AVARICE ONLINE: KEL'VAN RED HAND

by Titus Nettles

  "What about the fire that has replaced your fingers," Lan'kar asked. "Does it hurt?"

  "No, it's just warm. Other than that, it feels almost like my original limb, only heavier. It's going to take some time to get fully used to it in a battle, but I'll learn to live with it and learn to use its benefits."

  "Benefits?" questioned Belar.

  "Long story short, I lost 20 Ability points in all three categories permanently when I accepted Lord Robahns boon. But both God's G.A.I.A...sorry, Gaea and Robahn assured me that I was compensated fairly for the loss of points, I just got to discover most of the benefits of my new arm on my own."

  He watched the others just look at each other without saying a word. They were probably just as shocked to learn about the cost of the boon as they were about him meeting Gaea again, he thought.

  " I can't speak on the matter of god's, but I can say it does have an intimidating look to it captain," Fer'shad observed. "That will only help you in a fight."

  "That's good because we are going to need it. We've won a great victory here, but what we've really accomplished was buying time for us to prepare."

  They all nodded their heads in agreement. Kel’Van had briefed them all of what a player invasion would entail. If the players they recently fought was an indication, they had much to prepare for.

  "Right now, they have all been reduced to zero. They are now also somewhat mortal since the players only have a set number of lives. The fact that they can now feel pain as well as we do will slow their time for invasion considerably."

  Lan'kar looked up with a question upon his lips. Kel’Van raised his hand toward him in a stopping gesture.

  "Lan'kar, their society is not used to dealing with pain and war like ours," Kel’Van explained. "But that will change over time. The Terrans that will come to invade our world will not be like the players we have already defeated, but actual soldiers and warriors like ourselves. They will be battle-tested and will have more of everything when they invade. Magic, warriors, I mean everything. We must prepare for when that day arrives."

  "Yes, and it seems they will be marching through your new citadel captain," said Voresh with a playful smile. " I think it is safe to say we will be outnumbered when that day comes as well?"

  "Voresh, I'm glad we can always count on you to be the optimist for all of us," Belar said dryly.

  "I try my best," he retorted.

  "To answer your question Voresh, yes...Most definitely."

  "Then how are we to stop them?" Fer'shad chimed in. "The way in which you speak of the Terrans, even with Algora, they will still defeat us with sheer numbers."

  Kel’Van lifted his eyes to the sky. A bit of anger and resentment began to pool in the back of his mind.

  "But you are a brutal man Kel’Van. Particularly to those who you deem to be your enemy.

  He opened his eyes and stared down at his compatriots with whom he had spilled blood with. As a student of military history, he understood his options, and he needed those around him to understand as well from the start.

  "We will have to unite the factions and races here to a common cause. If they will not peaceably form an alliance to help stop these invaders who will kill and enslave us all..."

  He paused before speaking the words into life...

  "If they do not help us, then we have to conquer them, then add them to the fold. Gaea's decree is not enough...One way or another, we will keep Algora free."

  EPILOGUE

  "Sir!!" came the voice of someone who sounded as if they ran a full out marathon to reach his office.

  "Wait! I will be there shortly Ulgo," Meatgrinder called out. "This had better be a full out attack on Algora, or whoever is behind this door is going to be breathing out of their bottom for a month," mumbled the taskmaster.

  He opened the door, and a young Ulgo almost fell into his office. The winded Ulgo had grabbed onto the knob as he fell on one knee.

  "Ulgo Meatgrinder...gasp....rebirth pool...is.."

  "Will you calm down and breath Ulgo!" snapped the taskmaster. "Don't you speak another word till you pull yourself together!" he ordered.

  The excited Ulgo took three deep breaths before he stood up. " My apologies Ulgo Meatgrinder, the rebirth pools...too many new Ulgo's are coming out of them...Far too many. So much so, that they are flooding all of the corridors and buildings surrounding it."

  "What!" exclaimed Meat Grinder.

  "Yes, so far their count have numbered in the hundreds already."

  "That is troubling in itself," mumbled Ulgo Meatgrinder as he scratched his bearded chin. "They usually come in squads of 7 or 10."

  "That is not the most disturbing part Ulgo Meatgrinder," the young Ulgo said. " The rebirth pools sir, they have dried up. They are no more!"

  "That is why this young one is upset," thought Ulgo Meatgrinder. He knows as well as I do what this signifies. He nodded his head at the situation.

  "All of the Ulgo warriors who sacrificed themselves for the orcs of Algora are now here. The prophecy has been fulfilled, and war is will soon be upon us. All Ulgo warriors who die will no longer be returned to us. We must prove our worthiness of the land Gaea promised us or die in the dirt undeserving!"

  Ulgo Meatgrinder turned to the young orc in front of him. "Now Ulgo, begins the time of destiny. We will claim the lands promised to us by Gaea..."

  Kel’Van slept in the High priest's chambers of lord Robahn's Citadel. It truly belonged to Olgan since he was the new High priest, but the dark god wanted him here until the city throne building was complete. The original plan was to set things in motion then report back to Algora, but the amount of work needed to be done and organized kept them later than expected. Kel’Van decided on leaving first thing in the morning to report everything that transpired to his chain of command.

  In the middle of the night, his D.S. screen started beeping. As he pulled up the screen, he noticed a message in his inbox. Bleary-eyed, he rubbed his face to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him, or he was still asleep. The message was from G.A.I.A.

  Kel’Van sighed, wondering what possibly was important enough to send a message to him. Shaking his head, he clicked on the yellow envelope-shaped icon.

  His D.S. gained a bird's eye view of floating in space towards a large planet, with several landmasses and oceans of blue, split apart with what could only be five large continents.

  "Welcome to your new world," said a melodious voice that belonged to none other than G.A.I.A.

  Kel’Van’s initial thought was, "what the hell is this?" before the screen view plunged downward to the planet. Clouds of white began streaming past and breaking apart as the view of the video went farther downward. It suddenly floated as if on wings as it curved and showed Terrans of many races fighting off large ogres and half-giants attacking outside of a massive city.

  "Will you help the city of Maulvin defend itself from the monsters trying to retake their land back from the northern Terrans?" said the disembodied voice.

  Then the scene blurred as it began flying at a break-neck speed across the ocean to a high mountain range, where a city dotted the landscape next to a port filled with vessels of all sizes.

  "Will you begin your new life as a traveler to Northgate, the most powerful city in the alliance between Elves, dwarfs, and human races?"

  The view changed once more as it sped through skies, then nose-dived back to the earth, then swerved into a cave. It traveled quickly through rock caverns, flying past in a blur until the scene circled around another battleground. This time the spectacle was of what seemed like dark elves. They were battling worm-like monsters with no eyes but rows of jagged teeth in their maw.

  "Will you begin your new life here in the deep caverns as one of the subterranean races, fighting off monsters and other races of the dark?"

  Then vision spanned upwards, passing through earth and stone as if it wasn't there. Racing its way to the sky once more. Turning towards a set of islands where waif-like beings
were tossing orbs of blue, white, and arcing electricity from one hand to another.

  Or will you start your way here, on the isles of Felwar? Where mana users and mystic warriors hone their craft?

  The sights blurred, launching itself past the clouds with great speed, covering the vast oceans in seconds. Kel’Van had to turn away from the screen for a moment to keep from getting dizzy. As it slowed, a jagged mountain came into view. But instead of flying toward it, the view quickly dipped into the ground, blurring past dirt and stone. Then the screen floated above an orc standing on a precipice, looking down on what seemed to be a raid below him.

  The floating view slowed, showing a 360 view of the orc, then settled on a full picture from the front.

  A cold shiver clawed its way up Kel’Van’s spine as the D.S. showed the creature in full detail.

  The orc stood with its thick eyebrows furrowed, its teeth bared, and his cloak billowing behind him. He was fully garbed in both cloth and leather armor, which barely hid the muscles beneath it. From the elbow down, the left hand looked as if it belonged to some dark demon carved out of black stone with a sheen to it. The hand itself glowed a deep red, barely containing the heat within it. Fire emanating between each ebony digit of it’s fingers which had large black talons on the ends of each one.

  "Have you ever considered how the enemy sees you and your actions?"

  He remembered G.A.I.A.'s asking, but he looked at it as more of a philosophical argument. It was easy to forget how intimidating orcs were when you are surrounded by them all the time. Seeing himself now, like this, he now knew better.

  He was a terrifying monster.

  "While you ponder your new life,...here...in a distant land below Gladys mountains, one Ulgo Kel’Van Red-hand has chosen his."

  He watched himself step off the cliff and into a swirling black and red mist floating just below him.

  Kel’Van had not been privy to what he became once he fell into the mist. He had only the feeling of radiant power and the awed descriptions his teammates told him. Seeing the actual picture, he could now appreciate their lack of words describing it. Outside of the dark rock limb that was his left hand, he was an exact duplicate of the god Robahn.

  The view pulled back upwards while still giving a birds-eye perspective of himself advancing on the raid before him. Then the scene turned upward toward the sky and clouds, only slowing just enough to see the curving of the world. A half-way point between the whiteness of the clouds and the darkness of space.

  "What path will you choose?"

  Then descending slowly from the top of the screen came the familiar trademark logo of Avarice Online.

  "Welcome to Avarice Online. Choose your race and starting point, please."

  Then the clip ended

  Kel’Van numbly clicked off his D.S. and let the implications of what he just watched sink in.

  That was not a promo...that was an introductory clip right before you created a character. Which meant everyone saw that very clip when they logged in. 320 million players not only knew his name, but now saw him as the primary villain of Avarice Online.

  Holy.

  Shit.

  The worst part was that he couldn't blame anybody for thinking that way. Watching the Intro and looking at himself staring defiantly on the precipice, how could anyone think otherwise? Not to mention leaving virtually no one else alive fro that raid made it ever so clear. He looked and acted the part of the very villain on that screen that G.A.I.A wanted him to be.

  "How do you think the players you defeated just a short while ago view the orc they had to fight? I can assure you, gentle is not a word they would use."

  He didn't care if it was going to save the lives of his men.

  "But you are a brutal man Kel'Van. Particularly to those who you deem to be your enemy.

  Damn right, I am.

  The people who will eventually come for him and his are going to find out real quick just how brutal he could be...

  THE END

  PART TWO WILL BE OUT WITHIN 2 MONTHS!

  Thank you for reading Avarice Online!

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