by Rick Scott
“I’m sorry, Reece. I can’t explain all that to you right now. Just know it’s possible and that I need you. Someone I care for very much is depending on me to get back to them. And now may be my only opportunity before it’s too late. I can’t wait till the next world boss to spawn.”
I look at the countdown clock.
23 seconds left.
The desperation in Val Helena’s eyes is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. She bet the world on me and now she’s counting on me to come through for her in her time of need.
The same she did for me.
But can I truly return the favor?
What about mom and Mike? If I can’t get home in time, how will I be able to save them both? What about Gilly?
“I’m with you either way, Ryan,” Gilly says and she takes my hand in hers. “If you’re going, so am I. No way I’m going to let this thing take my memories of you from me. No matter what risk I have to take.”
Her words melt my heart.
I look between Gilly and Val Helena; two women who I can honestly say I now love. They’ve both changed my life in so many ways in the last few days, and all for the better. I then think back to that conversation with my mother right after Mike left. I can hear her voice clear in my mind as I recall her words
Don’t waste your life fighting for me and Mike. Live for your friends as well.
And these are two of the best friends I’ve ever had.
My resolve hardens as I finally understand what my mother was trying to teach me.
There’s more to this world than me just trying protecting my family.
I need to live up to my promises and protect my friends as well.
“All right, Val,” I say. “I’ll come for you. Just like I promised.”
It’s the hardest words I’ve ever had to say. I’m risking everything again to stay true to my word. But what kind of person would I be, if I didn’t? Certainly not one my mother could be proud of. But maybe I still have time to save my brother as well. If he got my message earlier, perhaps he’s waiting for me now. I just need to go and come back as fast as I can. And if Gilly’s coming, to not forget me, then I need to protect her as well. I look into her big green eyes to give my word once more. “I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I’ll keep you safe.”
Gilly grins widely. “Hey, that’s going to be my job.”
I smile and squeeze her hand tighter.
“We’re with you, Val,” Gilly says and the goddess half giant has tears in her big grey eyes.
“Gilly. Reece.” Val Helena places her large hand on top on ours as the timer runs out. “Thank you.”
A bright white light engulfs us, accompanied by a hurricane like wind.
“I promise I’ll get you home in time, Reece!” Val Helena shouts as we slowly begin to dissolve. “All we have to do…is survive!”
Chapter 36 Citadel
We materialize into the new shard and it’s an odd feeling. It actually feels more like logging out than logging in. Strange things hit my senses immediately. I feel the chafe and tug of my armor. Smell a sweet odor like you get after an electrical spark.
The sky is dark, but I can’t tell if it’s night or just extremely dark clouds overhead, or perhaps a combination of the two. All around me stretches desert sands but beneath my feet I feel a hard surface and it appears I’m standing on a disk of glasslike material about two feet in diameter. I look to my right and see Gilly a few feet away, also standing on the same type of disk. A third one, next to her, is vacant.
To my other side, Val Helena is still materializing and it’s the oddest thing I’ve ever seen. Her body is appearing, but bit by bit, growing vertically, like someone is slowly filling a glass of water. I watch mesmerized as the “water line” that is moving up her body, swirls with something that resembles dust or sand with electric sparks. It moves upwards, completing her shoulders, neck and finally her goddess face and platinum blonde hair adorned with her warrior crown.
“Whoa,” Gilly says beside me, looking as well. “That’s weird.”
I have to agree. I’ve never seen anything like that in game before, but it reminds me of something that I can’t quite place.
Val Helena’s eyes open. In the darkness, I can see faint images glowing within them; menu screens with tiny writing. The images disappear and then she cranes her next forward to peer into the darkness. Suddenly her eyes grow wide. “We need to go… now!”
“What?” I look in the same direction and see a large shape moving in the darkness, kicking up dust as it charges towards us. What the heck?
“Just run!” Val Helena cries. “RUN!”
I grab Gilly’s hand as my heart thunders in my chest, spurred on by the alarm in Val Helena’s voice. I dash after the half giant as she kicks up sand with her long strides, running down the leeward side of the massive sand dune we were standing upon. A shriek fills the air, a horrid sound like twisting metal that hurts my ears and fills my chest with fright.
“What was that?” Gilly cries.
“A sentry,” Val Helena says. “We need to find a safe zone.”
A what?
To my left I see something running on all fours, an animal of some kind, but big like one of those jungle panthers; although the shape looks more canine than feline. Val Helena comes to a sudden stop and curses. “We’re not going to outrun it. We need to fight!”
My heart races as we stand back to back with Gilly in the middle.
“Buff yourselves now!” Val Helena shouts and grabs her two handed axe from her back. “Use whatever you have!”
Holy crap!
I cast Shadow Haste and Shadow Copy while Gilly buffs us with Minor Favor of the Goddess. I see the buff icons appear on my HUD but I don’t see the usual special effects that go with them.
The beast comes running at us and Val Helena steps forward to intercept it. It is indeed some kind of large dog, but it looks half made of metal or wearing some kind of armor perhaps. Its head is covered by a metal cowl, as is most of its body, with only its forelegs and hindquarters exposed, but covered in a thick brown fur. Its tail is mangled and half bare and under the metal cowl its eyes glow with an eerier red light. I focus on it to see how strong it is.
Lupine Sentry
Level: 100
No data available
Affinity: N/A
Level 100?? What the heck?
Val Helena thunks her Axe into its neck and the beasts lets out a yelp, sparks and blood flying. An HP bar above its head goes down by only 10%!
A 10% hit from Val in warrior mode? Crap, these things are tough! Whatever they are!
“Reece, tank it!” Helena shouts as the wolf—I decide—turns on her. “Just don’t let it pin you!”
I freeze for a moment, shocked at the ferocity of the animal as it snaps at Val Helena. She fends it off with a poke of her Axe, before giving it another chop for 10%.
“Here!” I shout using Warcry and my voice reverberates like I just yelled through a megaphone.
The wolf turns at me and leaps with a savage snarl. It moves faster than anything I’ve ever fought before and it crashes into me with a burst of dust. I expect to be thrown to the ground but the dog runs right through me and is now behind me looking confused. A single message is on my HUD.
Your shadow absorbs the attack.
I quickly recast Shadow Copy again as the dog leaps and I avoid it using my real reflexes this time.
Your evasion increased by 0.8
Skill up! Your evasion is now 327
My heart is beating with real fear and sweat is running down my face. I can smell its salty tinge as well the iron sent of the blood leaking from the wolf’s neck. Val Helena comes in from behind and nails the beast in the back taking another huge chunk of life. As it spins to face her, I draw my katanas and go for its neck. But the blades feel oddly heavy and off balance in my hands and I barely hit it with any kind of force at all.
I chip it for 1% damage, not nearl
y enough to gets its attention.
The wolf snaps and latches onto Val Helena’s thigh drawing blood as it pulls away with a chunk of flesh.
Val!!
She cries out as her HP drops by 30% and my blood freezes at the sound she makes. It’s a horrid pain filled shriek that I’ve never heard her make before. Never heard anyone make before in game! My shock turns to anger. I can’t let this thing hurt my friend! I quickly hide and then thrust my blades into the Wolf’s flank with a backstab.
Critical hit!
You backstab the Lupine Sentry for 783 damage!
The unmitigated damage takes off a good 15% of its health bar and it loses interest in Val Helena immediately. I anticipate the wolf’s bite as it faces me and narrowly get by with a quick sidestep. I then plunge into its hide with my blades, one quick stab after another and its HP drops 2% at a time.
Val Helena recovers and chops at the wolf with a double attack as Gilly gives her a heal. There’s no bright white light like I’m used to, but I see Val Helena’s wound close with a faint cloud of dust and sparks.
The wolf lunges to pounce on top of me and I blow active dodge. I don’t exactly blur as normal but shift instantaneously with a puff of smoke. Val Helena finally kills the wolf with an overhead chop that severs its head.
You defeated the Lupine Sentry
You gain 27,000 experience points.
Gilly has gained a level!
Gilly has gained a level!
Gilly has gained a level!
Gilly has gained a level!
Gilly has gained a level!
Gilly has gained a level!
Gilly’s eyes go wide. “Whoa…”
I’m breathing so hard I fear I might pass out.
“We need to move,” Val Helena says and but then comes to a stop again with another curse. “Damn it. More of them…”
I look atop the dune ahead of us, and see three more canine shadows charging our way.
Oh no…
One of those things was bad enough, but three?
“I’m sorry you two,” Val Helena says. “There aren’t supposed to be so many so quickly.”
What is she saying?
I tense as I grip my blades and Gilly clings by my side. “Reece?”
The beasts charge at us, but one of them starts yelping as sparks ignite all over its body. The rapid pop, pop, pop of gunfire fills the air and I follow the sparks to a black bald headed man in a trenchcoat wielding two pistols. He runs in a wide arc, his trenchcoat flying behind him like a cape. He continues to fire as the wolf tries to give chase, its HP slowly depleting, but it freezes every few steps, snared by something invisible on the ground.
Another figure comes flying out of nowhere, slamming into the center wolf with a kick that takes off 5% of its health. The red karate gi he’s wearing becomes a blur as he stuns the wolf with a triple kick and then wails on it with a series of quick blows.
“It’s Maxis!” Val Helena cries and charges forward at the remaining wolf. “Come on! We can take them now!”
I dash past Val Helena with a Charge Strike, hitting the wolf and securing its attention with a Warcry. I’m just barely aware of the other carnage surrounding me as I focus on not taking a bite from the wolf’s razor sharp jaws. Maxis seems to be holding his own, as well as the other guy, Rembrandt, I recall his name was, as he kites the wolf to a slow death with his blazing pistols.
Val Helena releases a Power Attack and we kill the wolf in quick order, earning another level up for Gilly. We then help finish off the wolf Maxis is fighting, who has it down to 30% just on his own. Then all three of us kill the one Rembrandt is kiting and finally the dunes are silent once more.
I collapse to the desert sand, both from exertion and elation at being rescued. “Thanks. You really saved us.”
Maxis doesn’t seem to hear me as he stoops down to the corpse of the wolf to examine it. He places his hand on the dead beast and the corpse vanishes, collapsing into nothing as if it were made out of sand. He repeats the process with the other three corpses as well.
What the heck?
Gilly runs to join us, the same time as Rembrandt.
“You okay?” she asks. “That was crazy scary.”
“Yeah it was,” I say, still a bit shook up. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Good thing these guys came by.”
“I’m Val Helena,” Val says and outstretches her hand to Maxis.
Maxis just looks up at her and ignores the hand. “Yeah. I know who you are.”
Thankfully the other guy Rembrandt shakes it though.
“A pleasure, miss,” he says with an English accent. “Rembrandt.”
We then all shake hands introducing ourselves to him.
“You guys are from Nasgar right?” Maxis says finally. “Is this it?”
“Yes.” Val Helena nods. “And yes, this is it.”
He lets out a scoff. “Figures.”
Man, what a jerk…
“What happened to your third?” Val Helena asks. “The little girl with the big sword? Did she not come?”
“She died to a sentry a few minutes ago.”
My blood goes cold. Died…?
Maxis then eyes us one by one and I see a faint glow behind his shades as he perhaps pulls up our stats on his HUD. He then pauses at Gilly. “Level 21? You guys must be joking.”
That causes Gilly to turn red and I feel like giving Maxis a piece of my mind.
“But at least you got a healer.” He shrugs. “Been awhile since we’ve had one of those.”
He then looks to me. “Ninja?”
“Yes,” Val Helena jumps in before I can speak. “And he has Shadow Copy.”
He looks back at me again. “She serious?”
I feel like I’m being dressed down by a drill sergeant or something. Whoever this guy Maxis is, I’m not liking him any. “Yeah, I got Shadow Copy. You want me to prove it?”
He steps back from me surprised by my response. But then he just grunts. “If you do, then we might actually have a shot at this.” And then he turns his back to me. “I just hope you don’t turn out to be another Aiko.”
Another Aiko? What did that mean?
“We need to get moving to a safe zone,” Maxis says. “I don’t think anyone else is making it in. Let’s roll.”
As he walks away something strikes me as familiar about him and then the recognition hits me like a freight train. That walk. I’d know it anywhere. But it didn’t make sense. Couldn’t make sense. I remove my ninja mask and scarf before calling out to him.
“Mike?”
Maxis stops dead in his tracks.
He turns slowly removing his shades, revealing a set of ice blue eyes that match my own. They search my face and then widen as the recognition hits him as well.
“Ryan?” he says. And then his brows lower and I hear my brother’s voice rings true and clear. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Chapter 37 Revelations
I’m so shocked and perplexed to see my brother that I don’t even notice when his fist comes flying at me from ten feet away and pegs me square in the jaw. I hit the ground in a daze and pain explodes through my face as I lose 10% of my hit points.
Mike a.k.a. Maxis is standing over me in a second, brandishing his fists. “You got one second to explain this, you idiot! How the hell are you here?”
I rub my face as the pain radiates through my cheek. “Geez, man! What you do that for?”
“Answer me, dick weed!” he bellows. “How are you here?”
Val Helena steps in and gently presses a hand again Maxis’ chest. “Whoa take it easy there, tiger. You two actually know each other?”
Maxis breathes heavily through his nostrils, his stone cold eyes never leaving mine.
“Yeah,” he says, and then he spits out the next words out like they taste bad: “He’s my kid brother.”
Val Helena’s jaw drops. She then looks down at me and her eyes widen like she’s seeing me f
or the first time. “Maxis is your brother?”
I’m still trying to come to grips with the idea myself. “Yeah… I… guess so?”
Val Helena stares at me a moment more and then throws her head back with a goddess laugh. Gilly is looking at me as shocked and confused as I am. I can only give her a helpless shrug.
“This is too rich,” Val Helena says still laughing and finally her mirth ends with a long sigh. “Well…that explains the reflexes. Hot damn, Reece. How did you not know this?”
I shake my head. “I…I don’t know.”
“I swear, I’m so pissed at you right now, Ryan,” Maxis says. “If we were back home, I’d drag down to the hub and throw you in the doggone vats!”
“Okay, okay,” Val Helena says. “Let’s not get carried away.”
“Oy Maxis,” Rembrandt cuts in. “As much as I hate to break up the family reunion, might I remind you we’re still in center of a wild zone?”
Val Helena looks over her shoulder. “He’s right. We need to get moving before more sentries come.”
Maxis pauses a moment more to replace his shades and then thrusts a finger into my face. “This is not over. As soon as we’re to a safe zone, I’m getting the truth out of you. Even if I have to beat it out.”
He turns and stalks away, Rembrandt following after him.
Gilly rushes to my side and casts a heal spell on me, which soothes my face immediately and restores my HP. “Whoa…you weren’t joking. Your brother really is a dick.”
“Tell me about it,” I groan as I sit up.
“And why is he here?” Gilly says. “Is this what he was planning to do?”
“I have no idea. None of this is making any sense.”
My mind is aflutter with conflicting thoughts and emotions. Every conversation I’ve ever had with my brother is replaying in my mind but in a totally different context now.
“Is he always so intense?” Val Helena asks still staring at him.