“Turn it off.”
He did, and I kissed him.
We broke apart breathlessly a minute later and stood holding each other in the red sunset. It was another minute before I could find the courage to speak.
“They must have cut the feed as soon as they realized what you were doing. They had to.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Magpie smiled. “I’m sure I got in at least one good turn before they tumbled to my plan. Every one of those tattoos is public knowledge now.” He glanced up at the descending sun. “Good lighting, too.”
“What happens next?”
“Chaos,” he laughed. “For every damn one of them. And all the thugs and assassins, too. Can’t be a contract killer if everyone knows your name.”
“Porter will go on the run,” I said. “He was a cop, you know. He worked with Cass and Jason’s dad…” I shook my head. “But even Chief Bullard can’t protect him if he’s got the feds and a pissed-off crime family coming after him. But that’s actually not what I meant.” I smiled. “What happens next for you, now that you’re not invisible?”
Magpie cocked his head. “I thought I might open a cafe.”
“A cafe?” I blinked, uncertain if he was teasing me. “I don’t know what I’ll do next time I meet a locked door.”
“There are other thieves.” Magpie twisted his foot nervously. “I figured out I wasn’t really meant for the adventuring life sometime after Valkyrie filled me with holes.”
“It was very brave of you, taking her on like that.”
Magpie shrugged, but wouldn’t meet my eye.
“Let me ask you something,” I said. “One last question before you retire. And I just want the truth, whatever it is. You knew about Jason the whole time. You knew who we were. Why didn’t you just tell us?”
Magpie pulled away from me. “I never got a chance to tell you the whole story, even after you found the tattoo. When you got on the plane in Edinburgh, I recognized you immediately. The lawyer from Expedition showed pictures of all of you to my boss, said you were likely witnesses. Well, when I saw you on the plane, I immediately knew what must have happened. At first I just couldn’t face you, but then I decided… I decided there was a reason I was on that plane with you.” He turned to me, looking up with his eyes wide. “I was going to protect you. The three of you.”
“You did,” I said. “More times than I can count. But that still doesn’t explain why you kept it all to yourself.”
“I was ashamed,” he said. Tears were pricking the corners of his eyes. “I was there for the whole plan. I could have done something, anything—gone to the media, stabbed my boss, I don’t know. But instead I just ran away and convinced myself I was being brave. I was a coward. I could have saved Jason.”
There’s nothing I can say, I thought, but I can show you. I took his hand, and we stood in the quiet of the square for a while, just the two of us with our fingers intertwined as the daylight faded.
“About time,” Naila called across the square, where she and Noah had entered by a side street.
“Don’t tell me you shut down Open Seasoning!” I said. “You must be raking in the gold.”
“Ran out of product.” Naila shrugged. “All the adventurers are here, so nobody is supplying me. It’s cool. We’ll get back to normal after my vacation.”
“How are the plans coming?” Magpie asked Noah.
“I’ll show you!” Noah was beaming as he pulled a rolled-up poster map of the Summerlands, the whole radius of human control from Wellpoint to the Wall, from under his arm and unfurled it on the ground. He knelt down, and Magpie joined him as Noah began to explain the route he would take: starting in Wellpoint, he would visit every important site in the Summerlands. Old dungeons, famous fights, places discovered and named and fought over by the first generation of adventurers, he wanted to see them all.
“Vacation,” I repeated. Naila was smiling. “So you’re going with him after all?”
“I’ve always wanted to get out of Wellpoint,” said the chef. “Besides, your boy can be very convincing when he wants to.”
“You mean annoying,” I said.
“I mean wonderful.” She shook her head. “Hey, did you hear about Valkyrie?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Finally gone. It took six rangers to get her through the portal.”
“It took twice that many to pull her off Magpie when the fight was over,” I said. “She was like a wild animal. It was horrible.”
“Good riddance.” Naila shook her head. “Where are they stashing her, anyway?”
“Blomhaugen told me they’ve got a prison contract somewhere.”
“Think she she’ll be with Dr Agony?”
“If she is, at least some of Golden Apple will still be together.” I shook my head. “Wolfheart is retiring to become a commentator, did you hear?”
“I can’t believe he’s heading back to Earth.” Naila looked at the sky. “It’s such a shithole.”
“I imagine when you have as much money as Wolf does, it’s not so bad.”
“Still, I’m surprised he didn’t stay with Rad.”
“Rad is going solo!” I laughed. “More camera time, I think.”
“At least he’s willing to fight!” Cass stormed across the square, waving her hands in annoyance. “You wouldn’t believe the yellow bellies on these players!”
“Still recruiting?” I asked, pulling her into a hug.
“Trying.” She snorted. “Everybody’s spooked by the elves. I don’t think there’s been a proper sortie into the wilds since the battle. Whoever gets back out there first is going to be number one simply by default.”
“And that’ll be you, right?” Naila said.
“You bet your ass,” Cass agreed. “From now until the rangers find the last dungeon.”
I squeezed her shoulder. “I wish you’d come with me.”
“Past the Wall?” Cass shook her head. “Your signature is on the treaty, Emma, you know it’s a no-go for treasure hunting. There’s plenty still in our territory, thanks.”
“Gonna buy yourself a nice big house in the Burbs?” Naila asked.
“Shit no,” said Cass. “I’m starting a scholarship.”
“Seriously?” The chef’s eyebrows went up.
“Yes, seriously.” Cass crossed her arms. “For Hecker kids who want to be adventurers. Training and stuff. And then the best ones get to come here free.”
“Huh.” Naila looked Cass up and down as though taking her measure for the first time.
We waited in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of eternal summer. Across the square, the door of an expensive inn clicked open and another group entered Portal Square: Apollonia Blomhaugen and her entourage of aides.
“Still waiting?” she called as they crossed to us.
“Yep,” I said.
“Travel is complicated,” said the CEO. “We’re heading back to Earth. On behalf of Expedition Games, let me just thank you again—”
“Save it.” I put my hand up. To an elf it would have been a gesture of deference, but Blomhaugen knew how I meant it.
“I just wish you would appreciate what a coup this was for us,” she went on.
“We get it,” Cass said. “You haven’t stopped talking about it since you got here.”
“Nine hundred million unique viewers—”
“Won’t bring my brother back.”
Blomhaugen’s facade of bonhomie melted away. She held Cass’s gaze for a moment, then turned to her entourage. “Come along, everyone! Time to go home!”
One by one, her aides stepped into the mossy ring that had somehow, miraculously, survived the fight. One moment there they were, as solid and real as anything around us, and then they were gone, pitching through stars and darkness to arrive at the bottom of a well on Earth. Blomhaugen went last, and as she stepped into the fairy circle, she caught my eye one last time.
“It’s going to be a very different game going forward,” she
said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
And then she was gone.
“Have you talked to Scytri?” Noah asked. He was rolling his poster map back up; Magpie was brushing off his pants.
“Not outside the peace talks,” I admitted. “He’s been busy. But the wound healed over really well,” I added. “You did a great job. I know he wants to thank you eventually; I think there’s just a lot of work involved when your progenitor becomes the Eldest.”
“Listen to you,” Cass said with a smirk. “You nerd. You love this.”
“I’m the human ambassador to an elven kingdom during a time of turmoil,” I said. “How could I not love this?”
“Okay, ambassador,” said a new voice. “Care to diplomatically explain why you made me roll all the way out here at nightfall?”
“Hi, Seidenberg,” I said. Naila leaned down to hug him in his wheelchair, and the others waved their greetings.
“I’m still waiting for an answer,” he said.
“Well, there’s a couple reasons,” I said. “But mainly I wanted to make you an offer.”
“Which is?”
“Well, Noah and I had a chance to talk, and he’s been practicing his healing magic. He’s had plenty of opportunities, after all, and he’s gotten really good.”
Seidenberg stiffened in his wheelchair.
“Want to walk again?”
The shopkeep looked away, then spun a wheel to turn his back on me entirely.
“Seriously?” said Cass. “You should be grateful.”
“I am,” said Seidenberg. “Really, I am. But I have to turn you down.”
“Why?” asked Noah, cocking his head like a curious dog. Seidenberg spun back to face us.
“Kid, I was eighteen when I lost my leg. The surgery took a bunch of my nervous system with it. Took me six months to learn to walk with crutches, then my other leg gave out and I had to start all over again with the chair.” He snorted. “I put more time into learning to do this than I did learning to walk as a baby. You think I want to go through that shit again? No chance. This made me who I am. This is who I am. So thanks, Linnaea, all of you—but no thanks.”
“Rude,” said Naila and Seidenberg laughed.
“Now, is that all?” he asked. “It’s almost dark and in case you hadn’t noticed, I don’t fit down alleys.”
“There’s one more thing,” I said. “You heard I made a deal with Blomhaugen, right?”
“Well?” Seidenberg frowned.
“Just wait,” I said, and he did. We all did, watching the last sliver of sun disappear over the rooftops of the square, pitching the town of Wellpoint into deep blue night. A gentle breeze picked up, and it brought, faintly, the sounds of the party on Meat Street along with a whiff of mingled food scents. My stomach growled. I’d hardly eaten anything during the last day of peace talks. I was looking forward to getting some food, but I wasn’t quite ready yet…
A shape was there in the darkness, lying in the luminescent circle at the heart of Portal Square. It was a human shape, big, and for a moment it was still. Then its head rose up, and it took in the people gathered in the dusk, all waiting with held breath and an unbearable tension in our hearts.
“It’s real,” said David Keats.
“Daddy!” shouted Cass, and she fell to her knees and threw her arms around her father. She was sobbing openly, and Keats was, too, as his daughter helped him up into a sitting position.
He stared up at us from the ground in abject wonder, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging just a bit open. He’d lost even more weight, I realized, and the lines in his face were more pronounced, but the playful spark I’d known so well was still there, undimmed.
“Is this—” said Seidenberg.
“This is Keats,” I said. “Jessamine’s dad. Noah and mine, too, really, if we’re being honest.”
“This is the man you were fighting for,” Seidenberg said.
“That’s right.”
“Well, help him up!” Seidenberg snorted.
“We can’t,” I said. “He’s paralyzed from the waist down. His spinal cord was severed about six weeks ago.”
“Oh,” Seidenberg said. “You want me to help him…”
“Thank you, but I don’t think you’ll need to,” I said, gesturing with my chin to where Keats sat in the dirt. Cass was stripping off his shirt as Noah kneeled behind him, probing his back with gentle fingers.
“Kids, kids,” Keats was saying, but Cass and Noah were all business, and they ignored his wondering protests as they prepped him for magical surgery.
“Okay, Mr Keats, this is going to feel funny,” said Noah. “You shouldn’t feel any pain since the nerves are all dead down here, but there might be… pressure, maybe? I don’t know, I’ve never had my spine reattached.”
“How does this work?” Keats’s voice was shaky.
“Well, I’m going to cut away a square of flesh and muscle where the damage is, and then—”
“Okay, okay, stop!” Keats shook his head. “I don’t want to know how the sausage is made. If you say you can do it, that’s good enough for me. Just… somebody distract me.”
“We could tell you about the battle with the elves,” Cass suggested.
“I saw it all,” Keats said. “You need to learn to use a melee weapon, Cassidy.”
His daughter barked an unbelieving laugh.
“I could introduce our new friends,” I tried.
“That can wait until I can look them in the eye, thanks.”
I ignored him. “This is Naila; she’s the best chef in the Summerlands. Seidenberg makes potions. You’re both old guys, so you should have a lot to talk about. And this”—I squeezed his hand—“is Magpie.”
“How was your trip?” asked Magpie.
“Who are you, exactly?” Keats said, and then he saw how Magpie’s fingers were laced with mine, and his face softened. “Never mind. Welcome to the family. The trip was fine, thanks. I definitely thought I was hallucinating when they found me at the homeless shelter, but after that it was first class all the way.” He sighed. “How’s it going back there, Noah?”
“Nicely,” Noah said, almost cross-eyed as he focused on Keats’s back. He was wearing white gloves now, stained and spattered pink with blood. “Mr Keats, do you remember that book you lent me, about the kids who find a portal to another world in a closet?”
“A wardrobe,” Keats said. “Not a closet. What about it?”
“Someone stole it from me before I could finish it. I’m sorry.”
Keats laughed. “Noah, that was years ago! Why would you bring it up now?”
“Well, I was just wondering how it ended.” Sweat shone on Noah’s face, and his tongue poked between his teeth as he worked. “Since I never finished it.”
“How it ended? Well, let me think.” Keats scratched his chin, which was hidden by a ragged beard. “There was a whole series, but I only ever lent you the first one. I guess I thought you didn’t like it.”
“No, I loved it,” Noah said. “But they took it.”
“Right,” said Keats. His right foot twitched and then suddenly that leg bent at the knee and jerked up to make a triangle. With a look of fierce concentration, he dragged his left foot back towards his body and got it under him. He pitched forward, overbalanced, and almost toppled over, but he waved off help from Cass and Noah as he regained his balance. Then, his teeth gritted and his legs shaking, David Keats stood in the fresh, clean dirt that surrounded the portal between Earth and the Summerlands.
“As I recall,” he said, “it ended with a miracle.”
Acknowledgements
With all my heart, I’d like to thank my wife Molly, who always understands when “I’ll put the kid to bed” really means “go play pinball, I need to write.” Equal appreciation is due to my hilarious and weird son Jack for watching cartoons in my office as often as needed. Maybe someday he’ll grow up and realize how many ideas I stole from his childhood ramblings… I also owe my parents a h
uge debt of gratitude (and probably money) for all their support over the years.
A tip of the hat to my brother Nick for teaching me to have good taste, a lesson which I have roundly ignored. A bump of the fist to my many best friends, including BBB, C-Slice, DA, Nutty, Talking to Walls, and Jesse, who doesn’t have a nickname. Inspiration for any member of the Peninsular Expeditionary Group who reads this.
On the technical side, I couldn’t have done it without my editor Conor Kostick, a great GameLit author in his own right, who constantly pushed me to do better and never accepted “good enough.” Thanks also to my many long-suffering alpha readers from the Reddit LitRPG community, especially Rogue.
No thanks to any cat who insisted on being on my lap after I said no.
About the Author
Nathaniel Webb, aka Nat20, is an author, musician, and game designer. As a lead guitarist, he has toured and recorded with numerous acts including Grammy-nominated singers Beth Hart and Jana Mashonee and Colombian pop star Marre. His published writing includes various short stories and novellas; adventures and supplements for the tabletop RPGs Shadow of the Demon Lord and Godless; and the Veil of Worlds modern fantasy novels. Expedition: Summerlands is his first GameLit novel.
A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Wesleyan University, Nathaniel lives in Portland, Maine with his wife and son under a massive pile of cats. He can be found @nat20w on Twitter and Facebook, where he mostly talks about games, writing, and obscure 80s progressive rock.
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