by Dawn Chapman
Drei tugged him on, but his feet seemed frozen to the floor.
“Wait,” he said, “just wait.” Drayk noticed something. He crouched down, swiped the rot away.
“What is it?” Drei asked, squatting beside him.
“There’s something else here, something I don’t think anyone suspected.”
Drei shouted. “Stand easy.”
She watched as Drayk prodded the ground with one of his daggers. A resounding clink made her raise an eyebrow.
“This isn’t just a cave. This is man-made. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not normal by any means.” Drayk had a clue to what it was, but he needed much more information before he divulged his thoughts to her.
As Drayk tapped the metal beneath their feet, Haal moved to their side, and noted the clinking, too. “We should be extra careful going in here.”
Haal declared, “We’ll cope with anything this place has to throw at us, don’t worry.”
But Drayk was worried—very worried. This wasn’t a normal quest dungeon. And the monster and mage at the entrance should have warned them away from it.
Drei asked, “Maybe we should go back?”
There was no going back, not just yet. Drayk would fail, be owned by Altus. He couldn’t do that.
Cale nodded to Drayk. “Anything up ahead?”
“No nothing.” Then a screech sounded; something crawled out from the very ground. He tried to dodge but was too late.
It struck out at him.
Drayk watched his health take a massive blow. Drei worked quickly, her palms lighting up, as she launched a healing spell. Drayk hadn’t seen her do anything like this before, although he knew she had healing powers, as a mage. He was still in awe of it.
“I don’t want to know what that creature is!” Drayk called to the troop, “But best get to killing it. We’re not even fifty feet into the cavern yet.”
Drei nodded, followed Cale and Haal in closer to whatever unseen monster that now growled, growing from the ground upward at an alarming rate.
Drayk noted the creature’s stats:
CAVE DWELLER
LEVEL 22
It sprouted higher, almost touching the cavern’s roof. Drei, at his side, shuddered.
But none of the others fell back. At least the troop stood a chance, but him, no way. There was nothing he could offer to help here. He was a pure liability and that embarrassed him.
Haal and Cale struck out at the creature with long-range weapons. Each fought with it hand to hand. The creature’s long tentacles struck, and opening its gaping maw, it screeched. It slapped out toward Graylin.
When Drei could, she hurled healing spells toward her friends. When she couldn’t, she was breathing fast, trying her best to stay calm, not use up all her energy.
Drayk stood, mouth agape, as the creature continued to batter the troop. If something wasn’t done soon, the big guy wouldn’t get through this.
Drayk swallowed when Drei lit her latest healing spell up, a shiny glint bounced off the wall to his left. Curiosity got the better of him even with the battle cries. Drayk moved to the wall. There was no light. He looked around for what he’d thought he’d seen. There was metal here I know it.
Fingers traced over rock, sharp edges. These walls! They’re porous!
Then Cale let out a moan,
CALE—HEALTH—42%
Cale’s health bar was dropping faster; even with Drei’s spells.
There was nothing Drayk could do here. He fumbled on in the dark, found his target. There was a sharp edge to something, a length, depth to the object. Then he knew. It was a panel. A door’s panel.
“Guys, I’ve got something,” Drayk almost shouted, then it turned to a whisper.
Blinking in red:
GRAYLIN—HEALTH—30%
That meant Drayk had to work extra fast.
“Drei,” he called out, “I need sight over here.” He teased the dagger under the panel. Gave a tug. It popped open. Red blinked again:
GRAYLIN—HEALTH—28%
Drei had edged over toward him. Raising a hand, just a little light emanated from Drei’s palm, enough so Drayk could see.
GRAYLIN—HEALTH—20%
And taking a glance, Drayk realised he wasn’t fighting anymore, now it was the beast and Haal in direct combat. Graylin had slumped on the floor, not moving.
Drayk turned back to the panel, feeling for what might be several wires, nodes, he decided. Which ones to cut?
The floor moved; a rumbling sound that shoved the ground upward. Drayk didn’t know what was going on as much as they needed a distraction for that damned creature. The wall glowed for a brief second.
Haal shouted, “Drei! Drag Graylin as far back as you can!” Drei stared, the what plastered all over her face. Then he shouted, “NOW!”
She then ran, grabbing Graylin by the scruff of his neck, running as quickly as she could with no help from the large oaf. Drayk ran to offer help, sliding under the creature, then kicking, as it struck out at Cale.
His brother roused. “What the hell are you doing!” he shouted. Drei lowered her burden
“RUN!” There was no time for anyone to say anything else.
Cale trusted what he’d heard, he grabbed Haal’s arm, pulled him back, to the now revealed panel.
The only thing Drayk had going for him was he was full of energy and the creature’s health was now on the decline along with its stamina.
Drayk was the last to reach the other side of the room, barely lit by Drei’s magic now, just as a tentacle reached for his ankle. He tried to kick but that didn’t work. Drayk attempted to grab for the rock, but only one hand made it.
He kicked out as the floor dropped beneath the both of them with a sickening suck. The creature let out a wail that mirrored Drayk’s. He felt a hurtling bolt of energy strike his foot. Searing pain shot up through his calf. Once more he reached for the rock, as the tentacle slipped from his leg.
It let out a bellowing screech as though it had slipped through the weirdest garbage disposal unit Drayk had ever come across.
The creature was no more.
When the floor resurfaced, Drei rushed to him. For the first time, Drayk saw the blood pouring from his wound. “Damn! All I seem to do is get hurt.”
Cale followed. He kneeled to help Drei with the bandages. “If you hadn’t found whatever that was, I think we’d all have been toast.”
Drayk glanced to Haal who was pouring a healing liquid potion through his lips. “Will he be okay?”
“Don’t know.” Drei shook her head. “Took heavy damage. But with the right time healing, yes.”
“You don’t have that time here with us, though, do you?”
She met his eyes; her yellow slits held a hint of pain. “I could stay, but that might be more damaging to us than you’d ever know.”
Drayk looked to Cale. “Let me talk to my brother.” Drei moved away. Cale once more grasped his brother’s arm.
“I don’t want to go,” he said. “But I must.”
Drayk squeezed his arm gently. “I wish I had more time. I wanted this to prove something, to help us, to show us there was more to life than being a soldier
Cale’s pale face lit up. “We’ll see each other again soon. I’m sure of it.”
Pop.
Drayk heard something behind him.
A red dot appeared on Cale’s chest, but he didn’t realise what it was, before —
Boom.
The sound reverberated off the cavern wall.
Cale’s eyes went wide. Blood seeped through the gaping wound in his chest. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.
“Don’t talk,” Drayk said, his heart racing. he tried to stop the bleeding.
Cale’s mouth worked, producing only a few garbled words. Drayk struggled to make them out amongst his ragged breaths.
“Trust your ins-t-inc-ts-” Cale stuttered, then he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Drayk
Drei rushed to his side, feeling Cale’s neck, but it was already too late. She thumped Drayk on the chest. “There’s nothing you can do now.” That was when he first saw the attackers.
The two stepped out from the shadows; the smaller pink one had collapsed, but his weapon was trained on Drei.
He spoke, but nothing he said came through to Drayk’s mind. The language was unlike anything he’d heard before.
Drei’s hand shot up, about to do something, anything to protect them. But it didn’t work. The weapon that had killed his brother struck her in the face. Splattered with blood and gore, Drayk’s heart sank. This wasn’t just the end of his chances to win the game, but the girl he loved had just lost a life. There was no way the Guild wouldn’t know she’d been there, that they’d done something against orders.
Drayk saw Haal move behind him. He tried not to look, but there was no point in them both dying here against an enemy they didn’t know.
The male creature moved closer to him, pointing the gun at him, wanting him to do something. Drayk didn’t know what. The red skinned woman at his side showed her ear and then pointed to Drayk. Drayk had no device, but he watched as she pointed to his brother’s body which was still in the game world. His ear had the same device she did. Reaching down, Drayk picked up the earpiece and tried not to choke on his emotions.
He placed it in his ear with some effort, and he heard the alien’s voice translated.
“Do not move, or do anything. You’re mine. My prisoner.”
Drayk didn’t want to be a prisoner; he wondered why the alien hadn’t killed him like he’d just killed his brother.
This was a weird situation to be in; he wanted it to end, just like it had for them. Altus be damned. Killed by the dungeon.
Drayk watched as the pink creature’s device to the right of his eye lit up. “You’re a player?” he asked, suddenly worried about what was going on. He thought it was something to do with the mountain task.
The alien looked at him. “I am, and you’re my prize.”
Drayk shook his head, “What kind of prize do I make? I’m no one. I’m just trying to help my family.”
The alien looked at his companion whom Drayk recognised straight away. She was Araratian. Her level wasn’t showing up for him though, neither was the man before him. Drayk watched as the man wobbled on his feet. Was he injured?
“I don’t understand this. I’m to take this mountain to help save my life, my brother, the brother you just shot.”
“You can’t take this mountain,” the woman said. “Do you have any idea what is in here?”
Drayk shook his head but tapped the floor. “I know what I see, feel. I already know what this is. Do you?”
The woman turned to the alien man. “What is the next part of your quest?” she asked.
The man looked to her, but he seemed to stall. He tapped on the side of his head and Drayk saw the device spark, flounder. Something wasn’t right.
The male shrugged his shoulder. “I’m not getting anything, maybe it’s just interference.”
Drayk pointed to the panel he’d exposed. “No, it’s not. There’s more in here than anything we know.” He looked to the Araratian. “Do you see it?”
She looked to the panel but didn’t answer. “Which side are you on?” Drayk asked.
The woman glared at him, “How do you know there are sides?”
“Because I saved a mage from certain death, and she showed me what this world was many years ago.”
“I find that rather interesting,” she replied. Her facial features gave nothing away though.
The woman approached Drayk, walking around him to observe all that he was. She said calmly. “I’m Leenz. I’m with the Araratian resistance.”
“I heard there was such a thing, but I…”
“Don’t know what to believe?”
“No,” Drayk glanced down to the bodies of his brother and friend, as they started to vanish.
Of course, Drei left her backpack. Drayk thought it was almost on purpose, why even bring something like that with her? It didn’t make sense.
The man still glared at him, his features scared, tense.
“What is your mission objective now?” Leenz asked of him.
“I don’t know. There’s been no more updates.”
Leenz moved forward. “I’m a scientist. There’s something different about you,” she said. “I don’t see your stats. I see many thousands of nanites inside your body. Who‘d do that? It’s very interesting.
“My father.”
“Your father wanted you to die young then?”
“No, he didn’t want me to join the games, he wanted me to….” Drayk paused, he didn’t know.
Leenz nodded. “Yes, your father wanted you to be in the game. Very much so, I believe.” She walked around him. All Drayk could do was watch the pink creature: the human. He was on edge, could kill him any second.
“Don’t get any closer, Leenz,” he spat. “The Maxol isn’t to be trusted.”
Leenz laughed. “I don’t trust anyone, let alone you who has the gun pointed consistently at my head anyway.”
Drayk tried to take a step back. He wanted to run, to do something, to escape and come back, to finish the quest.
The gun trained on him once more, the lights in the man’s eyes flashing furiously. “Don’t you dare move. At. All.”
“I have a mission to complete,” Drayk said. “It’s time sensitive, if I… don’t complete it, then many lives will be lost.” Drayk looked to Leenz. “Araratian lives.”
This had her raise an eyebrow; she stepped in front of him, held up a hand. “Pierce, I believe he’s telling the truth, we should help him.”
“Help him? He’s my mission objective.”
“A mission that doesn’t want to update now we’re here? No?”
Pierce shrugged, tapping his head. “What you’ve done has killed my thought process.”
“That’s nothing to do with me.” Lenz glanced to the wall panel. “This room is blocking internal energies. I can’t quite fathom why though.”
Pierce
The moment Pierce saw the Maxol warrior leaning into his brother, he knew he had no choice but to shoot. Flashing red at the side of his icon told him it was the enemy, but the pain he felt with pulling the trigger shocked him internally, it had been the wrong choice, pushed into it by the game.
His plasma shot went straight through the young Maxol’s chest. Within seconds Pierce stood over the Maxol as it bled out. The Maxol cried, mumbling in a language that Pierce didn’t understand.
When the female Maxol faced him off, about to blast him with some magical energy. Pain had shot through his mind so severe he thought his brain would explode. He didn’t tell his finger to pull the trigger again, but it felt like someone else was in control.
Leenz approached the Maxol and talked to him, pointing at the translation device in the first kill’s ear.
Only then could they understand each other. The ache in his mind wasn’t going away though. Something was in there, hurting him, doing something to make him feel so much more than he should.
Leenz talked to the Maxol for quite a while. They seemed to understand each other on a level he didn’t.
Pierce kept reminding her that this was their mission, to keep clear of the Maxol because he was dangerous. It didn’t stop her approaching him though, getting up close and personal with him.
The pain in Pierce’s legs worsened. He fumbled, looking for a place to sit, fall, anything. When he did, Leenz rushed to his aid once more.
“There’s something in this room,” she said. “I think we need to get you and the other Maxol outside. Your other friends got away. If we take th
e next tunnel and see where it leads, I think we’ll be far enough away from here.”
Drayk moved closer, the grief obvious in his eyes. Pierce tried to focus. “Where’s Chopper? We need to keep him with us.”
Leenz pointed back down the corridor. “Where we left him. He’ll come, don’t worry.”
Pierce motioned to Drayk. “You’re coming with us, even if you don’t like it.”
Drayk’s face lowered to his brother. He moved to grab the female’s gear before he’d even accept they had to move on.
Once back on his feet, Pierce introduced himself to Drayk. “We’re going deeper. Seems we’ve something in common here. Feel like investigating?”
Drayk’s tongue flicked out, the split obvious, more snake-like than Pierce had first thought. Yet, he wasn’t as intimidating as the video. The Maxol wasn’t a warrior
Pierce glanced to the bodies as he pointed his weapon away from Drayk, finally. “Did you know them well?”
“My brother and mate,” came the terse reply.
Pierce flinched. He had no come back from that. “They’ll respawn, right? No doubt gunning for my hide then.”
Drayk actually let out a snort. “If Cale could, he’d kick your ass, but he’s been called to the Arkillion war. I won’t see him again—ever. My only chance now is to get out of here alive, finish my missions, protect the people of this planet.”
Leenz grabbed hold of Pierce’s arm and switched a marker in his ear for him, so only they could understand. “This Maxol is different, let’s keep him close, go deeper, see what’s in here, then decide.”
Pierce shook her hand off him, feeling a tingle spread through his body, not something he was used to. He turned back to Drayk. “My only chance is to finish this mission and save my planet.”
Drayk’s eyes narrowed into slits. Yellows and blacks mingled. He saw something in them: emotions for all three of their species.
“We’ll save everyone,” Drayk said, but his expression showed how much he worried.
Pierce liked this, and he liked that the youngster was so emotional he could read him. He also liked the aura of trust about him, so he approached. “I’ve got some issues to work thru. Let’s get past those and do what we can for our people.”