Lost Portals

by Bruce X Brown

  “Sena…” Priest walked over and looked her in the eye. “Are you sure about this?”

  Sena took his hand and stared at him with a weak smile, “Master, I have been having dreams about this day. I can’t explain it. It is like I belong. It cannot be a coincidence.”

  “Of course, she seems to only call the willing,” Forj opened his arms over the center of the floor and a chair emerged. The holographic map of Earth Host disappeared.

  Gem ran up and hugged her, “Please don’t stay…” she sobbed. The other ladies crowded around and joined the hug.

  Mela told her, “You are like a daughter to me, Sena. I just don’t want to lose you.”

  “You’re not losing me, Madame,” Sena replied. “I’ll be here. Learning.”

  Mela hugged her violently, “You cannot stay, Sena. They’ll impregnate you—”

  “It’s not like that… there is a little something lost in the translation. They’re using the closest thing in our vocabulary that can describe it. Besides, who in our legends have ever complained of being the mother of a god?”

  Forj interrupted, “Please, everyone. There is not much time left. Chosen one, sit here and you’ll have access to the system.”

  Sena slowly sat in the low stone seat and leaned back. She breathed in mana and a portal appeared before them. Its destination was in the desert right next to the portal going back to the private club in First Town, Forever Forest.

  “We’ll come back for you,” Priest said embracing a sobbing Mela.

  Sena smiled, “Only to visit. Go. You don’t have much time.”

  They each bowed to Sena and left. Mela had to be dragged through the portal. The portal was on a huge mountain of sand on the edge of a cliff where an endless sea of sand used to be. They walked through and stumbled on the floor sand pouring from every crease in their clothes on to the wooden floor. The portal closed seconds after they went through.

  Quest Complete: Give Birth to the Holy Parasite

  Congratulations! You have delivered the chosen one to the holy parasite. Blessed are the hosts, for they inherit the Earth.

  Reward: All participants have gained one level in all classes and 80% to your next level!

  Mela has gained Level 2, Shapeshifter

  Noelle has gained Level 2, Shapeshifter

  Samantha has gained Level 3, Portal Mage

  Priest has gained Level 3, Cleric

  Gina has gained Level 2, Fire Mage

  Gem has gained Level 3, Spellsword

  Priest has gained Level 3, Cleric

  Within the system messages of all participants leveling up, Priest noticed something. Sena’s name was not listed. An eerie realization squirmed in the back of his mind. Had they sacrificed Sena to that unholy transdimensional god for experience points? The being was so powerful that perhaps the whole ordeal was a part of its plan to attain a highly sought-after portal mage and give them a measly level for the loss of Sena. And what would it do with a portal mage? He’d wondered why the quest had been marked as “very hard”. Now he knew. He closed his eyes and listened to Mela cry.

  Chapter 47:

  Grandma Snitch

  Xavier woke up feeling much better. He’d left a message in the Personal Reality Subset training module for Priest to open up the door to passage back to the seamstress shop. The room was dark. There was still a pain in his chest but he was able to get to his feet. He checked his stats:

  HP: 70/120

  Stamina: 80/150

  He went to the cast iron pot hanging over the small flame in the fireplace and sipped the scolding hot Healing Leaf soup. The ladle almost burned his lips even after blowing it cool. He wiped his lips and looked around to see that Lyka had been at his bedside. She’d fallen asleep watching over him. He cautiously looked out of the window. It was a quiet night. It was a good time to end this foolish quest. He grabbed the bent rusty sword by his bedside.

  The alley was clear. Just as he was about to leave, he looked back to observe Lyka. She was like a little angel. He walked over to her and kneeled by her side.

  “Thank you,” he told her and kissed her purple hair.

  As he was about to walk out the door, it exploded inward and he was jumped by two elven soldiers. They tackled him and he stumbled back onto the bed which collapsed under their weight.

  Xavier takes 3 points of fall damage.

  Lyka screamed awake falling backward out of her chair.

  Xavier saw that one of them was a Level 3 Warrior. He was an Elven Reich Soldier wearing metal armor trying to hit him with a mace. X dodged the blow. The mace grazed his head and smashed the bedframe into splinters.

  Xavier kicked him back with both feet. The stout elf stumbled back, fell and smashed a table. The other elf was putting all his weight on Xavier’s sword hand trying to pry the weapon loose. X tossed the elf aside like a ragdoll against the wall.

  Xavier slams an Elven Soldier apprentice for 3 points of damage.

  “Yaaaaah!” The Armored Elven Reich Soldier rushed Xavier swinging the big iron mace. Xavier used the sword to block and the mace snapped the sword apart like a twig. Xavier was left staring at a hilt with no blade.

  Decorative Rusty Sword

  Durability: 0/50

  The armored elf stopped to laugh at the broken sword. The armored elf stood over 5 feet and looked as wide as he was tall. He tossed the mace aside and taunted Xavier, “C’mon Wild Lander. Come get some!”

  Xavier tossed the hilt aside and examined the elf:

  Bounty Hunter Berick Elvenwood

  Level 3, Warrior

  HP: 190

  Strength: 12 (Strong 350 kg deadlift)

  Stamina: 220

  Dexterity: 10

  Lyka was hiding in the next room peering behind the door frame.

  Xavier charged and threw a punch aiming for the elves unprotected face. The elf dipped his head so that Xavier connected with his iron helmet.

  “AAAaaagh, son of a bitch!” Xavier pulled his fist back.

  Xavier has fractured a knuckle on Bounty Hunter Berick’s helmet. 5 points of damage.

  “BWAAAHAHA!” Berick laughed and slapped his iron knees. He was laughing so hard it seemed like he might collapse. Xavier took that moment to smash Berick over the head with a wooden chair. The chair smashed into splinters. Berick was still laughing. He dusted some bits of wood off of his shoulder.

  Xavier backed up looking around until he found an iron prod on the fireplace. He grabbed it and swung on the iron elf. The blow was blocked with iron gauntlets, snatched and bent into an oval.

  Xavier was looking for more weapons.

  He grabbed the pot of boiling Healing Leaf soup and threw it in the elf’s face. And that got his attention.

  “Awwwwww!” Berick yelled. Xavier dropkicked him and ran out of the door.

  Bounty Hunter Berick loses 10 points of damage after getting boiling liquid splashed in this face.

  Bounty Hunter Berick is kicked by Xavier for 4 points of damage.

  Xavier ran right into the hands of a squad of Level 3 Warriors. Behind them, Xavier saw Lyka’s blind grandmother and a few concerned neighbors.

  “Sorry, troubled one,” Lyka’s grandmother said. “We are victims of our birth. Your presence jeopardizes us all.”

  Chapter 48:

  Like Family

  The elves sat around Mela trying to console her. She was crying about Sena staying in the City of Wyrm.

  Priest rested his sword on the bar and took off his robe, “That was a great run, ladies. We need a few more quests and a lot more practice and we will be strong enough to rescue our friends.”

  Samantha was laying on the floor to rest. Her body felt beat up. She glanced over to see Gina flat on her back next to her. Gina usually looked sexy whether she was in Walmart in baggy sweatpants or twerking in the club in booty shorts. But at that moment she looked rough. Her hair was tangled and matted with sand. Her face smudged and smeared with a layer of tear mixed mud. She looked shrunken and
hurt in her sand covered cloak and filthy brown tunic. Worst of all, she looked miserable and exhausted. She looked like shit and Samantha laughed.

  Gina looked over at her and frowned. She knew why she was laughing and it pissed her off. A smile crept across her face until she was laughing with her. Gina playfully socked her and shook her head, “It’s funny because we almost got slaughtered by a space parasite.”

  Samantha closed her eyes, “That stuff is going to be stuck in my mind for the rest of my life.”

  “Right?!” Gina laughed.

  Priest announced to everyone, “The next portal run will be in 6 – 8 hours. Gina, Sam, and Noelle get some rest.” Priest was being dragged away by a few ladies.

  Noelle was already sleep with Mela quietly sobbing on her lap.

  Samantha watched the ladies pull Priest into a room and shut the door, “What do you see in that guy?”

  Gina was silent for a moment, “…He’s like a father to me. Father I never had.”

  Samantha laughed, “WHAT!?”

  Gina smiled, “My god. Not like that… I mean kinda. But what I mean is that he’s given me a family. I never had… like… a real family. So, it’s probably weird to you because you have a mom. But I never really had people like that. People that care. You know? He brought me in and cared in his own weird way.”

  Gina was quiet for a moment. She looked down and finally spoke, “Priest saved my Grandma… he paid her medical bills and got her Chemo. It allowed her a few more months to live. She was the last relative I had, as far as I know.”

  “I-I’m sorry for your loss,” Samantha said.

  “Don’t be,” Gina said. “Grandma was a bitch, but his gesture of caring enough to help me is something I will never forget. You and Noelle have also been there for me. And I’ve just never had that before. It means a lot, you know?”

  Samantha nodded, “Yeah. I get it.

  Gina looked at Sam, “I know we haven’t known each other long. But it means a lot to me that I have you guys in my life.”

  Samantha grabbed her hand and smiled, “I thought you and Priest were together.”

  “No. You know that crazy lady with the gang? I think her and Priest have something going… I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it’s something. I’m not trying to get killed by that lady. And besides,” Gina moved closer to Samantha’s face, “I already have a girlfriend.”

  Gina moved in for a kiss.

  Chapter 49:

  Priest’s GM Suspension

  An envelope icon with a red “1” appeared over in Priests upper right peripheral vision. The icon pulsed a little. It was important. As bad as he wanted to stay and have fun, it might be a message from Dee.

  He closed his eyes and logged out of the multiverse.

  He opened his eyes to MedBay 5. He knew something was wrong when instead of MedTech Fallon he saw Director Giordano and Developer 161.

  “I know your brother, Priest,” the director said. “He is… selfless. Completely dedicated to the Game Master Corps.”

  She began disconnecting him from the pod. Somehow that action made him very nervous, “It’s been a while since I was a MedTech,” she laughed.

  Developer 161 smiled and took readings on Priest. She said, “We just wanted a moment with you. To tell you in private what we’ve been doing.”

  Director Giordano added, “We thought that if we confided in you, as we did Kiera, you would stop interfering with her mission.”

  “Boss,” Priest pleaded. “I’m not interfering with—”

  “No,” Giordano said. “Listen, we believe that your brother and all the others are still inside the portal. Early on, Developer 161 recover the lost portal database from your brother’s portal device.”

  “How?” Priest asked.

  Developer 161 assisted Priest out of the Pod, “Somehow, your brother traveled through multiple lost portals before he stepped through the last one with that dream catcher key. His portal gun recorded each of those locations. We exported the database of locations and now Kiera has them. She can upload them into a new portal device.”

  The director put a hand on his shoulder, “We’ve sent Kiera on a mission to go back in the lost portal and see if she can pull her sister, Stokes, your brother and everyone out…”

  Priest shook his head, “But why not just send a high level like Death_Night Spearman or someone else from MarySue? Don’t they have the best chance of completing the quest? They have years of experience. They usually have a portal mage in their party. Why not have them do it?”

  Developer 161 told him, “As the saying goes ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’,” Developer 161 said. “We’ve tried that. Higher levels, more power, magical items… none of that works. The one variable we have is Kiera and you. You are the only ones to ever come out of a lost portal.”

  “Priest,” Giordano said. “We’re disabling your access until further notice. You’ve interfered with Kiera’s mission—”

  “No,” Priest protested. “I didn’t interfere! If anything, I helped her.”

  “You’ll be moved to Ops and reassigned,” Giordano said. “We cannot afford to have you jeopardize the mission.”

  “Ma’am, Please,” Priest said. “I can help.”

  “The decision is not ours. The council has already decided,” Director Giordano said.

  Priest was silent. Looking back at the pod, “Ok. Can I go back in to at least get my NPC’s back to their home universe?”

  The developer looked at Giordano and nodded, “I think that should be ok.”

  Chapter 50:

  Angel’s Face

  Lady Blades made her way down into the prison. The lavish trappings of the compound dropped away as she walked further down the steps into the dimly lit, dank cold stone tunnels. An entourage of Elven Reich Knights, high-level mages, Shiori, and her personal security detail Jah and Skull Face and some system-realized elven advisors escorted her. All the elves with her were Mana-born and system-realized. She had become the governor’s most valuable asset. After making over 70 elves system-realized, she was at 50% Authority. The power within the Elven Reich Compound had shifted from the High-Born.

  The guards had told her of a Wild Lander that they’d captured. He’d been found by a bounty hunter within the Elven Reich Compound. They told her that the Wild Land savage could speak fluent common. Lady Blades brought Shiori because she suspected that the Wild Lander must be someone from Priests party or perhaps Priest himself. She could use Shiori to convince them to surrender.

  Shiori approached the bars as she recognized Xavier sitting in the cell with his head down. Lady Blades had the guards open the cell and she stepped inside. Her personal elven guards tried to go inside with her but she shooed them away and walked inside alone. Jah stepped aside. He knew Blades could take care of herself especially against this guy. He was a noob that didn’t even have the good sense to hide his stats:

  X (Xavier Jackson)

  Level 1, Warrior

  HP: 40/120

  Strength: 11 (Strong 150 kg deadlift)

  Stamina: 15/150

  Dexterity: 11

  Lady Blades order the chains off of him and as soon as they slid to the floor, Xavier rushed her with his hands going for her throat, “YAAAAAAGH!”

  Lady Blades ducked his wild grab for her neck. She dipped her body low beneath him and he stumbled forward and onto her shoulder. She lifted him off his feet by standing up fast. He flipped over her and hit the ground hard.

  Xavier has taken 5 points of fall damage.

  Her guards had the points of their swords at Xavier’s face. Jah had a flame fist ready to shoot. Lady Blade put her hand up for them to hold. Xavier was sweating, bleeding and panting like a wounded animal.

  Lady Blades was calm and composed. She looked down at him, “How did you get into the Compound? Where are the others?”

  “Xavier,” Shiori said. “Oh my god. Are you ok? W
here are the others?”

  “Shiori?” Xavier moaned. He was barely able to see her through his swollen eyes. “Is that you? Where’s my sister? Is she ok?”

  Lady Blades interrupted, “Ebony is your sister? She’s alive but we have to get her some help, Xavier.”

  “Where is she?” Xavier asked. He noticed Jah’s flaming fists and tried to get up. “What did you do to my sister, bastard! Where is she?!”

  Jah smiled and made the flame on his fist grow brighter.

  “Calm down,” Lady Blades said helping him to his feet and moving the spears away. “Jah will help us save her. Save your anger and follow me.”

  Blades walked out of the cage and led him out of the underground prison and into the Governor’s Quarters. Shiori got under Xavier’s arm and helped him walk. He told her what had happened and how he was captured. Shiori told him what had happened to her and Ebony.

  They got to a room filled with white linens, candles, and incense. It was the elven apothecary housed inside the Governor’s Quarters. There were several wounded being treated by elves dressed in white robes.

  When he saw his sister, he limped over to her, “Ebony! You’re alive!” She was wrapped up and swaddled in white sheets like a baby. He observed her health:

  Ebony

  HP: 15/35

  Stamina: 21/100

  Her eyes were closed and her face was immaculate like an angel. An elven priestess moved passed him and squeezed liquid on her lips and cleansed her brow.

  “What’s wrong with her?” he asked. The priestess ignored him and moved to the next patient.

  “She hasn’t been able to wake up,” Blades said. “She’s still recovering. We need to get her back to her home, Xavier. She needs better treatment than what can be provided here.”

  “How do we get her back?” he asked putting a hand on Ebony’s face.

  “Priest had a portal mage,” she said. “All you need to do is tell me where she is then we can get all of you back and get her the medical attention she needs.”

  Xavier nodded, “Actually, Priest can heal her.”