Legacy First Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 of the Legacy Series

by Ryan Attard

  The extra firepower would come in handy, too.

  "You have two missions." Despite her small stature, Gil managed to loom over us at the table where she gave us our mission briefing. "Retrieve the Etherium Key and stop the two dimensions from colliding."

  "What about the Sin?" I asked. "Don't wanna have to lug around Twitchy over there without a target to set him on."

  Raphael glared at me. "I shall carry out my holy mission."

  "See what I gotta work with?"

  Gil waved at both of us with one irritable gesture. "I need you all to focus. These guys aren't joking about." She straightened up. "What do you know of a game called Verdant Moon?"

  I snorted. "What is that, like a computer game?"

  Abi shook her head. "It is a computer game," she said, in a tone that reminded me a lot of my sister's patronizing voice. "It's this year's top MMORPG."

  See, this is why I didn't get today's generation: they changed the English language. How am I supposed to keep up?

  "English, Abi. What's an MMO- whatever you said?"

  She rolled her eyes. "MMORPG. Stands for massive multiplayer online role playing game. Basically a bunch of guys go online and play the same game but with different characters. Verdant Moon is the most popular game this year. What about it?" she asked Gil.

  "The location where the electromagnetic pulse is coming from matches the location where one of the main game servers is located," my sister replied.

  Abi frowned. "That has to be a coincidence. I hear the game manufacturers gave all profits to charity. They can't be bad guys."

  Amaymon sneered in her direction. "Yeah. And every Nigerian prince is just a good Samaritan asking for money to double your savings."

  "Maybe they're good guys," she countered. "I used to date one of the guys who beta-played for them. The guy wouldn't even kill spiders, let alone plot universal destruction."

  "Hang on," I said. "First off, I thought I told you never to trust anyone, ever. Second, you date?"

  "Erik, you're not privy to what I do in my personal life."

  "Yeah, I know, but I figured you'd say something if you had a boyfriend."

  She actually blushed a little. "He wasn't my boyfriend. It was more like a-”

  "A hook up? Booty call?" Amaymon interjected. He was smirking wide. "Bang pal?"

  "I was going to say fling," she growled at the demon.

  I held up my hands. "You know what? You're right. It's your business, and I don't wanna know."

  "Regardless," Gil said with more than just a hint of annoyance in her voice. "It is a priority to investigate the creators of the game."

  "What's so special about it?" I asked.

  "A common wizard would not notice," she replied, "but to a trained warlock, the similarities are evident. Someone is using real-life monsters and events in a fictitious setting. It wouldn't be the first time, nor will it be the last."

  "I still think it's a coincidence," Abi said.

  "It's a coincidence worth investigating," my sister curtly replied. "A secret society of high-class magic users acting as terrorists and previously unheard of, steal a world-shunting device, and at the same time, the signals from the game's server spike, matching dimensional rifts. That is beyond coincidence and into the realm of cause and effect."

  She looked to me. "Erik, investigate them. Track down the creators and beta testers. If anyone has any useful intelligence, it's likely to be them. Follow the signal and, if the game is at all connected to this Black Ring Society, shut them down. Stick together. Don't split up. And whatever you do, don't screw this up any worse than it already is."

  ***

  "We're splitting up," I said.

  It was half an hour after touchdown, and we had found an airport café with some decent muffins.

  "Didn't your sister specifically ask you not to make this any worse?" Amaymon was eating three bagels at once. I don't know how he does it. "Splitting up is always a bad idea." He smiled at me, dripping crumbs and condiments. "Let's do it."

  I gave the team the look, the kind the fearless leader usually gives his team as he says something cool like 'let's kick some ass.'

  "Abi, Jack, you guys head over to Abi's friend's place," I said.

  Jack smiled a lot, while she gave me a look of reproach. I had decided it was best to put the two of them together for that area of investigation. They understood the lingo and the tech-gaming-geeky crap. Besides, I had been told I had no manners. And now that I knew one of the guys was 'friendly' with Abi, I was pretty sure she would be able to get whatever she wanted out of him, no problem.

  "Amaymon," I continued, turning to my familiar. "I need you at the docks."

  Before the plane took off, and she went back to her duties, Gil had given us satellite images of some type of sea monster coming from Lake Michigan. It started out with one at first, some bizarre humanoid, fish-man, but now we were getting reports of more. The docks were far enough from civilization for the demon to cut loose without harming anyone if need be.

  He nodded, hopefully understanding my intentions.

  "And that leaves the two of us," I told Raphael. He seemed just as happy about that as I was. But that guy needed someone to keep him from going berserk, and I could take him on. I mean, sure, Amaymon would be more suited but he would probably cause more collateral damage than a nuke, which left me with little choice.

  We all have to take one for the team, I thought.

  "We're tracking down the location of the electromagnetic pulse," I told the angel. "If there's a chance we will encounter the Sin, it's there."

  The angel grunted in response.

  "I need you to listen to me, Featherface. You stay with me at all times. You do not smite anyone. You do not display magic or power in any way, shape, or form." I glared at him. "In fact, don't even speak to anyone. Over this side we rely on secrecy, and you promised Jehudiel you'd abide by our methods."

  Raphael gave me a look as if he had been forced to swallow a handful of centipedes, and reluctantly nodded. "I will abide by your rules."

  I let out a short sigh of relief. It was short, since I didn't fully trust him, but it was relief nonetheless because angels aren't known for breaking their word. Unlike humans or demons, they do not understand the concept of lying.

  Of course, I still wouldn't put it past him if he decided to smite me on the spot.

  "All right," I said, looking at my team and grinning. "Let's go kick some ass."

  Chapter 9

  According to Gil's information, the main server for Verdant Moon was in an apartment somewhere close by. During the entire thirty-minute cab ride to the park where the strongest signal was coming from, neither I, nor Raphael said much to one other. Why bother with this guy? He didn't like me, and I sure as hell did not like him. All the while I kept thinking of the bullshit we were fed as kids, all that crap about angels being pure and awesome. Whoever came up with that assumption had clearly never met this particular angel.

  The building we were looking for was an average apartment complex. A brownstone building among other brownstone buildings. It sat on a busy street, hugged tightly on both sides by its peers and overlooking the park where we stopped the cab. I made Raphael sit still on a park bench with me while I scouted out the place.

  I was not one for video games. Hell, the only reason I was on Facebook was because Abi insisted on putting me there. But I did know there was a shit-ton of money being made in that industry and that was something I did understand. Verdant Moon was supposed to be this underground game where some nerds get to meet other nerds and pretend they were really in Narnia or something, instead of their parents' basement. And with the game making millions, one would assume that the main server would be put in some high-tech security facility, and not a shitty apartment in downtown Chicago.

  Hello, red flag number one.

  Red flag number two was of a more observational nature: no one was coming in or out of the complex. Not so much as a freaking mailma
n. No one showed up and no one left. It was not possible for people in this century to be that organized and coordinated. That is, unless they were in league with each other.

  I turned to the angel. "That building over there," I said, pointing at the location. "Can you tell me if there are any people in there?"

  The angel gave the brownstone a perfunctory glance. "There are a total of fourteen humans, twelve male and two female." He frowned. "Would you like to know any more details? I can tell you all about their fantasies and intentions. Quite sinful."

  "I really don't care if some kids are getting laid before exchanging jewelry," I said. "Just tell me if they're part of the Black Ring Society."

  I could actually feel his rage flowing towards me. "They are all sinners," he said. "Everyone here is a sinner."

  Okay, this guy was no help at all.

  I stood up. "I'll take that as a yes. You sit tight. I'll be back in two shakes."

  The angel stood up as well. "I was assigned to destroy the Sin."

  "And you will." I sighed. "But those kids in there are just some gang who think it's cool to play video games all day and steal shiny stuff that makes things go boom. And you want to destroy them. So here's how this is gonna play." I put on my best Gil face, the same one she uses to intimidate me. "Sit your ass out here and enjoy the sunshine. Do not interact with humans. Do not move at all. Just stay put while I deal with this human issue. Once we find the Sin, which is certainly not in there, then you are free to cut loose and go about your business. Deal?"

  The angel looked at my hand as if it were made out the plague. "I do not stoop so low as to make agreements with humans. You are free to do whatever it is you want to do with your species. I will not interfere." With that, he sat down and glared at the park's population of kids and soccer moms.

  "Okay, then," I said, walking away before either one of us decided to snap the other's head off.

  I did not ring the doorbell, but I did stab the key hole. Swords have the same effect as keys on a door, unless you wanted to close them afterwards.

  Apartment seventeen, I recalled.

  I had to play this stealthily and take out anyone who saw me. If Raphael was right, then all of these guys were in league with each other and could blow this whole thing up in smoke.

  But a few minutes of lurking around made me realize I had nothing to worry about. Here was what I found out: video games were a huge distraction from intruders. They could have been robbed on the spot, and never be any wiser. Turns out trying to kill the angry tentacle demon with a chainsaw and a sawed-off shotgun takes a lot of brain space.

  "Hey dude, you one of the new guys?" The voice came from a doorway about three doors down from where I wanted to be. He looked malnourished and grizzled, and maybe in his early twenties.

  I stopped and stared at him, waiting to see his reaction. I kept my body loose, ready to knock him out, but I wanted to avoid alerting the others if possible.

  "Nice coat, brah," he said as he took a drag from the joint he held between his thumb and forefinger. "You seen the pizza guy?"

  "Hey, Tony, who is it?"

  I heard his companion come up from his chair and walk towards the door. And judging from the steady beat of his footsteps, this new guy wasn't stoned out of his mind.

  I thrust out my palm against the stoned guy, throwing him against the door ledge. The momentum threw me inside and I stopped face to face with the second guy. He clutched a TV remote in one hand and was already in mid-swing. I blocked, struck the side of his neck, and swung his arm behind him in a lock. Carrying him forwards, I slammed his forehead against the wall. The kid crumpled down, unconscious.

  The stoned guy was still in the doorway. Before he could see anything, I kicked him in the groin. Stoner guy bent forwards, and I swung an uppercut for his jaw. The guy's eyes rolled into his head and he comically swayed from side to side, still clutching his joint. I gently laid the now-unconscious stoned guy inside the apartment and shut the door as I left.

  Exactly three seconds later, I knocked on the door of apartment seventeen. Another wiry teen came to greet me.

  "Yeah, what now?" he said, obviously not expecting me.

  In one swift motion, I grabbed him in a headlock, spun him around, and pressed my gun against his head.

  "Playtime's over, kids," I said with a snarl as I pushed him through and kicked the door shut.

  Inside were three similar guys, all sitting behind computer screens. On the far left was a giant table with some kind of box that had a lot of blinking lights. The server, no doubt.

  "Dude, what the hell?" one of them said. My gun went straight for his face, and he backed down.

  "Donny, don't move. We'll do whatever you want, man," said the one closest to the server.

  "Smart guy," I told him. "Same goes for the rest of you. Don't move, and we all walk outta here."

  "We don't have anything here," croaked the guy I was currently strangling.

  "Donny, you're being choked and have a gun to your head," I told my hostage. "You really shouldn't be talking."

  Donny fell silent.

  "So," I said. "Who here is a magic-user? You guys all adepts or something?"

  The one next to the server shook his head. "We don't have anything to do with that weird shit, man. That's Luke's gig. He's in the other room."

  One of them started moving towards the door, and I tracked him with my gun. "Don't be stupid, kid."

  He snarled at me. "Tough guy with a gun. I'm a black belt in Karate. Why don't you put the gun away, and we'll see how much of a man you are?"

  Great, a Karate Kid wannabe. Well, who am I to deny the kid a chance to shine?

  I slammed the butt of my gun against Donny's skull, hitting him with enough force to knock him out without leaving too much brain damage.

  Then I holstered my gun. "You asked for it, kid."

  Karate Kid took a fighting stance in front of me. I was taller than he was, so that ruled out any high kick. He'll probably go for the most basic combination he knew, I guessed. His right foot lashed out into a low roundhouse kick. I lifted my knee and the kick swept harmlessly under my foot. His left cross was already shooting towards my cheek. I swept my arm up to intercept his swing and diverted the punch from my face. Grabbing with my left hand, I drove the edge of my right hand into his temple. With the same hand, I grabbed his face and drove him backwards. Before he could recover I shot my knee upwards and into his spine. Karate Kid spasmed once and fell over.

  "Is he...?" asked the kid next to the server.

  "Dunno. Don't care." I kicked Karate Kid slightly, and he moaned softly. "Nope. Guess he's tougher than he looks. Probably won't walk for a while, though."

  The gun was back in my hand. "So where was I? Oh, yeah. You were saying something about magic?"

  "We don't have anything to do with that weird stuff. We just make the game, man."

  From my peripheral vision, I saw the second kid inch towards the door again. My gun snapped in his direction without taking my eyes off of the kid by the server.

  "Really? After what happened to your friend?"

  The kid froze and lowered himself against the wall.

  I turned back to the server kid. "You just write code, huh? Why would the Black Ring guys be interested in you then? What's so special about your game?"

  "I really don't know, man. Something about a special code and recruitment."

  "What special code?"

  The kid by the door moved again. This time I sidestepped and kicked him hard in the sternum. He doubled over in pain.

  "Told you not to move."

  The one by the server grabbed a black flash drive. "It's all in here. This is the code they made us build the game on. Here, take it."

  I snatched the flash drive and dropped it in my pants pocket. Then I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close. "Do you know what you're involved in? These guys are bad news. People are getting hurt."

  "I just write code, man," he mumbled.


  "Go write it for someone else." I pointed my gun at the consoles. "Shut this off. Now!"

  He nodded and immediately turned to the consoles. At the same time, footsteps echoed from outside, and I turned, just in time to see the door being kicked open.

  Chapter 10

  "Hey, what the fuck's up with all the noise in here?" A taller, older guy strode inside.

  It took a second for him to register the unconscious people in the room and the tall guy—me—in a leather jacket holding a gun to the last one.

  I recognized him immediately. Luke, the Pyromancer who burnt me to a crisp and stole my sister's Etherium Key, walked in with the same piss-blond hair, and an attitude that made me want to punch him in the face over and over again.

  "Nice to see you again, Luke," I said flippantly.

  He glared at me, recognizing me as well. "You."

  "Me," I replied, bringing my gun around. As I pulled the trigger, the kid tapping on the console bolted towards the bathroom and knocked off my aim. The bullet struck Luke in the shoulder, leaving a wide gash.

  "Ow! Motherfucker!" he yelled, snapping his hands forward.

  I was expecting fire like last time and moved in front of the server. Surely he wouldn't risk blowing it up?

  His attack wasn't fire but a blast of scorching air. Clearly, he couldn't care less about the server. The blast hit me in the chest, lifting me off the ground and tossing me out the window—a full three-floor drop.

  I careened in the air and fell on my back on a pile of trash cans.

  "Dude!"

  I looked up to see two teens with their heads popping out of their own window. If their eyes were any indication of their mental state, then these two were soaring the skies like no tomorrow.

  "There's a dead guy in the trash, man."

  I groaned at them and sat upright. My shoulder felt weird. I popped it back in place, like I had done so many times in the past, and began pulling glass shards from my body. By the time I stood upright, I was already fully healed and pulling out Djinn.