Dragon Ops

by Dragon Ops (retail) (epub)

  Lilli sat up in bed. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said worriedly.

  “What?”

  “Well, what if this time compression thing means we haven’t been gone that long at all? Because that would mean no one would even be looking for us yet! They would assume we were out in the game. Even Eugene might not notice for hours that we didn’t come back.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Which would mean—”

  “That we’re on our own,” I concluded. Not good.

  She lay back down in bed, propping her head on her elbow. “At least we’re not totally alone. I mean, we have each other.”

  “Yeah,” I said, suddenly feeling brave. “It’s been great playing with you again, even under the circumstances. I almost forgot what a good team we made.”

  “Totally,” Lilli agreed. “We were awesome. Before… you know.” She trailed off, looking sad.

  Great. She was thinking about Logan again. Seriously, if I ever met that kid, I’d strangle him with my bare hands.

  “You shouldn’t have let him chase you offline,” I said quietly. “You could have blocked him or whatever.”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “Yes it is!” I cried, before I could stop myself. I knew I was on dangerous ground and should shut up, but somehow I couldn’t. “I mean, you never even met the guy in real life, right? So who cares what he thinks?”

  “Drop it, Ian. Seriously,” my sister shot back, her voice ripe with warning.

  “No. I’m sick of dropping it. You loved video games. They were, like, your favorite thing. And then you just give them up—over some stupid guy? That’s not like you, Lilli!”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “Then explain it to me!”

  Lilli gave a heavy sigh. “Please go to sleep, Ian.”

  I didn’t want to go to sleep. Not without finishing this conversation. Not without finding out what really happened with Logan. There was something she wasn’t telling me—I was sure of it now. Something so awful that she couldn’t bear to even talk about it with her own brother.

  But her voice sounded so sad. As if she was trying desperately not to cry. And I didn’t want to upset her further. And so I kept my mouth shut, lying in bed, trying to imagine what it could be. What could Logan have done to my sister that hurt her so badly?

  And how could I help her get over it if she wouldn’t even tell me what it was?

  The village was still rocking as I slipped out of the house late that night and made my way down toward the tavern. The streets were even rowdier now than they were earlier, with people dancing and whooping around the cauldron in the center of town. Even young children were running around—chasing little enchanted pumpkins with arms and legs through the crowd. I was tempted to grab one myself as it skittered over my feet, then danced away. I knew from the regular game you could turn them in for Halloween treats, and I was still hungry, even after the gummy bear.

  But I couldn’t be distracted from my mission.

  I opened the door to the tavern and stepped inside. The place was quieter than it had been earlier; most people must have gone outside. The band was gone, too. And the only people left were lounging by the fire, looking half-asleep. I walked up to the bartender and plopped my salt stones on the counter.

  “Here you go,” I said. “Now how about that Ghost Goop recipe?”

  The man’s eyes lit up. He grabbed the salt cubes and whisked them away, then handed over a slip of paper—the recipe, I assumed—and two foaming cups of rainbow-colored swirls.

  My eyes widened. I hadn’t realized I would get actual Ghost Goop along with the recipe. I stuffed the paper in my pocket and greedily wrapped my hand around the cup. Finally! I’d get to see what this delicious concoction actually tasted like!

  “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

  I glanced over my shoulder. Ikumi had entered the tavern and was walking over to me. She had changed her look again and was now wearing the same black robes she’d worn when I first met her. Her mask was gone and her hair was long and blond.

  “Ah, I see. Doing side quests,” she noted before I could reply. “Can’t get enough of this game, huh?” Reaching over, she grabbed one of the Ghost Goop cups and tipped it back.

  “Hey!” I cried. “I quested for that!”

  “What, are you going to drink both?” She smirked at me as her skin and clothes started to glow fluorescent pink. Soon, she was so bright I almost had to turn away.

  I laughed. “You look like Princess Peach,” I joked, downing my own drink. It tasted like lime sherbet and I started glowing bright green. So cool!

  “Guess you must be Luigi, then,” she replied, setting down her cup. “This stuff is so ridiculous. I have no idea why it’s even in the game. It’s not like it’s useful.”

  “It’s fun, though!” I reminded her, slipping off the barstool and spinning in a circle. Ribbons of green streaked from my body, as if I was a living, breathing glow stick.

  Ikumi laughed and joined me. Together we twirled around the room, nearly knocking everything over. The other patrons looked up grumpily, muttering to one another by the fire.

  At last, out of breath, I collapsed onto the empty stage, lay on my back, and stared up at the ceiling. Ikumi joined me, though she didn’t seem winded at all.

  “Wow,” I exclaimed. “That was fun.”

  Ikumi giggled. “I know! I can’t remember the last time I had fun in here.”

  I propped myself up on an elbow. “So why do you still play?” I asked. “If it’s not fun.”

  “What else can I do?” she asked with a long sigh.

  “So, what? Are you, like, an employee’s kid or something?” I asked. “Do you live on this island?”

  She nodded, suddenly looking very sad. “Yes,” she said. “My dad is a programmer.”

  “Wow. That must be weird, living here. Does your mom live here, too? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  She shook her head. “No. My mother is dead. And I have no siblings. It’s just me.”

  “And your dad.”

  “Well, yes. But he’s busy working most of the time. I’m usually here by myself.”

  I tried to imagine this. Being stuck on an island for two years, no one to play with except computer-generated characters. At first it would be awesome. But after a while…

  “Anyway, I thought a lot about your problem with Atreus,” Ikumi said, changing the subject. “And I think I know a way you could beat him.”

  “You do?” My heart started thumping faster.

  “Maybe. But it’s a long shot.”

  “What is it?”

  “When the island was first designed, the programmers divided it up into four kingdoms. A kingdom of ice, a kingdom of water, a kingdom of the earth, and a kingdom of fire. They then created four dragons to rule over those kingdoms. Each dragon was given an Elemental Stone embedded with their own special power. Atreus got the Fire Stone. Lord D’ou got the Ice Stone. The Water Stone went to Lord Kaito, and the Earth Stone went to Wyrm.”

  My ears perked up. “Wyrm? We actually killed him!”

  “Wait. You killed Wyrm?” Her voice held her disbelief.

  I grinned, feeling pretty proud of myself. “Oh yeah. He was so gross, too! All those nasty baby worms! But I snuck behind him and chopped off his tail! You should have seen all the…” I trailed off. Ikumi’s face was ashen. “What?”

  “Oh no. This is terrible news,” she said. “Wyrm was a good dragon. She was gentle. Kind.”

  “Um, no offense, but he—she?—totally tried to melt me with acid.”

  “She drools. You have to stay away from her drool. But she would never attack someone unprovoked.” She wrung her hands together, looking really upset. “Those nasty worms? Those are her children. She lives underground, raising them.”

  I gulped. Was this true? I tried to remember the fight. Surely Wyrm had attacked us, right? Or had we attacked her first? Yano had eaten some of the little w
orms. Had he been chomping on her children?

  “Well, she’s probably respawned by now, right?” I tried, grasping at straws. “I mean, don’t they all, like, come back to life eventually, so the other players can kill them, too? Or, you know, invite them to tea?” Or whatever it was you did with a nice dragon.

  Oh man. Here I’d been so proud of myself for bagging my first dragon. Instead, I’d murdered someone’s mom.

  “I don’t know,” Ikumi said in answer to my question. “Most creatures do regenerate after some time. Under the normal rules. But we don’t know what rules Atreus is playing by. We don’t know who gets to have a second chance.”

  I nodded slowly, dread falling over my shoulders like a heavy blanket. “Including… us?” I asked, trying to voice the question that had been on my mind since we first learned the game had gone off the rails.

  She nodded slowly. “Which is why I’ve decided to help you. You’re very low-level. You’ve been lucky so far, but there will be much worse to come. You will need my help to face it.”

  Relief flooded through me. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” Maybe with Ikumi’s help we could actually make it out alive! “And, uh, you said you had a plan?”

  “Maybe,” she said. “I told you about the Elemental Stones. They are the most powerful items in this game. Atreus has one. But if we can get the others from the other dragons? We may be able to harness their power to fight him.” She pursed her lips. “Though obviously Wyrm is out.…”

  My face burned. “Yeah. I’m really sorry about that.”

  She waved me off. “But that leaves two more. Lord D’ou and Lord Kaito. The Ice Stone and the Water Stone. Two very good defenses against fire.” She rose to her feet. We were both still glowing, and I wondered how long the potion’s effects would last. “All right,” she said. “Meet me here at first light. We will head to Lord D’ou’s mountain and ask him for the first stone.” She bit her lower lip. “Just… don’t mention what happened with Wyrm.”

  “Trust me, I’m not stupid.”

  She smiled a little at this. “I know,” she said. “And who knows? This might actually be—”

  But she never got a chance to finish her sentence. Because at that moment, we were interrupted by a deafening roar.

  “Dragon incoming!” called a voice from outside. “Men and women—to arms!”

  We raced to the tavern’s window and peered outside. My mouth dropped open at what I saw. The once-festive town had turned into a nightmare of fire and smoke. People screaming, running, trying desperately to hide—some literally on fire as they tore through the streets.

  “What is happening?” Ikumi cried. “This is not one of the town’s story lines!”

  “I don’t think Atreus cares much about story lines,” I said grimly. Then a horrifying thought struck me and I ran for the door. “Lilli!” I cried. “We have to get to Lilli!”

  “Are you crazy? You’ll be burned alive!”

  “She’s my sister. I have to help her.” Sucking in a breath, I pushed open the door, stepping out into the inferno. The air was thick and smoky, and I started choking immediately. Ikumi joined me, ripping off a piece of cloth from her robe.

  “Put this over your mouth and nose!” she instructed. “It’ll help a little.”

  I nodded, doing as she instructed. Then I pushed through the smoke, trying to avoid tripping over all the bodies on the ground. So many partygoers—once so happy and carefree—now lay dead.

  RAWR!

  The sound blasted my ears from above. I looked up, my whole body tensing, as my eyes fell on the dragon circling.

  No, not just any dragon. Atreus himself.

  My, my, tiny human. The dragon’s voice rippled through my ears, sending a chill down my spine. How green you are. Don’t tell me you’ve been wasting time on side quests.…

  Oh no! The Ghost Goop!

  “No! I swear I’m not! I just bought some salt!” I protested. “It didn’t take any time at—”

  The dragon roared again, cutting off my words. Waste no more time! Or I shall see fit to waste more villages. His laughter was cold and cruel. He opened his mouth again, blasting the tavern with flames.

  “Ian!”

  Suddenly my sister seemed to appear out of nowhere. She was standing in some kind of weird bubble and beckoning me to her. I ran and she grabbed me, pulling me inside the circle. It felt like stepping into a bubble of slime, but once inside I realized I could breathe again.

  “Is this from a spell?” I asked.

  “Yes. And it won’t last. We need to get out of here!”

  I turned to Ikumi, who was still outside the bubble. “Come on!” I urged. “Let’s go!”

  But Ikumi shook her head. “No. These people don’t deserve to suffer this way. I need to help them.” Her face was streaked with dirt, though she didn’t seem to be having trouble breathing. Did everyone have a protective spell but me?

  “We could help, too!” I suggested. After all, this was kind of my fault. If I hadn’t done the Ghost Goop quest…

  “No!” Ikumi shook her head. “You’re too low-level. You’ll get yourselves killed. Go—I promise I’ll find you later!”

  And with that, she raised her hands, chanting loudly in a language I didn’t recognize. I watched, mesmerized, as bright light began to stream from her fingers.

  Lilli grabbed my shoulder. “Come on!”

  Reluctantly, I joined her, racing to the village’s back gate, which now, like everything else, was blazing with fire. We dove over the burning logs and into the dark woods beyond.

  We hadn’t made it more than fifty yards when we heard the boom.

  Followed by a blinding white flash.

  What in the world…?

  My whole body trembling, I dared turn back around. My jaw dropped as my eyes fell upon what once was Ghost Hollow, now nothing more than a smoking ruin of charred wood and ash.

  “Oh no!” I cried. “No, no, no!”

  I started back toward the gate. But my sister grabbed me, stopping me in my tracks.

  “Ian, no!” she cried. “You can’t go back there!”

  “But Ikumi! She’s still there!”

  My sister’s face was pale. “If she was,” she said slowly, “she’s not anymore. I mean, look. There’s nothing left.”

  Lilli was right. The town had literally exploded. No one could have survived a blast like that.

  I sank to my knees, tears flowing down my cheeks. I didn’t know why, exactly. We had just met Ikumi. We barely knew her. But she couldn’t simply be gone. Could she?

  Could she be real-life dead?

  “She saved us,” I said in a choked voice. “She stayed to save us.”

  “And it’s a good thing she did, too,” Yano declared, swooping toward us. At least he was okay. “Because you were glowing like the Green Lantern. Not exactly the best way to avoid a dragon’s attention, if you ask me!”

  I cringed. “It’s all my fault. Me and that stupid Ghost Goop.” I sank to a nearby rock. If only I hadn’t snuck around to do the side quest. So selfish. And now Ikumi was gone.

  “Think of the bright side!” Yano declared. “Now we can find out what happens when you game-die! Maybe she got out!”

  Hope burned in my chest. “You think?”

  He shrugged. “Or she could be real-life dead. One or the other, I suppose.”

  “But how is that possible?” Lilli demanded. “All of this—it’s not real. It’s all a trick of the mind!”

  “Don’t underestimate the power of your mind,” Yano replied. “If your brain believes it’s dead, it could very well stop your real-life heart from beating.”

  Lilli and I exchanged horrified glances. If Ikumi could real-life die, that meant we could, too. And Derek…

  I squared my shoulders. “Come on,” I said. “Ikumi sacrificed herself to give us time. We can’t waste it. We may not have another chance.” I turned to Yano. “You said you knew D’ou, right? We need to get to
him. Now.”

  We set off, leaving the ashes of Ghost Hollow behind and diving deep into the Sleeping Rain Forest, which, according to Yano, sat between us and Icelandia, where we would be able to find Lord D’ou and hopefully convince him to give us his Ice Stone.

  Unfortunately, unlike its name implied, the Sleeping Rain Forest was very much awake with nasty creatures in need of killing. Every five seconds we’d be ambushed by another mob. Trash mobs, they called them in a game like this. Random encounters with various creatures who had no importance to the overall quests, but still needed to be disposed of. I hated trash mobs—they were a distraction to the main quest lines and made it take twice as long to get anywhere.

  As we fought, I tried to fill Lilli in.

  “So if we can get the Ice Stone from Lord D’ou”—I said, hacking away at a giant bloated fly that dropped down into our path; it hissed and spun, making it difficult to hit with my sword—“and the Water Stone from Lord Kaito, it’ll be two stones against Atreus’s one. Maybe we’ll have a chance.”

  Lilli raised her hands, pointing her staff at the fly. It exploded into a ball of flames and dropped to the ground, still sizzling. “Shouldn’t we get all three of the stones? Won’t that give us an even better chance?”

  “Yeah,” I said, as I searched the dead fly for loot. I rummaged around his corpse until I pulled out a battered pirate hat. Where was he keeping this when he was alive? It wasn’t as if he had any pockets. I threw it in my sack, just in case it would prove useful (or fashionable) in the future. “About that…”

  “You’ve already slain dragon number three, remember?” Yano exclaimed cheerfully, flying up behind us, just as a snarling two-headed coyote leapt into our path. I raised my sword, managing to chop both heads off in one blow as it charged at us. Sweet! I was getting better at this. At least with low-level monsters. My sister gave me a high five, then dug out an old battered shield and three gold pieces from its dead body. She held up the shield questioningly to me, but I shook my head. Mine was better, and I was running out of space in my sack. “Remember that nasty earth dragon with the tasty treats? My brilliant power-up final move?” Yano continued.