Darkness Fallen

by Dave Willmarth

  She joined them shortly. “So, these are the healers from PWP? The original guild? I’m Lydia Redmond,” she said by way of introduction. Each of the officers shook her hand and introduced themselves. Then she turned to Alexander and with an exaggerated curtsey, said, “Welcome to my humble shop, Your Majesty.”

  Alexander turned red. “Lydia! Not you, too. Please don’t do that to me ever again!”

  Laughing, she gathered him in a hug. “You have to allow me my simple pleasures, Alexander.”

  Letting him go, she asked, “Now what can I do for Io’s newest royalty?”

  “Well, I’m taking these folks back to Antalia to return their guild house to them so that they can re-establish their guild. It was once all healers and priests. I’m afraid Henry cleaned out most of their vault, taking anything he could sell for quick gold. We’ll be returning the gold we found on him, about 60,000. But I was thinking they could use some really good potions to replenish their supply.”

  “Ah, I see. And I supposed you want to start with a few dozen common healing potions?” she winked at him.

  Amelia looked confused, as did the others. Common healing potions were cheap and easy to get, and almost useless to anyone above level 10. But Amelia was plainly too polite to refuse any gift, even a useless one.

  Lydia laughed again. “I’ll let Alexander explain,” she said as moved into her shop and started gathering potions.

  Alexander explained. “I’ve been learning enchanting. Experimenting. Nearly blew myself and others up more than once. But I managed to figure out how to enchant common healing potions so that they’ll restore 5,000hp.”

  Amelia’s eyes widened. “That’s… those would be worth a lot of gold. How do you do it?”

  “Yes, they would be. If you were going to sell them. But I want you to USE them. I’ll be returning enough of your guild’s gold and items that you shouldn’t need to sell these. As for the ‘how’… that’ll have to remain my little secret, for now. No offense.”

  Lucas snorted. “None taken. You’ve shown an amazing amount of trust in us already. But you don’t know how we’ll reward that trust. Or whether we’ll live up to it. Only makes sense.”

  Alexander shook his head. “As for trust, I’m confident there. In fact, you’ll shortly see the extent of my trust. But this particular item has the potential to negatively impact the entire economy of Io. And one of you might share the secret with good intentions, to help a guildmate or friend, and suddenly there are mass-produced cheap healing potions with large heals flooding the market.”

  Amelia nodded her head “It’d be a little bit like sharing the secret for turning lead to gold. I understand.”

  Lydia called out from the other room, “I think I’ve got what you need here.”

  Alexander and the others rose and joined Lydia at her counter. She began setting small boxes full of vials into a larger crate. “Let’s see. Three dozen mana potions, Three dozen healing, the same number of intelligence, wisdom, and regeneration buff potions, all high quality. And for Alexander…” she pushed a rack of two dozen common healing potions and a small sack across the counter to him.

  Amelia said, “Over two hundred potions? That’s… more potions than I think we’ve ever had in our vault. We were never a particularly large guild.”

  Alexander replied as he shoved the sack of sugar cubes and potions into his bag. “You may have some trouble restoring your guild. And it’s partly my fault. My feud with Henry and company resulted in some web videos that went viral. I’m afraid PWP has a bit of a reputation problem now. The least I can do is help out.” He looked at Lydia. “What do we owe you?”

  Lydia looked at the crate. “Let’s call it 500 gold.”

  Alexander coughed. “That is very generous of you Lydia. But I know it cost you more than that to make all of these. I also know that you put every spare gold you have into healing the people of this city. Now, let’s see.” He did a quick bit of math in his head based on potion prices he’d seen on the auction house, then set 2,000 gold on the counter.

  “Thank you, Alexander,” Lydia said graciously. She stepped from behind the counter and hugged him again. “I’ll put the gold to good use.”

  “I know you will. And by the way, if you haven’t already heard it from Sasha, feel free to raid her greenhouse for ingredients. She’s got the garden you saw at the keep.”

  Waving goodbye to Lydia, he led the group to the gates of his compound. “Welcome to Greystone Manor,” he said formally, rendering the wards safe for them. He led them into the house and then to the sitting room. “Make yourselves comfortable for a bit. I’ve got people on errands in the city that’ll be back here soon, and then we’ll head to the keep. Which reminds me, I’ll need each of your oaths that you’ll not share anything you see or hear at the keep. Ever. We are being monitored right now, so the oaths will be recorded, and binding.”

  He looked at each of them in turn. Amelia went first, and each of them followed in turn, giving a solemn oath of silence. “Great! I’ll be back in a few minutes. There’s probably some food in the kitchen if you missed breakfast. And there’s a full bar over there.” He pointed to the corner by the window.

  Leaving them to amuse themselves, he went to sit at the desk in the study. “Jeeves, please close and lock the doors to this room.” He said as he pulled out the common potions and bag of sugar cubes. He smiled to himself as the two doors closed and locked on their own.

  It only took him about ten minutes to enchant all the sugar cubes and drop one into each vial. He set the vials into their racks, then picked them up and headed for the door. Both doors unlocked and opened without even a command.

  Improved interface level 2, indeed.

  Stepping back into the sitting room, where the four PWP officers were talking about recruiting, he handed the racks of improved common potions to Amelia and took a seat.

  She took one out and examined it, then passed it around. “I half thought you were kidding. 5,000hp from a common healing potion.”

  “I haven’t tried it with higher quality potions yet. I’m not sure what kind of difference that will make. I think it’s more about the enchantment than the potion ingredients,” he replied.

  As each of them examined the potion, he said, “Now, about what I brought you here to discuss. How many of you other than Lucas are using old gear, or can’t afford more than one set for your families?

  All but Amelia raised their hands. She said, “I live alone, and my gear is only a couple years old.”

  Alexander nodded. “Okay well, you three. I’m going to have a set of the latest headgear sent to each of you. You can use them yourselves, or have a family member use them. Do not sell them. They won’t work if you do. Use them to improve your family’s circumstances, take some of the pressure off of yourselves.”

  Lucas looked as if he were about to cry. He opened his mouth to say something, but Alexander stopped him. “Before you say anything, I’m not doing you any great favor. We have new tech coming out that will make that gear superfluous. The prices on them will be dropping soon. So you’re just helping me clear out some warehouse inventory.” He winked at Lucas. “By the way, that is a secret you most definitely need to keep.”

  He looked at the ceiling, mostly for effect. “Whoever’s monitoring this feed right now, please make that happen? Thank you.”

  Then he looked at Amelia. “Now, I’m going to ask something in return.”

  She nodded her head, as did the others. “Name it.”

  “In the near future, maybe as soon as a few months from now, I will be forming a foundation. The purpose of that foundation will be to help people with traumatic injuries, disabilities, and diseases that affect their ability to move their bodies normally. We’ll be doing this through in-game therapy. Another secret, by the way. As part of that therapy, some of my people will be escorting clients through the game starting in the noob zone, helping them learn how to play. And more importantly, helping them learn, or
remember, how to move their bodies. The therapy, we hope, will help them establish new neuromuscular connections and pathways to allow them to move better in real life. We could use some healers to accompany them and keep them alive as they learn. I figure by then you’ll have recruited some lower level healers who could use the experience.”

  Amelia sat with her mouth open. “That’s… that’s the favor you want? For us to help other people? And help ourselves by doing it?”

  Lucas now had definite tears in his eyes. “My daughter is one of the people you just described. I’m going to give her the gear you so generously offered. If you’re going to help people like her, then I’m in. I’ll leave PWP and join you right now.”

  Alexander shook his head. “No. Don’t leave PWP. They need you more than I do right now. Help rebuild the guild. And don’t give your daughter the gear. I’ll have something much better for her.” He looked up at the ceiling. “GM1, I need to speak to you, please.”

  He looked back at Lucas, who had his head in his hands. “It’ll take him a few minutes to get here.”

  Looking back at Amelia, he said., “Yes. I want you to help me help people. I don’t play this game for money. I own a third of Jupiter tech. More secrets you cannot share. I am also the new system’s first patient. I’m dying of a neuromuscular disease, and I’m the guinea pig. If this helps me to recover, or even just extend my life a year or two, then I’ll share it with as many people as I can. And I’ll need people like you to help me.”

  He paused to catch his breath. “I’m trusting you with this information, because you’ve been checked out and cleared, and because I think all four of you, and Martin, have a sincere desire to help people. Needless to say, if you violate my trust, there will be dire consequences for you.”

  Lucas nodded his head. As did the others. Alexander continued, “On the other hand, the foundation will need full-time employees, as well as independent contractors who work for a fee to provide the client services we need. You and your guildmates could do quite well.”

  Richard’s avatar appeared in the room. He took a seat without saying anything, just looked at Alexander.

  “Folks, this is my father, Richard Greystone. He’s been kind enough to log in so I can ask him for his help. Lucas, what is your daughter’s name? And what is her condition?”

  Lucas looked at Richard. “My little girl is Annabelle. She’s twelve. She drowned when she was six, after falling in a neighbor’s pool. They were able to revive her, but she had brain damage, mostly affecting her motor skills. Her mind works, but her body holds her back.”

  Richard leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “I’m very sorry to hear that. I know first-hand that it isn’t easy when something like that happens to your child. And the stresses it puts on you as a parent. Being locked out of the game these past few weeks must have been… well, it couldn’t have been easy.”

  Alexander looked at his father, a question on his face. Richard met his gaze and nodded. He turned back to Lucas. “With your permission, a car will arrive at your house in the morning, to pick up your daughter, yourself, and your… wife?” Lucas nodded. “It’ll bring you to Olympus, where we can talk about ways we might be able to help.”

  He looked at the other two. “Your new gear is already on its way to you. Lucas, you can pick yours up tomorrow.” He smiled at the tearful father. “Amelia, your gear is nearly as good as what we’d send you. If you’d like the newer gear, you can always sell your current set. If you hurry.” He winked at her.

  She nodded her head. “I’ll give my gear to Lucas. He’s got more than one kid that could use it.”

  Richard said, “We’ll take care of that. You take care of yourself. I’ll have new gear sent to you. And you’ll be on our short list of beta testers for the system we’re working on. As Alexander mentioned, he’s an alpha tester.”

  Just then, Taylor began to walk into the sitting room, freezing in mid-stride due to Richard’s presence.

  Richard sighed, “Looks like it’s time for me to go. I’m holding things up here. Good luck to all of you. Lucas, I’ll see you and Annabelle tomorrow,” he said before his avatar blinked away.

  Taylor’s frozen step continued, and he stopped short, seeing that Alexander had guests. “Sorry, sir. Er, Your Majesty. I didn’t know you had company.” He turned to leave, but Alexander stopped him.

  “Taylor, come on in and have a seat. And I swear if you call me ‘majesty’ again outside the great hall, I’m going to cut something off you that’ll make you less valuable to Mattie!”

  Taylor grinned at him and took a seat. Alexander introduced everyone, and they made small talk for a bit. All conversation stopped, though, when Lainey joined them.

  The Valkyrie walked into the room, and eyes went wide. Alexander had sat with his back to the door and thus couldn’t see the grand entrance. Seeing everyone’s reaction, he turned to regard Lainey.

  “Lainey! You got your wings!” he cried. “I thought Odin was kidding about that.”

  Lainey grinned and flexed her wings, which went from being folded neatly behind her back to extending nearly the width of the room. They were the glorious white-feathered wings normally associated with angels.

  “I can FLY!” she gushed. “I’m not very good at it yet, but my trainer says I just need to practice. Which mainly involves jumping off of high places and trying not to die.” She grinned.

  Alexander grinned right back. “I have a GREAT idea! We’re ready to go, now. I’ll teleport you to Kai’s roost. And we’ll go back to the keep. Can you glide down from there without dying?”

  Lainey nodded her head. “Gliding’s easy.”

  “Okay, give me like five minutes to gather the guys in the courtyard, then you come gliding in. It’ll be your grand entrance!”

  Lainey laughed along with the Taylor and the PWP folks. Alexander was like a kid enthusiastically setting up a living room skit for his parents.

  With a wave of his hand, Lainey disappeared. Alexander opened up guild chat “Something’s just come up! Need all guild officers and anyone close by to meet me in the courtyard in five minutes!”

  Realizing that the PWP folks couldn’t hear what he said, he told them, “I just called an emergency meeting in the courtyard. They’re all going to think we’re under attack. Lainey’s going to be QUITE the surprise!” He grinned.

  Before he teleported them, he looked at Taylor. “Did Mags get you what you needed?”

  Taylor nodded. “She did. And thank you, Ma-… Sir.”

  “Good! Then let’s go. This should be fun!” The group stood and gathered in a clear spot. Alexander teleported them back to the keep. Brick, Max, and Sasha were just entering the courtyard. More guildmates were filtering in behind. Several citizens had gathered as well, wondering what the commotion was about. One of the guards on the wall called down to Taylor to ask if everything was okay. He nodded and smiled.

  Alexander whispered to Taylor, instructing the guard to keep a lookout and tap his back when he spotted Lainey. Brick and the others had begun asking what was going on, and Alexander couldn’t put them off much longer. So he began buying time.

  “Well, you see, it’s Lainey. Something happened to her while we were in Stormforge…”

  Sasha grabbed his arm. “Is she okay? How bad is she hurt?”

  Brick said, “Her health bar be full. She ain’t hurt. Did she get taken? Who has her?”

  Similar comments and questions bombarded Alexander. He held up his hands to silence them but didn’t try too hard. Finally, Taylor tapped him on the back. He grinned to himself. Turning toward the roost, he pointed to the sky, shouting, “Look! What is that? Is it a bird? A plane? Is it… Batman?”

  The others’ gazes followed his finger, confused looks on their faces. But it wasn’t long before Lainey’s winged and laughing form was clearly visible. She waved at them as she drifted down into the courtyard. Her face took on a worried look as her wings flapped in a braking motion, and she awkwa
rdly dropped the last few feet to land unsteadily. “I’m not so great at landings yet.”

  Sasha slapped the back of Alexander’s head, saying “Idiot!” before running toward the Valkyrie crying, “Laaaaineyyy!”

  Lainey was instantly mobbed by guildmates and citizens asking questions and offering congratulations. She flapped her wings a few times, drawing ooh’s and ah’s from the crowd. Lainey giggled as Fibble shamelessly asked for a ride.

  After a few minutes, the ruckus died down. Alexander called for attention. “We’re leaving for Antalia shortly. Everybody get your battle gear and clean clothes. Some of us will be getting an audience with the queen, and I’d rather not look like a dirty mob of urchins.”

  Jules took hold of his hand and began to lead him inside. Every time he tried to ask where they were going, she shushed him. She led him all the way to his bedroom before letting him go. He said, “Jules, I love to snuggle with you, but I hardly think this is the time for a quickie.”

  She snorted. “Dream on. You gave me a gift this morning. I’m giving you one in return.” She produced a wrapped package from her bag and handed it to him.

  He pulled the string and unwrapped the paper to find a bundle of cloth. Setting it down on the bed, he pulled at the top piece. As it unraveled, he found it was a beautiful grey formal shirt with silver and red accents, and a black dragon on the breast.

  “Jules, it’s… beautiful!” he said, hugging her.

  She pushed him away and grabbed another item from the pile. It was matching black pants with silver trim. And there was a grey cloak, also with the dragon on the breast.

  “I knew a week ago you were going to be a king. I figured I would make something to help you LOOK like a king” she smiled.

  “You MADE these?” he asked. She rolled her eyes at him. “Duh. Seamstress.”

  He laughed. “Thank you, Jules. This is amazing. You’re the best!”

  “Just hurry up and get dressed. You’ve got a queen to meet. And don’t get any ideas about an alliance through marriage. You belong to ME.” She kissed him and left the room.