“And now I do,” Arnold69 replied, proud of himself. “Now we all do.”
Ethelwulf looked at all the items in his inventory. He recognized almost everything there – everything except the few items Mitch had picked up since they switched realities. Cautiously, he pressed the I key again. The inventory box disappeared.
“Okay, so now we know what one button does,” Alalia said. “But what about the other hundred-or-so buttons?”
After thinking about it for a moment, Ethelwulf answered, “Maybe we should just try them one by one to see what they all do.”
“I think that's a terrible idea,” Dwyndolin said, then paused for a moment before continuing. “But I can't think of a better one.”
Ethelwulf started pressing different keys one-by-one and they all took note of what each of them did. As luck would have it, after only trying a few keys at random, Ethelwulf pressed the H key. A help box opened, listing all the keys and what they did. It even explained what the touch pad and mouse were for.
“I want to see if everything's the same on the other magical device,” Arnold69 said and walked over to the desktop computer.
He sat down and pressed the H key. Like on the laptop, the help box opened up. Arnold69 looked it over, taking note of a few particular keys before pressing H again, closing the help box. Then, he turned his attention to the mouse. Arnold69, with uncharacteristic caution, pushed it gently with one finger. When he did, he noticed that the cursor on the screen moved a little bit. He did it again and again, each time pushing it a bit further. Finally, he put his whole hand on the mouse and started moving it around the screen.
The four characters spent the rest of the evening sitting around the apartment, talking and keeping an eye on the computers. They watched the friends descend down into the mine, talk to a few miners, and eventually make their way down the unmarked tunnel.
“They're definitely looking for the Orb of Displacement,” Alalia said.
“Definitely,” Ethelwulf agreed. “There's no other reason to go down that tunnel.”
“There's no way they're gonna be able to beat the Rock Dragon when they get to it,” Arnold69 said. “We only beat it because of Alalia's lucky... I mean, outside-the-box thinking. I sincerely doubt any of them will come up with the same idea. And even if they do, there's no guarantee it'll work out the same way for them that it did for us.”
“Unless we help them,” Dwyndolin said. “If Alalia and I can get back to our living quarters before they get to the Rock Dragon, we can take control of them and do the same thing we did to defeat it. I agree that there's no way to know if it'll work. But I think it's worth a shot.”
The others all nodded in agreement. They talked it over for a minute and decided that the girls needed to leave right away. The characters knew that it wouldn't be long before the friends defeated the Rock Monster and continued on to the large chamber to face the Rock Dragon.
Dwyndolin took out her phone and opened up the Uber app. It took her a few minutes to figure out how to put in the address of her dorm, but she did and ordered a ride. As the girls waited by the door, they enjoyed a few last bites of junk food.
“I wonder why we don't have any of this wonderful food in our living quarters,” Alalia said.
“I don't know, but I wish we did. These,” Dwyndolin replied, looking at the front of the bag she was eating from, “Goldfish are out of this world. Pizza-flavored Goldfish.”
“I wonder if they also have goldfish-flavored pizza in this strange world,” Alalia suggested.
“I bet they do,” Dwyndolin answered. “They seem to have all kinds of weird, wonderful foods.”
Looking out the window, the girls saw a car pull up in front of the apartment. They opened the door and said goodbye to the boys.
“Why don't you use your... What did you call it?” Ethelwulf asked.
“Phone,” Dwyndolin answered. “That's what people were calling it back in our living quarters, anyway.”
“Why don't you use your phone,” Ethelwulf continued, “to contact us when the two of you get back. That way we can figure out how to help them get past the Rock Dragon and everything together.”
“Sounds good,” Dwyndolin replied.
“I really hope this works,” Alalia said. “I miss our world. I miss home.”
“We all do,” Ethelwulf replied. “We all do.”
The girls got in the Uber and returned to campus. It took them a long time to first find their dorm and then find their room, but they did. Dwyndolin and Alalia got on their computers and were happy to find that the same keys did the same things they did on the boys' computers. They called the boys and put them on speakerphone.
“What took you guys so long?” Arnold69 asked.
“It took us a little while to find our room,” Dwyndolin answered. “But now Alalia and I are back and on our magic devices. Everything, all the buttons and the thing called the mouse seem to work the same.”
“Excellent,” Ethelwulf said. “Now we just wait until they get to the Rock Dragon and we'll help them out if they need it.”
“Pfft,” Arnold69 replied. “If they need it.”
Chapter 16 - Enter The (Rock) Dragon
The four friends all stopped where they were. Each one of them was blown away by the massive monster they'd stumbled upon. Luke was so in awe of its massive size, he didn't even notice that Alyssa had dropped an F-bomb. After all the times she criticized him for his colorful use of language, Luke was dying to catch Alyssa using the mother of all swear words herself.
Laying in the middle of the enormous chamber was a dragon made completely out of rock. Underneath it read - you guessed it - Rock Dragon in red. The friends had never encountered a dragon before, though they'd heard plenty of stories about them from higher-level players.
For a moment, they thought the dragon might be dead. It just laid there, motionless. But when Luke walked around to where its head was, he realized that it was merely sleeping.
“Guys!” Stephanie whispered, trying to keep her enthusiasm in check. “Behind the dragon... The Orb! I can see it!”
Right at the limit of the illumination spell cast on her, Stephanie could see a shiny orb resting on a stone pillar behind the dragon. Her face lit up the second she saw it. And so did the faces of all the others when they walked over to her, trying to be as quiet as possible.
“That's got to be it!” Mitch whispered.
“Yeah, but how are we gonna get it?” Alyssa asked, quietly. “There's no way we can get around the dragon on the right. That's where I just was an it's completely blocked.”
“What about to the left?” Mitch suggested. “The only thing blocking the way is the dragon's gigantic tail. Maybe one of us could jump over it and go grab the orb without waking the dragon.”
“It won't be me,” Stephanie whispered. “I'm too small.”
“Me either,” Alyssa said.
The girls looked at Mitch and Luke, who then looked at each other. Luke was significantly taller than Mitch and would have an easier time leaping over the dragon's tail. Mitch knew this and communicated it to his lifelong friend without saying a word. He simply nodded and smiled.
“I got this,” Luke whispered.
“You should take off your chain mail and leave your sword so you have an easier time and don't make as much noise,” Alyssa suggested.
“No way,” Luke replied. “What if the dragon wakes up? You want me to be completely defenseless? Not gonna happen. Don't worry. It'll be all good.”
“It better be,” Alyssa said, shaking her head.
Luke walked up to the dragon's tail. It was several feet wide and went all the way to the wall of the chamber. He examined it closely, trying to figure out how much of a running start he'd need to jump over it. Confident with his assessment, Luke took several steps backward. The others watched him closely, eager to see what was going to happen. Luke took his trusty longsword and put it in the sheath on his back.
> “I got this,” Luke muttered, too soft for the others to hear.
He took another couple steps back, then started running toward the dragon's tail. Luke jumped high, tucking his legs and easily cleared it.
Unfortunately, the tip of his longsword did not.
As Luke jumped over the dragon's tail, the tip of his longsword hit it, making a loud scratching sound. When sheathed on his back, Luke's longsword went past his butt, almost to the back of his knees. It was, after all, a long sword.
The four friends knew that unless the dragon was a super-deep sleeper, it was going to wake up. Not only did Luke's sword hit the dragon and make a loud sound, it also did a couple hit points worth of damage. They saw -2 HP float above its tail after getting hit.
Sure enough, the mighty dragon started to move. They all took several steps back, readying their weapons. Luke was on the other side of the dragon and pulled out his longsword. Its massive tail swept along the floor, almost knocking him over. All four of them watched the massive monster pick its head up off the ground and open its eyes. The dragon's entire body was a silverish-grey color, but its eyes were bright, bright red.
“Um, guys,” Mitch said, talking in his normal voice. “I'm not so sure we're gonna be able to defeat this thing. Maybe we should run while we still can. Try to figure something else out.”
“No fucking way,” Luke yelled. “We came all the way down here to get that orb. It's right there. Right there. If our characters were able to beat this thing, we can, too.”
“Luke's right,” Alyssa said.
“What was that?” Luke asked, interrupting Alyssa before she could continue. “Could you say that again?”
Ignoring him, Alyssa kept talking: “We're not leaving here without The Orb. It's the sole reason we're down here. And it's our only hope of ever getting home.”
“You're right,” Mitch agreed.
They were all scared – even Luke. But the friends knew that they needed the orb to get home. As the dragon sat up and looked at them, they readied their weapons and spell books, waiting to see if it was friendly or not.
It was not.
The massive dragon opened its mouth, revealing several rows of sharp stone teeth, and let out a loud growl. It turned around and looked at Luke, then to its tail, and back to Luke again. After unleashing a second growl that echoed throughout the chamber, the dragon aggressively swept its tail at Luke. Hitting him right in the chest, the dragon's tail sent Luke flying backward all the way to the cavern wall, knocking the wind out of him. -59 HP, Stunned floated out of him.
The others prepared to attack. Stephanie opened her magic book and started casting Chisel. She was hopeful that it would do a lot of damage, as it had with the Rock Monster they faced earlier. Alyssa ran over to Luke and began casting a healing spell on him. He was temporarily stunned, unable to move. Mitch, overflowing with fear, was already halfway to shifting into his wolven form.
The Rock Dragon sat up straight and spread its wings. Looking directly at Mitch, it turned toward him and began flapping them vigorously. He was now completely shifted into his wolven form and tried to advance on the enormous monster. Mitch didn't get very far, though. He was only able to take a few steps forward before the wind from the dragon's wings began to overpower him.
For a moment, Mitch was able to hold his ground. He did everything he could to resist the powerful wind. But then with one powerful flap of its wings, the Rock Dragon sent a gust of wind at Mitch so strong that it sent him flying backward, slamming him against the cavern wall. -68 HP, Stunned floated above him.
Stephanie finished reading the final words of her spell and pointed at the Rock Dragon. The sound of metal hitting rock filled the cavern and a cloud of dust surrounded the massive monster. Eagerly waiting to see how much damage the spell did, Stephanie kept her eyes on the dragon. When she only saw -148 HP float out of the monster, Stephanie was so disappointed that she wanted to cry.
As soon as Alyssa was done healing Luke, she ran over to Stephanie. The two of them darted out of the cavern, into the tunnel they'd come from. Once in the tunnel, Alyssa immediately pulled a sleeping potion out of her bag. At the same time, Stephanie took out her bow and handed a few arrows to her friend. Alyssa dipped the tip of an arrow into the potion and handed it back to Stephanie, who took it to her bow and pulled back the string.
But Stephanie and Alyssa weren't controlling their own actions.
The two girls had no idea what was going on and were both terrified. For the last thirty seconds or so, their bodies were being controlled by some outside force. They could still think and feel, but couldn't control what they were doing.
Stephanie ran back into the cavern and took aim at the dragon. It had moved over to Luke and looked like it was about to have him for dinner. If Rock Dragons could salivate, it would've been – but they can't, so it wasn't. But the look in its eyes made it clear that it was about to start chomping away at the stunned warrior.
As soon as the dragon saw Stephanie reenter the room, it turned toward her. Luke's illumination spell was still active and he was right next to the dragon, so she could clearly see its head. Aiming for the Rock Dragon's eyes, Stephanie let the arrow fly.
Miss.
The arrow hit the dragon in the neck, barely. It ricocheted off it, doing no damage. Stephanie ran back into the tunnel, where Alyssa had another arrow dipped and ready. She grabbed it, lined it up, pulled back the string, and ran back into the cavern.
The mighty dragon was sitting up straight once again, wings spread wide. It started flapping them in the direction of the tunnel. Stephanie managed to fire off the arrow before the wind became too strong.
Another miss.
Stephanie was terrified, running in and out of the cavern, shooting arrows at the dragon. She had no idea what was happening to her. It was all happening so fast that neither her nor Alyssa had much time to think about it.
Again, Stephanie ran back into the tunnel. The wind from the dragon's wings was getting stronger and stronger. Alyssa handed her another arrow, then pulled out her spell book and began casting the spell, Shield. It was a short, easy spell to cast and a few seconds later, a transparent shield formed in front of Stephanie. For a third time, she went back into the cavern - or at least tried to.
Even with the Shield spell, Stephanie couldn't get back into the cavern. The wind from the Rock Dragon was too powerful. Alyssa began shifting into her lioness form and got down on all fours behind Stephanie. Using her four paws to brace herself, Alyssa pressed her lioness head against Stephanie's butt and pushed, giving her just enough power to make it back into the cavern.
Stephanie raised her bow and arrow for a third time, taking aim at the dragon's eyes. She let the arrow fly and watched it slice through the air.
Direct hit.
The arrow pierced the dragon's left eye and it let out a growl so loud that a few pieces of rock fell off the cavern walls. It stumbled around, still flapping its wings, before crashing down to the ground. The mighty Rock Dragon picked its head up in a futile attempt to try and get back up. A few seconds later, its head fell to the ground and the dragon's only remaining eye closed.
“What the fuck just happened?” Stephanie yelled.
“I have no freaking clue,” Alyssa replied. “But I'm glad it did.”
As soon as the Rock Dragon fell asleep, Stephanie and Alyssa regained control of their bodies. Shortly thereafter, Mitch and Luke were able to get up.
“That was amazing!” Mitch said, walking over to the girls. “How did you do that?”
“We didn't,” Stephanie answered. “I don't know how to explain it. Like, I could still think and feel and see everything that was going on, but I wasn't controlling my body.”
“Yeah,” Alyssa added. “Same here. That was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced.”
“Maybe that fucking piece of shit cock dragon cast some kind of spell on you two,” Luke said as he walked over to joi
n the others.
“That doesn't make sense, though,” Mitch replied. “Why would the dragon cast a spell that made them put it to sleep.”
“Who else could it be?” Luke asked. “We're the only ones here.”
The four of them stood in silence for a moment, then looked at each other. They all thought of the same thing at the same time.
“Our characters!” Stephanie said. “I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. The scroll said that we were controlling them. What if now they're controlling us?”
“Why would they help us to defeat the Rock Dragon?” Mitch asked. “That doesn't make any sense, either. If it was your characters that were controlling you, you'd think they wouldn't want us to beat the dragon.”
Inside Out Page 12