by Rue Vespers
Congrats! You have acquired an Ichelen blessing! While this amulet is rated Very Common and its power ranked Weak, it will provide you with a small measure of aid in a fight. Unless your opponent is wearing a blessing that strips yours of its spell, your Ichelen amulet will help to conceal you from a direct gaze and fade your tracks quickly so it is harder to follow you.
Inner-World News: Why did three wizard strongholds fall in the Nightstorm? Emmerlin the Strong outfitted many of his warriors in blessings, allowing them to fight longer and harder against their foes. Emmerlin himself was in possession of a Prometheus blessing, which he found deep in centaur territory to the southeast. The blessing disappeared when he was forcibly scrambled as his sentence. Although many players have traveled to centaur-ruled lands in the hopes of finding the Prometheus blessing again, none of them have been successful. It is believed there are no more than three Prometheus blessings in the world, two of which are claimed.
Inner-World News: Occasionally, counterfeit blessings are discovered within Talvenor. These amulets are actually viruses from the outer-world brought in by unscrupulous players to hijack certain features of the game (such as accessing Unlockable before Level 50 is reached). Though still controversial, it is generally accepted that the missing wizarding House of Kavalade was in fact deleted by one of these Trojan horse amulets.
Fun Fact Time! There are one hundred types of blessings for human players, ranging from the Weakly Powered, Very Common amulets in the Ichelen and Demeter to the Very Rare, Vastly Powerful amulets in the Corona and the Prometheus. The cost of a blessing ranges from a few golds to priceless. Don’t buy off a street vendor! Go to an apothecary or an artifact exchange to ensure the blessing is real.
The blocks went away at last, returning Jenner to the chaos and noise of the castle courtyard. He looked around for where to go.
“Level 3s!”
“Level 2s! Come here!”
“Level 4s!”
“Level 1s, dammit, what is wrong with you fools?”
“Are there any dragons Level 5 and up among you? Dragons, come over here!”
“I don’t give a shit if you just leveled up to 2 right now! Stay with the 1s and shut up!”
“You can’t take them away from us, for Shirvath’s sake! These are Level 1 kittens!”
Where was Ocelo? Jenner had lost track of her since getting out of the wagon. He searched for that blue-and-green hair and found it back at the open gates.
She really was an oddity within this courtyard, Jenner thought as he headed in her direction. She was an oddity in what he had seen of Galadras, the sole mermaid anywhere.
As he neared the gates, he realized that something was wrong.
For once Ocelo’s serenity had fled her: her arm was slung protectively around a guy’s shoulders as they slowly walked together out of the courtyard “Leave him alone,” she barked frostily to a player in rags dogging after her. Her face was cool, but her purplish eyes were heated.
“Level 5s!” a man’s voice roared over the noise. “Level fucking 5s!”
Jenner ignored the call to rush over to the mermaid, but the guy pestering her was already turning back to the courtyard. He threw a mocking grin to Jenner and Rosy as they passed.
“Ocelo? What’s wrong?” Jenner asked when he caught up to her.
Then he reeled back in horror. Rosy gasped.
The fellow she was guiding out of the gates had lanky black hair and torn clothes, along with the painted-on eyes of a soulless. His skin was a chalky gray.
When Jenner first encountered a soulless upon Road of Royals, he assumed the gray color was dust. But it was the color of their skin, like the loss of their souls also drained them of their lifeblood. They were nothing more than animate corpses.
“Fuck! Don’t touch him!” Jenner cried.
“It’s fine, Jenner,” Ocelo said. She escorted the soulless several steps out of the gates and let him go. “Stand with me to block him in case he comes back. Sometimes their bodies get caught in loops.”
Jenner and Rosy stood there with her, but the soulless never turned around. He shuffled away, his boots scraping on the pavement. Closer and closer he came to the edge of the road, never looking down, and then he stumbled as the pavement changed to the dirt slope of the hillside. Oblivious to his stumble, he went down the slope at that same slow pace and shuffled for a thicket of trees and bushes.
From the courtyard came a shout. “He doesn’t even know where he is, you weird blue bitch!”
“Level 5s!”
“He boarded another war wagon and huddled down,” Ocelo said tightly. “They didn’t know he was soulless until the wagon made it here. That player was kicking him.”
It was on the tip of Jenner’s tongue to say the soulless guy would be okay now, but that wasn’t true. It was never going to be okay for him, and the line that separated Jenner from that man . . . that line was thinning at lightning speed.
“You’re kind,” he blurted.
“We are kind to them in the Snapteeth,” Ocelo corrected. “Few soulless ever wander so far south, but we wash them and dress them when they do, and take them to our Gate Gardens.”
“The Gate Gardens?”
“It covers a third of our island and it’s fenced on all sides. They can wander safely within it forever, among the fields of flowers and the trees, and no one will trouble them. They are tragedies. They are memories. Do you receive outer-world news notifications?”
“No.”
“Nor do I anymore, but I once did. The only time they are ever deleted is if the family of the soulless sues the makers of the game. But they should be deleted. Every last one. Above all, they are an obscenity.”
The lanky-haired soulless man made it to the thicket. Brush caught at his boots and stopped him from going further. He persisted, rocking his feet back and forth as the brush crackled and snapped.
Dread grew in Jenner. An eternal pointless wandering, pitied and ignored and bullied, and oblivious to all of it . . . this future was becoming a very real possibility.
His mouth opened. “Character upload per-”
A hand jerked him around.
For a moment, he thought the guy was the gladiator arms-master Boomer. There was a similarity in the shape of the jaw and the heavy musculature, but that was as far as the likenesses went. With an oily cap of mud-colored hair and piggish eyes, this man was a couple of inches shorter than Jenner and dressed in a leather brigandine over a shirt of mail. An absurd number of blessings was around his neck.
Jenner recoiled.
One of the amulets was a shrunken head, tufts of black hair sprouting from its gray scalp as its withered lips hung open in a death scream. Another was a chain of bloodstained fangs, which was hopelessly knotted into other cords and symbols. A bad feeling emanated off that tangle of amulets, Jenner wanting desperately to get away from them, but his recoil was halted by the strong hold on his shoulder.
“What level are you?” the man bellowed.
“Level 5,” Jenner said, writhing to no avail. He wasn’t the only one feeling the negative presence of those blessings. Wide-eyed, Ocelo had an expression of revulsion and a silver trident in her hand. It must have been in her inventory.
“Are you deaf, you piece of Level 5 shit?” the man yelled, shaking Jenner like a rag doll. “Can you not hear when your commander is shouting for Level 5 players?”
“He heard you, Commander Short Stuff,” Rosy said tartly. “He just didn’t care.”
The piggish eyes narrowed. Deftly, the man swatted Rosy off Jenner’s other shoulder.
“Hey!” Jenner struggled to go after the cup and get the hell away from those amulets, but he might as well have been in the unforgiving grip of a troll.
Rosy bounced off the gates unhurt and hurtled onto the top of Ocelo’s head. The commander tried to get hold of her shoulder as well, but the mermaid jerked backwards reflexively to avoid his clasping hand.
“And what level are you? What in the
hell ARE you, or is this some kind of costume?” the commander demanded.
“I’m a Level 10 mermaid, as of a few hours ago,” Ocelo said.
“A mermaid? Since when have there been mermaids in this game? What do you have to do to get to Level 10 as a mermaid? Swim fast after fish?” He gestured for her to come and propelled Jenner towards a clutch of players at the armory.
Giving Jenner a push that nearly knocked him onto his face, the commander snorted in derision. “Nobody’s going to want a mermaid in the higher ranks. You two get your goddamned weapons and join the Level 5s!”
“He’s a charmer,” Rosy said, jumping back to Jenner.
Out of breath with relief to have that man walking away, Jenner said, “Those blessings he has on are awful!”
“Oh, those weren’t all blessings.” The teacup blew a raspberry at the commander, which was safe since the man had his back turned. “Most were demonic knock-offs of blessings. Only a total piss bubble wears those. There were probably three genuine blessings in that mess around his neck. The rest are witch trash.”
“Demonic knock-offs,” Ocelo said, winded herself. “Not many will take the risk.”
“Why, Ocelo?” Jenner asked. “Are they like demonic health potions?”
“Demons try to duplicate blessings with their spells. They don’t work as well and their magic is often corrupted, but they’re cheap so some humans scoop them up.” Ocelo looked sheepish as her trident disappeared. “As I did once in the time I was human. A foolish mistake borne of greed and fright, and it cost me in more ways than one.”
“Are you Level 5? Then get to the goddamned armory!” the commander screamed at someone else.
Two armorers were giving out weapons. One was a harried dwarf shoving swords and shields at the Level 5 players; the second was an elf distributing cudgels to a group of Level 2s. They were sorry things, the cudgels. Some were so thick that they couldn’t be comfortably held in one hand, and others were so thin that they might snap at a blow. A few of the Level 2s held split-handle clubs with a stone fastened to the split to provide more weight, yet the lashings were old and fraying. One last cudgel was given out and the elf armorer switched to sling-shots.
Jenner stepped up to the dwarf as another player moved aside. “I’m Level 5.”
The armorer shoved over a shield indifferently.
Congrats! You have acquired a shield! Donated to the cause by House Thorus, this shield is of Very Poor quality.
“No shit,” Jenner said in dismay.
This shield was nothing like the one he fought with in the gladiator ring. It was a couple of strips of hardwood nailed together, and splintered along the edges. There was no paint, let alone wizard symbols for spells. A troll’s sneeze would blast this piece of crap apart. Ironically, it was heavier than the shield from the ring.
“Hey!” Rosy yelled. “Do you possibly have something a little less crappy back there?”
Ignoring the cup, the dwarf pushed a sword at Jenner without a word.
Congrats! You have acquired a sword! Donated to the cause by House Thorus, this sword is of Poor quality.
“No shit times two,” Jenner said. “Gross.”
Wasn’t House Thorus the worst House for humans? He was pretty sure it was. Shreds of cobwebs decorated the guard of an absolutely filthy blade. This sword had seen battle and then spent who knew how long in the House’s attic or basement without being cleaned. The only thing this sword had going for it was that it was sharpened.
“And that’s the last one!” Rosy said, hopping up to see the piles of weapons. “Now it’s just daggers, sling-shots, and axes left.”
Ocelo received a slingshot, and a pouch of pebbles. She examined them with a raised eyebrow before passing them back to the armorer. “Gods of the game! I’ll take my chances with my trident.”
The commander with the demonic blessings shouted rudely for the Level 5s to follow, and they trailed after him to the castle.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Once upon a time, whether it was in the country’s imaginary history or since the game was released to the market, Sundown Castle had had sprawling gardens upon the northern slopes of the hill. Little of their majesty was left, and much of the destruction looked recent. The ground had been stamped flat under thousands of boots as players were summoned to the castle in the last few days.
They were given hunks of meat and cheese, fruit and bread for dinner. Jenner ate his meal upon a wall above the garden, staring out to the east as Rosy rode around with Ocelo. Clouds were gathered there at the horizon, jags of lightning brightening the sky. It was no storm but wizard magic over the distant Plains of Araholle.
There was wizard magic below him, too. Though it was early night, the destroyed garden was lit up with floating orbs. Stones clattered on wooden targets, a nervous group of Level 1 and Level 2 players using the orb light to take aim with their sling-shots. Another group was flailing about with spears and axes. Jenner watched them with a measure of derision before remembering he had zero skill points with spears, axes, and sling-shots all. He would look just as stupid as they did, and at least they were learning.
A sword lesson was starting up on a dirt patch farther away. He shoveled the last bites of his dinner into his mouth and dropped off the wall to take part. Then he was the one flailing about. He was ahead of his classmates, who were lifting a sword for the first time, but leagues away from the expertise of their arms-master. It humbled him immediately. When he received another skill point in the sword at the end of the class, it reminded him only of how far he still needed to go to be of consequence in combat.
He had forgotten about his character upload percentage over the last hour, forgotten about everything but how to move with the sword. And now, as the class drifted apart to find a place to rest, he had no desire to check. It was what it was. The answer would do nothing but get his adrenaline pumping, and kick-start the old, tired track of worries in his brain.
Jenner followed everybody inside. The first floor rooms in the castle were covered in reclining forms, though few people were actually sleeping. Every eastern-facing window had someone seated or standing there to watch for the dragons to bear them to battle.
“They should be here by now,” someone whispered as Jenner passed, but there was no sign of them.
He trailed up a grand staircase to the second story, where a library had been converted into a common room. It was just as crowded as the rooms below. Players were seated around the tables and desks with mugs of ale and gabbing about previous wars. Since every chair was taken, dozens of people leaned against the walls and sat directly upon the floor. Jenner paused in the doorway, seeking in vain a place to sit down or a friendly face.
Dan the Troll was seated at a table in a ring of his fellow commanders, but Jenner didn’t go in to join him. The guy with the demonic amulets was sitting next to the troll, braying with nasty laughter. A serving girl brought him a mug of ale and dropped a curtsy as he yanked it away. “Commander Tetra,” she said, inclining her head yet stepping back fast.
Commander Tetra. So that was his name. He had only introduced himself to the Level 5s as the commander, like he was the only one at the castle. After his introduction, he listed off his accomplishments in the game, taught them how to stand in straight lines, and that was basically it before dismissing them for dinner.
The commander’s eyes flicked to the doorway. Jenner backed away as fast as the serving girl had.
He wandered up to the third story, poking his head into empty bedrooms, bathrooms, and studies. Moonlight shined in through the windows, illuminating a castle in total disrepair. Closet doors hung loosely from hinges, nothing on the bars inside; one bedroom had a hole kicked through the wall that was large enough to allow one to crawl into the sitting room on the other side. Cobwebs trembled in the flows of air, hanging in gray sheets down from the ceiling.
He heard familiar voices as he entered another wing. “-so it will only be a few pence this time,�
�� Ocelo was saying.
“Let me press it! Let me press it!” Rosy cheered. “That’s the last one I have to find!”
Jenner turned the corner just in time to see Ocelo holding the teacup up to a glowing frame. Rosy bonked its handle into the painting and cried, “Six out of six!”
Three coins dropped out of the air and bounced away on the threadbare carpet. Ocelo put Rosy down on the floor to hop after them. Paintings lined both sides of the hallway, which was lit by the frames themselves.
“What did I miss?” Jenner asked.
“Rosy went on a side quest,” Ocelo said with a laugh. “You have to search for the missing fruit amongst the paintings to earn a gold. But I did this already in a previous life, so I only get pence.”
The teacup was nudging its coins together proudly. “They shouldn’t call this side quest a time waster! That was fun!”
“It can be both a time waster and fun,” Ocelo said. “Not every side quest needs to have a grand purpose.”
The side quest reset itself. In the painting of a kitchen to Jenner’s side, a harried, two-dimensional chef waved a cleaver and pleaded, “Will you find my missing fruit in the other paintings, kind sir? The Lady Highsmith does not like to be kept waiting for her breakfast!”
Well, Jenner had wanted to go on a side quest.
“Okay, sure.” Jenner did the silly little quest himself and added a gold coin to his purse. He slipped in Rosy’s pence, too.
Sternly, the cup said, “Don’t spend those pennies! They’re mine!”
“What would you buy with them anyway? A doily to sit on?” Jenner teased.
He was spared the teacup’s reply by a flash of light that spilled through the open doorway at the end of the hall. It startled him, but not the mermaid. “Someone is arriving by Portal,” she said.
Jenner let himself into the room and went over to the window. The others joining him there, they looked down to a line of gleaming golden chariots being driven up the road to the castle gates. More players were arriving for war.