by Alex Mulder
“Careful, now.” Luke reached his arm down to help Tess up over a jagged rock ledge.
“Thanks,” she said. “We’re… almost to the top.”
Luke nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “Get ready.”
The second to last section leading to the summit and crater was a sheer cliff face. Luke went first, finding grips and handholds to pull himself up. It wasn’t a long climb, but it was difficult, and he waited for Tess to follow before getting too far ahead.
Again, he reached down and pulled her up the last few feet. Sweat was dripping from his brow, and it wasn’t from the exertion of the climb.
It’s hot up here, too hot for us to stay for long.
“What… what are those?” Tess pointed toward several lumps scattered across the ground between them and the lip of the crater. Each one was in the shape of a body bag, with scorched silken webbing in the place of fabric.
“Just ignore them,” said Luke. “We need to keep moving.”
There are bodies inside them. Tess doesn’t need to see that.
The two walked forward slowly, coming to a stop a half dozen meters from the crater. Smoke obscured their sight. They were unable to see what lurked on the edge. Luke nodded to Tess, letting his eyes tell her of the danger he expected to find. Then, he began walking forward.
Immediately he was enveloped in a screen of smoke, so thick he couldn’t see his hand in front of him. Tess chanted behind him, and a strong gust of wind blew it out of the way, letting them see what was hidden behind it.
A tiny boy, no older than seven or eight, sat with his legs hanging over the lip of the crater. He turned to face them as they approached. His face appeared mournful and he looked at them with bright, orange eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Though he spoke softly, his voice was clear and carried on the air like the smoke billowing from the volcano. “Leave me alone!”
“Is this…” Luke’s voice trailed off as two new enemies flew up through the volcano’s opening, each one the size of a large horse.
VENGE DRAKE: The juvenile version of a Venge Dragon. Powerful enemies that often stalk the jungles of the Msitu Wilds from the air. It is suspected that they can draw sustenance from intense heat sources, as well as from the flesh of their prey.
“Look out, Luke!” Tess let out a scream as one of them dipped low, lunging claws aimed at Luke’s head. Luke rolled out of the way just in time.
The Venge Drakes had two broad wings along with a set of two smaller ones that jutted out of their backs. Their eyes were blood red, and out of their razor toothed mouths flicked long, whip like tongues. With each breath they took, the scaled skin of their neck inflated like a set of bellows.
This is more than we can handle!
Luke looked over at Tess. Her eyes were set and determined, and she held her staff with confidence, her posture alert.
Four Death Spinners crawled out from the crater, one after another. The Venge Drakes took off into the air as the spiders began to attack. Luke knew that he had to immediately dispatch the spiders if they were going to stand a chance against the Venge Drakes.
MIRROR IMAGE 3
ELEMENTAL INFUSION: ICE
CONJURE SWORD 3
HOLY REGENERATION
Activating all of his passive combat abilities at once was a gamble. Luke’s magicka bar was completely drained, and it took too long to refill for him to be able to count on using any other abilities during the battle.
The lead Death Spinner landed in front of him. Luke swung his sword down and stabbed into it with the three conjured swords, all of them faintly glowing with light blue freeze magic. His attacks struck true and it fell.
Unfortunately, the move also left him open. Two of the Death Spinners launched their webbing at him. Luke spun, letting his mirror images deflect the attacks. One of the Venge Drakes landed and blasted fire from its throat, taking out his last mirror image and singeing his arm as he desperately rolled away to the right.
“Tess!” shouted Luke. “Get to safety!”
The Venge Drake on the ground had cut him off from her. It moved to follow up its last attack, hopping forward and clawing at Luke. He dodged and struck back four times, once with each sword.
That only took out a quarter of its health, even with the ice infusion.
Tess let out a determined battle cry from behind him. She was shooting holy energy out of her staff at one of the Death Spinners, both of her legs partially wrapped by the webbing of another.
Luke spent an instant too long watching her, and the claws of the airborne Venge Drake raked across his back. He fell to the ground, using two of his conjured swords to block a follow up attack. Both of the blades shattered from the damage of the blow.
And now I’m down to just two swords…
Luke pulled his last magical blade into his free hand and dropped into a fighting crouch. Both of the Venge Drakes were baring down on him, gaining confidence as Luke’s own began to fade.
Tess was faring better than he was. Only one Death Spinner was left, and she was dodging its webbing and fire breath with ease.
“Hang in there, Luke!” She looked away from her opponent for a second and cast a spell on him.
Haste… Perfect choice.
Luke moved with magically enhanced speed, dodging the attack of the first Venge Drake and retaliating with simultaneous strikes from his swords. The other one blasted fire into his path, but he rolled out of the way and back to his feet with agile ease.
He lunged at the second Venge Drake, wishing he had enough magicka left to pull off a Pierce Attack. The Venge Drake took to the air. Luke didn’t have time to get a look at where it was going as another attack landed on his shoulder, painfully tearing his arm open and rendering it almost useless. His health was down to just a third of its maximum, and now he could only wield his physical sword.
“Luke!” Tess called out to him, and he looked over to see her with her staff pointed at the Venge Drake in front of him. He dropped to the ground, and a spear of white light blasted into the creature, piercing one of its wings.
Now’s my chance!
Luke leapt into the air and landed on its back, striking wildly with his sword. He did his best to wrap his injured arm around the drake’s neck. It bucked, knocking him backwards, but he managed to get a hand on the crook of its wing as it took flight.
The Venge Drake could fly only so high with Luke as a passenger. It focused more on trying to knock him off than gaining height. Luke’s heart raced, and he debated whether or not to continue attacking the beast in flight, risking death for the sake of finishing it off.
This is not good…
Below him, Tess had finished off the other injured Venge Drake, along with the last Death Spinner. Suddenly Luke’s unwilling mount dove toward her. It twisted through the air, turning the both of them upside down and making Luke feel like he was clinging to a roller coaster. He focused, aided by Tess’s haste spell, and used his sword to spear it through the head just before it overtook her.
LEVEL 18 ATTAINED
The Venge Drake spasmed and crashed into the ground. Luke was thrown off, and bounced across the obsidian surface of the volcano, coming to a stop only inches from the edge.
“Wow…” he said, shaking his head.
“Oh my god...” Tess hurried over, casting a healing spell as she kneeled down next to him. “Are you okay?”
Luke nodded, and slowly stood up. The fight was over, but they could hear a soft, constant noise filling the air. The boy hunched a short distance away, quietly crying and wiping his tears.
This can’t be… Please tell me this little boy isn’t…
“I know why you’re here.” The boy spoke in a tremored voice, as though he was shivering in the cold. “You’re here to kill me.”
Luke swallowed, and looked over at Tess. She was staring at the child with concerned, motherly eyes.
“Are you Shahidi?” asked Luke. He didn’t want to know the a
nswer, even as the words left his mouth.
The boy nodded.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” he said. “My parents brought me here. They pushed me into the hole.”
Luke took a deep breath and shook his head.
“Tess… I can’t.” He chewed on his lip and shook his head, avoiding the eyes of the child. “I can’t do it.”
“They did it because they were sad, I think.” Shahidi was staring off into the bottom of the volcano’s crater. “Everybody was sad when it happened. They thought it would fix things.”
He was… a sacrifice?
“Luke, we should just go.” Tess dug her fingers into his arm and shook her head. “There has to be another way.”
“No, please…” Shahidi let out a heart wrenching sob and pulled his legs into his chest. “Please don’t leave me. I want you to… to do it.”
Luke stiffened at the boy’s words. The ground underneath him began to shake, just like it had before. Suddenly, the only thing he was concerned about was either getting Tess to safety, or…
“I’m doing this,” said Shahidi. “And I’m not going to stop unless you make me. Please… I don’t want to have to hurt people anymore.”
“Shahidi, you don’t have to do this!” Luke walked toward him with his hand outstretched. “There must be another way!”
“My Mom came back up here, after I’d been thrown down into the hole.” Shahidi’s intense orange eyes quivered, and tears flowed down his cheeks. “I didn’t mean to hurt her! I couldn’t stop it!”
The shaking grew stronger. Luke looked over at Tess, hoping that she’d say something, or do something, to make his decision easier. She avoided his gaze, turning around completely.
“Please, Shahidi!” cried Luke.
“You’re here for the Elemental Well.” Shahidi walked forward, bringing himself up to the tip of Luke’s outstretched sword. “I don’t want the two of you to die.”
What is going on?
Heat began to push out from the volcano’s crater. The ground danced underneath Luke’s feet, and a light plume of lava and smoke belched from the magma chamber’s depths into the air. Tess screamed.
Luke met Shahidi’s eyes, still full of innocence and indomitable youth. The boy stepped forward, pushing his chest against the sharp tip of Luke’s sword.
No…
Luke wanted to pull back. He wanted to sheath his blade, and made a hopeless attempt at getting down the volcano’s face before the lava overtook them. He wanted to pretend like there was another way for him and Tess to escape from the situation alive.
He didn’t want the boy to die. But as Shahidi pushed himself forward onto his blade, Luke kept it held where it was.
“No,” said Tess. “No, no, no!”
The boy took another step, and this time Luke pushed forward too, tears dripping down his cheeks.
“Thank you,” whispered Shahidi. He fell forward against Luke’s blade and then slipped off, blood the color of lava spilling from the mortal wound.
Is this really a quest? To go to the top of a volcano and kill a child?
Luke looked over at Tess. She wouldn’t meet his gaze.
A bright light appeared from the edge of the volcano in front of them. It wasn’t from the lava. A circular seal formed on the ground. It looked like the rune circle in Kantor, except it was blue instead of white
“That has to be the Elemental Well,” shouted Luke. “Tess…”
He wanted to die. He was just an NPC.
Luke couldn’t stop himself from tearing down his own rationalizations and leaning into his guilt. He forcefully sheathed his sword and then walked over to Shahidi’s body. It was glowing bright orange, and even as Luke cradled the boy in his arms, his body began to disappear.
“Step into the circle, and claim the Elemental Well, hero.” A feminine voice boomed in the air around them. Luke couldn’t tell if it was coming from the volcano, or the sky, or the fabric of space itself. He slowly stood to his feet.
Tess was still silent behind him. It was too much for Luke to look back at her after what he’d done. Instead, he walked forward, shielding his eyes from the intensity of the light as he stepped into the circle.
Instantly, he was transported to another realm. All Luke could see was white, in every direction. The ground beneath him felt insubstantial. Ahead of him stood a woman wearing the plain clothing that all Yvvaros players started out wearing.
“Welcome, Hero,” said the woman, her voice again sounded as though it came from all directions at once.
“Where am I?” Luke blinked as he looked around in awe. He felt as though he was hallucinating, with any sense of control that he might have had was robbed from him and replaced with incomprehensible images. The white light around him shifted and swirled as though it was partially sentient, the embodiment of the will of whatever entity had brought him there.
“I am the Universal Truth.” The woman’s voice was warm and soothing, but also measured and monotone. “This is my home.”
“Is this… part of the quest?” Luke shook his head.
This doesn’t feel right. Something is off, here.
“It never gets any easier, you know,” said the woman.
“What?”
“The boy’s death. You harbor much guilt. It is so difficult to act on behalf of the greater good.”
“I didn’t want to do it,” said Luke. “What choice did I have? I… I…”
I killed him.
“He felt peace in the final moments,” said the woman. “He was tortured by the memory of his parents sacrificing him to the volcano. He still remembered the look on their faces right as they pushed him over the lip.”
Can an NPC feel that much?
“Yes,” said the woman, as though answering his thoughts. “He was an innocent child, pure of heart, but cursed by evil. It was hard for me, too.”
Luke was confused, and on the verge of being sick to his stomach.
“Why?” he managed to ask. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to know it,” she said. “I was as much his killer as you were.”
“I just…” Luke slowly dropped to his knees. “Wanted to help him…”
“Grieve however you must,” said the woman. “It’s my turn to help you, Luke.”
The realm shifted colors, turning from white to bright red.
“The axis of my world has been set askew.” The woman reached her hand out to him. “You must claim the Elemental Wells and return it to balance.”
“Wait!” yelled Luke.
“You have claimed this Elemental Well,” said the woman. “Find the other two Wells and restore the city of Markorin.”
Luke felt a strange new energy brewing inside of him. His field of vision filled with light, and a strange, lurching sensation washed over him.
“Save Yvvaros…”
CHAPTER 15
For a moment, everything felt far away. Luke could feel the hard ground underneath his back, and hear someone yelling to him from what sounded like afar.
“Luke! Please, wake up Luke!” Tess’s face was right in front of his. “Luke!”
“I’m… okay,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”
He rubbed his head as he sat up. It felt as though he’d been asleep for a very long time, and his mind had to churn against the fog of fatigue. A red crystal lay on the ground behind him, and Luke picked it up, palming it in his hand.
An Elemental Crystal. I’ll need this to summon Makorin.
The level up icon continued to blink in the corner of his vision, and he quickly pulled out his character record and divided his five attribute points between only two stats.
Wisdom and Luck. I need both now more than ever.
“The volcano has calmed down…” said Tess. “I guess that did it.”
“Tess, I…” Luke shook his head, glancing over to the spot where Shahidi’s body had been. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to have to do it…”
“I claimed the Elemental Well,” he said. “We can start heading toward the next one, up north.”
Tess still didn’t say anything. Luke walked over to her and set a hand on her shoulder.
“I know,” she finally whispered. “You… you didn’t have a choice.”
Luke sighed. He pulled her into a gentle hug for a moment and then began walking toward the rock cliff leading down.
I did have a choice, though. And I’m not sure if the one I made was right.
It took the two of them a bit longer to climb down from the top of the volcano. Most of the enemies had already been cleared out on their way, but the steepness of the path forced them to take each step with care.
The sky slowly began to clear of smoke. It was nighttime, and the stars and moons were out, shining bright enough to illuminate their way.
Luke wanted Tess to understand why he’d done it, but the words just weren’t there. He wasn’t sure if he understood why he’d done it. Shahidi had only been a boy, not malicious or evil by any stretch of the imagination.
I killed him to save other people. Other players and other NPCs.
Luke made sure Tess was still close behind as he pushed into the final stretch of jungle between them and the Sarchia Desert. He spotted the farm almost immediately, and decided to cross through it again on their way by.
The old man was sprawled out next to the still smoldering ashes of his former home. A dagger was protruding from his stomach, and both of his hands were still locked in a death grip around it.
“He… killed himself,” said Luke, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Why…?” Tess took a step toward the corpse, and then collapsed to her knees. “Why would something like this be designed into the world?”
“I don’t know if it was,” said Luke. “He was so sad, maybe he just…”
Maybe his choice had something in common with Shahidi’s. They were both tortured by their memories, even as NPCs.
Luke stood behind Tess, gently rubbing her shoulders as the priestess silently shed tears on behalf of the tragedy. The overhanging jungle canopy cast shadows across the ruined farm, adding to the dark and foreboding atmosphere of the area.