by Rick Scott
Braxus stands with Lord Xavier by his side. He brandishes something I can’t quite make out in his right hand—a hand that I took. It’s shiny and metallic; a gauntlet perhaps, encrusted with jewels. As I stand, he catches sight of me and grins, tapping his gauntlet to show it to me. He then pantomimes aiming it at something, and then flings his arm back as if in a powerful recoil.
No . . . what has he done . . . ?
A sickening feeling fills my stomach as I check the combat log.
King Braxus uses Crystal Spear!
Gilly takes 847 damage.
King Braxus has defeated Gilly!
The anger in my heart froths into a boil—he killed Gilly!—and then spews into rage.
“HE KILLED GILLY!” I shriek, my voice trapped somewhere between a growl of rage and a scream of anguish.
I’m running before I know it, my weapons drawn, screaming. The anguish in my heart bites deep into my soul. Nothing I’ve worked for matters now. Not without Gilly!
“Reece, stop!” someone calls.
I ignore them. I don’t care anymore. He took Gilly from me, and he’s going to pay! My anger surges, but the pain in my heart doubles, because I know I could have stopped this.
Should have stopped this!
I should have killed Braxus when I had the chance!
“Arrrgh!”
A Battle Mage next to Braxus readies a spell, as does Lord Xavier and several more of the mages atop the mammoths alongside them. I don’t care. I’ll reach that sick freak even if I die trying.
Something slams into me just as their spells go off.
I go flying face-first into the hard shale.
I hear a cry from behind me and look up to see Aiko, pierced by one of the crystal rods that was meant for me. The sight of it snaps me to my senses. “Aiko!”
She grunts and kicks at the rod to free herself. I rush to help her and cut the spear with my blade. She breaks free and grabs me by the scarf.
“What are you doing, you idiot?” she hisses at me. “We’ve got to go!”
“I can’t!” I cry. “Gilly’s dead!”
My world crashes down around me as my knees hit the floor. My mom, Citadel, even the possibility of finding my dad—all of it pales in comparison to losing Gilly. How am I supposed to do any of this without her? How could I have let her get killed so stupidly? So easily!
“It’s all my fault,” I whimper. “I killed her, Aiko. I killed Gilly.”
“Reece, come on!” She tugs at my shoulder, but I slap it away.
“You don’t understand!” I cry. “I had a chance to Backstab him. If I’d had the guts to kill Braxus earlier, none of this would have happened! None of it!”
“Reece!” She shakes me again. “Gilly is not dead . . . not yet! Look at your HUD. She still has time!”
I look at the red zero next to Gilly’s name and see a countdown timer beside it.
58:34
58:33
58:32
“We can still save her, Reece,” Aiko says. “We can save her from going to that place you went. She just needs a raise. We can save her, just like I saved you.”
I know that, but her idea is impossible!
“How?” I say, and jab a hate-filled glare toward Braxus. “Ask him for one? We’re in the middle of nowhere! We can’t run to some village to find a healer. Don’t you think I’ve thought of that already?”
“We’ll get to a healer,” Aiko says forcefully. “I promise you.”
“How?” I say again, tears in my eyes. “Who?”
“My sister,” Aiko says. She looks pointedly toward the labyrinth entrance. “We just need to find her before Gilly’s time runs out.” She looks back at me with a grimace. “And then pray that Becky’s still alive when we do.”
I look back at Aiko, stunned. Her violet eyes search mine for an answer. “My sister is the best healer in the world,” she says. “We just need to find her before it’s too late.”
It’s a gamble, but she’s right. It’s the only way. I look to the line of mammoths, where Braxus is still leering at me, and my heart swells with anger and hate. But there’s no time for that now. Gilly needs saving first. “Okay, let’s do it!”
Aiko nods, and we take off running back down the caldera, toward where the others are still gathered around Gilly. Behind me, I hear a war horn blow, and the ground trembles beneath our feet. I look back over my shoulder to see Braxus ordering his army into a charge. The wall of behemoths trample down the basin toward us at frightening speed, followed by the giants and soldiers.
“We’ve got to move!” Aiko shouts to the rest of the team. “Run for the portal!”
When I see Gilly again, my heart melts. I’ll save you, Gilly. I promise!
I steel myself as I kneel down to scoop her lifeless body into my arms. She’s still warm as I clutch her to my chest, but I dare not look at her face. I can’t break down again. Not now. I run toward the portal instead, locking my emotions inside. Val Helena and the others are already ahead of me, vanishing through the portal in shimmers of blue light and puffs of nano-dust.
I stop right before I enter and give a final look back to Braxus as his army thunders down the caldera. Our eyes meet across the distance, and I give him a vengeful scowl.
Gilly first, I promise him before I step through the portal.
Gilly first . . . and then you.
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading right through to the end. And even for reading this! I hope you enjoyed Book 2 of Crystal Shards Online. I know this one had quite a bit of action and introduced a lot of new ideas, but I hope you enjoyed them. I know some of you might be itching to get inside the labyrinth, as well. Rest assured, Book 3 will be coming out as soon as possible.
Stay tuned!
And if you enjoyed the book, please remember to leave me a review! As an indie author, those reviews go a long way toward achieving success, so please leave one if you can!
See you next book!
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Thanks again for reading!
-Rick Scott
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Shard Wraith
A LitRPG Novel
Crystal Shards Online Book 3
By
Rick Scott
Cover Art and Design by Alberto Besi
Copyright © 2018 by Rick Scott
All Rights Reserved.
VER 1.00
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Chapter 1: Onizoso
I have less than one hour to save my girlfriend’s life.
And a labyrinth to search through to do it.
The two thoughts are the only thing in my mind as I materialize into a new plane of existence. A place called Onizoso.
I feel the weight of Gilly’s body in my arms as my feet touch something solid. But I can’t see yet. Bright white light gives way to a spectrum of colors as my vision finally engages. I open my eyes and at first my mind doesn’t know what to make of what I’m seeing.
Huge objects float in the air, as big as islands, except they’re made out of blue crystal. Like icebergs in the sky. The sky itself, if you could call it that, has a purple hue, like a perpetual twilight.
There’s no sun or any other light source however, not even a horizon.
What I’m standing on is even more strange. It’s a platform, about as big as a soccer pitch and made completely of glass, bordered by a
thick trim of brass or gold at the edges. On it is a constantly changing pattern of fluorescent red, green and blue lines, like an optical circuit board. I’m not even sure if it’s really glass I’m standing on. More likely some kind of super-strong transparent material, but I can see straight through it nonetheless. And when I do, my stomach rises into my throat with vertigo.
Far below me is layer upon layer of the same glass platforms with ever-changing patterns, extending out into infinity. My head swims and I get an immediate headache.
I fall to my knees while holding Gilly in my arms, the strain in my head nearly blinding me and I cry out in pain.
[You have lost connection with host domain…reconnecting.]
[Error… Host_Unknown…connection blocked.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[…Stabilizing. ]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
[Critical Error… Kernel pulse not found.]
My head feels like someone is punching it every second—a steady throb in my temples that’s in time with the strange messages that keep popping onto my HUD. I push them aside and then look around for my companions, but I don’t see my friends anywhere.
Where is everyone? Are they still transporting perhaps? But they were all ahead of me. Why aren’t they here? I shake the thought aside for a moment and look down at Gilly. Her pale face stares back at me with lifeless eyes.
I choke back a sob as the realization hits me fresh all over again.
She’s dead.
Gilly’s dead!
Grief rises up in my stomach like a sickness and it takes all my wherewithal not to vomit out my soul. Her white witch’s outfit is stained crimson. Someone must have already removed the jagged piece of crystal that pierced her heart—a piece of crystal that was cast by King Braxus and shot from hundreds of feet away. What kind of coward does something like that?
The kind that knows how to kill his enemies first, I think bitterly.
What I should have done to him, when I had the chance.
Even what I was able to take from him—his right hand, he’d turned into an advantage— made some magic glove that shot the crystal lance that stole Gilly’s life.
Tears run down my face as I replay the moment in my mind. But I can’t let it overcome me. I look on my HUD and see the numbers counting down next to her name.
57:34
…
…
…
57:33
…
…
…
57:32
I watch as they steadily decrease, getting closer to zero. That’s the moment when her life would truly end. If I can’t get her a Raise in time, Gilly will be trapped in that nightmare realm that Aiko saved me from. That Hell Planet where those giants with throats of fire would devour her ceaselessly…time and time again. Just the thought of it has me shaking with rage and fear. I can’t let that happen. I won’t let it happen! But I need to find Aiko’s sister first.
Only she can raise her.
But how the heck am I supposed to do that in a place like this? I can’t even find Aiko, much less her sister!
I cast around me again for any signs of life.
The platforms keep shifting, moving slowly in a rotation as if affixed to some giant invisible Ferris wheel. Both ahead of me and below me I begin to make out a pattern. Concentric rings of platforms move slowly inside one another, and further sets of rings extend outwards toward something I can’t quite make out in the distance. It’s large and spherical, whatever it is. The core perhaps, like a hub, but it’s obscured by all the platforms and floating islands and I can’t truly make out what it is.
But if this was still some kind of game world, then chances were…Becky would be there.
I hope.
The floor trembles, accompanied by a heavy grunt from somewhere behind me.
Your Awareness increases by 0.2.
I sense something large and heavy landing on the platform near me. I prepare to drop Gilly’s body and grab my kunai blades when a familiar voice calls out.
“Reece!”
I look over my shoulder and am relieved to see Val Helena running towards me, her eight-foot-tall, muscle-bound body covering the distance quickly. Her platinum-blonde hair swishes from side to side as she runs, framing a face fit for a goddess. But right now it’s marred with concern as she looks at me with Gilly in my arms. Just the sight of her reaction makes me break down all over again.
I shake my head as my shoulders heave with another sob.
“I messed up, Val,” I say to her when she reaches me. “I messed up big time.”
“Hey, hey…” Val Helena wraps her big arms around me from behind and squeezes both Gilly and I tight. “It’s okay, Reece. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I got Gilly killed because I wasn’t strong enough. I was too weak to kill that guy when I had the chance.”
“Don’t talk like that now.”
I melt into the warmth of Val Helena’s embrace as my tears flow and she rocks me for what feels like an hour.
“It’s okay,” she soothes me. “Just let it out.”
I do. All of it.
My grief for Gilly is just the start. I think of my mother, back in Citadel. How much I miss her. How much I desperately need to get back there to save her. I think of all those people we still have yet to save. And then I think back to Lady Diana and Stormwall and that murderous Braxus. A villain I should have done something about. Rage and hate mixes with my sadness, bubbling up in my stomach like fire.
“I’ll kill him,” I say with vehemence. “I’ll kill him when I see him again!”
“Hey…” Val Helena lifts my chin and I stare into her big gray eyes that are filled with concern. “I know it hurts, Reece. And you’re blaming yourself right now. But heading down that road when you’re feeling this way is a dangerous thing. I know because I’ve been there.”
I hear her words but I’m not trying to listen to them right now.
Braxus has got to pay for what he did.
“Let me carry her for you,” Val Helena says, and motions to Gilly, still lifeless in my arms.
My emotions shift back towards grief and an emptiness fills me. Val’s right. I need to remember my priorities: Gilly first and then him. I can’t get so consumed with hatred and self-loathing that I screw up my one chance to save the girl I love.
I need to get my head back into the game.
I need to save Gilly’s life!
I nod. “Thanks, Val,” I say, and offer Gilly to her.
Val Helena materializes a bedroll from her inventory and gingerly wraps Gilly inside. I stifle the emotions bubbling up within me as she covers Gilly’s face and then slings her across her back, securing her tightly with a set of buckles and latches.
“Come on, Reece,” Val Helena says and reaches for my hand, lifting me from the ground. “We need to find the others.”
* * *
Bruce Peters slipped into a state of shock as his world came undone. His mind was so askew he only faintly registered the familiar buzzing sound coming from Gina Roberts’ pocket, sitting on the couch next to him. It was only a minute ago that his own device rang, alerting him to the news he’d been fearing since his daughter was put into stasis.
Something was wrong with Gilly.
Something very, very wrong.
He didn’t want to look at the device to confirm it. To know for sure what his heart already presumed. She can’t be dead. Please… she can’t be dead!
“Bruce?” Gina pulled her own device from her pocke
t and her vivid blue eyes grew wide with fear. “Bruce, what’s happening?”
Not her boys too…
Were all of them dead?
Bruce forced the rational side of his brain to react. It was the only thing he could do to keep himself from melting into a blubbering mess. He’d come to visit Ryan’s mother less than an hour ago, to give her the early warning device that was now chiming like a death knell. In truth he’d come to bare his soul, but now it seemed the cosmos wanted far more than that.
“We need to get to the observation lounge,” he said, standing. “Get your things. Quickly.”
Gina didn’t move, her face pale, perhaps fearing the truth as much as he was. Bruce reached out for her hand, took it and then told her a lie.
“We’ll find out what’s wrong,” he said. “And then we’ll fix it. Everything will be fine.”
He didn’t want it to be a lie.
He told himself it wasn’t one and held onto it—a faint sliver of hope.
They would fix this…somehow.
Chapter 2: Hail Mary
“Guys, can you hear us?” I yell through the party chat.
I stand with Val Helena on the glass platform, waiting for an answer, but nothing comes.
The names of my teammates are still printed on the side of my HUD: my brother Mike, aka Maxis the PvP king. Rembrandt, the super cool gunslinger from the cyberpunk world of New London. And the newest member to our team, Aiko, a woman I once thought an adversary, but who I’ve come to respect as a mentor and friend. A woman who saved my very life.
But I can’t reach any of them.
“Maybe they’re out of range,” I say.