by Rachel Aaron
Chapter 2
James
Surrounded by raiders, James shuffled out with the crowd following his sister for his second look at the ruins that had once been the Holy City of Bastion. Avoiding the slippery blood, he walked down the ash-coated stairs behind the swishing tail of NekoBaby into the small cobbled square outside. Back in the game, this had been where all the fruit vendors stood. Now, the only movement came from the packs of carrion birds. James wasn't willing to look close enough to see what they were eating, but the smell told him plenty. The whole square reeked of rotted meat and cold ash, making him regret his sensitive jubatus nose all over again.
Fangs looked even worse than he did. The jubatus warrior's eyes were huge and round above the hand he'd placed over his mouth in an attempt to block the stench. "This is even worse than Red Canyon."
James nodded silently, keeping a tight grip on his Eclipsed Steel Staff, which was still wrapped and bound to keep the voice inside from whispering. The wards also kept him from using his weapon's stat bonuses, but James didn't remove them. As useful as the raid weapon's boost would be to his casting, he could already guess what the nihilistic weapon would have had to say about this situation, and he did not want to hear it.
"What could have done this?" Fangs went on, looking up at the shattered windows and burned-out shops, their famous white walls now black and broken. "Bastion is the greatest city in the world, the seat of the king! It's protected by the Royal Knights. How did they let this happen?"
"I don't know," James said quietly, nodding down the eerily empty street Tina was leading them down. "But I bet we'll find out."
He was not looking forward to that. His twitching ears had picked up the sound of distant fighting somewhere to the south, but here, in what should have been the richest shopping district in Bastion, he heard nothing. Even the vultures were gone, leaving the street bare save for the smashed skeletons of carts and the stumps of the scorched palm trees.
The silence grew deeper the farther they walked. In a few blocks, the buildings stopped being so badly burned, but that was almost worse. Now that the walls weren't solid-black soot, James could see the blood splattered across them. Gashes from swords and axes marred the once elegantly painted wooden shutters over the windows, and the doors of the houses had all been kicked in, the rooms inside raided and smashed when they weren't burned-out entirely.
"It looks like a war zone."
"It looks like a slaughter," Fangs corrected, looking pointedly down at the perfectly laid cobbles, which were covered in rust-brown stains. "This is--was--a residential street. Where are the townspeople? The shop-keepers?"
From the anger in his voice, it was clear Ar'Bati already knew the answer to that. James did too. There was too much blood on the ground not to know, but he couldn't bring himself to say the truth out loud. After what had happened at Red Canyon, he'd thought he'd toughened up, but there was something about this emptiness that got to him in a way that violence hadn't. He felt like he was walking through the ghost of an atrocity, but he was far, far too late to do anything about it. The whole thing made him feel infuriatingly helpless. The only good thing he could say was that at least they weren't being attacked.
He should have known better than to think that. Only seconds after the relief crossed his mind, a whole piece of building crashed to the street in front of them. Tina was ready at once, her towering stonekin lifting the huge shield until she filled the narrow street like a wall. The rest of the raid was still scrambling to react when SB suddenly appeared, stepping out of Tina's shadow as if it were a doorway.
"Above you!"
He pointed at the roof to their left, and James whirled around just in time to see a figure step out from behind a crumbling gable. He was tall and willowy, which meant he was almost certainly an elf, a player one. James recognized his crimson robes: a mid-range Sorcerer's set popular with fashion-forward players despite its sub-par stats. But just as his shoulders slumped in relief that they'd found someone who might be able to tell them what was going on, the player raised his hands and summoned a beach-ball-sized sphere of fire.
"I'm going home!" he cried, his eyes wild in the glare of his fire.
"Shit!" Tina cried, moving her shield over her head as the elf's fireball grew into a car-sized tornado of roaring, blistering flame. "Fire!"
Before James could ask if that was a description or a command, five bows twanged. The blinding swirl of flame vanished a second later as the Sorcerer toppled off the rooftop and fell to the street below, his body riddled with arrows. He hit the ground with a stomach-curdling thump. But while he didn't move again, the raid did, their formation dissolving as everyone freaked out.
"Oh shit!" one of the Rangers shouted. "We killed him!"
"Why did he attack us?"
"I think it was a suicide."
"Must have been lower level. Didn't have the health for five arrows."
"I can't believe we just killed a guy!"
"Calm down. We can rez him."
"Yeah! Can we use Raise Ally?"
"I'll do it!"
"Stop! Stop!" Tina shouted, shoving her way through the circle of panicking players. "What are you doing?" She waved her arms in the face of the Cleric who'd already started casting the Raise Ally spell. "No rezes!"
The Cleric bit his lip. "But--"
"But nothing," she said sternly, glaring down at the dead Sorcerer, whose crimson robes were now even redder. "This idiot just appeared on a roof and cast Fire Tornado at us unprovoked. He's clearly deranged. If we bring him back, he might just attack us it again. We don't have the mana to waste on--"
There was more, but James didn't hear it. He was already gathering magic into his hands, wrapping the green ribbons around his fingers until it went off in a flash, lighting up the entire alley with the golden-green explosion of the Naturalist's version of the Raise Ally spell.
"Who did that?" Tina roared.
"I did," James said, using his bound staff to push through the crowd until he reached the red-robed Sorcerer, who was now gasping in the middle of a bright-green patch of magically glowing moss.
The look on his sister's face cut him to the bone. It didn't matter that she was a giant stonekin. Her expression of disappointment and disgust was exactly the same as the one she'd given James back home, right before she'd slammed her door in his face.
"Of course," she said through clenched teeth. "Of fucking course it was you."
"What else was I supposed to do?" James yelled back, dropping down beside the coughing Sorcerer to help him sit up. "You were going to let him die!"
"That's what happens when you attack my raid!" Tina roared back. "You die! It's his own damn fault! And for the record, I wasn't planning not to rez him. If you'd let me finish, you would have heard me say that we shouldn't waste magic bringing back someone who tried to kill us without securing him first! You know, get a rope and tie him up or something. Not just dump our magic into a crazy person who might fireball us the moment he wakes up!"
As she spoke, James's stomach started to sink. Maybe he had jumped to conclusions, but he didn't regret it. "There was no time for that," he argued. "Raise Ally has a six-minute timer, and none of us have clocks anymore. He could have been lost forever while you were searching for rope!"
"Better that than risk one of my healers getting cooked!" Tina yelled. "You just endangered everyone by ignoring orders!"
James flinched. His little sister's anger had always been a thing to behold, but it was even more terrifying now that she was eight feet of solid stone. The only reason he didn't scramble away was because he was still clutching the Sorcerer--the person who was alive because of him.
"I'm not in your guild," he told her, voice shaking. "I don't have to take your orders. Especially bad ones."
If her anger had been terrifying before, it was monstrous now. He could actually see the fury spreading through her as she clenched her giant fists. "Goddammit, James," she said in a voice that shook the p
aving stones. "Why do you always do this? Why do you never listen to me?"
It was on the tip of James's tongue to say he did listen, except he couldn't say that, because he hadn't. He'd rolled right over her in his rush to save the Sorcerer, and while he refused to regret that, he probably should explain himself better.
"I wasn't trying to undermine you," he said, striving to be reasonable. "But we don't know why this person attacked. You heard what he said before he fired, right? He said he was going home. He had to know he didn't have a chance against us." He looked down at the shaking elf. "This was suicide by raid. You've got to be really desperate to try something like that."
"That's not our fault," his sister said coldly. "He attacked us! He's the messed-up one!"
"We're all messed up!" James cried. "We're all trapped in strange bodies in a strange world that hates us. You had a raid to help you, but plenty of people had to go through all of that alone." He nodded down at the Sorcerer, who'd curled his thin body into a ball. "He's a victim of this just like we all are! He deserves our sympathy."
"Then you can give it to him," Tina snarled, turning her back on him. "I'm not having an unsecured mad bomber in the middle of our group. You rezzed him. He's your responsibility. Leave him or drag him along. I don't care, but the next time he shoots a fireball at one of us, he's dying for good. Understand?"
James thought that question was aimed at him, but it was the Sorcerer who answered. "I won't do it again," the elf promised, his voice shaking so badly, the words were almost unintelligible. "Just please don't leave me alone. I can't be alone anymore."
He started to cry after that. James rubbed his back and looked up at Tina, hoping she'd see what he meant about people breaking, but his sister had already marched away.
"Everyone back in formation!" she yelled at the raid. "We're moving on!"
The other players scrambled to obey, picking up the bags and weapons they'd set down while they warily scanned the rooftops for more surprises. Up front, SB said something to Tina and vanished again, presumably to resume scouting. When he was gone, Tina started down the street again, leaving everyone else to hurry after her.
"Hup to," NekoBaby ordered, glaring at James, who was still kneeling beside the Sorcerer. "Rocky Road is in a fuck-it mood, and she will absolutely leave your ass behind if you don't get a move on."
"Tell your boulder-woman James will move when he is ready," Fangs snarled at her.
"Whoa, kitty, don't get feisty," Neko said. "I'm just telling it like it is." She looked back down at James. "Even Roxxy isn't this touchy. You must have some kinda great talent for pissing her off, dude."
James winced with how on-the-nose the cat-girl's comment was. "She's just trying to keep everyone together," he said quietly. "I'll handle this. You keep going. I'll catch up."
Neko ignored his excuses, sauntering off so she could stare judgingly at him while leaning against a burned palm tree. But at least she was no longer hovering, so James shook his head and turned back to the Sorcerer.
"Can you stand?"
The elf nodded and pushed himself to his feet, clinging to James the whole way up. The magic had healed the arrow wounds and the damage from the fall, but Raise Ally only returned people to life with twenty percent health. For this player, that didn't seem to be a lot.
"You should be ashamed," Fangs said when the Sorcerer was on his feet. "Suicide is cowardly and honorless. What would your family think of this?"
The elf winced, and James closed his eyes with a sigh. "Not helping, Fangs."
"It is the truth," his adopted brother said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm with Angry Cat," NekoBaby chimed in from her tree. "Trying to blow us up was a dick move."
"Guys," James said sharply, but the elf shook his head.
"It's my fault," he whispered, looking down at his bright-red boots. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean... I wasn't planning to attack. I was just desperate, and when I saw you all, I just sort of..." He sighed, rubbing a sooty hand over his face. "I'm sorry. This was all my fault."
He sounded broken by the time he finished, and James's heart went out to him all over again. "It's okay now," he said gently, squeezing the Sorcerer's arm. "You're with us now. You're not alone. I'm James, by the way. What's your name?"
"Flameboyant."
"That's your character's name, right?" James said, pulling the elf gently down the road so the raid wouldn't actually leave them behind. "This isn't a game anymore. Do you want to go by your real name now?"
Flameboyant shook his head violently, sending ripples through his long crimson hair. "I don't want anyone here to know who I am IRL."
"Why not?" Fangs demanded, eyes narrowing. "Are you a criminal?"
"It's 'cause you're ashamed of your character, isn't it?" NekoBaby said at the same time, her high-pitched voice surprisingly bitter. "Neon-red hair? Stupid fancy gear? You're a dress-up character, aren't you? I bet you don't want anyone back home finding out that you made the prettiest pretty-boy elf possible. I'm gonna guess you're a girl in the real world. You know girls can play guy characters without getting laughed at, right? It's not the same for dudes."
That was an awfully specific accusation, but before James could tell Neko to lay off, the Sorcerer fought back. "That's not it at all," he said angrily. "I am a guy, but I can't tell you my real name because everyone who knows this character knows I'm gay."
NekoBaby's mouth snapped shut at that, but James was more confused than ever. "How is being gay a problem?"
"It is in my country," Flameboyant said wearily. "Where I live, homosexual acts are still illegal. If anyone finds out what I've been doing in this game, they'll have me arrested. I can't risk my real identity getting out."
"Then your country is stupid and wasteful," Ar'Bati said. "At Windy Lake, we have no problem with men who like men or women who like women so long as they still sire children to grow the clans."
James couldn't cringe hard enough at that. "So close, Fangs," he muttered. "And yet so far." But as he turned to apologize to Flameboyant for his brother's complete lack of tact, the elf laughed.
"A point in your favor, then," he said, smiling for the first time. "Your medieval village is more progressive than my supposedly first-world home."
Ar'Bati looked mortally offended at Windy Lake being called a village, so James cut in before things could escalate. "What level are you, Flameboyant?"
"Forty-five," Flameboyant said proudly, brandishing his ruby-studded staff. "I'm fire spec!"
"No kidding. Never would have guessed that from the fire storm you tried to kill us with," Neko said as she fell into step beside them. "And can you hobble any faster? We're getting dangerously close to the back of the group."
"Is this your alt or main character?" James asked, ignoring her.
"Main," the Sorcerer replied, though he did start walking slightly faster. "I'm just a casual player. I mostly log on for my friends and the cyber. Kinda wishing I'd ground to level eighty now, though."
"How are you feeling?"
"Physically or mentally?"
James shrugged, and the Sorcerer sighed, reaching up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm not suicidal anymore, if that's what you mean. To be honest, it's a huge relief just to confirm I don't have Leylia's. I haven't been able to talk with another player since this happened, so part of me was still convinced this was all in my head. It's easy to talk myself into crazy things when I'm alone."
"I feel ya," James said, putting a hand on the tall elf's shoulder. "That was my worry when this started too. But we can't all have Leylia's, so you're good."
"Oh yeah, super good," Neko grumbled. "Just trapped as your character in a violent world that hates us. Real summer picnic."
"Don't listen to her," James said, shooting a glare at Neko, which the Naturalist ignored. "You're surrounded by level eighties with top gear. That's as safe as any of us can get. Roxxy, the big stonekin up front, is our raid leader. She's also my siste
r, and despite what she said earlier, I know she'll take care of us. You just scared her, that's all."
"She's right to be wary," Flameboyant said angrily, glaring up at the burned-out buildings. "This city is a nightmare."
"What happened?" Neko asked, suddenly nosing in. "You were here, right? Who did all this hacking and slashing? Was it an undead army or something?"
The Sorcerer bared his perfect white teeth. "Shitheads happened. The non-player characters all hate us now. They started messing people up bad while we were all down and no one could move. They killed a lot of players outright, but they kept a lot more for their revenge."
The way he said that made James's blood run cold. "What happened?"
"A lot of stuff," Flameboyant said, his amber eyes getting that dangerous, far-away look again. "I was in the instanced player housing waiting for friends to 'port over for a good time when it hit. One minute, I was pouring drinks for three, then wham-spin-wham, and I woke up in some random warehouse on the east side of the city. My first thought was that I had Leylia's disease, so I was terrified to move. Eventually I got over it and crept outside to check. That was when I saw how lucky I'd been to be in that warehouse."
James didn't want to ask, but he had to know. "What was outside?"
"This," he said, spreading his hands at the bloody destruction around them. "Everyone was going crazy. Some players came out of the transition early and started fighting back, but others were like me. They thought this was just a dream caused by Leylia's, so they just did whatever they wanted. I've seen murder, theft, kinky slavery stuff, you name it. Not all of the NPCs were killing players for fun. Some were just trying to stop us from rampaging."
Flameboyant started to shake. "There was this one family. I think they were the elves who used to run the manawine shop. Anyway, they ran into my warehouse with their kids to hide, but a Berserker and a Ranger came in after them..." He trailed off, rubbing his hands over his face before turning desperately to James. "You have to understand, I still thought this was all a hallucination. Even if it wasn't, those players were level eighty. I couldn't stop them, so I just stayed hidden." He dropped his eyes. " It...it wasn't pretty. Wasn't quick, either. I prayed for Leylia's after that. Insanity seemed kinder than facing the truth, you know?"