I Am Gamer II

by Gabriel Rathweg

  As with his cousin, the singing hit a crescendo, the soft blue light growing brighter as it covered the boy. Then, from the ceiling another light appeared, this one the brightest yet, a shining silver that pushed out, covering the whole room and bathing it in its radiance. From the light a figure began to resolve itself and slowly it settled down to the now empty dais. The light began to pulsate, waves seemed to flow out of it, the light growing brighter with each pulse, until became blinding, then shrunk back in on itself, finally disappearing, and leaving in its place a man.

  The man was tall, broad shoulder, and muscular. Dark black hair, fair skin, bright blue eyes, and a charming smile completed the look. He was translucent, you could see the treasure and the rest of the room through him. If this bothered him at all you wouldn’t notice it from his countenance. The apparition stood tall and proud, as if no matter where he was, he was the master, the world belonged to him. His gaze wandered the treasure room, taking in all the details, until it finally rested upon the two boys, his smile growing even wider as he studied them.

  “Well fuck me, that’s Lugh!” Billy exclaimed, Patty grunting in agreement.

  “Aye lads, it is me Lugh, and who are you then?” Lugh asked.

  “I’m Billy, I mean William O’ Conghaile my lord.” Billy replied, going to one knee and bowing his head.

  “And I’m Patrick O’ Conghaile, my lord.” Patrick said, following his cousin’s example.

  “Aye, I can tell by your looks that you are my kin. The fact that you hold my spear and sword is another clue, besides Brigit already talked to me.” Lugh said, grinning at the pair. “Use my spear and sword well, good luck young William and young Patrick, do me proud.”

  The light began to pulse and shine again, blinding the pair, then it faded, and Lugh was gone.

  The boys stood tall and proud, grinning at each other in excitement at meeting the hero of Eire. A familiar shriek interrupted their revelry and they turned in unison to the sound. Standing in the doorway to the treasure was the hag, standing tall and shrieking, arms raised to the heavens. Her shrieking changed to laughter as the boys watched. The hag cackled and cackled, her arms and head lowering, her eyes coming to rest on the pair.

  “I’m free! I’m free!” She hissed, cackling and laughing hysterically.

  “Ok, good for you.” Patty said.

  His voice caused the hag to stop her celebrating and the sudden silence was deafening, as she stared at the boy.

  “Yes… it is good for me. Because now that I’m free there is nothing holding me back from taking my vengeance.” Buach the hag hissed, stalking forward towards the boys.

  It is time… Defend yourselves or die…

  Brigit’s voice sounded out, seeming to come from all around the room.

  TRACK 19 – WHAT GOES AROUND…/ …COMES AROUND – JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

  The hag stopped, glaring around the room for the voice’s owner. While Billy and Patty stared at the hag, who had become outlined in a thin red light, then both exclaimed as a glowing window appeared in each of their views.

  BUACH: The Hag of Labbacallee (LEVEL – Unknown)

  Once wife to the hero Lugh, Buach was known as the most beautiful woman in Eire, until she betrayed her husband and had an affair with Cermait, the son of Dagda. Buach talked Cermait into challenging Lugh to a duel, where Lugh ended up killing Cermait, only to be attacked and killed in turn by Cermait’s brothers. Upon Lugh’s death, the leader of the Tuatha De Danaan, Brigit, punished the unfaithful wife and betrayer of Lugh, turning her into a Hag, a creature of legend, tasked with guarding her dead husbands tomb forever. With only the weapons of Lugh able to end her.

  The screens disappeared and the boy’s looked at each other in confusion.

  “What the shite?” Billy asked.

  “No idea.” Patty replied.

  Buach screamed and the boy’s heads snapped back to the monster. Somehow, they weren’t as scared as they had been. Courage and battle lust ramped up inside of them. Never before had either boy felt so powerful, so brave, so ready to fight. Each boy raised their weapon and faced off with the evil hag.

  “I know that voice, I could never forget it.” Buach hissed, then turned her vile gaze back to the two boys. “I will bathe in your blood. I will rip your heads off and drink your sweet nectar. You boys will be the first part of my vengeance tour. The marrow of your bones will…”

  “Aye, we get it. You’re going to kill us and all that. Well come on then you, daft hag bitch!” Billy mocked, motioning with Fragarach at the hag.

  “That’s right you, shite smelling slag, come let’s give you a taste of my spear.” Patty jeered.

  Neither boy had ever been so alive, never been so full of lust for battle, even with a monster of legend before them. Each boy seemed to glow with a new power. Billy began to pulsate with a soft orange light, while Patty’s light was a serene blue. Buach paused for a moment staring at the two boys, who just a few minutes ago had all but pissed and shit themselves at the sight of her. But now, they stood up tall and faced her like veteran warriors. Buach may have been a betrayer, a nasty monster, and an evil bitch, but she was also not a fool. She paused in her approach, reigning in her lust for vengeance and her hunger for the boy’s tender flesh.

  “You children think you can beat me? You think those toys will help you defeat me?” Buach hissed, then through her head back and howled in malevolent glee. She finished her laugh and turned her gaze back to the two young warriors, then opening her mouth wide in a gruesome leer, that showed her rows of razor-sharp teeth covered in black ichor.

  “Oy, that’s nasty. Do you smell that Billy?” Patty called, taking his free hand and waving back and forth in front of his face.

  “Sorry cousin, I’m trying not to breath any of her stench in, it sits in your mouth. I’m trying not to chuck me breakfast.” Billy replied, miming throwing up and choking.

  Both boys laughed loudly at the hag, it was too much for her to take. Who did these bags of meat think they were? Buach roared and rushed the young warriors. The boy’s readied themselves, each dropping into defensive stances like seasoned veterans, not prepubescent children. The hag closed the twenty-foot gap in an instance, striking out with both clawed hands, looking to take off both their heads with the one attack.

  Neither boy was surprised by the move. Billy raised Fragarach and blocked the blow on the flat of his blade, the hag’s claws clanging off the magic sword, while Patty caught the blow on the haft of his spear in a two-handed cross block, grunting at the strength of the attack.

  Billy leaped back and began spreading out from his cousin. It was as if he knew instinctively what to do and moved without thinking. Patty and Buach separated and the three combatants faced off again, this time the boys took the initiative.

  Patty twisted to the side, spinning the Spear of Lugh around like a whirlwind, then quick as a snake, switched the weapon to a one-handed grip on the end of the haft, striking out at the hag’s droopy chest. Buach struck the blade of the spear aside and went to counterattack with her free hand, but Billy was there, rushing in, with Fragarach leading the way, in a wide slashing horizontal arc. The hag was forced to check her counter and instead block the incoming strike. Unfortunately, that was the wrong choice, as the enchanted blade of Fragarach exploded in bright orange light like fire, and the magic of the sword activated.

  The sword Fragarach is legendary as it can cut through anything. The hag, having been alone for centuries guarding the item must have forgotten, but quickly remembered as half her hand flew off, passing by her face, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. So shocked was she, that she didn’t keep track of Patty, who used the lack of attention and attacked from her blindside, spear leading the way.

  “No!” Buach screamed, as Patty pierced her side with the Spear of Lugh.

  “Eat my steel you hag bitch!” Billy roared, leaping forward as high as he could, and swinging Fragarach hard in a two-handed overhand grip, coming down from over his hea
d with all his strength and power. The glowing orange fire covered the glittering silvery blade as it arced down towards the hag, a trail of flame following the weapon.

  Time slowed as the hag turned at the battle cry, just in time for her eyes to widen in shock, while she watched Fragarach arc down. The blade hit, not stopping on the hag’s rubbery skin, and continued down in a smooth motion, Billy landing and the swords tip hitting the stone ground with grating crash, then silence. The hag looked down at the now crouching boy, then ever so slowly her body began to make sucking sounds. They watched as it slowly began to split, starting from the top of Buach’s head. Neither boy moved, just watched, as the hags body split from top to bottom, separated with a squelching pop, and fell to the ground with two loud thumps.

  “Well, looks like she couldn’t hold it together.” Billy quipped, standing up and staring down at the two pieces of the once legendary monster.

  Patty stepped over to his cousin joining him and staring down at the dead monster. They shared a look and then both began to laugh, slowly as first, then it turned uncontrollable and the cousins laughed and laughed, tears flowing freely down their faces. A few moments of hilarity and abject unbelief that they were alive, the boys caught their breath and grinned at each other. There revelry was cut short as footsteps started to echo from across the room.

  The cousins turned in time to see Brigit enter the room. The goddess paused at the entranceway taking in the whole situation. After a moment, she nodded to herself in satisfaction and approached the boys, a wide smile across her face. She stopped at the bisected monster and bent down, to the cousin’s surprise Brigit plunged both hands into the left half of Buach.

  “Well done boys, well done indeed.” Brigit said, as she routed around inside the monster innards, hands elbow deep in blood and guts, squelching and sickening noises accentuating her words as she spoke. “Ah, there it is!”

  The goddess pulled a gore and effluvia encrusted object from Buach’s body with a wet pop, then stood tall and held the item high like a she was hoisting a prize-winning trophy.

  “Oy, is she alright, why’s she holding that blood covered googah?” Billy whispered to his cousin.

  “I don’t know but the lady has downright lost her mind.” Patty replied.

  “I can hear you.” Brigit snapped, not taking her eyes off the filthy item in her hands. Both boys snapped up right and the sound of their jaws clacking shut caused the goddess to smile. “This is no ‘googah’ as you so ignorantly said, this is the object of our adventure, along with Lugh’s weapons, and the key to our success. This is the heart of Eire, the Lia Fail.”

  Shock hit the two boy’s and their gazes changed from scorn to awe as they stared.

  “That’s the Stone of Scone?” Billy whispered.

  “Aye can’t believe I’m looking at the Stone of Destiny, I thought it’d be bigger…” Patty said, echoing his cousin’s tone.

  Brigit nodded at the statements, gave Patty the stink eye, then started to whisper, so low that neither boy could make out what she was saying. Her sibilant whispering slowed and then stopped. Brigit lowered her hands, but the stone stayed in the air, floating and slowly rotating almost serenely, if you discounted the blood and gore covering it.

  A white light began to emanate from the stone and began to pulse slightly, the stone then started to suck the blood and gore covering it into itself. The stone now cleaned, was perfectly smooth and round, the light began to change colors now and began to turn faster and faster, the light flashing a myriad of colors.

  The boys were enthralled with the Lia Fail, their eyes glued to the flashing and spinning stone. Every second the stone flashed dozens of colors, then a booming sound began to echo through the room with each change, boom, boom, boom. The light started to strobe, tossing the room into a technicolor riot, that assaulted the senses, brighter and brighter, louder and louder. Until a final, thunderous crack, and then a flash of light, so loud and bright both boys were tossed to their feet. Then there was nothing but quiet and blinding white light.

  Billy blinked slowly from his prone position, looking around and seeing nothing but whiteness. Ever so slowly his vision came back with each blink and he studied the world around him. He had to blink a few times and he smacked himself on the side of the head to make sure he was seeing correctly. The first thing he noticed was that he was sitting in a completely white room, Patty was coming to at his side, but he was hard pressed to pay attention. The white was so pure it covered everything, he couldn’t tell how large the room was, or if he was in a room at all, the white stretched out in every direction.

  “Fuck Billy, what smacked me in the head?” Patty whined groggily from the ground, slowly shaking his head. Then he opened his eyes and looked around. “Oh shit, who in the god’s arse knows where we are now, and where is Brigit?”

  “I don’t know, but maybe they do?” Billy replied, gesturing into the distance.

  In the all-consuming white, two figures were walking towards the two boys, the distance was hard to make out, it looked as if they were a hundred yards away, but as soon as the boy’s stood up, the newcomers were only a couple dozen feet away. Billy readied his sword and Patty his spear, they didn’t know if the incoming men were hostile, but they weren’t taking chances.

  The two men were tall, both looked to be chiseled from granite, they looked so hard. One was blonde and lithe, while the other was dark haired and as wide as an ox. They wore warrior’s garb, hide and leather armor, interspersed with bits of mail here and there. They stopped about ten feet from the two boy’s and eyed them up and down, then scoffed and laughed respectively, and had a quiet conversation with each other before turning back to the two youths.

  “Put your weapons down you wee little cubs, before you hurt yourselves.” The blonde man commanded.

  “Aye.” The brunette said, nodding at the boys with squinted eyes and a sour expression.

  “Why would we do that, you bastard.” Billy growled, holding his sword tighter, his cousin raising his spear in response.

  With a blink of his eyes Billy looked and the sword was gone from his hands.

  “Oh shit!” Patty yelped, his spear vanishing from his grip as well.

  The cousin’s stared in horror at their now empty hands, when their gazes searched the area for their missing weapons, twin cries escaped their lips, as both their weapons were in the hands of the two new men. Who were now grinning wickedly at the two, now weaponless children.

  “Because we said so.” Blondie roared, slowly closing the distance between the two pairs, his partner advancing with him, weapons at the ready.

  Billy and Patty shared a look, each was full of fear, in unspoken agreement they began to slowly walk backwards away from the approaching men, but they didn’t seem to get any distance and as one, the boy’s turned and started to run, only to pause as a hand landed on each of their shoulders, with a grip like iron, stopping them in their tracks.

  “Where do you two think your going?” A familiar voice rang out.

  “Brigit!” Patty cried. “You’re here! These men took our weapons and are attacking us.”

  “Is that so?” The goddess replied, amusement in her tone.

  “Yeah, get them Brigit, show them the power of the Tuatha De Danann.” Billy cheered.

  The two men shared a glance and stood tall as Brigit appeared, the goddess gave them a glance and winked, then turned back to the boys.

  “These men are not attacking you. These men are your trainers. The blonde man is Fragarach, and the wide one is Gae. Now, do as they say, this will be the most difficult thing you have ever done. Try not to die.” Brigit said.

  With the last word, she disappeared, leaving two boys and two men alone in silence, standing in the bright whiteness.

  “Well lads, ready or not, here we go!” Fragarach barked, grinning evilly at the boys.

  TRACK 20 – THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM…. – C & C MUSIC FACTORY

  “After much training and h
ardship, we traveled to the mainland and joined the Spanish crown’s voyage to the New World, and that’s how we ended up here, now with you, the object of our quest.” William said, finishing his story, then taking a deep breath as if telling the story had exerted him. Which, in a way, reliving childhood memories did just that.

  “Wait, you can’t just gloss over the training and how you got here!” Shadow Bear erupted.

  Stone Fox had just entered the room was trying to catch my eye. I nodded at the gorgeous guard and cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention, the whole room had been caught up in the tale, and all eyes and ears had been on the two captives.

  “While I agree with Shadow Bear, we have pressing issues that need our attention. We will finish the story later, you can count on that.” I said, nodding at the two captives, then I gestured at the young Jicarilla scion and my soon to be brothers-in-law. “Can you escort these men back too their cells?”

  “Of course, War Shaman.” Thunder Foot replied.

  As he did both Irish men stood up quickly, bent down on one knee, heads low facing me, and saluted as before. This time, however, a glowing silver glow appeared around them, growing brighter as they spoke in unison.

  “We hereby pledge our undying loyalty to you, Lawrence Wrath, War Shaman, and savior of our people, the Warrior of Eire. We will follow your orders to the letter, we will destroy your enemies, for your enemies are now ours, we will defend your honor, your family, your people, for your honor, family, and people are now ours. We will be your spear and sword. We will follow you into the dessert without water, we will follow you across the ocean with no map, we pledge now and forever, for our kith and kin, will be yours, this we swear on all the Tuatha De Danann.” They spoke in unison.