least to the north.”
“Why’d they build it?” Magpie said around a mouthful of noodles.
“Dunno,” I said. “But it must have been bad, because they don’t mess around about it. We’re not allowed to get within five miles.”
“So your plan is to…”
“Go there and touch it, yeah.” I shrugged. “If that doesn’t get us to number one, I give up.”
“Well, I’ll follow you anywhere.”
“Thanks.” I could feel heat creeping up into my cheeks. Magpie’s grin had gone into hiding and his dark eyes were locked on mine.
“Actually,” he said, “I wanted to—”
“That absolute bitch!” Cass stormed into the restaurant, Noah close behind. The door slammed shut behind them, nearly knocking the little welcome bell from its hook. “That stupid, kilt-wearing… oh, hey, guys.” She flipped a chair around and dropped heavily into it, her elbows over the back. Magpie suddenly got very interested in his food and Noah was at the back of the shop with Naila, leaving me alone with Cass’s mood.
“Not good?” I ventured.
“Remind me,” Cass growled, “are we allowed to kill NPCs?”
“No, but we’re not allowed to kill each other, either,” I said. “Are you telling me she isn’t going to do anything about it?”
“Nope,” said Cass. “She said there was no proof we’d been attacked by people.”
“No proof?” I felt my eyebrows go up. “There’s four feeds of it!”
“She said she doesn’t have access to those.” Cass made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a cough. “As though Expedition doesn’t save everything.”
“Jesus,” I said. “You’d think she’d care that her company had been infiltrated by organized crime.”
“We really are on our own.” Cass shook her head. “Next time those bastards come for Magpie, I swear to God…”
“Emma has a plan,” said Magpie.
“A plan?” Cass blinked, her conversational train derailed.
“To get to number one,” Magpie said.
“Oh, lord,” Cass sighed. “Here we go again.”
“Just hear me out,” I said. “I really think this one will work.”
“That’s what you said about Hero’s Bane,” Cass said. “And the Thing Cave. And your lectures, though at least those didn’t almost get us all killed.”
“This one’s not even dangerous,” I said. “You know, comparatively.”
“Then it won’t get us ratings!” Cass slumped forward, her chin on her hands. “It’s hopeless, Em. You need to give up on the get-rich-quick stuff. Get some of those little endorsement deals set up. We’ll start going for treasure again and just send home what we can… it won’t get Dad out of debt or anything, but may
be we can cover his rent.”
“You haven’t even heard her idea yet,” said Magpie.
“I don’t need to,” Cass said. “Dad is getting evicted in three days. It’s over.”
“What if I told you it would really piss off Donna Markan?” I said.
Cass spread her hands and looked up at the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention. “Fine.” She snorted. “I’m listening.”
***
Cass didn’t really seem to care how confident I was that going to the Wall would be a ratings blockbuster; she put aside her concern that we’d end up like the Lost Expedition and got on board as soon as she realized what a black eye it would be for Expedition Games. Noah was as willing as always to go along and Magpie reiterated that he would follow me, though that odd gleam in his eye had gone.
The first decision I made was to keep our cameras off for the journey. There was something to be said for streaming the whole thing, since we’d be passing through a lot of unexplored wilderness, but ultimately there was just no telling how closely Expedition could track us by watching our streams. If we were going to elude the ranger patrols and make it to the Wall, we needed every advantage we could get.
Provisioning came next and we split up to cover the preparatory ground more quickly. Cass bought the food. There was none of the decadent restaurant food we’d gotten used to, which was too big and would spoil quickly; instead, she stuffed her backpack full of nutrient-dense protein bars that opened the floodgates on a tide of suppressed memories of all the dismal extruder meals of my childhood. Noah upgraded our camping gear with proper bedrolls, tarps for rain, even miniature pillows. Magpie insisted on doing the clothes shopping.
That left me to go find Seidenberg. I thought he’d want to know what we were up to and I had one more request of him and his network of NPC spellcasters. Watching Hero’s Bane spinning away into the darkness had been a heartbreaking moment—we’d come so close to owning the Summerlands’ first magic sword—but it had lit a fire under me to master a spell I’d seen a few times on the feeds. It was an enchantment that brought out the best in any sword or dagger, giving it supernatural sharpness for a day or so. Naila knew that a few NPCs could cast it because they occasionally did so on her kitchen knives in return for a free meal.
Expedition- Summerlands Page 19