Awaken Online: Dominion

by Travis Bagwell

  “My lady, we should leave immediately,” Frederick spoke up from beside Evelyn. He gestured at the market below. “The undead are beginning to recover.” Even as he spoke, missiles sped past the ship, and it lurched to the side as something exploded – likely signaling that a Void Arrow had struck the underside of the hull.

  Alexion’s attention shifted to the Kin gathering in the market, forming lines as their archers began to take aim at the airship. However, his attention was caught by the skeletal hand that still jutted from the ground in the center of the market – the hand that was responsible for his imprisonment. In its palm rested the strange silvery gate piece, its surface gleaming in the occasional flash of lightning.

  He felt a sudden hand rest on his shoulder, and he turned to find the Lady standing beside him. Her form was slightly transparent, flickering in and out of existence as though it were difficult for her to materialize. She leaned close, her golden eyes urgent and demanding. “Retrieve the gate piece,” she hissed quietly. “We need it.”

  Then the goddess vanished just as quickly as she had appeared.

  Alexion shook his head – not quite understanding what he had just seen. Why had the goddess had trouble showing herself here? He supposed it didn’t matter at the moment. Her message had been clear. He turned to Evelyn. “That object down there is a gate piece – the same one mentioned in that universal system message. Can your air mages retrieve it from here?”

  Evelyn’s eyes flashed with sudden greed. “They can certainly try.”

  Frederick looked like he wanted to second guess that decision. However, he held his tongue as Evelyn began shouting orders, directing her mages to focus on the gate piece. As Alexion looked on, wisps of air wound around the hands of the mages, the group working together to lift the gate piece. A moment later, the object shuddered and then began to rise slowly into the air, making a beeline toward the ship.

  Alexion shouted orders at his own Nephilim and Confessors, urging them to provide covering fire. Beams of light and balls of flame soon rocketed through the air, slamming into the Kin who were gathering in the courtyard below. Some of the undead soldiers scattered for cover, but most held their position, continuing to pelt the ship with an endless stream of Void Arrows. The projectiles that missed the ship detonated nearby, filling the air with dark energy but causing little damage.

  We can do this, he thought to himself, watching the gate piece drift toward them. We just need to buy some time.

  A moment later, Alexion saw Riley’s familiar form winding through the ranks of Kin, and he felt worry bloom in chest. That last blast must not have been enough to end her life. Even as he looked on, Riley lifted her bow to the sky, and dark mana began to condense around the tip of her arrow – the energy visible even from hundreds of feet away. His personal feelings aside, he wasn’t too proud to acknowledge that Riley was dangerous.

  “We need to hurry!” Alexion shouted at Evelyn and her mages. The gate piece was now nearing the ship. They just needed a few more seconds.

  His gaze shifted back to Riley. Where she had stood a moment before, Alexion could now only make out a spiraling vortex of black energy as the archer poured more and more mana into the spell. “Oh shit,” he muttered. “What the hell is that?”

  The other members of the crew hadn’t missed the development on the ground, and they were shouting warnings. Several of the Nephilim leaped over the side of the ship and dove toward Riley in an attempt to disrupt her. However, the other Kin had begun providing covering fire, pelting the white-winged soldiers with a hail of missiles. Alexion could only look on helplessly as the Nephilim were gunned down, their bodies crashing against the ground far below.

  Acting in desperation, Alexion began summoning his defensive aura, extending the golden radiance to cover not only the crew but the ship itself. He didn’t know if it would stop Riley’s missile, but maybe he could at least blunt her attack. The golden energy cascaded away from him in a wave of light, enveloping the area around him and stretching until it surrounded the entire vessel. From the ground, it looked like a shining star now floated above the Twilight Throne, even while a massive black hole formed in the courtyard.

  “The gate piece is secure!” someone shouted. Alexion was straining to pay attention, focused solely on maintaining his aura over such a large area. He could see his mana dip precariously in his peripheral vision. He couldn’t hold this for much longer.

  “Get us above the clouds,” Evelyn shouted, gesturing at the air mages.

  They were too late.

  Riley released. The miasma of obsidian energy rocketed through the air on a direct collision course with the ship. The ball of dark energy annihilated everything in its path. Alexion watched as the remaining Nephilim were sucked into the globe of darkness no matter how hard they struggled to escape its pull. Once they reached the center of the vortex, their flesh melted from their bones and then the energy pulverized their ivory frames.

  Frederick was directing the ship away from the Twilight Throne, the vessel rising rapidly as it tried to clear the black cloud cover. At the same time, the air mages attempted to slow down Riley’s missile, summoning a series of lightning strikes. Blinding white light forked from the clouds and collided with the whirling maelstrom of dark energy. A moment later, a deafening boom followed. The blackhole seemed to suck up both the energy and the sound. Despite their attempts to stop it, the blasts only managed to chip away at the dark energy, slowing it down slightly.

  A moment later, the missile slammed against the ship. Alexion’s aura flickered as it tried to suppress the dark energy – his golden light barely holding back the dense ball of mana. For just a moment, he thought his shield would hold, the light managing to keep the missile at bay and draining away the dark energy. Then the aura gave once final pulse and faded. He was out of mana.

  The entire vessel listed to the side as the miasma crashed against the ship, throwing most of the crew from their feet. The men and woman near the blast were caught by tendrils of dark energy and pulled into the vortex, letting out tortured screams as their bodies were ripped apart. The blast tore a chunk out of the hull, splintering the wooden planks along the side of the vessel.

  Then, mercifully, the energy began to dissipate.

  Alexion regained his feet slowly, his head spinning as he tried to catch his bearings. One thing was clear – he was still very much alive, as were many of the crew around him. The ship was tilted to the side, but it was still afloat.

  “Mages, reinforce the ship. Level us off and get us above those damn clouds,” Evelyn shouted, her voice sharp and commanding. Her remaining crew hopped to, the yellow-robed mages managing to right the ship despite the massive hole in its side.

  The vessel soon crested the dense black cloud cover, swirling dark moisture obscuring their sight, but thankfully concealing their presence from the soldiers below. A few more seconds passed, and they broke through the clouds, sudden bright sunlight shining down on the deck, signaling their victory.

  They had escaped, if only barely.

  Alexion’s gaze shifted to the cargo hold near the center of the vessel. The doors had been ripped from their hinges at some point, revealing the interior hold. In the center of the vessel rested the strange metallic object – the gate piece. It was his. He could practically feel the hollow void purr in pleasure.

  Evelyn approached from behind Alexion, coming to a stop beside him. “Well, that was interesting,” she offered.

  “Indeed,” Alexion replied quietly. He had escaped. And not only that, but they had also stolen Jason’s gate piece. He could feel the hum of golden mana in his veins – the anger and dread he had felt only a few short moments ago replaced with an unknown emotion. He still wanted to shout into the skies, but this time in joyous victory.

  He turned to find Evelyn smiling at him, her face shining in the sunlight. She had come back for him – despite the risk to herself and her crew. He hadn’t asked for her help. He didn’t understand why she wo
uld have taken that risk for him. Yet he felt that same glowing sensation again as he looked into her eyes. The emotion was almost overwhelming and, before he knew it, he had leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. This time, their embrace was gentle – a stark contrast to the hungry way that Evelyn had kissed him during their raid on Fastu.

  Alexion withdrew a moment later and saw shock flash across Evelyn’s face. “What…?” she murmured, trailing off as she stared at him uncertainly.

  Suddenly realizing what he had done, Alexion felt confusion fill his fragile mind. Why had he done that? What was this strange feeling that still lingered in his chest and made him feel warm – almost giddy? “I’m… I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “No, no. It’s okay,” Evelyn replied, a faint smile tugging at her crimson lips. “You just caught me by surprise. I’ll take that as a thank you – for pulling you out of hell that is.”

  Alexion tentatively matched her smile, although this time he didn’t have to force the expression – it came naturally. “I-I guess you did,” he said, stumbling slightly over his own words. He felt flustered, a feeling he did not enjoy.

  Evelyn’s gaze suddenly centered on something directly behind Alexion, focusing on a crewman. “Hey, what are you doing over there? Get back in position,” she shouted, abruptly ending the strange tension that had lingered between them.

  Re-assuming command of the ship, Evelyn turned and addressed the rest of the crew. “Get us turned around and set a course for the Crystal Reach. I want to put some distance between us and this damnable city.” She gestured at two unoccupied crewmen. “You two, find some scrap and supplies below deck and see if you can patch the hole in the side of my ship.”

  Alexion stared after Evelyn as she barked orders, stomping down the deck and her crew rushing to comply with her demands. He was struggling to process everything that had just happened – his escape, the theft of the gate piece, and their brush with death. Despite all of that, the event that stood out to him was the memory of Evelyn’s lips against his and the tantalizing emotion that had accompanied it. He had never felt anything like that before, and some part of him desperately wanted to experience it again.

  That thought scared him almost more than being imprisoned in Jason’s keep. He stared after Evelyn uncertainly, his brow furrowed in confusion. He wasn’t quite certain what to make of her – the woman who had just saved him.

  Chapter 66 - Enlightening

  When Jason logged back into AO, he found himself standing in the conference room in the dark keep, except this time the room was empty. A lonely fire crackled in the nearby fireplace, the occasional pop of burning wood feeling out of place in the silent room.

  His UI updated only a moment later. Notifications flashed in his peripheral vision, indicating that he had several messages. Jason’s eyes widened as he surveyed their contents. It seemed that things had gone to hell in the short time he had been gone.

  “Shit,” he muttered to himself.

  A moment later, a flash of multi-colored light ripped through the air nearby, and Riley appeared, Pint in tow. The little imp sat on her shoulder, idly playing with her hair. Riley spared a glance at Jason before patting the imp on the head. “Could you give us a minute, Pint,” Riley said to the creature. “Jason and I need to speak in private.”

  Pint looked reluctant, glancing at Jason warily as he clutched at his pitchfork. He finally gave a curt nod and then vanished, returning to whatever portion of the keep occupied his attention when Riley wasn’t in residence.

  “Your message was a little terse,” Jason began, leaning against the conference table and watching Riley closely as she approached. “How bad is it?”

  “Bad,” she answered curtly, her expression grim. “Alexion’s accomplices had a gods damned airship loaded with mages. Frank never laid eyes on the ship, and our best guess is that they had it anchored outside the border of the Twilight Throne’s influence. We suspect that this must be how they planned to smuggle the undead slaves.”

  She ground her teeth together. “They dropped out of the cloud cover, blasted a hole in the tower, and Alexion managed to escape.” Riley bit out each word as though it pained her, her eyes flashing with dark energy.

  Jason grimaced. Losing Alexion was a big blow. He had been hoping to keep the would-be paladin trapped in the tower indefinitely. Without clear leadership, the Crystal Reach would likely have devolved into anarchy almost immediately as the players under Alexion’s guild banner turned on one another and fought over the city’s scraps. Now, that was little more than a pipe dream.

  “It will only be a matter of time before he retaliates,” Jason muttered. If nothing else, Alexion was consistent, and he knew that the Twilight Throne was in rough shape. He would seek revenge after this sort of embarrassment – if only to re-assert his strength publicly. The only question would be how he planned to do it.

  “You’re probably right,” Riley admitted, pacing in front of him. “Unfortunately, that isn’t our only problem.”

  She paused, taking a deep breath and meeting Jason’s gaze. “They also stole the gate piece. We hadn’t managed to move it from the market – what with everything else going on and the recovery efforts that are underway. The thing is the size of a small car and was sitting in the middle of the city, so we weren’t too concerned about it being stolen.

  Jason could feel a heavy weight settle in his stomach. They had lost the gate piece. That phrase kept repeating in his head. Allowing Alexion to escape was bad enough, but their enemy had also stolen what was currently one of the most sought-after items in the game. He could feel anger simmering in his veins, but he lacked a target for his wrath – the true object of his angry affections having ridden off into the sunset on the deck of an airship.

  “I-I’m sorry,” Riley murmured, watching his expression.

  Jason did a double take, staring back at her. He could see the pain and guilt etched onto her face and in the way she had trouble meeting his eyes. His anger cooled immediately.

  “It’s not your fault,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her toward him.

  “I should have been able to stop him – stop them,” she muttered as he circled her with his arms.

  “One person against a miniature army?” Jason asked with a wry smile. “Someone thinks rather highly of themselves.”

  Riley’s eyes flashed, and she punched his shoulder lightly. “Jerk. I meant I should have seen this coming. We knew that Alexion was working with others, we just didn’t expect them to be this mobile – or to take the risk of entering the Twilight Throne.”

  “It’s okay,” Jason said, placing a hand to her chin and drawing her gaze to his. “We will recover the gate piece – one way or another. Trust me; we will get even.” His dark mana surged at these words, his eyes turning a solid obsidian.

  With the loss of the gate piece, he was again considering the idea that occurred to him after the last meeting of the Shadow Council. It was extreme, but the truth was that they needed more information on this gate. Despite his tough words, if they weren’t able to recover the piece that Alexion had stolen, their next best option was to beat him to the remainder of the fragments that were hidden out in the world. Except that they didn’t know where the gate pieces were hidden.

  There was only one man that had seemed to have any knowledge about the gates, although he was now firmly dead. Even now, Jason could visualize Thorn laughing in his grave – reveling in the fact that he had at least cost them the gate piece, even if only indirectly.

  “So, did you at least get a few parting shots?” Jason asked, trying to lighten the mood and shying away from his own dark thoughts.

  “I guess. I shot Alexion in the knee and blew a hole in their ship,” Riley replied, a small smile tugging at her lips for the first time.

  “I’m going to have to see the video of that,” he replied. “Tell me someone recorded it.”

  “I’m sure something will show up online,” she offered. Then Riley hesi
tated, pulling away from Jason and staring down at him where he sat against the table. “Wait, that reminds me, how did the hearing go?”

  It was Jason’s turn to avoid her stare, his expression grim. “I don’t know,” he murmured.

  “What does that mean?” Riley asked, confused.

  Jason sighed softly. “The committee decided to re-open the investigation of the game system on a limited basis. It turns out that some of the evidence that Gloria provided was forged.”

  Riley’s eyes widened. She had been present for quite a few of the hearings, and he suspected she had watched recordings of the ones she had missed. “You mean your headset data from the break in?” Jason could sense a hopeful note to her voice.

  “Umm, not exactly,” he answered hesitantly. “It was Claire’s video log.”

  “So, what about the break-in? Did… did they decide that the AI director somehow took control of your body?” Riley asked him, meeting his eyes. What he saw there made him nervous. Riley knew quite a bit – possibly too much. He was sure that even now she was remembering Alfred’s feline form resting amid a room of dark spikes.

  Meanwhile, a war was being waged in his own mind. A part of him desperately wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to have someone to confide in – someone that was truly on his side. He wanted to be honest with her. Still, he hesitated. This wasn’t over. The CPSC would be digging into Cerillion Entertainment, and Gloria knew about Alfred. The AI and Jason would almost certainly be the focus of their witch hunt, he was sure of it. Telling Riley the truth might put her at risk.

  “It was… inconclusive,” Jason responded finally. “The committee wasn’t able to determine whether the headset data really indicates that the game’s AI took… took control of my body.” He struggled to even get out the words, a confused mixture of guilt and frustration racing through his mind. He wasn’t lying – not quite – but he was toeing the line. Again.