by Tyler R Lee
“Called it,” Peter stated without expression.
“So,” Ariel injected. “If you had these blueprints, who could build such a thing for us?”
The old sea captain laughed. “Young lady, if it’s a ship, then meself and the people of this village can put it together. And, if it is what legend says, it won’t exhaust our resources.”
“Great,” Gunner exclaimed. “So, how do we get into the Hidden Tomb?”
“Weren’t ye paying attention, lad?” chastised the sea captain. “No one’s been able to get in there in forever. No one knows how.”
“Yeah, ‘lad’.” Streak grinned as he eyed Gunner, who noticeably blushed as he turned up an annoyed grimace.
“Do you know of anyone who would know more about the Hidden Tomb?” Ariel asked.
The old man looked to fall deep into thought as he rubbed his chin and looked out his window. After a few heartbeats, he turned back to the group and said, “The village elder, Gregor, would be yer best bet. His duty to know all about the history and lore of the place.”
Collectively, the group nodded to each other before bidding the old man farewell.
“Bit cliche, don’t ya think?” Streak asked as the group made their way up the hill, back toward the town square.
“What?” Lysander asked.
“I mean, ancient civilization tech, lost but with better shit than the current people, must be retrieved from dungeon no one knows how to get into. Not the freshest premise, all I’m saying.”
“The fact that it can actually kill us makes it fresh enough for me,” Peter said. The rest of the group had a good chuckle, but the laughs were weighted with the truth of the statement. No matter the story, this game can and would kill them if they gave it the slightest chance.
“So, if we have to see the elder, wouldn’t he have been back in the village where most of the people live?” Peter asked after the group quieted.
“Normally,” Lysander said. “But, at this time of day, he can be found up in the town square. His pre-programed route doesn’t take him back to his home until closer to sunset.”
As predicted, the village elder--an absolutely ancient looking man robed in blue with a face seemingly frozen in a kind smile and closed eyes--was casually strolling around the town square when the group arrived. “Excuse me, um...village elder,” Peter called as he jogged over to the NPC. “What can you tell us about the ship plans possibly hidden in the Hidden Tomb?”
“Not wasting any time, I see,” Ariel called as the rest of the group casually walked up to the two.
The elder, as if hearing the voice but ignoring the words, turned to Peter, warm smile widening, and answered in a strained and high-pitched voice, “Oh, hello there, young one. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I...do you know anything about the plans for a ship in the Hidden Tomb?” Peter asked again.
“The Hidden Tomb?” the village elder asked, and Peter cracked a bit of a smile. It faded quickly, however. “Ah yes, the ancient burial chamber just west of the village. You can find it if you head out of New Beginnings just past the practice yards and follow that path for a couple of miles.” Peter waited, foot tapping impatiently, hoping the elder wasn’t done. Finally, the elder added, “Was there anything specific you wanted to know about the Hidden Tomb?”
“I’m done,” Peter said as he rolled his eyes, threw his hands up, and turned to walk back to the group. “Someone else can tag in.”
The group laughed, particularly Lysander and Ariel.
“You gotta be patient and specific with the NPCs in this game, do to a player’s ability to literally ask anything,” Ariel said through a chuckle as Lysander stepped forward to speak with the elder.
“Should’ve known I’d hate talking to people in the game. I hate talking to people outside of the game, after all,” Peter said.
“Why do you think I always let Lysander do the talking?” Ariel smiled as she nudged Peter, who smirked and nudged her back.
After a few moments, Lysander snapped his fingers at the group and pointed to the elder, needing to get their attention and let them know his dialogue had moved to the point they needed to hear, but not wanting to say anything that could interrupt and start the whole conversation over again.
“Ah, yes,” the elder seemed to muse as his voice quieted and he looked to the east. “The old captain has told you of the legend of the vessel, has he? It is a fine tale. Sadly, no one that we know of has ever been able to get into the tomb to find it for themselves.”
“Is there anything that speaks of a way to enter the Hidden Tomb,” Lysander asked carefully.
“I know of none, directly. However, part of the legend of the vessel is that the people who hid the plans deep within the tomb after constructing it took the secrets of it deep into the Forest of Want. Perhaps these secrets include the way to enter.”
“Thank you,” Lysander said with a bow. As he turned back to a grinning group, the elder added with a warning tone, “Beware if you mean to travel into the Forest of Want. People who venture within become consumed, losing their minds and becoming a threat to others who follow their doomed path. You must keep your wits about you, and you must keep your gaze sharp.”
The group deflated a bit from those remarks. “I guess this is where easy ends,” Gunner said.
“Yeah,” Lysander agreed. “Looks like the time for talk is over. Let's head to the practice field and wait for the others to return. Then we can decide on how to tackle the Forest of Want.”
***
“So where is Fangorn Forest?” Peter asked as the group relaxed at the practice yard and waited for the others to return.
“I thought it was called the Forest of Want,” Streak said with a confused look on his face as he tried to balance on the chest-high wall on one side of the yard.
“Did you never see Lord of the Rings?” Gunner asked as he transformed his right arm into a Megaman-like buster cannon, then back, repeating this process out of boredom.
“Never got around to it,” Streak answered, his tone a little shorter with Gunner now than with the others.
“Well, we can’t be friends, now,” Peter shouted. Streak stuck out his tongue in response.
“The Forest of Want is west of here, in the same direction as the Hidden Tomb,” Lysander answered, sitting cross legged on the ground. He had placed his pointed wizards hat beside him and had his staff in his lap as he pulled up the virtual map for everyone around to see. He seemed to be lost in thought as he explained the location.
“Our situation may suck, but this Tony Stark shit never gets old,” Streak said as he dashed over with lightning speed, commenting on the virtual nature of the map that Lysander manipulated with his hands.
“Well, at least you like comics, so you’re not a total lost cause,” Peter chided, which Streak responded with a playful shove.
“About halfway between here and the tomb, a new path heads north,” Lysander continued. “Follow that and you enter the Forest of Want.”
“Any useful information about the forest?” Gunner asked.
“I haven’t found anything in the in-game journal more than the creepy warning the village elder gave us. So, like everything else outside of this town, the forest probably wants to kill us. We’ll all need to have each others’ backs.”
A collection of resigned sighs and nervous but affirmative glances made their way around the group. Of course everything wanted to kill them. Was that not the point of this whole game, after all? Still, hearing it never got easier for anyone. Luckily, these players had been together for a while now, and they had grown closer through great tragedy and small triumphs.
Silence and distant glances occupied the group’s next several minutes while they waited for the rest of their companions to arrive. Soon, they heard a commotion coming from just up the road from the practice field.
“Hey, all,” Glitch called, waving as she hopped up and down as they approached. “How did it...oh,” she added as sh
e saw the somewhat downtrodden look on the players waiting for their return.
Once the group came together, they shared the information the village elder had given them.
“So, it’s into a forest that no one really knows anything about?” Glitch asked with feigned enthusiasm after her and the others were filled in on all the details.
“And this is before we can get into the ancient tomb...that no one really knows anything about?” Tony added with a look that conveyed he was more than a little apprehensive.
“Don’t forget,” Streak interjected. “This is all to get plans for some kind of ship to take us across the Vast Sea...which no one really knows anything about, either.”
Part of the group had a chuckle at the helplessly absurd nature of it all. Others shared worried looks. “It is not ideal,” Lysander said with a sigh.
“Ha!” Tony and a few others said out loud to the understatement.
“However,” Lysander continued. “We don’t have many options. If anyone else has any ideas, this is the place to voice them. Otherwise, forward seems to be the only path.”
As many expected, silence was all that answered the dark elf’s request for fresh options.
“So who’s going into the forest?” ValCary asked after the silence became unnerving. “Are we all going in?”
“I don’t think that would be ideal,” NoScope answered. “For the tomb, yes. But for the forest, too many players could be disadvantageous.”
“Agreed,” Ariel added. “From the little we have heard, the Forest of Want is dense and probably pretty treacherous. Better to not have a large group. Plus, we don’t want to put everyone at risk. We should leave some people behind to further prepare for the dungeon dive into the Hidden Tomb.”
The agreement was unanimous.
“Right,” Lysander started when everyone agreed. “Glitch, Tony, Val, I hate to keep leaving you out, but you have been doing so well with the other players, would you mind giving them one final grind session while the rest of us head into the forest?”
“Not a problem,” ValCary said with a smile as she looked to her two companions. “We trust your judgment.”
“Yeah, and you don’t have to ask me twice to not head into some mysterious, spooky forest,” Tony chuckled.
“Besides,” Glitch added with a smile. “It sounds like we’ll get plenty of game time once we head into the tomb.”
“True enough,” Lysander agreed.
With that, the groups split, as Lysander, Ariel, Peter, NoScope, Gunner, and Streak made their way to the Forest of Want as ValCary, Glitch, and Tony took the rest of the players off to gain more experience.
***
When the group reached the edge of the forest, it was clear that it was no ordinary wooded area in the game. The trees were far taller than any surrounding forest, and the fog from within reached around the edges of the woods, like nearly transparent fingers gripping the trees as they tried to escape.
Gunner bowed his head and started muttering a prayer out loud. “Please, Jesus, keep us all safe. Watch over us in our time of need.”
“A good idea,” NoScope said as she knelt and begin muttering her own prayer, a Muslim prayer for safe travels.
“Leave me out of that, if you don’t mind,” Gunner said, not impolitely.
“Why,” NoScope asked in the middle of her prayer, more curious than offended.
“‘Cause I already said my prayer for all of us, and I don’t believe in your religion, so it won’t do me any good.”
“Did you pray for me?”
“Of course I did--”
“But I can’t pray for you?”
Gunner stammered a bit. “That’s a bit different.”
“How so?”
“Stay. Together,” Peter said, sternly, eyeing Gunner with a disapproving look, and shooting NoScope an apologetic shrug. He then looked to the forest, apprehension building within him.
“Agreed,” Ariel said, the same look upon her face. The same look upon all their faces.
Without another word, the group followed the trail into the fog of the Forest of Want.
Chapter 9
If the outside of the Forest of Want unnerved the group, then the inside chilled them to their virtual bones and the ones waiting for them back in the real world. Unsurprising, the fog was far thicker within. However, now, instead of bony, transparent hands reaching around the trees, now it appeared as dozens of shifting, incorporeal shapes twisting and winding around the trunks of every tree. The fog reached out to engulf each of them, threatening to swallow them up if they wandered far from one another.
Escalating the unsettling nature of the fog was the light in the area, or lack thereof. When the group had entered, it had been just past midday. However, upon crossing the threshold for the area, the high canopy of tall trees blocked out most of the light, giving the forest the appearance of an unending late evening. Small beams of sunlight broke through in certain places, but did little to brighten the path.
“Illuminate,” Lysander said in a hushed town as he cast a spell that caused the top of his long staff to glow brightly.
“Isn’t that spell just called ‘Light,’” Peter asked with a smirk.
“Shut up. I can say what I want,” Lysander shot back without looking to Peter, though his voice couldn’t hide his smile.
His smile faded quickly, however, when he noticed that the fog seemed to be dampening the light spell. It was certainly providing a helpful amount of illumination, but it should have been much brighter.
“Come on,” the wizard said as he pointed his staff down the path. “We had better get started.”
“Lead on, Gandalf,” Peter chided.
Lysander let out a laugh from the front of the group. “Yes, follow me, my band of dwarves,” he said in his best old man impression. The rest of the group joined in the jest.
The group’s frivolity quickly gave way to uncertainty as they trekked through the dense forest. The dim lighting and fog made exploration and sticking together two mutually exclusive tasks. That in mind, they all decided to adhere strictly to the path in front of them.
“Ya know,” Peter said as the group continued along for what seemed like hours after entering the forest. “I’m amazed at how lifelike this game is.”
“Example?” Lysander called out from the front.
“Well, for example, we’ve been walking for what feels like...3 weeks at least…” Several chuckles were heard from the group at this stark exaggeration. “And I actually am starting to feel tired.”
“You aren’t the only one,” Streak said from the back.
“And also,” Peter continued. “Here is another way I’m impressed with the realism of this game. I seem to detest hiking in here as much as I do in real life.” That caused several more fits of laughter from the group. A welcome reprieve from the unnerving nature of their surroundings.
The laughter came to a halt quickly, however. In the midst of Peter’s joke, Lysander had stopped abruptly. When the others noticed, they stopped as well. “What’s up,” Streak called from the back.
“Come and see for yourself,” Lysander answered. With that, the group broke their straight line marching formation and gathered around Lysander to see what he was looking at. When they saw, the reason for the halt became clear.
“This is...familiar,” Peter said as he contemplated what he saw. Ariel nodded in agreement.
They had come to a large clearing, about forty to fifty feet in diameter. The fog was thinner within the empty clearing, and there seemed to be a bit more light. However, directly in front of them, on the other side of the clearing, was a path. There was another on the right of the clearing, and one more on the left. They had come to a crossroads. These paths were completely shrouded by the fog, making each one as unwelcoming as the next.
“Which way do we go?” Gunner asked when no one else would.
“I...don’t know,” Lysander answered.
No one said anything for
a good twenty minutes. Everyone in the group simply looked back and forth to the three paths they could take, not knowing which one took them closer to their destination, not really even knowing what their destination was. Finally, Streak stepped forward and said, “Right.”
Everyone turned to him with a look of surprise. “How do you know?” Lysander asked.
“I don’t,” he responded, which was followed by annoyed groans from the rest of the group. “Oh, oh, I’m sorry,” he said to the chiding. “You’re right. Somebody else, please, pick a direction.” When no one did, he simply raised his arms in an “exactly” type of gesture.