by Tyler R Lee
"Uh oh," Peter muttered. "Lysander, get up!"
"NoScope, something's wrong, get up," Ariel said as she shook the ninja awake.
"Gunner, get the hell up," Streak said as he tossed a loose piece of wood at the snoring cyborg.
"Ow! What the shit!?" Gunner yelled as the board struck him in the head.
The collective shush from the group caused him to lean back and cover his mouth with both hands. "What?" he whispered.
"Something's happening on the other side of the village," Streak repeated.
"Well...shouldn't we check it out?"
"Now that we're all up," Ariel said to Gunner with a grin.
Cautiously but quickly, the party made their way through the village streets towards the commotion, cutting through alleys when able. It was still dark and the barely rising sun was hidden behind a heavy casting of clouds, with only a bit of light came from the torches in the distance. As they approached, the shouts became more frantic, so they quickened their pace. When they heard the ringing of weapons and armor, they took off at full speed toward the conflict, Streak outpacing them all. By the time they arrived, the commotion had quieted.
As they rounded a corner, they saw bodies lying in the streets, HP bars at zero and dropping fast, some already dead.
"Quick," Lysander cried out, "get health potions to the ones still alive, look for survivors. Find out what happened." The group quickly spread out, helping whoever they could. They heard more clanging and shouting off in the distance.
Streak sped around, distributing his own health potions to those who needed them. He found a player, an older looking orc, propped up against the nearby building, HP not quite at zero. "Hey," the speedster called out as he rushed over. "Hey. You okay? What the hell happened?"
"Sneak attack," the orc muttered. "They got inside Artemis's place." He tapped his fist on the building he was leaning against. "Put her to sleep with something. We heard 'em taking her away, so we fought back. They must've had some waiting just in case, cuz then we got ambushed."
"Guys," Streak called. "Over here."
As the group rushed over, the player continued. "They took her that way," he jerked his head to the north, where the commotion was slowly dying away. "They had horses and a caged carriage with them."
"Did they all get away?" Lysander asked as he gave the player a health potion.
"Not sure," the orc said as he drank. "I think we got a few. Not sure if any of 'em are still alive."
From just a few feet away, one of the downed men stirred. He looked to the group, and a look of understanding spread across his face. He jumped up and took off running. "Streak!" Lysander called, but NoScope was already reappearing behind the fleeing player. As she appeared, she sliced the back of his legs, and he let out a terrible cry of pain and hit the ground.
"Please...ah...don't kill me," the player whimpered as he groaned in pain and clutched the back of his legs.
NoScope bend down and put her sword to his throat. In a cold voice that no one in the group had heard before, she asked, "Why not?"
"Look...I was just doing what I was told."
"And who told you to come here and kidnap Artemis?" Peter asked as he walked up beside NoScope.
"Uh...I don't...I don't think--"
"I would rethink whatever you were about to say," Gunner said as he placed his now gun arm directly in front of the player. The fear on his face was clear as the blue glow from the gathering energy illuminated him.
"I wonder what's quicker," Streak asked, his face screwed up in mock curiosity. "A sword or an arm cannon."
"Alright, alright," the man said after only a few seconds. It was Sonic Man. He...he told us to come kidnap Artemis and hold her until after the hearing."
"Of course he did," NoScope said as she stood and sheathed her sword.
"Sounds like the prick," Gunner added as he transformed his arm and stood as well.
The injured player looked around, clearly confused at the sudden retraction of the group's threatening demeanor. "Is...is that it? Am I free to go?"
"Sure," NoScope said without looking his way. "Good luck with those legs."
"You aren't going to kill me, though?"
"We don't do that." Peter said. "Not unless we have to."
"Alright, if they have horses, they are going to be impossible to catch if we don't have some,” Ariel said.
"Hey, got any horses?" Gunner asked the orc player, who was now standing thanks to the healing potion.
"Yeah, right over here in the stables." He led them to one of the nearby buildings. "Only got four, so you'll have to ride double."
"I don't need one," Streak said as he tapped his foot impatiently, staring down the path the kidnappers traveled.
"Me neither," Lysander said. He then made a couple of gestures while muttering under his breath. Then, in a puff of smoke and fire, he sat atop a black steed with a fiery mane. It snorted fire as it dug at the ground. "Hell Steed," he said with a grin when the others looked on. "Saddle up."
The others got onto their respective horses. "They have a lot of ground on us already," Lysander started. "But, they are pulling a carriage, so they can't go full speed. We should be able to catch them soon."
"Then we just have to fight them off and get Artemis back here in time for the hearing. Easier said than done," Gunner said, doubt evident in his tone.
"Maybe it is," Streak said, who had not taken his eyes off the path they were about to travel.
"What do you mean?" Lysander asked, eyeing Streak cautiously.
Streak simply looked back at the wizard, then to Gunner and grinned. Then, he eyed Peter, who saw exactly what the speedster was thinking.
"Streak, no!" Peter cried out, but the speedster had already saluted and, in a burst of lightning, started after the kidnappers.
"NO!" Peter cried as he spurred his horse forward. The others followed.
"Streak! You can't do this alone!" Peter yelled as his horse galloped as fast as the game would allow.
"What the hell is he thinking!?" Lysander asked.
"He feels guilty because of Val."
"Damn fool!" Gunner yelled. "He's gonna get himself killed!"
As the five of them spurred their horses all the faster, lightning flashed across the sky, followed by bellowing thunder as rain began to pour.
The rain only intensified as the party tore up the muddy trail, desperately trying to catch up to the kidnappers not too long after their friend did. The mud slowed the horses down considerably, as did the winding trail through the forest. The fact that the kidnappers had not only left several minutes before they did, but also had several minutes of non-muddy trails on them as well was not lost on the group.
The group road for close to an hour, their muddy trail and the storm made it nearly impossible to keep at full speed. Soon, they rode upon a clearing.
"Up ahead!" Lysander called out through the rain and galloping. His horse, magical in nature, had taken the lead early and had forced the others to keep pace.
"Oh, god," Ariel muttered as she spotted the clearing up ahead.
The group reined in their horses forcefully as they came full speed into the area. The rain, the neighing of their horses, and the thunder were the only sounds to be heard. What they saw was even worse.
At the edge of the clearing was a carriage, though it was for prisoners, having no windows on the side, and the back being made up of crisscrossing bars. The wagon was overturned and the cage was open, the cage door broken where the lock had been. Around the clearing were the bodies of several players. Their HP bars all read below zero. However, the group only noticed these details in passing. What they focused on was near the broken and upended cage. There, knelt in the mud was Artemis. Who she was knelt by caused the group's stomach to drop out.
"Streak!" Peter cried as he ran over to his downed friend. The others quickly followed.
"What happened!?" Gunner asked Artemis.
"He fought them all off." Artemis'
s voice was void of life. She kept her head down. Peter noticed that she was holding Streak's hand.
"Streak! Streak, are you alright!?" Lysander was panicking, having just noticed that the speedster's health had dropped below zero and was fading quickly. He went into his inventory, but remembered he had used all of his healing potions back at the village. "Someone get me a potion!"
"Here," Ariel scooted forward and cradled Streak's head. His helmet and goggles had been removed and placed next to him.
"That won't work." Artemis's voice was barely a whisper in the pouring rain.
"What? Why!?" Peter asked, far more forcefully than intended.
Streak's eyes opened slightly and he smiled that sarcastic grin he always wore. "She's right." His voice was weak. "Check my status, dummy."
"Oh," Ariel gasped as she covered her mouth. Tears started to escape her eyes.
"What?" Peter asked as he looked to Ariel. He then looked to Lysander, who had his hand over his eyes, his head down. "What!?" Peter looked to his friend in the mud. "It says…’cursed.’ What the hell is cursed?"
"It means..." NoScope's voice broke. "It's a status effect that prevents any healing until it is removed."
Peter's stomach dropped completely. His vision blurred for a moment, but he wiped it away. "No." Now his voice was just a whisper. "No. No no no." His volume rose. "No, that's bullshit. There has to be some item, some spell." He looked to Lysander and gripped him by the shoulder at the mention of a spell.
"No," Lysander answered as he gripped Peter's hand and squeezed it. "Not in a wizard's spell book. We would need a cleric, a priest, a holy warrior, something like that."
"Then an item?" Gunner asked, his voice close to breaking. "I know I heard about an item that could cure curse."
"A Purification Crystal," NoScope responded, her hand clutching Streak's hand that Artemis was already holding. "They are exceedingly rare. None of us have one."
"Isn't anyone gonna tell me how awesome I am?" Streak muttered. He could barely speak above a whisper. Everyone moved in, except for Artemis. She kept her head down, her shoulders quivering slightly. "I mean, I saved the day, didn't I?"
"You idiot," Gunner said, his voice completely unsteady at this point. "Why did you run here all by yourself?"
"Because...Artemis has to convince everyone not to fight. They might have gotten away if we had waited. So I made a choice."
"A dumb choice." Gunner was sobbing. NoScope placed her other hand on his shoulder and laid her head upon it.
"Come on." Streak's voice was straining even more. "Did I save the day or what?"
"You sure did, you cat faced weirdo," Peter said through tears. "You saved the day. And now we can get into Davo's Fortress. So...we need you to get up and..." His voice trailed off. Instead of finishing the thought, he punched the ground, leaving a sizable indention in the mud and in the solid rock below. "Dammit."
"He fought them all off," Artemis repeated. "He..he zoomed in here. None of them were expecting a speedster. He took out a couple of the lower level players easily. Before they even had a chance. That's when someone dropped a curse bomb. He, along with everyone else, was caught in the smoke. There were still six of them, but he took them out. No matter how many times they stabbed him, slashed him, beat him, he kept speeding around and striking. Eventually, he broke me free. I did what I could...but he had already lost so much health." Her voice completely broke and her sobs became audible.
Streak squeezed the hand she was holding. "You did great...sweetie." He then turned to Gunner. "Hey...Gunner. I think it's time for me to go, so I figure I better tell you how much I enjoyed being on your team." Tears ran down the side of the speedster's face as he spoke. "If you're right, then I'll be heading to hell, so I don't think I'll get to see you. Figured I should tell you now...brother."
Gunner scooted forward, tears streaming down his face, just like every other living face in the clearing. He grabbed Streak's head and pulled it up, placing his forehead to his dying friend's. "No, Streak. No. Any god that would send a selfless friend like you to hell...I don't want nothing to do with them. If all is fair, I'll see you in heaven...brother."
"Hopefully...hopefu..." Streak's voice trailed off. Gunner lifted his own head to look his friend in the eye and saw that the light had completely gone out. The grin was still on his face, a small trickle of blood running out of the corner of his mouth.
Gunner openly sobbed as he laid Streak’s head down on the ground. He then laid his head on NoScope's, who replaced her head on his shoulder, while also squeezing Artemis's hand as the archer still clutched Streak's. Ariel, quietly sobbing, held Peter from behind as he cried into the rain. Lysander sat at Streak's head, hat pulled down over his face as his shoulder bobbed up and down until he felt Peter's hand take his own and squeeze, which he returned. The rain and thunder muffled most of the group's sobs, masked most of their tears. However, no matter how hard it rained, they all knew that it would never be able to wash away the sadness they would carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Chapter 20
Roars of impatience and chants of disapproval echoed out from the large crowd of players gathered just outside Fort Briarwood. They had been waiting for well over an hour past the indeeded start time, and impatience was growing. Located on the edge of the dense forest that led to Davo’s Fortress, Fort Briarwood was in a constant state of ownership flux when the BattleLands were utilized for warfare. It was a strategic location. This made it a natural spot for Artemis, Amaterasu, and Sonic Man to hold the hearing and decide whether or not the fighting would truly stop. However, the speaker had not shown yet.
“How long are we expected to wait, Amaterasu?” Sonic Man asked. His arms were folded in front of him and one of his metal feet clanked repeatedly as he tapped it on the ground.
“She will be here,” Amaterasu answered. He did not even dignify the metal warrior with a look, but he did notice that, while his mannerisms cried impatience, his tone suggested satisfaction.
“It has been over an hour,” Sonic Man continued. “It is not only rude to keep us waiting, it is cowardly.”
“She is no coward, Sonic. You know that as much as I do.” The samurai shot a disgusted look at Sonic Man from under his helmet. He even bared his wolf-like teeth for good measure.
“Then where is she?” The metal warrior held out his arms, presenting the field to Amaterasu. The samurai looked around and, indeed, saw the unrest in both sides. If something wasn’t done soon, the fighting would start right there.
Sonic Man chuckled beneath his mask as he lowered his arms. “If the one who called for this hearing doesn’t even have the good graces to show, then I say we call it right here. All those--”
A large streak of blue lightning lit up the sky and struck down a few yards away from the gathering, followed by a booming clap of thunder. Everyone took up their guard, completely taken by surprise by this strange weather anomaly. The lightning and thunder were soon followed by a booming voice. “ARTEMIS IS HERE!” All in attendance turned to look where the voice had come from. In the middle of the road sat Lysander upon his flaming steed, his staff held high, lightning crawling upon his form and within his eyes. Coming up behind him were the others of the party, all atop their horses. Artemis rode with Ariel, who trotted her horse past Lysander and led the party.
The rustling of the leaves in the wind was the most audible sound as they approached. The crowd looked on in confusion at the band of soaked and muddy adventurers that had arrived with the great Artemis. What kept them speechless, however, were the looks in each of the group members’ eyes. Determination, finality, sorrow, rage, all mixing and swirling together to create something that gave the gathered players pause.
“Took your sweet time, I see,” Sonic Man chided. He made to say more, but then he saw the look in the groups’ eyes as they all focused their gaze on him. Even he, one of the top three players of Our World, took a step back.
“Yes,” Artemis started as
she stepped down off of Ariel’s horse. “It seems I was delayed in arriving promptly today.” She shot another look at Sonic Man. “But I am here now. Will you still listen to my words?” The crowd, still silent from the less than conventional entrance, stared at the green and purple clad archer. Then, slowly, affirmatives were heard throughout the commotion. With that, Artemis launched into her detailed explanation of why she believed coming together was the way to access the fortress. After she was done, she let the crowd take in all the information.
“I see you have the same tired, unsubstantiated information you were peddling the other day,” Sonic Man stated when several minutes of silence had passed.