by Edward Brody
“King Ryvvik, Queen Faranni! It’s Gunnar! I need to speak with you! It’s important!”
Lights inside many of elven homes around us started to light up at the sound of my screaming. I wasn’t sure if my voice was penetrating the palace, but it was definitely waking the neighbors.
“If you don’t stop that, I’m going to have to attack you!”
“Attack the ambassador?” I asked.
The other guard reached out to grab my shoulder, and I jerked away, dodging his grasp.
“Queen Faranni!” I yelled again.
The guard lifted his spear and took a step forward. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Gunnar?!” a voice shouted from the entrance of the palace. I looked up to see Adeelee standing there in a thin, elegant white robe.
My heart pounded, and I was once again stunned by her beauty. It was the first time that I could remember seeing Adeelee in anything other than her usual green armor and the way the robe flowed and simultaneously hugged at her perfect curves sent my head spinning.
I rattled my head to refocus. I had already told myself that I wouldn’t get worked up about Adeelee anymore. I needed to focus on the things that mattered and keep my head in the game.
“Adeelee!” I yelled. “I need to speak with the Queen!”
The guard lunged his spear towards me, and I dodged. “I’m sorry, princess! I warned him to stop!”
“It’s okay!” Adeelee yelled. “Please let allow them to pass!”
The guards snarled at me, but I just threw them a ‘told-ya-so’ smile as I motioned my hand at Rina and ran up the slope.
“What’s the problem?” Adeelee asked when we arrived at the entrance to the palace.
“I need to see the Queen and King.”
“They’re sleeping, Gunnar,” Adeelee said. “They don’t accept audiences at this time. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“Just listen to me, Adeelee. I wouldn’t ask to see them now if it wasn’t important. I think it’s better that I tell all of you at once.”
Adeelee’s eyes darted to the side, and after a few moments, I saw her swallow and nod. “Okay… You and your friend can go sit before the thrones. I’ll fetch them.”
Rina and I waited patiently on the platform before the thrones as we waited for King and Queen to arrive. It seemed like fifteen minutes or more before Adeelee, Queen Faranni, and King Ryvvik arrived, now all wearing their usual attire.
They said nothing as they passed us and made their way to the thrones, but Ryvvik yawned wide several times and stretched his arms out at his sides.
“Ambassador,” the Queen said after everyone was in their positions. “I hope this is good. I don’t appreciate being stirred at this time.”
I kneeled, and Rina followed suit. I had given her a brief lesson on etiquette with elves in the forest while we waited, and was surprised she didn’t know, given that she was a NPC.
“I’m sorry, Queen Faranni. I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t urgent.”
“And who is this woman you’re with?” the Queen asked.
“A friend,” I said. “Rina, from the Endless Sands.” I turned to Rina seeking confirmation that I was correct.
“Actually, I’m from Scotia,” Rina corrected, “but I’ve spent the past several years of my life in The Sands.”
“The Sands?” The Queen raised her eyebrows and looked like she was about to start her questioning, but then just shook her head. “Well, go on Gunnar. There’s no sense in wasting time.”
“Jax may be the prince of Highcastle, but there’s another,” I said.
“What?” the Queen asked. “How do know that information?”
I looked up to where Adeelee was standing behind her mom. “Adeelee told me, and Jax confirmed. I heard the entire story about him and Cristo. I know that Jax is your son.”
The Queen glared at Adeelee for a moment but then turned back towards me. She cleared her throat. “So Jax isn’t the only prince. The Dark Hand is as well. I’m not sure why you feel compelled to tell us that.”
“Not the Dark Hand,” I explained. “There’s a third prince.”
The King shifted upright in his chair. “A third prince?”
I nodded. “Dryden Bloodletter.”
The King looked towards the Queen and back at me. “Of the mercenary group across the Serpent Sea?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you believe this?” the Queen asked.
For the next thirty minutes, I recounted the story of how I met the Satorin and had my rune swapped. I recounted my capture with the slavers, joining the Bloodletters, and the vile and disgusting things that I witnessed. “He confirmed everything that Satorin said. It all added up, and his army 200 strong. He has every intention of taking over Highcastle when the King dies.”
Adeelee looked awestruck by my tale and the King seemed shocked.
The Queen took a deep breath. “Well, that’s quite a tale, Gunnar, and this Dryden character does seem to be a rather rancid creature.”
I nodded. “He wants to clear Edgewood out after taking the throne, and eventually he’s coming for Addenfall and The Vale. He wants to rule all of Eden’s Gate.”
The Queen took another deep breath and hummed when she exhaled. “He’s also very ambitious. No one has ever stolen a forest from the elves, and those who tried have perished. We do not seek a war, but if war seeks us, we will defend ourselves.”
“Well, shouldn’t we take action first?” I asked. “He said that he’ll have one of the strongest armies in Eden’s Gate if he combines the Bloodletters with the Highcastle army.”
“That’s probably true,” The Queen said. “But do not underestimate the power of the elves. The forest shall protect us, Gunnar. We cannot get involved in human matters. We’ve never marched on any human that did not attack us first.”
“Queen Faranni,” I muttered. “King Ryvvik…”
“Ambassador?” the Queen asked.
“Dryden has a dragon, and I’ve seen it breathe fire already.”
There was a long silence where no one seemed to move, but finally the Queen chuckled once. “Huh! A dragon? No one has tamed a dragon in centuries. Dragons serve man no longer.”
“It’s true,” Rina said. “I saw it myself—enough flames to burn this entire village to the ground.”
The Queen smirked as if it all just a tale.
I stood to my feet. “You doubted that I was a Reborn, but now you believe me. So believe me when I tell you that Dryden Bloodletter has a dragon, and he’s a threat to this entire game.”
“Game?” the Queen asked.
I rattled my head no. How did I let that slip? “He’s a threat to this entire world,” I corrected.
There was another long silence, and I saw Adeelee pace up to her mother and place a hand on her shoulder.
The Queen stood. “You’ve given us a lot to think about Gunnar, but I wish you had waited ‘til morning. We’ll need some time to think about all of this. For now, we’ll try to rest before the sun arrives.” She held her hand out to Ryvvik. “Come, my King.”
“What?” I asked. “You don’t want to do something now?! Even after everything I told you? Even when you know what’s written on the tablets in Highcastle?”
The Queen held her head high. “The elves will not live in fear, and we will not allow ourselves to be bullied. And we certainly will not lose sleep over some tyrant human who lives across the Serpent Sea. If Dryden really takes Highcastle and makes a move on the forest, we’ll decide what to do then. For now, it’s a human matter, and we do not have any inclination to get involved.” She turned her head to the King. “Right, husband?”
King Ryvvik looked uncomfortable as he rose from his chair but took a good look at his wife and then took a deep breath of air, exhaling swiftly. “The elves are strong, Gunnar. Keep up the good work as ambassador of our two forests.”
My jaw dropped as the King and Queen sauntered off back to their chambers. I couldn
’t believe that they weren’t worried at all.
“Well that was odd,” Rina commented. “They’re beautiful people though, aren’t they?”
I huffed. “I don’t get it…”
Adeelee approached us as we exited the platform. She pressed her lips together in a hard line. “I trust mother. Everything will be fine.”
“You shouldn’t trust her this time, Adeelee. You haven’t seen the things we’ve seen.”
“The things you described are horrible, but the forests are—“
“Yeah,” I interrupted sharply, waving a dismissive hand. “I’m going to head back to Edgewood then.” I started past Adeelee and motioned for Rina to follow.
“Gunnar, wait,” Adeelee said. “You haven’t been to the Vale in quite some time. Last time we met, we made plans to spend time together.”
Deep down I wanted to stop in my tracks right there. I wanted to spend time with Adeelee, and the fact that she remembered that we made plans meant a lot. But I had to stay focused on what mattered, and her timing was just terrible. The High Elves might’ve been willing to shrug off Dryden, but I wasn’t willing to dismiss him like that. I needed to get to Edgewood and alert the guild, alert Jax.
“I’d love to stay, Adeelee, but I’ve got to get back home. I have a guild to take care of.”
“Gunnar…” Adeelee muttered when we were almost at the exit.
“Oh, and she probably already knows this, but tell Tsarra that Sora says hi. I think she’ll find it amusing.”
I glanced back one more time to see Adeelee standing there looking confused and defeated as we exited the palace. In a way, I felt like I was rejecting her a little—I wasn’t. Just the dark things I had seen and done in the Sands had changed me. Spending time with hot elven babes fell way down my priority list, and the survival of my closest friends and everything I built rocketed to the top.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Day 25 (Earth)
The four Crylight members were sitting at a boardroom table in a designated, unmarked building in Washington D.C. After being given some time to make last minute preparations regarding their friends and families, they had been flown across the country to plan and execute their entry into Eden’s Gate.
Hovering over the team and watching closely were Todd and Marsha.
Gustov drew a square at the center of a blank sheet of paper that was sitting in front of him. “As far as we know, there’s no pre-determined class trees like other MMOs, but it’s best that we decide what sort build we’ll work towards to make our group the most effective. We’ve done this all before.”
The team nodded.
“I’ll try to build my character to be a fighter with a tanky emphasis,” Gustov said. He wrote his name at one corner of the square a drew a sword below his name. “Sung?”
“Yo, you know I’m best at playing DPS (damage per second) characters.” He made a couple of weak karate chop moves. “I’ll build into an assassin or ninja type character.”
Gustov nodded, wrote Sung’s name on another corner of the square and drew two small swords crossing each other. “We’ll need a healer too.”
“A healer?” Todd asked. “Shouldn’t you all just focus on doing as much damage as possible?”
Gustov shook his head and snorted. “Healers generally can’t out-heal the amount of damage a DPS character dishes out in a one-on-one battle, but in a collective group where a healer is healing multiple targets, throwing out buffs and dealing damage at the same time, a good healer will always give the party an edge.”
“There’s also positioning,” Sung added. “A healer in a good position who’s taking no damage at all but healing everyone… forget about it. We definitely need a healer.”
Todd nodded. “That’s why you guys are the experts.”
“Sar?” Gustov asked.
“Oh hell, no,” Sar moaned. “You guys think just because I’m the girl, I always have to play a healer. Not this time.”
Gustov turned. “Marcello?”
“Oh, man. I don’t want to be the healer,” he whined. “I was thinking more along the lines of an archer or pet class.”
“One of you really should go healer,” Gustov urged.
Sung and Gustov looked back and forth to Sar and Marcello and Sar just crossed her arms and shook her head no.
“Fine,” Marcello said. “I’ll move in the direction of priest of paladin or something like that. Something that can heal.”
“Good,” Gustov said, scribbling down Marcello’s name and drawing a cross below it. “Sar?”
“I’ll be a damage dealing caster of some sort. I focus on magic specialization.”
Gustov nodded and wrote in Sar’s name beside the final empty corner, drawing a starburst right below it. He spun the paper in a circle slowly, showing it to each member of the Crylight team. “Seems like a pretty solid setup. Is everyone comfortable with this?”
“What about an archer like Marcello mentioned?” Marsha asked.
“There doesn’t seem to be a limit to the weapons you can use, so we all may end up using a bow at some point,” Gustov explained. “In any event, Sar should be able to handle ranged damage with magic. With the operation we’ll be running, we’ll have to recruit several people once we’re in game. I’m certain that some of them will have a specialization in archery.”
“Gotcha,” Marsha said.
Gustov flipped the paper over and wrote a number one at the top of the page. “Stage 1 is just getting in the game and leveling up. When we first get in the game, our primary goal will be getting levels.”
“We’re all going to spawn somewhere different, so how are we going to handle that?” Marcello asked.
“Right,” Gustov said. “It could take us months… maybe longer to find each other in Eden’s Gate, but we’ll get to that.” He wrote a number two. “Stage 2 is establishing relationships to get ahead. Like Marcello said, we’ll all spawn in random locations across the globe, so if you have to join another guild or form another party, do it. Just remember that the ultimate goal is to regroup with the team and form Crylight inside of Eden’s Gate.”
“Months?” Todd asked.
“Eden’s Gate is multiple times the size of Earth,” Sung explained. “There’s no cars or planes to get around. There’s magic obviously, but we probably won’t have a good way to travel far or find each other ‘til we reach higher levels.”
“Stage 3,” Gustov said as he scribbled down a three. “Finding each other. Once we’re a high enough level, we need to work our way towards a designated area to increase our chance of meeting each other.”
“Where?” Marcello asked.
Gustov grinned. “We’ve got a big advantage over other people who’ve entered the game with friends, since we got a glimpse in the world beforehand. Do you remember what the woman who killed Kevin said when he asked her about the location?”
“Blackwater Deep. East of Scotia, west of the Serpent Sea?” Sar asked.
Sung shook his head. “No, I think it was west of Scotia, east of the Serpent Sea.”
“It doesn’t matter which direction she said. Just the fact that we have three names of three locations, gives us an edge.”
“Four actually,” Marcello said. “That little skit that Dr. Winston did for Kevin during the tutorial mentioned the Mastalands.”
Gustov pointed at Marcello. “Good catch, man.” He twirled his finger around in a circle. “We probably wouldn’t want to meet there though. That’s guaranteed to be high level, and it’s the permadeath location as well.”
“So Blackwater Deep?” Marcello asked.
“Hmm…” Gustov rubbed his chin with his thumb. “Given what we saw, we know that there’s at least one dangerous group in the area. Let’s go with Scotia… We don’t know what Scotia is, but so long as we all move towards that central point, we’ll increase the speed and likelihood we can find each other.”
The group all nodded in unison.
“Stage 4,” Gustov
said. “Forming our guild and a base of operations. If we’re going to capture people, prosecute them or whatever, we’ll need a place to bring them—a prison of sorts as well.” Gustov sighed, sat the pen down and leaned back in his chair. He turned towards Marsha and then to Todd. “You guys realize that this process could take a year or more depending on the speed of leveling in the game.”
“We were hoping you could have Dr. Winston within a few months’ time,” Todd said.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Gustov explained. “We’ll need to level up to a point where we can get access to Dr. Winston’s castle. Base building will take time too. And even then, there’s a chance that he’s given himself some sort of godlike abilities which would make it impossible for normal characters to catch him.” Gustov swallowed. “We’ll do our best, but I hope you realize there’s the possibility this mission could be for nothing, at least in the case of Dr. Winston. Everyone else should be normal players that’ll be playing under the same constraints as us.”
“Marsha?” Todd asked, raising his chin across the room.
“It is what it is,” she said. “We’ve got to try. And more than a year is better than never. We can’t just leave things as-is because it’s going to take time.”
“Alright,” Todd said. “We’ll brief the President when we have the chance.”
Gustov leaned back in and wrote a number five below the other points. “Stage 5 goes with Stage 4. While we’re building, we’ll need to recruit members into our guild. We’ll still be the leaders, but there’s no telling what kind of alliances people in the game will have. We can determine later how we explain to the others the type of things that we’ll be engaging in.”
Everyone in the room shared glances and nodded.
“And Stage 6….” Gustov shrugged. “I guess all that’ll be left from there is going after Dr. Winston and whatever criminals we’re ordered to capture.” He looked up from the paper and sat his pen down. “Is everyone on the same page?”
The nods and hums indicated that everyone understood.
“So, you want us to go after Dr. Winston and those other two guys from the photos you showed us first?” Gustov asked.