The Once King

by Rachel Aaron

  It was a horrible fit. The Once King’s blade was thinner and much longer since it was sized for him, but she didn’t think it was going to fall out. Even if it did, Tina didn’t care. The real victory was the look of naked rage on the elf king’s face as he stopped ripping into their back lines and whirled to face her again.

  “Well, well,” Tina said in her most obnoxious, way-too-loud voice. “Would you look at this? I just scored some loot without even killing the boss!”

  “Too bad it’s old and ugly,” SilentBlayde said, getting in on the act as he rolled deftly off the ground to stand at her side. “The Sephiroth look is so outdated.” He pointed at the circle of Eclipsed Steel on the Once King’s brow. “Crown doesn’t look half bad, though. We should go for that next.”

  “Maybe we’ll get his shirt, too!”

  SB made a face. “Pass. I bet it has sweat-stained pits. That’s probably why he wears so much black.”

  “Totally,” Tina agreed, wrinkling her nose. “But what else can you expect from a dude who lives alone in an attic with nothing but a bunch of zomb—”

  Her vision suddenly filled with dark wings and the Once King’s enraged face. Tina only had a second of warning before he struck, and she used it to grab her shield back, hunkering down so low behind it she was practically horizontal. But there was no bracing against this impact. The loss of his sword meant that he could no longer slice through her, but the Once King was still ten feet of immortal fury as he hauled back and slammed his fist down on top of her.

  The first punch rang her whole body like a bell. The second made her arms go numb. The third hit so hard that her knees buckled, causing Tina to lose her stance as she crumpled to the ground.

  The Once King’s foot came in as she fell, kicking the loose edge of her shield wide. Tina’s grip held, so at least he didn’t kick it away, but the attack sent pain exploding through her shoulder as something in her arm popped loose. She didn’t even get a chance to cry out in agony before the king’s foot landed on her chest.

  “Foolish child,” the Once King snarled, crushing her with his full weight. “I don’t need my sword to end this indignity for you.”

  Tina gritted her teeth, saying nothing. This was partially because she couldn’t breathe but mostly because she didn’t want to give anything away. Shouting things like “Do it now!” was how surprise attacks got ruined, and Tina wanted this one to be the shock of his life. Of course, given the way her ribs were popping, it might end up being the shock of her life if this went on much longer.

  Any time now, guys.

  Finally, just as the Once King was bending down from his enormous height to retrieve his stolen sword, Tina heard the faint whistle of metal flying through the air. This was followed by a flash of light as an amber-glowing chain—the same one NekoBaby had pulled from her pack to get them up the wall—flew in from the side to wrap around the Once King’s neck. Two more chains followed from the left and right to wrap around the king’s arms, their spiked ends hooking into the king’s armor to lock them in place. Bowstrings twanged as the Rangers fired their Grapple Shots into his wings, pinning them temporarily to the ground to make way for even more chains.

  They flew in like fishing lines after that, tangling the raid boss from every angle until he was buried under a pile of enchanted metal. Roaring in fury, the Once King released his hold on Tina to rip them off, and she seized her chance to scoot away, using her good arm to drag her body across the cracked stone floor as fast as she could manage.

  The Once King roared again when he realized what she was doing, dragging at least six Roughnecks forward as he lunged to try to catch her. Tried and failed. As players fell over, more rushed in to help, the Knights and Berserkers piling onto the chains’ ends like players in a tug-of-war game. When half the raid had dug in their heels, the king ground to a stop at last, his furious cries echoing off the mountains below.

  “Shoot him!” Tina yelled, switching her shield to her undislocated arm to cover her head as she scrambled away. “Shoot him!”

  The order was hardly necessary. The moment she was clear, the area around the Once King was engulfed in a whirlwind of elemental destruction. Fireballs, arrows, and lightning bolts poured down until his trapped, hunched figure was no longer visible behind the glare. There was so much fire that the stone under the king’s feet was starting to turn red, but Tina wasn’t taking anything for granted.

  “Full DPS!” she yelled as SB rushed over to help her back to her feet. “Don’t worry about killing him, he can take it! Push push push!”

  Shouts rang out in answer to her command as the Roughnecks activated their big, damage-boosting cooldowns, and the storm of fire and lightning around the Once King grew even more intense. It was getting so hot that she was starting to worry about the chains, but they’d been enchanted with toughness and strength by the Naturalists of Windy Lake for exactly this purpose. Even if they had been popping, though, it was too late to change tactics. The king was in the trap. The only thing they could do now was make it count.

  Since the boss was busy getting owned, Tina waved for a heal. Both NekoBaby and Anders jumped to obey, bathing her in a glowing shower of pain-relieving magic. The doubling was wasteful, but Tina didn’t complain as her health refilled.

  When it was over, NekoBaby rolled her eyes and flashed the ichthyian a rude gesture before stalking away. The look of regret on Anders’s face as she left was almost enough to make Tina feel sorry for him. She definitely regretted the promise she’d made to the high priest back at Windy Lake. She didn’t think Neko was ever going to forgive him, but Anders still deserved to know the stakes he was up against. Especially since that was the only way they were ever getting access to the Resplendent Aegis spell, which would be really useful right about now.

  She was trying to think of something leadery and encouraging she could say that might nudge the obviously repentant Cleric in the right direction while not actually going back on her word when a shout went up from the raid. It wasn’t until she realized she couldn’t see why, though, that Tina realized she’d put her back to the Once King.

  Swearing at her own stupidity, Tina spun on her heel, shield coming up just in time as a hundred-foot-tall blade of blazing ghostfire sliced its way through the tornado of flame and lightning from top to bottom. The fire cut through the chains as well, leaving the melee flailing as the lines they’d been pulling on with all their might went slack and the Once King shot back into the sky.

  He threw out his arm as he flew, sending another wave of blue-white fire down at Tina. Since she already had her shield up, she wasn’t too worried, but then she saw that she’d got it wrong. The ghostfire wasn’t aimed at her. The boss had sent it over her head, throwing the wall of fire straight at NekoBaby, who was still stalking away from Anders behind her.

  “Neko!”

  Tina leaped from her crouch, but she was miles too late. All she could do was watch in horror as Neko looked over her shoulder, ears going flat on her fluffy head as the enormous blue-white wave of death filled the sky above her. Her mouth was still moving in a screamed FUCK! that was lost in the roar of the flames when Anders appeared from nowhere, tackling her to the ground. That was the last Tina saw before the ghostfire slammed down on top of them, punching a ten-foot hole straight through the terrace floor and dropping the healers, burning, into the dark below.

  ***

  Anders woke up in blackness.

  No, he realized groggily, not blackness. Black rock. He was lying in a pile of rubble on the floor of the Once King’s throne room. Directly above him, high, high overhead, he could see the hole the ghostfire had punched through the Terrace of the Great Pyre. Down here, though, all was quiet, which struck him as strange. Last he’d seen, this room had been a PvP battlefield between Cinco’s killers and the undead players of Six Ways From Raiding. He didn’t know if the stillness was because the fight had moved on or if someone had won. Or maybe they’d all died just now in the rockfall. Either way,
he needed to get up. He’d never atone if he just lay around here.

  Pressing his fish lips together, he tried to push himself up only to find he had nothing to push with. Both of his legs were broken. So was his collarbone, though that was nothing compared to the shattered stump that was all that remained of his right arm. He must have been deeply in shock, he realized belatedly, because none of the horrific wounds actually hurt yet, though the sight of his sharp, blindingly white fish bones sticking out through the skin of his shoulder where his arm should have been was almost enough to make him pass out. Looking quickly away, Anders decided to focus on summoning up the holy energies with his left hand, the only appendage he had that was still working.

  It shouldn’t have been hard. He knew the healing spell’s motions so well that even one-handed casting should have been a breeze, but the Sun was so distant here in the Deadlands. The unnatural clouds muffled the warm god’s voice and dimmed its power. After fumbling the spell twice, Anders groaned and gave up, collapsing on his back to stare up at the battle he was no longer part of.

  High above him, Anders could hear Roxxy’s brother yelling his name as he ran down the stairs, which was a surprise. He’d forgotten James was here. But even a jubatus could only run so fast, and there were ten spirals of the hidden stair between them. Given how cold he was already feeling, Anders was certain he’d bleed out before James arrived. He wanted to yell back at the Naturalist not to bother. That he was done for, and honestly, glad of it. All his life had been one of shame. He’d shown signs of insanity well before FFO had earned him the label of Leylia’s disease. And then, when he’d gotten a second chance at life, he’d destroyed it within seconds with his perversion and misery.

  Truly, he was a waste of the Sun’s benevolence. His one solace was that at least he’d managed to die well. The ghostfire had been blinding, but he was pretty sure he’d managed to knock Neko clear of the blast before the floor gave out. He didn’t think one good act was enough to counter a lifetime of selfishness, but at least he hadn’t been a bastard at the end. That had to count for some—

  “Anders!”

  His eyes shot open in surprise. He knew that high-pitched voice, but it couldn’t be. He’d knocked her out of—

  “Anders!” the shrill voice cried again. “Don’t die, idiot! If you see a light, stay away from it!”

  Heart pounding, Anders rolled in his soon-to-be grave, looking up through the billowing dust at the green light that was rapidly filling the broken throne room. As his eyes adjusted to the glare, he saw a bloody but very much alive NekoBaby weaving a big healing spell over him. Desperate, he reached out to grab her slender arm but stopped just short of her sleeve. Even now, he couldn’t bring himself to touch her, especially from this angle. Looking up from the ground, he had a perfect view of the boxy shoulder pads and chest bindings the jubatus used in an attempt to make herself look more masculine. Those things weren’t his doing, but Anders felt guilty for them all the same. Truly, he’d made everything worse for her from start to finish, a monster outside and in. He didn’t deserve to keep living.

  “Stop, Neko,” he begged, closing his eyes against the building green light. “I don’t want to keep living.”

  “Too bad,” NekoBaby growled. “The raid can’t afford to be down a healer right now, so buck up, buttercup.”

  “It’ll take too much mana,” he argued, gesturing at his broken body with his only working hand. “Just leave me. It’s better this way. You’re owed your revenge, and I’m glad to give it to you. You don’t even have to do it yourself. I’ll die all on my own. Just let me—”

  “Fuck you!” she yelled, baring her little fangs as she started shoving gobs of green nature magic into his chest. “You don’t know me like you think you do!”

  Euphoria washed over Anders as the magical healing kicked in, washing away the cold and the shock and numbness. It wasn’t a full heal, but the stump of his right arm was no longer leaking, saving him from death by blood loss. Nodding in satisfaction, NekoBaby started working on the next spell immediately, leaving him staring at her in bewilderment.

  “Why won’t you kill me?” he asked, his warbling voice cracking. “I know we need a healer, but James is here. He can take my spot at any time, but my death is the only way you’ll have peace. I know you’ve been stalking me and looking for your chance. I’ve been bending over backward to give it to you: being alone, letting you follow me, standing near dangerous stuff. Why won’t you put us both out of our misery?”

  “Because, Ryan,” NekoBaby said, slapping a watery mass of healing magic into his face, “that’s not my fucking bag to carry anymore. Yeah, you gave me some mental scars, and yeah, I love thinking about the best way to fillet you, but the battle for Camp Comeback was a goddamn educational slideshow about what revenge does to people. I’m a smart cookie. Smart enough to know that if I kill you, it’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life, and you’re not fucking worth it! I am motherfucking NekoBaby! My greatness is way more important than some sad little fishstick like you, so get over yourself.”

  Anders couldn’t believe his earholes. “Are you—Are you forgiving me?” he asked, breathless with hope.

  NekoBaby rolled her eyes. “What part of that sounded like forgiveness? I’ve just decided to move on. I’m sick of carrying this load of bricks, so I’m making the boss move and setting it down. You can keep dragging your end for the rest of eternity if you want. Ain’t none of my business. But I’m over this crap, so ‘be healed’ and shit.”

  Another spell burst over him as she finished, bathing him the final burst of radiance needed to heal him to full. But while his body felt whole and hale again, his right arm remained a smoldering stump. He knew he should probably be freaking out about that, but honestly, he was too confused right now to care properly. Lying where he’d fallen, Anders realized he had no idea what to do next. He’d meant what he’d said, but now that he was no longer at death’s door, he wasn’t actually keen on the idea of dying. If he wasn’t going to die for Neko’s revenge, though, where did that leave him? What did he do with himself if she didn’t want his guts or his atonement? He was still wrestling with that when Neko stood up and offered him her hand.

  Anders stared at that small, clawed paw for a long, long time. Long enough that the cat girl’s tail started lashing with irritation. Not wanting to add yet another sin to his pile, he reached up his lone remaining arm and slid his shaking webbed fingers into hers.

  “Finally,” NekoBaby huffed as she yanked him to his feet. “Roxxy’s going to skin us both if we don’t get back up there.”

  Anders nodded dumbly, still too jumbled up inside to speak.

  “Thanks for saving my tail up there, by the way,” she continued casually, hopping over the rubble with catlike grace. “I thought my number was up, but your push got me clear of the worst of it. I even landed on my feet!” She glanced over her shoulder with a pitying look. “I’m sorry about your arm. I tried to force the life threads back in so it would regenerate, but it was too damaged and the ghostfire was too deep. I had to let it burn.”

  “It’s all right,” Anders said, reaching down to pick up his golden staff with his remaining hand. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “That’s what I do,” Neko said, lifting her nose into the air. “Now if you’ll excuse me, the Roughnecks’ best healer has to get back to the battle so we can become legends.” She chuckled evilly. “I’m gonna leave this world with the best troll ever. For centuries, school kids here are gonna have to stare at my statue and learn about how the Great NekoBaby saved them all! It’s gonna be da bomb.”

  There was absolutely nothing Anders could say to that. Neko was already darting up the hidden stairwell anyway, running on all fours with her staff in her mouth. Anders couldn’t move nearly as fast, but that was fine with him. As much as he wanted to get back to the battle, he needed time to absorb what had just happened. He’d lost an arm today, but somehow he felt like he’d become more whole.
He wasn’t a good man yet, but the knot of guilt inside him was unraveling, and something good was growing in its place. Something warm and calm, like sunlight shining on his face on a peaceful summer afternoon. It was a truly blessed feeling in this cold place, and Anders held it as tight as he dared, leaning on his golden staff as he hobbled up the Once King’s broken staircase after Neko.

  Chapter 15

  Tina and James

  The fight was not going well.

  Tina slid across the terrace on her back, skidding to a halt by the stairs in a shower of sparks. Even after she stopped, her head kept spinning from the blow that had sent her flying, or maybe the one before that. They were all running together at this point, but at least she was still getting back up.

  “Tina!” Her brother rushed over as she drunkenly staggered to her feet. “Are you all right?”

  “Of course I’m not fucking all right,” she said, wincing at how badly her voice was slurring. “We’re fucking losing. Those chains were our best shot, but he broke out in thirty seconds and killed my two best healers.”

  God, that hurt worse than anything. The only reason she wasn’t bawling her eyes out was because she had no time. She had to kill this winged bastard and get revenge, or Neko would troll-haunt her for the rest of eternity. But as she was scrubbing the tears out of her eyes, she realized belatedly that James was still talking.

  “What?”

  “I said ‘they’re not dead.’ The blast sent them crashing down into the throne room, but I saw Neko healing Anders. They’re both on their way back up as we speak.”

  Now Tina really was going to cry. “Well, at least one good thing happened,” she said, swallowing her sob. “But we’re still fucked.”

  James said something then about not giving up hope, but Tina was not in the mood to listen. She knew a losing battle when she was in it, and this one was going down in flames, but the worst part was that she had no idea how to fix it. Her raid was doing everything she could ask of them, performing even better than they had in practice, and it wasn’t making a damn bit of difference. Their damage was simply too low, and the Once King’s HP was too high. Fucker knew it, too. He hadn’t even tried to get back the sword Tina still had in her sheath. He wasn’t casting spells anymore, either. He was just flitting around, cleaning their clocks the old-fashioned way, pummeling them with his boots and fists until they broke.