Fitz responded before Alexander could. “I think not.”
“Ah, well. Worth a try. Where was I? Yes. After… the incident, I didn’t return to Europa for years. Too many memories. But when Io launched, I was offered the chance to transfer my drow to a whole new world. So I did. And I found a quest line for the drow wizards. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
“So the drow wizards sent you here to kill me? As part of a quest?”
“Oh, no. I’m not even certain they know who you are. Though they are aware that someone has been making things difficult for them here. You and your friends have set them back quite a bit, actually.” He chuckled. “No, I came here on my own. I used the resources I’ve earned - the servants I’ve gathered in my years with the wizards. I used some of the money your father gave me, too. And the insurance money from Seshat’s death.”
Alexander shook his head. “I… I don’t understand. Why? What did I do to you?”
“Don’t you know? I am the Dark One. The one you’ve been seeking, in this world and the other. I am the one who subverted PWP and sent them after you. I’m the one who sent Delbert and the others to the Olympus!”
As soon as he heard those words, Fitz snarled with rage. He cast a magic shield in front of himself and stalked toward the pit. A dark bolt dissipated against his shield. The old wizard shouted a phrase, and there was a cry of pain from the pit. Fitz waved a hand, and a drow rose up from below, encased in a circular cage of light exactly like the one Fitz had trapped Baron Dire inside.
Moving the trapped drow to one side, he said, “Finish the rest.”
The others didn’t hesitate. Brick, Grumpy, and the warriors took up their shields, locking them together and advancing toward the pit. Orville stepped up behind them and began casting fireballs into the pit. Max, Lorian, and Lainey edged close enough to see the now distracted living drow at the bottom and began firing arrows as rapidly as they could. It wasn’t long before there were no more sounds coming from inside the pit. Max moved toward the edge, and for the first time in history, seemed reluctant to loot the corpses.
“That’s just… nasty,” he said, shaking his head.
“What is your name?” Fitz demanded of his prisoner.
The drow in the cage looked at him. “I am called Defiler among my people. In my world, I am simply known as Howard.”
“Where are the drow wizards hiding? Where is their fortress?”
Howard laughed. “They have many. They are everywhere. You will see soon enough. I have made sure they have the resources to ruin Io! None of my people will want to come here. It will be a desolate place, unfit for mankind. It will shrivel and die!”
Sasha stepped toward the cage, both hands balled into fists. “So it was you? You sent those people to destroy Olympus! YOU put that bomb in Dayle’s pod! Killed all those people!” she screamed at him.
Howard smiled at her. “I am not finished yet. There are more plans in place. Though I am sure I will not be around to see it, others will carry them through.”
Alexander’s voice was cold as he said, “So, you’re the Light of Truth. The one who didn’t die.”
Howard’s face twisted in rage. “NO! Those inbred tech haters killed my wife! I celebrated for a week when they were killed. I would never be part of that. I will destroy Jupiter and Richard and Michael and yes, you. But for personal reasons. I loved my wife. Your mother and father worked her to the bone! She would come home and pass out, only to drag herself out of bed before sunrise and go back to work. And how did you reward her dedication? Your mother KILLED her!” he screamed. He reached out his hands, grabbing the bars of the light cage, burning his hands.
“She didn’t die in the explosion like your mother. Oh, no. She was upstairs when it happened. When the building fell, she was trapped in the rubble, pinned. She called me. Did you know that? She had her phone on her and called me. She was in pain. A metal rod through her chest. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. She cried out for help, but none came. She kept asking why. Why did the building fall? Why was she there? She lasted for nine minutes before she passed out.”
Sasha was bawling as Brick held her. The other players stood silently, riveted.
“The doctors told me how she died when I went to identify her body. The rod nicked an artery as it passed through her. But her body weight kept pressure on the wound, so it took her an hour or more to bleed out! She died alone, afraid, and in pain!” Howard was screaming, his face red and veins bulging. “All because-”
He never finished the sentence, as his body went limp inside the cage.
“The cops,” Max said. “They must have found him.”
Alexander finished Howard’s sentence for him. “All because my mother took her on that trip,” he said quietly.
Looking at Fitz, he said, “You can release the cage. He won’t be coming back.”
Fitz canceled the spell, and Howard’s body dropped to the ground. Max went to loot it, saying “The xp from those last few kills got me back the level I lost to Lucius!” Alexander checked his own stat sheet. He’d lost enough xp when he died that he lost a level, barely. But the xp from the drow kills, and Howard’s death put him pretty much right back where he’d been before.
Alexander opened guild chat. “Jules?”
“I’m here. Back at the keep. Everybody here’s a little worried…”
Alexander asked, “Jeeves, can you patch me in to loudspeaker from here?”
“No, Master, I’m afraid not.” Jeeves sounded regretful “However if my interface were upgraded to level 2, I believe I could do so.”
“Do we still have control of the guild house in Antalia?” Alexander asked, surprised. He’d forgotten about having to deal with turning it over.
“Yes, Master. There are currently three guests in the house, but they declined to take possession when the protection timer ran out.”
“Huh. Well, it seems you’re going to stay at level 20 then, Jeeves. Please activate Improved Interface level 2.”
After a moment, Jeeves replied, “Done, Master. And I can now transmit from guild chat to loudspeaker. Go ahead, Master.”
“Attention, citizens. We have dealt with the drow, and they were unable to free the army from the caverns, for now. You can stand down. Thank you.”
Alexander pulled Max and Lainey aside. He quietly asked, “How did Pollock and his guys do?”
Max grunted. “Well enough. Good fighters. They coordinate well.”
Lainey agreed. “I like them. They did their part and weren’t greedy about loot.”
Nodding his head, Alexander turned back toward the pit. Pollock and his guys had gone down to loot the corpses when Max declined. They were just emerging as Alexander approached. “Damn, Alexander,” Pollock said. “You guys don’t play around. That was one of the nastiest things I’ve seen anywhere.” He pointed to the pit. The bodies, having been looted, were fading away. “And you weren’t kidding about the terrorist stuff. I heard that dude talking. That’s some deep shit, there.”
Alexander nodded his head. “Now you know more of our secrets. And you’ve heard about the drow wizards. Which should be an epic quest line for us to follow.” He paused to watch the reaction of the group. All but Orville looked excited. Orville still looked sick to his stomach.
“We could use guys like you to help us work through that quest line. And to grow our lands. Your background checks came back clear.” Chris and Orville looked relieved at that. “So I’m officially inviting you all to join the Greystone guild.”
He sent guild invites to the four men, which they promptly accepted. He shook hands with them saying ‘Welcome’. Brick, Sasha, and the others did the same, introducing themselves in the process.
Kai was on his feet, but looking less than healthy. As he administered the oath to the newcomers, and Alexander handed them dragon pins, Sasha looked at Fitz, saying, “I’m going to need some of that stuff you used to cure the poison. Or better yet, the recipe for it. If we’
re going to be fighting assholes with the dragon-poison on their weapons, we need to be ready.”
Fitz didn’t argue. “Aye, lass. We’ll sit down, and I’ll go through the recipe with you. And Lydia, as well as a few others. The drow used several poisons last time we fought them. They are a ruthless enemy who prefers inflicting pain over a quick death.”
Alexander closed the pit, not wanting to leave it for others to fall into. Then he led the group back to the cavern entrance. The hunters were still there and looked much relieved to see them.
Alexander said, “I’m going to need you guys to keep an extra vigilant watch here. The drow may still be creeping about. And another group may come at any time. Keep to the trees and be careful. The next group may know you’re there. If they engage you, run. Your job is to alert us, not to fight them. I’m going to ask the rock trolls to keep a couple guards here. You’ll need to feed them meat regularly.” He grinned “You may also need to roast it for them.”
As he spoke, he began to raise stone walls. Catching on, Fitz and Kai both joined in. In no time they had formed a semicircular enclosure about fifty feet out from the cavern entrance. The walls were twenty feet high, with a berm on the back side. Brick shaped hinges and a crossbar for the gate, while Fitz and Kai enchanted the walls with protective spells that would void stealth abilities, and raise an alarm if anyone scaled the walls. With a grin, Fitz added a spell that would release a burst of light magic on contact. “That should sting a bit.” He chuckled.
With that taken care of, Fitz teleported all but the hunters back to the keep.
Chapter 16
Taking Care of Business
As soon as they were back in the keep, Alexander called a meeting. “Officers, meeting in the great hall. Now. Grumpy, Pollock, you and your guys come too.”
Alexander took a moment to stop and speak to Silverbeard, who was waiting in the courtyard for them. “Master Silverbeard, I need Grimble to convince Gorg to post a couple of rock trolls at the demon caverns as guards. We’ll give them extra food. Also, please find out how many citizens do not have dragon pins yet. I’ll need to make more.” He pulled the thirty or so he had made earlier out of his bag and handed them to the dwarf. “Pass these out. Priority goes to hunters and others that’ll be outside the walls. Also, the drow use poison, it seems. So have the druids and alchemists focus on poison cures. Fitz and Sasha will let them know which poisons.”
Silverbeard walked with him as he entered the donjon and headed for the great hall. “Aye, lad. I hear’d what was happenin’ in guild chat. We’ll be getting' ready. May be that ye can buy some cures in Stormforge today, too.”
“Thank you, Master Silverbeard,” Alexander replied as he entered the great hall. Silverbeard continued down the corridor toward his office.
Seeing that all the players who were online were in the room, he said, “Jeeves, seal this room, please.”
“It is done, Master.”
Taking a seat at a long table, he motioned for the others to do the same. “I expect since it’s just us players, we’ll be getting an update soon. While we’re waiting, I want to say that all of us should spend the afternoon getting gear repaired, upgrades, whatever you think you need for tomorrow. We’ll be going to Antalia to see the queen, and she’ll almost certainly ask us to clear out the Chaos Nation guild house.”
Alexander paused as his father’s GM1 avatar appeared. Richard looked around. “Good, you’re all here. Pollock, we haven’t met yet. I’m Richard Greystone.” He nodded his head at Pollock and his group. “I know all your names. Welcome to our little adventure.” His smile was grim.
Alexander asked, “How’s Dayle? And I take it from the way Howard’s drow just dropped dead that the FBI got him?”
Richard replied, “Dayle’s out of surgery. He’s in a pod. So far, so good.” Richard tried to smile. “And as for Howard, it was Brazilian police, actually. That’s where he was. Odin traced him there. The FBI has him now, though. They’ll be transporting him back to US soil tonight. We don’t have a lot of details yet, but apparently, he’s been living there for years. He wasn’t hard to find; he didn’t even try to hide. He was still using the same old account he used to play on when Europa launched. There wasn’t any billing or anything, as it was a free employee account. We’d been looking for him to notify him of Matt’s death.” Richard paused and looked uncomfortable. “It never occurred to us to ask Odin to trace that old player account.”
Alexander caught the look. “What is it?”
Richard sighed, taking a seat. “It wasn’t Matt that was killed. He planted the bomb and talked another tech into taking over his shift before it exploded. We’re still looking for him. There’s no record of him leaving the compound.”
Max was the first to react. “Matt’s been in on it with his dad. Jesus. Those guys must really hate you.”
Richard confirmed, “Yes, it seems so. Howard, as he told you all, blamed us for Miriam’s death. Dr. Feelgood’s initial assessment is that he used Matt’s grief to convince him to hate us as well. The two of them certainly had the money to pay for bombs and rocket launchers. And to bankroll the players who’ve said they were paid by the Dark One.”
Alexander added, “And Matt came back to work at Olympus to get him access to all of us, and to the game feeds. Maybe even Odin’s AI core.”
Richard nodded. “We’re looking into that. Meanwhile, the FBI and Interpol will be seizing all of Howard and Matt’s accounts anywhere they can find them, and tracking any payments they made to players, weapons dealers, and so on. Also, Odin’s on the lookout for Matt. If he tries to log in to the game to contact anyone, even on someone else’s account, Odin will recognize his brain patterns and notify us. And we’ve got a cell jammer going at Olympus, so he won’t be able to call anyone if he’s there. All outgoing land lines go through Heimdall right now, and he’s running voice recognition.”
Sasha asked, “What about Misty and the others?”
Richard actually had a genuine smile for her this time. “They’ve all elected to go back in. You’ll be seeing them shortly. Misty’s trying to convince her sister to join her. Having caught Howard should help with that. Also, Lugs and the rest will be entering the noob zone any minute. They should be in Stormforge when you open the portal at noon.”
Richard cleared his throat, catching Alexander’s eye, then giving Grumpy, Pollock and friends a meaningful look. Alexander nodded. Turning to Grumpy, he said, “After we hit the Chaos Nation house, you five are going to receive invitations to visit the Jupiter headquarters complex, Olympus. You’ll be offered the chance to test new immersion hardware. The same equipment we’re all using. It will be a full-time job and will involve leaving your current lives behind for a year. So think it over, and I’ll answer questions for you later.”
Pollock didn’t even blink. “I’m in.” The others all nodded their heads.
Richard laughed. “Wait until you hear the details before you decide. I’ll be speaking to you all in a few days.”
Sasha waved to Richard to get his attention. “Did you figure out that thing we discussed?”
Richard nodded and grinned at her. “Yep! You and Alexander will both have access. And we’re working on something similar for Bacon, the cats, Spot, and Rocky.” He winked at Grumpy, who looked confused. “Alright, I need to get back. Stuff happening. Good luck tomorrow!”
Richard’s avatar disappeared. Brick asked, “What’d he mean about Bacon?”
Sasha clapped her hands together. “Before we came back in, I asked Pops about Fibble’s stats, and being able to help him assign stat points and such. He’s been leveling with us, but hasn’t been able to take advantage. So now Alexander and I can access his character sheet and make changes for him. And it sounds like we’ll all be able to do the same with our pets soon.!”
“Damn,” Chris said. “That’s awesome. I gotta get me a pet!” The others nodded.
Alexander tapped the table a few times, thinking. “We might
be able to help with that. We just got a guy who can talk to wolves. And there’s a whole pack of them up top. He’ll be back at noon. Maybe we can arrange something.”
Alexander continued. “Alright, everyone get busy with getting your gear sorted. Max, take the new guys to the guild vault and see if there’s anything they can use. Brick, I’ll need your blacksmiths to make sure everyone’s repaired. And Sasha, we’re going to need more health potions and poison cures. Please get with Fitz and figure that out?” Everybody nodded. The new guys looked eager.
“Lainey, can you and Lorian take Lugs and our other fresh noobs out and level them a bit? Maybe take a few low-level citizens who need the experience? Silverbeard can tell you who it should be. Run them through the noob woods, maybe some quick quests, then the dungeon at Stormforge this afternoon? Let them do all the work; you just be there in case things get out of hand. If Misty is back by then, bring her sister along and have Lyra as backup heals.”
“Certainly, Sir Knight. I mean, your royal Elfness. How should we be referring to you? Maybe Lord Greystone the bossy?” Lainey ruffled his hair as she walked by on her way out. Alexander rolled his eyes. He wondered if the women in his life were conspiring to keep his ego in check. Or whether they all just enjoyed poking at him. He suspected both.
Finding himself alone in the great hall, he decided to spend some time creating more dragon pins. He pulled out several dozen small cubes of obsidian and began enchanting them. With the character levels and increased mana pool he’d gained, as well as the skill level increases in enchanting, the spells took almost no effort. He lost himself in the process until nearly an hour had passed, and he’d burned through his supply of obsidian. There were more than a hundred little cubes on the table in front of him.
Skill Level Up! Enchanting +1
Depositing all the cubes back into his bag, he teleported himself back out to the area across the moat bridge. Closing his eyes, he used his Earth Sense to reach into the ground and locate some obsidian below. As always, this close to the volcano, there was no shortage. He pulled up a ten-pound block of it and stuck it in his bag. Then he teleported himself back to the courtyard. Making his way to the smithy, he dumped the unshaped dragon pins on Brick’s workbench. The dwarf took one look and nodded, calling a couple of his shapers over to start on them.
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