by Dawn Chapman
I moved slightly under Abel, and he stopped. “Something wrong?” he asked.
“Yes, but don’t move. Just stay exactly where you are. I’ve got this.”
I managed to slide the bow out from my side. “When I say roll, I need you off me as quick as possible.”
Abel’s breath quickened. “Okay.”
“Roll!” I said.
Abel was off, and I’d knocked my arrow and let loose within the blink of an eye. I hit the creature in the side of the face, and Taffie woke, grabbing his sword just in time to slice off its head.
Abel was at my side in the next second, and we both rushed to make sure Taffie was okay.
“That sure was a close one,” Taffie breathed out, foggy breaths sitting in the air.
There was something in this game that didn’t want Abel and I to have that intimate moment. So, I moved back to the fire and grabbed a water bottle. Handing it to Taffie, I said to Abel, “Come on. We’re on patrol. If one got through our sets of traps, there might well be others out there, and I could do with the practice in skills.”
He grabbed for his sword and walked with me off into the dulled light of the night. “I’m sorry I had to stop you there,” I said when we were further away from Taffie. “I could quite well have just let you seduce me by the fire with anyone walking up on us.”
Abel pulled me to him, and we walked in silence for a while. I knew there were no hard feelings about that situation. Poor Taffie would have been eaten if I hadn’t acted quickly.
The camp and the rest of its occupants slept in small tents and the main wagon. Everyone else in the perimeter seemed secure. So I had no idea how the critter got inside the fencing system.
It didn’t make sense.
“I think they’re getting stronger. The wards aren’t working, which means there are evil forces around as well as the fact the Hismaw isn’t working.”
“Do you know who is in control of this side of the country?” I asked, curious as to where he’d actually managed to explore.
“No, the forest runs almost to the coastline and the main pathway down or up to the next port is through the deserts. I don’t think many have strayed this far.”
The darkness started to give way again, and with some better idea of the layout of the land around us, we headed back in. Macie and Uula were with Taffie now, sitting by the fire and nursing hot cups of tea. She smiled at me and stood to fetch both of us one each. It was nice and refreshing, and I drank it eagerly myself. I then moved to help her get something warm on for breakfast. The milk from our goat was still good in the pot, and a porridge-like substance mixed with sweet tasting leaves was the concoction for the day. I stirred it while she gathered all the others from their sleepy pits.
Borroth took a bowl from Macie, thanking her and came to sit near me. “Heard you slain a critter in the middle of the night. Do you know how it managed to get through the defences?”
I shook my head. “We looked all around the camp last night, and there were no breakages. Everything seemed to be in place.”
“I don’t know much about this land, but I do know there’s something much darker about it. Maybe if we find a local person, we might ask them for assistance. I don’t think we’ve got the know-how to get past the nights around here.”
I did think he was right, so I nodded. “We’ll find the nearest town and put in a request that someone join us. I think that’s only fair. I also think we really need to get more supplies. The party’s grown, but our wagon can’t carry enough for everyone.”
“Ferris has enough for now, don’t you worry. That little wagon of his is like a mini time machine.”
I wondered where he’d heard that terminology before but pushed it aside as one of our other scouts came back. Alec rode with Dovol, and I smiled. They seemed to get on very well.
“There’s a large town about an hour’s trek from here, maybe two with the wagon. It’s not very good terrain, but I think once we get there, we’ll find better trails to follow up the coastline.”
The day ahead was planned then. We were heading for a smaller unknown town. “Any idea what it’s called?” I asked.
Alec shook his head. “We didn’t want to get too close in case people got curious. We feared it might make it so we couldn’t head back to you. It looked a fair size, though.”
It felt good to be heading into town. And I got a little too excited tacking up Bracer. When I pulled the girth on his saddle, he turned to nip my backside. Myleen laughed. “Don’t worry. You can adjust it in a few minutes. He’s also excited.”
I mounted up a moment later, and we were off. Following Alex this time, I listened as he and Dovol talked about the sea experience.
I think hearing what they went through after I was under the ocean and lost was hard. The fight really had been very difficult. I wonder, if I’d been there, would the outcome have been different. Would Cris have still been around or would I have really been killed instead? I remembered the voice that came to me in the ocean. It was strange, and I wondered why it hadn’t crossed my mind before now.
It wasn’t too much longer before there were a few calls out from the road ahead, and Abel and I spread out, so we had a better view of the town as we headed in. There were a few spotters about on the tops of buildings, and I could make out weapons. Like modern weapons.
“Abel,” I said. “They’ve got guns.”
He nodded my way and just made sure his hand rested on his sword. Not that he could do much against a gun. I thought this was just a fantasy world. Well, maybe it really is a lot more than that. They had computer tech and modern plumbing. How could we deflect guns, though?
Moving in closer to the buildings, I tried to watch everything and everyone about us. Two people were heading our way from the inner roads, only one on horseback. The other one seemed happy enough to walk alongside the horse. They were both deep in conversation.
The closer they got, I could make out the dress and clothing on them both. A woman was riding in short cropped pants, leggings, and boots. The man was in uniform and sporting a cap with a signature feather on it. They also didn’t look human from even this distance.
“Any idea what species they are?” I asked Abel as he dismounted.
Zurath took flight, not panicked, but also not wanting to be in the same vicinity as these creatures.
It was the guard, who approached Abel, and I could see now that his green skin had a strange glow. His shiny red fingernails popped against the green. He still didn’t look human, though. He stared at all of us. It, of course, was the woman who held my gaze the most. Her skin was perfectly green, and her eyes flickered intently.
She dismounted and moved to walk towards me. Her guard stepped in front of her until she had strong words with him, and then stepped around him.
I was shocked when she stood before me. Her well-proportioned frame gave testament to her training with strong thick legs and arms. She wore armour that covered her torso with a glistening scale-like design.
“I’m Patrise,” she said with a hiss, her language and her lizard-like appearance now all making sense. “I am pleased to meet you. We’ve already heard about the ship that sailed on through the razor-edged protection of winter. I, of course, hoped you’d come our way and not just straight to paradise.”
“Would you like to tell us about your side of the country,” Abel moved to my side, protectively, of course, but the lizard in charge didn’t move. She smiled at him and waved her companion away. Then she took hold of my arm and linked hers in mine. A little too over-familiar, but as she leaned in closer, I sensed there was another reason. “The guards on the rooftops do not belong to me. So I’m just being careful.”
“Then who runs this town?” I asked trying not to sound strained.
“The town belongs to the Night Guild—Guild of the Dead. The guards and some of my men work for them through the day. At night, they come into their own.”
I glanced at Abel in fear, but he didn’t fl
inch. “Don’t worry. We don’t get many Visitors, let alone those who risk their lives to cross over from Shiroth. It seems you have a quest worth taking on in many capacities. If there’s something in it that we can use as well, then I do believe we’ll have a working partnership.”
The feelings floating about inside my head were that of demons, bad people, thieves, and more. I’d not met anyone really dark or bad, but the more I looked over this town, the more it gazed back at me from the pit of despair.
I truly hoped this wasn’t a sign of things to come in the town. There wasn’t a name hanging around anywhere. I glanced at Abel, both of us looking a little concerned.
Patrise almost glided with me to the opposite end of the road. When we turned back to see the town edge, it had vanished, alongside the wagon and our friends.
“Don’t worry. They’re still there. It’s just they’re out of our view now. They see a normal town, and I’m going to take you into the real one. There’s a lot you can’t see from the outside. Looking in, it’s very different. You’ll get to see the real us, but that does come with a small price. You must honour us and not tell everyone you meet all our little secrets.”
“We won’t.”
There was a small clunk as the gate behind us opened up, and Patrise offered us a hand to step inside. I felt like the rabbit caught in the headlights, but what I saw when we entered was an entirely different thing. A huge internal city melted into the forest. There were buildings inside trees, lights, bars, shops, and all the good things you’d expect to see downtown in London. I didn’t know about any other town or city in Puatera, but this was nuts.
Abel smiled. “A little underground going on here.” He took my hand in his and made sure all the people who were milling about here knew I was with him. The different species, the clothes, the magic on display, I didn’t know where to look first.
Then a woman inside a window caught my eye. She had red skin, horns, and when she turned around to bend over in her thong, I caught sight of much more than I wanted to see. I was gobsmacked. The prostitute ally of the online gaming world, I supposed.
Abel tugged me away. “If I knew you were into that, I would’ve asked you to come this way much sooner.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I glimpsed at the exotic beauties in the other windows with their coloured skins and different sized bosoms and bottoms.
Wow. No wonder guys were flocking to come in here. I mean, sure, there were games to plan and loot to find and lots of other things, but if you were looking for a good time, there were these kinds of places, too.
If I hadn’t already met Abel and started to like him, I could have seen me drowning my sorrows in the arms of some muscled demons, someone who would just take me and not pet me first.
I giggled at myself and shook my head. What was I thinking?
Patrise pointed towards a building at the end of the street. It stood proudly. The black Onyx marble looking structure pitched and fell into the sky with beautiful sharp edges. “That’s the home of our guild leader.”
Abel glanced at me but didn’t falter. “What is he?”
“My dear, are you scared?” Patrise asked.
Abel didn’t hesitate but answered honestly. “If I lied, you would know anyway, so yes, of course, I am. I know nothing about you or him and what we’re walking into.”
Patrise indicated the door, and it opened before us. I’d not seen anything as beautiful as the reds and black marble staircase that then faced us.
My instinct was to back away, but I was curious. What were the demons or the bad guys like? Were they so evil that I’d die if I looked at them wrong, melt on the spot, turn into a zombie or worse?
Then, there at the top of the stairs stood a gentleman in a long flowing hooded cloak. I couldn’t say it was black because it didn’t really look black, but it moved, swirled, and changed around him. It was as if it were part of him.
We stepped into the building, and the door closed behind us. I sucked in a breath and waited as he took the stairs down to us.
The first thing I noted was his long curling dark horns. Yes, just like any demon male you could think of. I noted the cut of his hair, the fall where it landed, draping just about his eyes. Covering them so I couldn’t see him properly. Then, as he reached the bottom, he removed his hood and looked towards me, the hair parting deftly. I could see he wasn’t at all human, but his eyes—I’d never seen anything like them. They weren’t really eyes, but empty sockets of swirling mists.
Patrise stepped back, allowing both Abel and I to be the forefront of his attention. However, he didn’t look at Abel. He just continued to stare at me. “I require your full attention, Akillia. Would you mind escorting me to our dining room?”
I could sense Abel was uncomfortable, but he never spoke. When I glanced towards him, Patrise held him back, allowing the two of us—this cloaked being and myself—to go on ahead.
“My name is Kamaal, Lord of the Night Guild. I look after this part of Maicreol.”
“Akillia Dunn,” I said, but instantly worried about Zurath, who I’d not sensed around me for a while. Dare I reach out with him so close to me? Yes, I wanted to make sure he was okay.
Zurath managed to connect with me, and I felt he was fine. I asked him to stay with the party at the edge of town, and he complied. I got a quick view of the city. He could see through the magical wards, and the view was vast—so large I wondered how many lived here.
“There are forty-seven thousand souls within my domain,” Kamaal replied for me.
When I looked his way, expecting to meet his gaze once more, I noticed the dark floating spheres of his eyes had changed colour slightly and were now greying. “I hear and see everything in my domain, Akillia, but you’re powerful enough to get through my wards—you and your Familiar, Zurath.”
There was something about the way he said Familiar I didn’t like. Almost as if he were mocking the term. “Don’t hurt him,” I said.
Kamaal smiled and chuckled. “I have no reason to harm any of you. As Patrise said, we would like to talk about an open relationship. What we have going on here and in Maicreol is beyond what I think you and your friend have even dreamed of.”
“I’m only learning about this game.” I fumbled. “Sorry, I shouldn’t call it that.”
“No, you call it as you see it. To you, you’re playing a game. To us, this is our life, and we know nothing else. However, there are many whirring cogs at work from many different worlds. I need to make sure that this world is protected.”
I found it strange that he was self-aware when it was noted only NPCs were. Maybe there were more glitches than Abel thought.
“There’s another world involved?”
“There is another something involved. Please…” Kamaal motioned me into a. . . room.Not a dining room. More like a computer room. There was an oval station and a large computer 3D screen. We stepped to the centre of it, and he placed his palm on it.
“I see everything on Puatera, just as your game’s designer would. What I am going to show you, you might not understand at first, but listen carefully as I explain.”
I watched as the screen opened up, and a hundred views of the game appeared. “Who are you?” I asked.
“I’d like you to think of Puatera in a different way to your world. We have four… I think you’d probably call us gods.”
“You’re telling me you’re a god?”
“A demigod. There’s another force that is above the four.”
“Okay, I can follow that easily enough.”
“Good.” He waved his hand over the front of the screen, and I could see a world land map of the whole of Puatera. There were different colours to separate all the lands, and then there were spots of different colours invading others. I put this down to the demigods working and living in their domains and then perhaps turning others to their cause. I found it quite interesting. I had liked to follow politics for my area years ago, but when I got with Andy, I just
stopped it all. I was more concerned with what was going on in my recent vicinity. This would never happen again. I wouldn’t put a relationship, no matter how much I thought I loved them, ahead of my life. I mattered. I would remember that.
“So tell me, what governs the whole of the world?”
“Ahh, that’s something we’re unsure of. We demigods believe that Puatera was originally managed by a human A.I., a computer programmed by the game’s designer.”
I interrupted with, “Dresel, his name in the game is Dresel.”
“Oh,” Kamaal’s face turned to me, pale but I saw such interest. “You already know some of what is going on?”
“I know a little of it. Abel, my friend here with me, is friends with the programmer. He’s been telling me something about the recent problems.”
Kamaal turned back to the screen. “You mean like this…”
A moment later, the screen came alive to show a view I didn’t expect. I could only describe it as a portal. Abel had mentioned it, but I couldn’t picture what it was. “This is what appeared in our world a few months ago. The other demigods are aware, but they’re not as concerned with this as I am. That is stupidity on their part and something I think we need to remedy.”
It was the way he said we that caught my attention. “Why do you think that we have to be the ones to do this. Why not just the demigods? What do I have to with this?”
Again, he pointed to the screen, this time to a portion of Maicreol above where we were. “This is the entirety of my domain—the purple colour and where it meets this grey is where our issues lie. The others have seen the portals and what they’re connected to, but they haven’t seen this.”
Where the grey and purple colours mixed in, Kamaal zoomed in. And it zoomed into a ferocious battle zone.
I let out a gasp. There were creatures—creatures the likes no one had seen before—fighting, fighting for their lives.
“You’re at war?”
“Yes. It started two weeks ago. One small party went out to gather goods for us. They never returned. Then another. And when we sent out larger parties, it was then we realised there was a bigger problem.”