by Kirk Dougal
The pain, heat, and the reality of my own situation crashed down on my head with his words. Somehow, what he said was the funniest thing I had heard in a long time. I threw back my head and laughed until the sounds echoed off the stones and followed him down the mountainside.
Chapter 21
I limped through the opening with Bree's help and collapsed in a tree's shade on a bed of grass.
“Well, that was about the dumbest thing I've ever seen,” Saleene said. “I tried to warn you.”
I opened my eyes and levered myself up to my elbows.
“Yeah,” I said. “I heard you start to say something. How did you know about his weapon and his shield?”
Bree snorted. “You're kidding, right? The damn things were glowing they had so much magic running through them.”
“You really can't see it, can you?” Saleene was shaking her head as she spoke, eyes wide open. She pulled out her dagger. “What do you see here?”
“It's a dagger,” I said, looking back and forth between them.
“And that's all you see?”
“Yeah. It's nice enough, good balance, strong handle. Remember, I've handled it before.” I knew I was pushing my luck reminding her I had knocked her out and taken the weapon from her the first night we met.
“It's enchanted,” Bree said, “like the knight's mace and shield. When I really stare at it, the blade glows a little around the edges.”
“And you saw the same thing with his mace and shield and tried to warn me.” My head was starting to hurt, and it was not from the beating the knight had given me. “Thank you for trying.” I lay back and closed my eyes again. “So, what's it do?” When I did not hear an answer, I cracked open an eye. Saleene had walked away and Bree was standing about halfway between us, her customary glare fixed on me.
Three women walked out of a structure built into the side of the mountain. They approached Saleene who spoke to them for a few seconds before gesturing toward me. One of them walked over while the other two offered food and water to my companions.
“Blessed Searcher,” she said while bowing, “how can the Temple of the Soaring Eagle be of service to you?” She suddenly stood straight, her eyes opened wide. “You're hurt. Let me bring you one of our healers.”
“Wait,” I said, stopping her in mid-turn. “That can wait. I need to see the oracle as soon as possible.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.” She held an arm out, pointing toward the building. “This way, please.”
I struggled to one knee, grimacing with every move of my left leg. It stuck out awkwardly to the side while I rested for a moment, steeling myself for what I knew would be more pain than I wanted to think about. I sucked in a breath and held it tight, pushing up from the ground.
And immediately fell flat on my chest.
Sweat beaded my lip and the air rushed out in an explosive whoosh. I was still lying there, trying to decide if I should make another attempt or surrender to the temple's healer before visiting the oracle. The decision was taken from me when two sets of hands grabbed my clothes and helped roll me onto my back.
Saleene leaned over my chest, shaking her head. Her eyes were narrowed in anger, but a small smile played at the edges of her mouth. I suspected she thought I was getting exactly what I deserved.
“You've got guts,” she said, “but you're still an idiot.”
I opened my mouth to protest but, instead, slammed it shut to hold back a scream. Bree was down by my legs and running her hands over where the mace had landed. She was also shaking her head, but I had trouble seeing her through the tears that had collected in my eyes.
“Always one in a… Everyone's a moron… Why we have to put up with…” Bree mumbled as she let her hands be her eyes, examining my injury with the gentleness of a long-married wife infuriated with her husband's shenanigans. “This is more than I can heal, Saleene,” she said after a minute. “The best I can do is numb the pain until the healer sees him.”
“Even with…?” Saleene gestured toward Bree's hand, and I noticed the flat-sided ring on her middle finger.
“Yes. He's hurt pretty bad.”
“Do it,” I said, forcing my way into the decision about my injury. “I need to see the oracle as soon as possible.”
Bree shrugged and lay her hands on my leg, reminding me of when she had examined the cut on my arm after the fight with the Eaters. Heat flowed up my leg, crawling over my waist and reaching my ribs. It ebbed to a warm flow there, leaving behind a cool wake.
Several minutes passed, the heat and cold switching back and forth, but each time moving farther out on my body. Finally, I felt the flush in my face, and then a sense of calm followed.
Bree leaned back on her heels, rubbing her palms on her pants. Her shirt was soaked with sweat and silver hair was plastered to her forehead. “That's the best I can do,” she said.
“Stay here and rest,” Saleene said. “I'll get him inside.”
Pain still threatened to suck away my breath, but the edge was dull. With Saleene's help, we were soon moving toward the temple doors, more of my weight than I wanted to admit hanging on her shoulder, but making progress with a combination of small hops and quick jabbing steps.
We had no more than made it inside the temple than the acolyte led the way into a long narrow room, dominated at the far end by a statue of the Goddess Dziewona. A bow hung across her back and a full quiver rested on a hip. She held a spear in one hand, its butt end on the floor, and the other was raised, an eagle crouching on the arm, wings spread in promise of flight. The statue was cut from a silver marble, streaks of gold and black lining its surface. I caught myself staring at the goddess's hair.
“She reminds me of you,” I said, my words echoing softly off the wood walls.
“Shut up,” Saleene whispered.
The acolyte never slowed as we approached the statue, stepping around the base so the stone towered above us. Behind the Huntress, a curtain stretched over the back wall. She pulled the cloth to one side and an opening was revealed, incense reaching out from the darkness.
“I can go no farther,” the acolyte said, pulling down a lantern from the wall and handing it to Saleene. “You must travel the rest of the way to the oracle on your own.”
The light revealed a circular room, the stone walls painted with scenes of the hunt. On the far side, another opening beckoned, and we crossed over the smooth floor.
The antechamber, so perfect that it must have served as the temple at one point in its history, carved and created by willing worshipers, gave way to a rough passageway. I noticed chisel marks, but most of tunnel was naturally formed, uneven stones in the floor threatening to reach up and trip us, fingers of rock grabbing at our arms and legs from the walls. More than once, Saleene turned us sideways, leading me through, just so we could pass a particularly narrow portion.
I felt Saleene's heart pounding and her breath came quick and sharp, echoing back from the walls. She gripped me so tight, I forgot about the pain in my leg for a few strides. I shook my head, admiring the strength in her step despite her claustrophobia.
The path meandered a little, drifting left and right, but generally kept to a slight drop, leading us down into the side of the mountain. I expected the air to grow cooler as we went, but I was wrong. Instead, waves of heat greeted us, at first only a warmth but soon growing into the blast of a good fireplace. With the rise in temperature came sulfur, coating my throat until I gagged, turning my face away from Saleene as my stomach clenched.
We turned a bend and another room opened in front of us. Where the first had been smooth and perfect, this appeared a vision of hell. Smoke floated through the air, wafting around stone pillars stretching up to a ceiling our light did not reach. An orange glow reached out from the far wall, giving us some idea of the depth of the massive cavern but also making shadows dance across room, living black forms that swayed and shimmered to a music only they could hear.
In the center of the room, a stone stump rose
from the floor, a woman sitting on its level top. Her head was tilted forward so her hair flowed in front of her face, hiding her from our eyes. She did not move as we stared.
“I'd better go,” Saleene said, her words barely escaping her lips but growing in volume as they bounced around the room, a thousand whispers echoing her. “She must be waiting for me to leave.” She backed away slowly, making sure I could stand on my own. “I'll wait in the tunnel.”
I nodded but never took my eyes from the oracle. When I could no longer hear Saleene, I shuffled forward, my feet scraping across the rock with the sounds of a thousand marchers.
“Oracle,” I said. “I need to deliver a message to…”
The rest of my words caught in my throat. The oracle raised her head, the hair moving back so I could see her face.
It was a face I knew.
“Nurse Gminsky!” I said.
She smiled. “Under the circumstances, don't you think you should call me Callie?” she asked.
*****
Callie helped me to the seat, and I collapsed onto the stone. Bree may have toned down the pain, but I still did not have any strength in my leg. The nurse stared at me, her gaze running down my blood-soaked pants.
“I used to think that it was only your body in the real world that suffered, like with DIOD,” she said. “Does its hurt, real pain?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding once. “But we really don't have time for that. How did you know where to find me?” I suddenly sat up straight, an idea shooting into my thoughts. “You know something! Is Dinas Farwolaeth the center for the terrorists?”
The nurse shook her head. “No, Agent Tower wanted you to know that the FBI is no closer to solving the mystery out there. They've been busy tracking down leads but nothing has helped so far.”
“Then how'd you know I would be at this temple, talking to this oracle?”
“We didn't. Agent Conway and I have been taking turns being on call to hop inside the game as the oracle. The Quest Call programmers have been tracking you so we knew this was the closest temple to your location. One of us would have been at whatever temple you appeared at.” She shook her head again, this time with more force. “Tower is requesting more female agents. Apparently, Conway was the only one assigned to this program.” She glanced away, her anger gone. “I volunteered to help…” Her voice trailed away.
I abruptly realized she had been on the verge of saying “you.” I had worked with Nurse Gminsky off and on my entire time with the FBI program. I had felt her sharp tongue on more than one occasion, her wit giving as well as it took. When I had been on my break periods letting Doc try to keep my body working in some way close to normal, we had talked about books, movies, and she had caught me up on current events. But I was usually so weak when I was out of the games, damn near shaking apart at the joints when my medication wore down and the DIOD took hold, I had never thought of her in any way other than as my nurse.
This was no time to let my thoughts range in any other direction.
“Are you cleared for this?” I asked.
She smiled.
“I guess you'd say I received a promotion,” Callie said. “Tower wasn't happy but the program's so short-handed, it was either send me in or bring in someone you didn't know.”
“We're headed for Dinas Farwolaeth as soon as I finish giving you my report,” I said after clearing my throat. “I still don't know if it's where the terrorists are meeting, but I should know something in the next couple of days.”
“You might be on to something,” Callie said. “The acolytes at this temple have told me they hear rumors of small groups of people, many of them foreigners speaking in strange languages, crossing the plains to the castle. They don't stop to talk to anyone, don't stop to play the game.” She hesitated for a moment. “And they don't come back from wherever they go.”
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“So once they're at Dinas Farwolaeth, they keep their avatars there so they can meet whenever they're inside the game.” I rubbed a hand across my forehead and wiped the sweat on my pants. “That makes sense. But…” I stopped, something important rattling around my thoughts but not finding a slot to slip into and reveal itself. “But why don't they just meet in one of the cities at the beginning of the game? It would be so much easier, so much quicker to stay there. I'm missing something. Damn it! It's right there in front of me, what I need to break this open, but I just can't get hold of it.”
“I have another message for you,” Callie said. “It's from Detective Bouldin.”
I waited but she remained quiet.
“What's Jim got to say?” I asked after a few seconds.
“He said that it's no failure to come out. He said it may be time.” She opened and closed her mouth twice, more words begging to tumble out but she held back. “He'd like to talk to you again.”
“He'll have to wait. I think I know who the other FBI agent is, but he's not revealed himself officially to me yet. Probably just a stickler for protocol, but we won't have time for that soon. Regardless, I can't leave him in here alone. People are dying, and I'm moving too damn slow!” I stood, my heart beating fast. Just as quickly I sat back down. “Shit.”
Callie threw her head back, laughter echoing from the cavern walls.
“I'm sorry, Rick,” she said. “You don't really strike me as the world's savior right now. Who's going to save you?”
I tried to hold onto my rage—the injustice of being in the dark about the other agent, the unfairness of needing to play inside this God forsaken mixture of magic and make believe, the realization that more people could die while I was wandering around in a fog playing on hunches—but her laugh melted the anger away, and I felt a smile crossing my face as well.
“Well, don't tell anybody,” I said, rising again, but this time slowly enough that I could balance on my good leg. “I've got them all fooled on the outside. They think I know what I'm doing.”
“Not everyone,” Callie said, her eyes still sparkling.
“Not everyone,” I agreed. The weight descended on my shoulders again, and the grin disappeared. “If Dinas Farwolaeth is not the answer to the terrorists, then I should be back in a few days. If I don't return, then you'll know I found something.”
“I understand. Be careful, Rick.”
I nodded, and then hobbled away from the stone pedestal so she could sit again. As soon as she was back in place, I turned toward the opening out of the caves. “Saleene! We're done here.”
I had yelled, believing her to be waiting a distance down the tunnel for me to finish. Saleene appeared immediately, however, although she would not look me in the face while she moved under my shoulder for support.
We moved through the tunnel system, leaving behind the searing heat and welcoming the cool air again. Neither of us said anything, the silence stretching out until it became a physical wall between us, one I was not sure I had the strength to climb. But too much was riding on my succeeding, and I needed to make sure I could count on Saleene and Bree if I needed their help. We entered the old round temple in the stone, my last chance before we exited out to where other players could hear us.
“You heard what we talked about,” I said. The words were a statement, not a question.
Saleene never stopped moving, her jaw working back and forth. As she reached for the curtain, she finally spoke.
“We'll go straight to the healer,” she said. “After that, I don't know.”
Chapter 22
I slept through midday. After Saleene half-carried me to the healer's room, she eased me onto a low bed covered with cut plains grass laced with herbs. Their fragrance wafted into my nose, clearing my head and leaving me calmer than I could remember feeling for a long time. The healer hunched over my leg for a long time, rocking and mumbling in sing-song, the words sounding familiar but remaining just out of hearing. When she finally removed her hands, all my pain was gone and sleep forced my eyelids closed despite my efforts t
o rise.
When I awoke, I ran to the front garden, afraid I would find myself alone, deserted by the two women after what Saleene had overheard from my talk with Callie. But they were seated under the tree, eating some kind of fruit with firm red flesh and tiny seeds that burst with flavor when they were chewed. They said nothing about my sudden appearance, only nodding to the acolytes in their flowing robes and thanking them for the food and chance to rest.
I ate in the saddle as we rode. We pushed our horses hard, cantering once we reached the plains again, trotting when we could, and walking them when we must. Even so, I felt we were in a race that we could not win, the sun blazing across the sky at a pace we could not match. Its heat sapped our strength and left us on the brink of exhaustion by the time it dove beneath the far horizon. Still, we pushed on, knowing tomorrow was the third day, the day DeBrest had said he would challenge the people of Dinas Farwolaeth for their crimes against his family.
Our last glimpse of the arc of mountains around the castle hove closer as the sun disappeared and shadows took the land. Saleene warned me as we rode, one of the few times during the day that she had spoken to me, that the flatness of the plains played tricks with our eyes and that the mountain was still farther away than we thought.
She was correct. The hulking black mass crept toward us in the dark, at times moving so slowly I was afraid we had somehow gotten turned around and were riding back towards the temple and the White Mountains.
We rode into camp well past midnight. The familiar scene of members of the Horde frozen into place was hard to pick out in the darkness but they were there, our horses sidestepping around them, the fireless camp no challenge to their sight.
Spoon was there, as well, standing near the end of the cook wagon as always, his utensil resting like a club over one shoulder since he had no pot to stir over the flames. He greeted us with bread and cheese plus a few slices of greasy mutton, stringy and tough just like the old sheep it had come from. Saleene and Bree took the food and disappeared into the night, camping alone in the grasses. I mumbled thanks and then fell asleep on my blanket, half the bread still resting on my chest.