by K. T. Hanna
We don’t even know how to step in and correct her, all we can do is guide her, and be there when meltdowns occur.
“They—Wren is okay for now.” Shayla attempted a bit of a half-truth, even though it almost stuck in her throat. Maybe she could spare Laria a bit of pain. But her friend raised a delicate eyebrow and crossed her arms. If Shayla watched closely, she was pretty sure Laria was shaking.
This time Shayla sighed, running a hand through her hair, and wished she’d cut it short when she wanted to. It wasn’t time to beat around the bush, and it wasn’t time to let Teddy know the AIs running his system was half the reason the headsets could access the data they had.
What it was time for was to see if they could salvage Wren before the military realized what was happening and seized her capsule for testing.
“They’re not sure how to get Wren out. They’re not even sure how she got in.”
“What?” Laria coughed out the word. “That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Shayla shrugged uneasily. “Apparently not. And another thing, her mind is adapting, expanding. Her realities are clashing.”
“So we might never be able to pull her out?” Laria’s voice finally cracked fully, and a sob escaped her throat.
Shayla didn’t know what to say, so she took three huge steps and hugged her friend, stroking her hair, trying desperately not to remember the rest of her AI conversation. But it was no good. The last words they’d said echoed through her head.
We’re trying, Wren is struggling, but adapting to Somnia. In the end, I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do to return her fully to your world.
“Who would attack those amazing creatures?” Sin’s angry yell as they ran through the snow spurred them all on. Which answered Murmur’s question about all of the artifacts they got from the species.
Occasionally one of them slipped on a particularly icy patch of snow, and Snowy used his body more than once to stop what might otherwise have been a horrible crunch into a tree trunk. Murmur tried to send him thanks with a thought, but her brain was scattered, and she wasn’t certain it got through.
Casting her sensor net out as far as she could, she frowned. Her range was pretty damn big now, able to reach farther than she could ever hope to see with just her eyes. Clamping down on her own shielding was easier now too. Considering it wouldn’t bode well if their rescue attempt was sensed, it was a good thing she’d gained such control.
“No idea,” Devlish panted, “but they were hospitable, kind, and damn interesting.”
“In any other game, we’d have killed them on sight, though.” Merlin wasn’t winded at all. His steps were light and he barely touched the snow as he practically glided lightly ahead of them all. “In Somnia however, intelligence is noticeable. Well, at least it is for the monsters.”
Murmur chuckled coldly—not that it was funny, but because it was true. Her chest burned, and she found it hard to rake in the breaths she needed. While she ran, she cast her Energy Regeneration on everyone she could reach. They needed all the vigor they could get right now. As they ran she went over the new skills she’d gotten. Good a time as any to experiment. Though it didn’t take them too long to get to the cavern entrances, it did take them longer than she liked.
In the last mile, Snowy ran on ahead of them, and he sent her an image of the Loch’ni’dar fighting for their lives against...
A group of players.
With Jirald. And Masha. And Ishwa—Exodus.
“Fuck.” Thousands of uncharitable thoughts flew through her head as she tried to articulate what the wolf had sent her. “It’s Exodus.”
“Say what now?” Mellow’s tone held fierce disapproval. “I get gnolls, because they’re kind of evil and not the smartest things on the planet, but the Loch’ni’dar? Just because they’re not one of the playable species doesn’t make them monsters.”
Murmur liked the way her friends thought. “This is bullshit. The gnolls give plenty of experience, there was no reason for them to even venture down. It’s not like they had a snow storm forcing their hand.”
“Be fair.” Devlish muttered. “We did the same thing initially. Caves often mean treasure. You can’t blame them for entering them.”
Murmur didn’t want to admit it, but he had a very valid point. “We did the same thing because of a snow storm, Dev. I want to be angry.”
“You can be angry, but you’re also too logical not to see why they entered. Be angry at what they chose to do afterward, Mur. You’re better than that.” His tone was big brotherly, but she could feel the slight hint of disappointment blooming in her own chest. She should know better than to judge rashly.
Caves were a huge draw for any adventurer.
Taking a deep breath she skidded to a halt as they came to the cavern. Freshly killed gnolls littered the ground in front of it, and Snowy sat obediently in front of the entrance with blood dripping from his muzzle, and a distinctive wolfy smile on his face.
“You took care of this so we could go straight down?” Murmur asked, barely stopping for the answer, which the wolf gave by simply getting up and trotting at her side through the entrance.
They didn’t slow down at all, and Mellow whipped out their strange glowing vials to light the way. There was no joking with Merlin about his fire arrows lighting the way.
A couple of times, Murmur almost stumbled. The sounds of battle from below echoed up to her, and made her progress hasty. They had to get there in time. The other guild didn’t have as many levels as they did. Surely it was only that one group. Please let it be only that one group.
Except when they got to the bottom of the ramp, the scene brought her worst fears to life. Somehow, Exodus had another group of lower level guild mates, around level twenty, to come and join them. They’d managed to get through the woods without wolves attacking them, and while Murmur knew her guild could do it, they also had Snowy on their side, which made sure that most wolves wouldn’t even come near them.
The two groups had already managed to kill a few of the Loch’ni’dar, but were having difficulties breaking into the main section of the cavern. Forshin was bleeding profusely from a long cut up his side, and without even needing to tell Veranol, the shaman cast a heal quickly followed by a ward onto the large guard.
Forshin’s eyes widened and he glanced only briefly up at them as they stampeded down the ramp. His expression changed and he let out a loud guttural yell, calling his men to his side, and forced Exodus back a few very important steps.
Murmur knew she had the perfect spell for this, but she’d barely used it at all, and so finding it was another matter entirely. Sadly, she couldn’t use any of her Sinuous abilities on a group. The wrong finger combinations—screw it.
She targeted the center of the pack of their rival guild, aimed the mass enthrall in their direction and just let it loose.
It was the first time ever that she’d simply ignored her hand actions and just willed the spell to come into existence. Apparently, if she concentrated and released the thought with a force that rivaled a death wish, then she could cast by thought and thought alone. Personally, she considered it a little overpowered, but considering the current circumstances, she was willing to overlook that.
Jirald’s apology had, as she thought, been a total farce. He was still a complete and utter dick, and only her knowledge of the underhanded tricks she knew he was capable of kept her on her toes enough to react as Snowy growled. She cast her longer area effect stun, effectively pulling him, yet again, out of his stealth, just long enough for Devlish to shield slam him to the ground, and barely avoided getting stabbed in the kidneys by him yet a second time. She didn’t want to contemplate what might happen on his third attempt.
And while he might not know it, and probably didn’t intend it, if his attacks ever connected, it would probably be the death of her.
The thr
ee people that broke through the mass Mezmerise because of their DoTs or resists, were easily subdued by Forshin and his guards just in time for Murmur and the raid to get down there, dragging a reluctant Jirald behind them.
“What the fuck even, Ishwa?” Murmur stood in front of the tiny gnome, dwarfed by her sheer locus height. “These are intelligent, residents of Somnia. Why attack them? What do you have to gain?”
Ishwa looked a little tired, and quite annoyed, but as he opened his mouth, it was Jirald who spat out an answer.
“Because I have a quest to kill their leader.” He paused, licking his lips and focusing squarely on Murmur. “As, I believe, do you.”
The cavern became quiet, the water flowing from the water fall was the only noise in it.
“What? I don’t have any quests to kill their leader.” She glared at the rogue, knowing him to be mostly full of complete and utter shit, and yet wracking her brains to try and figure out if he had even a tiny point.
“You’re on the quest to find the little black Shards, aren’t you? The one Sidius gave out.” Jirald’s smile almost verged on a sneer.
Murmur had to school her expression so as not to react. The quest for Michael’s brain Shards? Belius had already figured out a way to pass it to someone else so he got more of them regardless of her efforts to avoid giving them to him? Of course. She couldn’t expect all quests she received not to be obtainable by others, but she’d hoped Belius wasn’t going to pursue that line of attainment. It seemed she’d been a fool for being so naïve. More people out to get them was the logical thing to do. She should have thought of it before. “Shards? I think you have me mistaken.”
Her tone was calm and even, but she knew she’d probably taken just a little too long to answer, because of all the thoughts running through her head.
Jirald grinned, again with the nasty leaking through so much she could feel it. His hatred oozed from him making the effort not to take a step away from him immeasurable. “Sure. I bet I am. Then you won’t mind me killing them and taking what I need, will you?”
Murmur suppressed a growl, and gave him a half smile. “Actually, the Loch’ni’dar have been nothing short of lovely and kind to us, and I very much do resent you trying to murder a race of intelligent people I, and others, hold in high regard.”
She’d done her best not to sound too pompous, but wasn’t so sure it succeeded. Jirald’s laughter was tinged with a little madness, and echoed through the chamber in a way she didn’t like. Her eyes narrowed, and she watched as Masha crossed his arms with a huge sigh. His shoulders were slightly raised, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“And you guys? Did you ever stop to think that these might be sentient and intelligent?” She glared at them with the full force of her irritation. While the other members of the small raid shrank back, neither Ishwa nor Masha did. “They weren’t aggressive. I know they didn’t con as aggressive.”
“Murmur. It’s a game.” Masha drawled the words out with a bored sigh. “I’m pretty sure they’re just going to come back and reset.”
She counted to five and smiled grimly this time. “Haven’t you noticed that everything you do in Somnia has an effect? Haven’t you noticed that your actions speak in this game? You kill this race, and you don’t think your faction will fall elsewhere? This is a long-haul game, with a sophistication level it seems you haven’t yet realized.”
Ishwa laughed. “Seriously?”
“What?” Devlish asked. “Haven’t unlocked any of the hidden paths yet? Haven’t received any of those cool hints quests?”
Ishwa paled. “I have a hidden path!”
“Haven’t noticed that when your faction falls, it plummets and the mobs remember you and your actions when they respawn?” Mellow drawled out while looking at their fingernails.
This time Masha shifted uncomfortably. “That has nothing to do with this.” Although he continued to look thoughtful.
“Defensive much?” Sin laughed. “Ask Mur how many abilities she has. Go on, I dare you.”
Sinister’s voice had grown low and sultry, in a way that only she could ever manage. Murmur knew that tone so well, and shuddered, really hoping the boys wouldn’t egg her on too much more. So she spoke out just to get it out of the way. “That’s not important. Can we please get on with you leaving the Loch’ni’dar alone.”
Jirald grinned. “How about no?”
And he twisted in a strange way, jumped back into a somersault, and disappeared before his feet hit the ground again.
Masha groaned. “Damn it, not again.”
Ishwa sighed heavily and squared his shoulders. “Nothing we can do about it, guess he wants to fight.”
Murmur took a breath, used Shift, her eight seconds mass area of effect stun, which stunned all of his guild because of their hostile intentions, and yelled. “Enough, Jirald!”
She turned to Forshin as quickly as she could and whispered to him. “Get your leader to cough up his Getashi so I can take care of it. Tell him I know what it is and I know how to protect it.”
A few seconds left, and she could stun them all again, but then the cool down would kick in. She couldn’t maintain a group stun indefinitely, at least not yet. It’d take longer than that for her to get the slim rock. So there was really only one thing left to do. “Merlin, you stay on that little fucker like flies on shit. Got it?”
Merlin laughed, and shot an arrow into Jirald’s thigh just as the stun wore off. A pulse shot through the rogue, and Murmur recognized it as one of Merlin’s higher level DoTs. That should keep the little bugger from doing his constant disappearing act.
“Don’t let any of them get through,” she shouted. And the battle began.
Fighting other players in Somnia wasn’t much different than fighting the NPCs.
Except the NPCs seemed smarter.
Murmur utilized the crap out of her stuns. It was the best way to immobilize their opponents. Considering they didn’t have an enchanter, and she could in effect AoE stun for a total of twelve seconds every sixteen, she felt she was working well within the group make up. Chaining those two spells helped her observe and assess the situation, even if a few people resisted it every time, it still helped Fable overpower the situation.
Devlish and Rash each took on a tank from Exodus, and with their two level difference, it wasn’t as much of a contest as it could have been. Still, since their tanks were a warrior and paladin, the resists weren’t something they’d encountered yet. Dev’s Blood Boil seemed to have upgraded, and even Murmur had to cringe when she saw the way it punched into and pulled blood out of its target before transferring it back to the dreadknight.
Rash fought one on one with the warrior, and the player actually seemed to know what they were doing. Their shield slams resounded throughout the area, but Rash’s superior dodging ability meant she only got hit once. Even with the level disparity her health took a significant dive. As soon as she got hit though, she triggered her Ignore ability so she didn’t notice damage, Backfist so she completely avoided the next few hits, and chained them with her simple Dodge skill so she dodged everything for the next eight seconds. It meant in a one on one with a warrior who just had a shield and sword, the monk seemed way overpowered.
Murmur took the chance to target Masha, apologized in her head to him in advance, and activated Hypnotic Suggestion. All she had him do was stand there, staring into nothing, but twenty seconds of one of their healers being inactive made a noticeable dent. Murmur knew in that instant that choosing the Sinuous path had been the right decision.
Merlin and Exbo’s attacks were coordination at its finest. They worked together from up on a ledge she’d not noticed before, singling out a target and slowing, Dust shotting, and Flameshotting it before moving onto the next. Melee couldn’t reach them up there, giving them a nice tactical advantage, and Veranol’s wards ab
sorbed the damage ranged classes attempted to inflict on them.
It became obvious that having helped the dwarves in the planned attack against Verendus a couple of days ago stood Fable in good stead. Their teamwork was up a notch, and their healers knew how to coordinate their craft for best possible mana efficiency for heals, as well as making sure they didn’t over heal, or else, heal the same people within a split second of each other. They’d probably decided to stick to their own groups unless it appeared to be a dire emergency—it was what Murmur would have done.
She remembered that rush, and while still a bit jealous, she was secretly glad Sinister was able to experience it. Healing was best done from behind the lines, subtly keeping everyone alive, even when the enemy presumed them dead. Both Havoc and Mellow stood in front of the healers like a wall their opponents needed to breach before they could hit every raid’s weak spot, the healers.
Havoc’s specter slashed anyone that even attempted to come within striking distance, and the necromancer cast a series of sigils guarding their group from the outside. Only one of Exodus’s rogues attempted to get close enough and passed too close to one of the markings on the ground. The glowing sigil sparked and a skeleton hand shot out of the ground, gripping the rogue’s leg and tugging it up to its hips into the ground. The screams only cut off when Mellow tossed a heavy damage vial onto it, which turned the body into stone before it crumbled into dust.
Murmur blinked. Twenty-five had been good to them.
Jinna cut a path through the crowd filled with screams. He faded in and out, using his stealth to backstab, and cut at opponents’ hamstrings. Never staying in one spot, he simply flitted from one target to another, assisting each guild member as best he could in debilitating the opponent and making them easier to kill. She’d never seen a dwarf move so agilely, and it made her doubly grateful that the rangers were keeping Jirald from his hidden ability. Even though she didn’t quite feel safe, if he couldn’t stealth, then he was easier to keep an eye on.