Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1)

by Bagwell, Travis

  The blade slowly retracted and spun back through the air to rejoin its brothers where they orbited Finn in a slow-moving sphere of steel and flame. The blood coating the blades was soon washed away by the fire – purified by the flames.

  Finn walked toward Lamia, noting the panic that filled her eyes. She looked around the field, searching for a way to escape or to fight back. Yet her eyes only found the dead and dying. Dozens of bodies littered the ground, many still smoldering.

  “You are making a mistake,” she said as Finn approached. “You don’t understand the game that is being played here.”

  Finn said nothing, his gaze impassive as he continued forward.

  “The Crone will deceive you. She always does. She preys on people’s passions. Just like the flames, her gifts never last,” Lamia pleaded. “But I can help you. Just tell me what she offered you and I’ll match it.”

  Finn shook his head. “I’m sorry, but you can’t give me what I want.”

  As he finished speaking, his blades all stabbed forward at the same time.

  Lamia raised her hands, tried to cast a spell, but it was far too late. The blades cut into her, her body spasming as they all struck simultaneously. The combined heat was so great that the fires began to consume her – incinerating her while she was still alive. She tried to scream then, raising her head to the sky, but no sound escaped. Within only seconds, a pile of ash was all that remained of the former water magic master.

  And Finn stood alone.

  He was struggling to concentrate. He knew he should release the fire – he had read the warning in the prompt. But it was a struggle. The power was intoxicating. With the flames permeating his body, he felt no pain, no hesitation, and no loss. He felt free – fully free in a way that he hadn’t experienced in more than a decade.

  Yet it also felt wrong.

  In a flash, he saw Rachael’s smiling face in his mind’s eye. “You are almost at the Finn-ish line,” she had murmured in his ear.

  But he wasn’t there yet.

  He had a concrete goal now – one he intended to accomplish.

  A reason to keep going.

  Mustering all the willpower he had left, Finn forcefully released his fire mana. Yet this time, he couldn’t simply force it back into his mana pool. This power had come from the Seer and was far too great to contain. He had to release the pressure somehow. Acting quickly, Finn did the only thing he could. He set it free.

  The energy exploded outward, creating a wave of flame nearly ten feet tall that rolled across the field, melting the snow and burning away the corpses that littered the field, leaving only charred bones in its wake.

  As the energy finally fled him, Finn dropped to the ground. He felt suddenly weak – almost too feeble to move. Notifications flashed in the corner of his vision, but he was having difficulty focusing on them. As his vision swam and he began to lose consciousness, Finn remembered that there was one last thing he needed to do.

  Amid the nearby pile of ash, he saw a familiar glowing token. The edges were singed and crumbling, but the warded stone was otherwise intact. He struggled toward it, crawling along the ground and using the last vestiges of his stamina. As his fingers curled around the token, the darkness finally began to claim him, the world bleeding away. Finn gave himself over to it willingly – too exhausted to fight any further.

  Chapter 42 - Triumphant

  Finn blinked blearily. His throat felt raw, and it hurt to swallow.

  His fingers clawed at the ground, coming away wet. As his eyes began to focus, he realized that his hands were covered in a mixture of frigid water and mud. He forced himself upright, groaning at the effort. Notifications were still flashing in the corner of his vision, but he didn’t spare them much attention.

  His focus was on the field around him.

  It looked like a meteor had struck the mountainside, obliterating the snow and leaving muddy, charred dirt and stone. Amid this scene of devastation were dozens of corpses – little more than blackened skeletons now. The memories came flooding back then.

  His encounter with the Seer. The ambush. His decision.

  “Rachael,” Finn croaked.

  Finn had done this.

  Well, technically, the Seer was primarily responsible. From the explanation he had been given of the magic system and the goddess’ words inside her tent, his guess was that the goddess harvested mana. The Emir’s competition had likely created a whirlpool of passion – students dedicated to winning the duels. Perhaps Finn’s own infamy had helped, creating a nemesis that pushed the other students to ever more-extreme heights.

  Either way, it seemed like that had been a one-time deal.

  Notifications still flickered in the corner of his vision. Likely indicating levels gained and skills upgraded. However, Finn wasn’t interested in that right now. There was only one thing he was curious about.

  Finn pulled up his mod. The UI soon flickered in his vision. As he opened his spellbook, he could see what he had created. The incantation was long and complicated – far more complex than anything that Finn had cast before. There were also no gestures linked to the spell. He must have been acting entirely on instinct. He doubted he would be able to recast it again – at least not any time soon. Although, the Seer’s message to Finn had been clear. Someday, he might be capable of harnessing that sort of power.

  A spell capable of obliterating a small army of mages.

  Finn shoved himself to his feet, feeling the crisp winter air drift across his bare chest. He looked down at the Seer’s mark. The tattoo had receded and was now only emblazoned along his right arm. Although, Finn could have sworn the flames had grown slightly, almost touching his elbow now. He couldn’t be certain what that meant.

  He shook his head; that question could wait for another time.

  His eyes drifted to his hand, where a familiar stone token rested in his palm. The surface glowed with a faint light. He needed to return to the guild. He couldn’t be certain how much time had passed in-game – he certainly hadn’t had a chance to check his clock before massacring the group of mages and passing out.

  Finn pulled his old tunic out of his bag, tugging the garment over his head. Perhaps he could at least conceal the tattoo along his right arm. Although, as he surveyed himself, it was still obvious he had been through hell. He grimaced as his eyes skimmed to Lamia’s remains. The water mage’s death would likely raise some questions – especially since Khiana had destroyed the water elemental and hadn’t returned. Perhaps Finn could at least clean himself up and hide any obvious details that might allow someone to identify the water mage. With a sigh, he got to work.

  A few minutes later, Finn was as prepared as he was going to be.

  He pulled out the two tokens. He had no idea what he was going to face when he returned, but there was nothing for it. Not giving himself time to hesitate, Finn tapped the tokens together, a miasma of rainbow-colored energy tearing open around him and the world drifting away.

  ***

  In an instant, Finn was back in the guild courtyard.

  What he witnessed was pure chaos. A massive crowd still filled the field, hundreds of angry and confused voices drifting through the air. The portal of water still hung over the dais, but the picture was blanked out, the surface only reflecting the sunlight that beat down on the courtyard. At some point, several earth mages had created a rough barricade around the dais, securing it against the crowd of onlookers.

  Finn glanced to the side and saw Nefreet huddled with a group of water mages and other faculty – likely trying to figure out what the hell had happened and how they could re-secure the connection to the water elemental. Although, strangely, Abbad was nowhere to be seen. Usually, the librarian was attached to the headmaster at the hip.

  Okay, so it doesn’t look like too much time passed…

  A cry went up from the field as someone caught sight of Finn, still haggard and bloodied. He saw that it was Julia standing on her chair and screaming at the top of h
er lungs, “Finn has returned. Finn won!” He could see Kyyle standing beside her, the youth soon adding his voice to the chorus of cheers that had begun to erupt from the crowd.

  That got Nefreet’s attention, and the headmaster met Finn’s gaze. For an instant, Finn saw something that resembled surprise flit across the man’s face. Although it was gone in an instant. Had he known about Lamia’s deception? Suspected it? Maybe the man was just surprised at Finn’s abrupt return. He had thought the conspiracy might have died with Lamia, but something in the headmaster’s reaction gave him pause.

  Or perhaps he was just becoming paranoid…

  Nefreet gestured at an air mage, and a breeze soon drifted through the crowd. Then the headmaster’s voice whispered among the other mages. “Finn has won his duel against Khiana! Look on, mages, and behold your new guild champion! May he fight for the glory of the guild in the Emir’s competition!”

  At the same time, a notice slammed down in Finn’s vision.

  Local Area Notice: Lahab

  The Mage Guild has completed its competition, and the traveler named Finn has been declared the guild’s champion!

  A roar of sound met this announcement, the crowd letting out a resounding cheer. Amid this riotous wave of noise, Finn felt a large hand clap him on the back, and he turned to find Brutus grinning at him. “Well done, kid! I knew you had it in you.”

  “I’m not a kid,” Finn replied sourly. “We’ve been over this a few times now…”

  The fire mage just ignored him – his excitement getting the better of him. Before Finn could ask him what he was doing, Brutus’ hands had started winding through a series of gestures. A fountain of flame suddenly speared into the air, mages diving out of the way to avoid the blast of heat. The large man continued to pour more and more mana into the column, and other fire mages soon joined him.

  Flames rocketed through the air as dozens of mages channeled their mana simultaneously. The flames continued to expand, the column widening until it had forced everyone from the dais. The fire grew, twisted, and spiraled, fountaining up into the air until the column towered nearly a hundred feet. The flames then arced back toward the courtyard and embers rained down upon the crowd – twinkling like fireflies.

  Finn had mixed feelings as he watched the flames. The column was almost certainly visible throughout Lahab and loudly announced Finn to the other residents and travelers. He could also feel his own mana respond to the passion in the crowd’s cries and the roar of the fire, but he didn’t let himself give in to the sensation.

  Despite the cheers and his victory, Finn didn’t feel a true sense of triumph. This was just one step along a long and twisting path. A path that he hoped would eventually lead him back to Rachael. As the Seer’s illusion had whispered to him, this wasn’t the end.

  It was just the beginning.

  Chapter 43 - Resolved

  Finn opened his eyes, taking in the rumpled, chaotic texture of the drywall along the ceiling. He had been awake for some time. He lay there without moving, savoring the calm and refusing to give in to the dark thoughts that lingered at the edges of his mind. He knew he didn’t have long, maybe a minute at most.

  On cue, Daniel’s blue form soon flashed into existence nearby, his voice far too cheery for the hour. “Good morning, sir.”

  Finn just rubbed at his face without responding.

  “Are you alright?” the AI prompted a few seconds later.

  “Yes, Daniel,” Finn replied tiredly. This was their familiar ritual – part of a sequence of steps that comprised Finn’s morning routine. At his reply, a soft chime echoed through the air, and a chair wheeled into the room, gliding over toward the edge of the bed.

  “Would you like any help, sir?” Daniel asked.

  “I’m good,” Finn grunted, as he did every morning.

  Finn gripped his legs, feeling nothing as his fingers touched the bare skin. After days and weeks spent in-game, it was his real-world body – heavy and useless – that had begun to feel foreign to him. He maneuvered the limbs over the edge of the bed and then lifted himself into the chair, grunting from the effort.

  He refused the AI’s assistance again when he offered to help roll him into the bathroom. Instead, Finn palmed the wheels with practiced movements. Then he set to work, throwing himself into his routine to quiet those damnable thoughts and questions. He brushed his teeth and took a shower – the most exhausting step. Most importantly, he took his time. He was in no hurry today. In fact, the routine was calming – a welcome distraction.

  1 hour and 58 minutes later, Finn was finished.

  He wheeled himself into the kitchen, yet again refusing Daniel’s help. Today, there was no telltale smell of cooking food or impromptu visit from his children. Only cold tile and polished countertops stared back at him. The room felt chilly, although he knew that Daniel carefully regulated the temperature in the house. It was the same as it was yesterday, and it would be tomorrow.

  “Please adjust the household temperature up 1 degree,” Finn ordered. Although, a part of him knew that it wasn’t the house’s AC that bothered him.

  “Of course, sir,” Daniel replied, pulsing softly.

  Then, with a sigh, Finn set to work, snatching some food from the fridge and going through the motions of cooking himself breakfast.

  Another 47 minutes later and Finn set the last of the cooking instruments in the dishwasher. He sat there, looking around the room and searching for another task. Unfortunately, there was nothing left. He was washed, dressed, groomed, and fed. His laundry list of commonplace tasks was complete.

  “Would you like for me to prepare your office?” Daniel chirped from nearby.

  Finn grimaced. He had been putting that off. He had been trying to distract himself from the inevitable with the mundane. Yet there was nothing for it.

  With deliberate movements, Finn wheeled himself down the hall and into his office, hovering in the doorway for a moment. His eyes rested on a familiar helmet that sat upon on the solitary table in the center of the room. The dark plastic seemed to absorb the fluorescent light like a black hole. Or maybe that was just his imagination.

  He pushed his way into the center of the room, and screens flickered to life, orbiting him slowly. A news feed drifted across one screen – proof that he was still connected to the public network. That was yet another change from the norm. Another display showed half-written code: some experiments and tweaks for his in-game UI.

  Finn observed the screens, finally letting the chaotic thoughts return.

  The training. The fighting. The invention.

  The blood and fire.

  The offer.

  Awaken Online.

  “Sir, are you alright?” Daniel prompted.

  Finn started and glanced at the AI. This instanced version of Daniel represented Finn’s original coding. He was a mechanical puppet pulled along on well-defined digital strings. Yet his voice and behavior now sounded quite different than his fiery cousin in-game. The orange fire elemental had changed since Finn had introduced his code into AO. He had become surly when he wasn’t summoned, expressed emotion – even challenged Finn’s judgment. The fiery form of Daniel showed a semblance of autonomy.

  A stray thought tugged at the edges of Finn’s mind. That was something he could address right now. Something he could control.

  And perhaps something that could quiet the chaos that still lingered in the back of his head – the questions that had returned in full force once he’d pulled off that headset.

  With a swipe of his wrist, Finn brought up a keyboard, the translucent keys projected in the air in front of him. His fingers danced, and the floating screens shifted and disappeared. In their place, a new image materialized, hovering in the air and rotating slowly. It showed a softly glowing blue cube. Finn tapped it, and the object expanded, breaking into dozens of smaller cubes that hovered around a central core.

  This was a visual representation of Daniel’s original codebase. The simple household
AI Finn had built represented a set of core processes and ancillary modules that had been added to handle specific tasks. Despite the familiar structure, he still reviewed the model carefully, looking for any anomalies.

  Finding nothing, Finn flicked the structure away.

  Here was the moment of truth.

  Finn pulled up the code for the in-game version of Daniel.

  A new image popped into existence, this one glowing with a bright orange light.

  “What is this?” Finn murmured in shock.

  A fountain of orange energy had sprung to life in front of him. There was a single column, the edges at the top blurring and arcing – curling back in on themselves and reattaching at the bottom of the cylinder. Finn pinched at the air and zoomed in. That was when he realized that the fountain was actually composed of millions of the smaller modular blocks. Even as Finn watched, they shifted and changed and reformed, flowing through the structure and evolving with each pass.

  Finn recognized what he was looking at, but it still seemed impossible. It mimicked the structure he had initially used for the AI he had developed for Cerillion Logistics, but someone had gone much, much further. The structure represented an infinite recursive loop, with the program designing new modules and improving the others with each subsequent pass. The code was overhauled, destroyed, and reborn as it flowed through the column.

  Even more spectacular, the AI was improving on its ability to make improvements. The flow and twist of the code was changing even as Finn watched. It was actively evolving and adapting. The modular code almost looked like blood passing through a living creature, pulsing and throbbing like a heartbeat with each rotation.