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by Matthew Siege

  As much as I wanted to, I couldn't concentrate on that right now. Instead, I called the explosive arrow again, sending it on its way without hesitation. The little Evvex reached out a hand to influence it, but Atlas punched him so hard in the face that pieces of Citadel rock embedded in his head.

  My shot was a fortuitous one. I'd been aiming for the artillery's barrel. I missed that, but there wasn't enough time to be disappointed before I saw it strike another shell on the ground waiting to be loaded.

  All hell broke loose. The concussion slammed through me so hard that I felt it in every one of my jangling vertebrae, but that was just the start of it. A gleaming tornado of malevolence erupted at ground zero of the explosion. Two of the nearby Evvex were caught off guard and instantly encased. They couldn't move as the rush of power tore strips from them, ripping off fingers, plucking out eyes, snapping tusks and yanking free external conduits.

  It was torture on fast forward, and every now and then when one of their forms would begin to slump a dark tendril would extend from the storm and prod them back into wakefulness.

  Atlas was just short of the tempest. He managed to kick his opponent into the swirl, but four Evvex pounced on him in quick succession and wrestled him to the ground.

  I turned away from him. I didn't want to, but I had to come to terms with the fact that he was the least of my problems. My teammates were pieces on the board for me to move around. If and when they died, my job wasn't to shed tears.

  It was to make sure that I didn't lose an ally without gaining an advantage from it, even if the only thing their lives bought me was a little more time to get to the Relic.

  "Atlas can handle himself," I called, the lie coming easy. "We need to get to that thing on the top of the pyramid before they do."

  Lucas raised an eyebrow at me. "What does it do?"

  "No idea."

  Sabine's bright laugh was completely out of place over the gale that was only just beginning to show signs of dying down. "It better be worth it."

  There was no answer to that, so I didn't bother. No matter what I promised, she'd know I was just talking out of my ass.

  Things could have fallen apart right then, but as the rest of my Faction formed a flying wedge and barreled toward the massive stone steps, I realized that I'd underestimated them. They'd been in the Citadel a lot longer than I had. It had gotten them used to the idea of dying for a cause.

  Some of my passive abilities must have been kicking in as well, because I saw the fire of inspiration in their eyes. Nobody had nominated me as the leader, but they were taking my orders and implementing my plan, regardless of how haphazard it was.

  Perhaps that was as it should be. I was the Unelected Emissary, after all. The title had a lot more meaning now, and the urgency with which they reacted to my words fed the sliver of confidence I was nurturing.

  Could we pull this off? Probably not, but we were sure going to try our damnedest.

  I fished another arrow out of the quiver, sending it at the group of Evvex blocking us from the pyramid. I didn't see Kreeg or I would have made him my primary target. Without the dampening field to slow the projectiles, my magic was able to speed the missiles unhindered.

  I sent arrow after arrow at them. Those that struck were hitting hard enough to pierce armor and rigid hide. I wasn't an archer extraordinaire just yet, but at least I was giving them something to worry about.

  That was the point, and so I kept at it as both Sabine and Lucas darted ahead. The Evvex were distracted enough to let them in close, and the pair of melee fighters were two parts of a well-oiled machine.

  Lucas played his role as the heavy to perfection, and whenever he provided Sabine an opening she took it, lancing in with her blazing fists to deliver a few quick punishing strikes before withdrawing.

  They were impressive, but I knew it wouldn't last. It couldn't, not with the level discrepancy combined with our numbers disadvantage.

  As if manifested by my doubt, Kreeg darted from behind a nearby fledgling Citadel and lunged out at Lucas.

  I watched it happen, and I couldn't fault Lucas for not dodging. The Evvex was way out of reach. It was a sloppy attack, and Lucas could counterattack it without even trying.

  He did, as intended. That was when Kreeg's stance changed, going from desperate to disciplined in an instant. He expertly hit Lucas six times in quick succession, each thunderous blow launched with awful precision.

  Lucas collapsed. Before Sabine could react Kreeg strode across him, crushing his throat beneath a grinding hoof without a second though.

 

  On it. "Get the Relic, Sabine!"

  She frowned grimly, turning on a dime and raced up the pyramid, taking the stairs three at a time.

  Kreeg grabbed for her, but before he could latch on, the wires embedded in the back of his skull glowed red hot as sparks flew down their length.

  Beside me, Isaac stopped running. Whatever he was doing was working, but not for long. Before I could break stride or get Toot to throw him over his robotic shoulder, the Evvex chasing us were on him.

  It was over quickly for him, at least.

  Sabine had a lead now. She was faster than even I had given her credit for, but there was another enemy between her and the Relic. If she didn't dispatch it quickly, Kreeg may be able to close the distance and finish her off.

  "Sabine!" I shouted, reaching into the quiver and summoning the black, burrowing arrow the archer had accidentally killed his partner with. A moment later it was in my hand. As carefully as I could, I lined up my shot and let the arrow fly.

  Skill: Archery

  The ability to use physical leverage to propel a shafted projectile.

  Base Score - Sixty-One

  New Score - Sixty-Two

  I wasn't prepared for the wave of pain that washed past me as it sped on its way, but thankfully Sabine was smart enough to see my plan.

  None of the others could have pulled it off, but she was fast. I'd aimed high, which allowed her to deftly snatch the arrow from the air. Sabine spun, using the shot's momentum and redirecting it straight between the eyes of the Evvex in her way. The spinning arrowhead bit deep and plowed through its bone.

  She was home free, mere steps from the Relic. Her enemy fell to one side, and she ducked to the other.

  Kreeg, still forty feet away, punched hard in her direction anyway. It should have been a comical act of futility, but I saw the glint of blades in the light as they acted as one.

  Sabine was at the top, now. She took a step forward just as the blades carved through her back with enough force to lift her off her feet and send her sprawling across the Relic.

  After that, she didn't move again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  My first instinct, however stupid, was to charge Kreeg and make him pay for her murder. I was starting to see that I had a soft spot for Sabine, and she'd died following my commands.

  But letting the bloodlust cloud my vision would only make her death meaningless. Kreeg was two-thirds of the way up the stairs now, walking with a deliberate stride that dared Toot and I to catch him.

  "Let's end this," he called down to us over his shoulder. "Come along and I'll show you how this thing is meant to be used."

  I looked at Toot, who remained silent.

  Okay, then. I guess I'm the one in charge of responding... "Eat shit," I called back.

  Toot turned his skull in my direction.

  I shrugged. What else was I supposed to say?

  Kreeg didn't get angry or offended the way I'd expected him to. "I'll come to you, then." He pushed Sabine's body out of the way and then, just like in the vision, he reached for the Relic. This was the moment. The thing would stop him. The Citadel itself would lash out and strike him down, finally treating him like the malignant cancer that he was.

  He plucked it from the dais and turned on his heel, descending the stairs again.

&n
bsp; Or not...

  The golden glow fell away. He was palming an object about the size of a bowling ball.

  "What do we do?" I asked Toot.

  "I think we die."

  "Partly correct," Kreeg told us, gesturing toward the nearest members of his Faction. "You'll be destroyed now, Yvarre'en. There's no point in letting the human's hope flourish."

  Toot didn't bother to argue, instead simply stepping forward when the other Evvex did. Kreeg remained where he was, the Relic in his hand.

  I still didn't know what level these guys were, but their movements were too fast and too intricate for me to follow. Attacks were linked together into combinations that would have felled mountains, but Toot either dodged or counter-punched with uncanny artistry.

  I was impressed. My companion was quickly proving to be an incredible fighter. It was no wonder that his people had almost taken the Citadel's top floor. The boy could fight, and if the odds hadn't been so heavily stacked against us from the start I couldn't help but think that we might have had a chance.

  I tried to get a glimpse of Kreeg without him noticing me doing it. It was hard to tell if he was distracted or not, but I'd have to make my move soon. He'd spoken about using the Relic, and I wondered what that meant.

  Maybe I could sneak over there and touch it just long enough to activate it...

  I had thought that he was ignoring me, but Kreeg's voice in my head took me completely by surprise. ->This Citadel has been in play since before you and yours crawled out of the oceans on your bellies. You cannot win.<-

  He wanted me to give up. Once I did, I had a feeling that Kreeg intended to drag out my torment for as long as he could. I wouldn't die in here, at least not yet. He'd rub my face in the loss, and I'd lose the Relic and even more of what little time I had remaining.

  Without warning, I raised the bow and slid an arrow from the quiver. I was acting so fast that I surprised myself, though I knew that I needed to strike while at least some of his attention was diverted by Toot's last stand.

  Kreeg glanced at me, and the end of each of his wire braids spat sparks as something shot toward me. I felt a line of pain corrupt down my spine as he short-circuited my nervous system.

  Blight Swarm (Insectoid)

  You are unable to act first. An opponent has drained your ability to make Surprise Attacks, and your Magic Aptitude has been compromised.

  The agony went on, burrowing right down to the bone.

  -9 Hit Points

  You are Compromised and unable to take further action against the user of Blight Swarm at this time.

  Fuck!

  My knees went weak and my vision narrowed before I could fight to bring my focus back, but no amount of willpower was going to push away what that last attack had done to me.

  The twitching, biting sensation set my teeth on edge and made me want to puke, and I heard the unmistakable buzz of coarse wings from behind me. I'd thought that he'd done something electrical to me, but when I managed to reach one of the wounds on my lower back and rake at the source of pain, I felt a plump insect squirm angrily against my fingers.

  Horrified, I tore it from me. Its mandible was dripping blood, and it slid out of my grasp. Once it was loose it flew back to Kreeg, landing at the end of a braid and crawling up the tube.

  The Evvex leader smiled at me, and I repaid him by throwing myself on to my back as hard as I could. A chorus of chittering squeals erupted as some of the attackers were crushed beneath my weight. I heard Kreeg cry out as well, more angry than hurt.

  That might be the most damage you do to him, Adam, I thought to myself. And you killed some of his lice. Awesome.

  The insects that survived wanted no more out of me, snipping and clawing their way free, flying after the first one back to Kreeg and the hive.

  Blight Swarm (Insectoid) has ended.

  You are no longer Compromised.

  "I am through watching you dance, Yvarre'en," Kreeg told Toot. I was still struggling to get to my feet when I saw him grab Toot, and the next thing I knew the Evvex raised the Relic in his hand and smashed it through my friend's skull with enough force to powder the bone and cave in the top of his metallic frame.

  I had to roll out of the way to avoid being crushed beneath my friend as he fell. Headless, leaking fluid or fuel, I didn't think Toot was pretending.

  He was gone, and I was alone.

  "You fucker," I growled, right before Kreeg backhanded me so hard that I felt some of the teeth on that side of my face crack. I almost tripped over Toot, and when I got my bearings I spat the debris out of my mouth and stood up.

  This time Kreeg let me, holding the Relic in my face. "This isn't for you." He waved his other hand at the Citadels that surrounded us. "None of this is for you. Your race will take nothing from this place. You will have no victory, no moment of exaltation. Your purpose is to enter and be destroyed, at which point all of you will be sublimated."

  "Man," I said, my voice sounding weird and my tongue getting cut on the newly-jagged teeth. "You've got to use smaller words if you want me to understand. Sublimated?" My mind was racing, and I knew what I had to do.

  The Relic was almost within reach. He was taunting me with it, and I was going to make him regret it.

  Kreeg sneered at me from behind it. "Where do you think the beasts you battle came from? Everything within the Citadel that isn't a member of a Faction was once an inhabitant of a planet that capitulated. I know you'll die soon, and once you do the rest of your people will have a place in here, with us. At least until they are hunted down for their experience."

  He was gloating, and I hung my head and feigned defeat, staggering a couple of steps forward.

  A little closer. Almost there...

  "Okay," I said. "Do it, then. End it."

  I'd been hoping he'd come closer to deliver a killing blow, giving me a chance to turn the tables. Instead, his entire demeanor changed, instantaneously swapping from a sneering blowhard who knew he'd won to a cagey opponent who was all too aware of the presence of the rest of his Faction. "Soon."

  That was odd. "No," I said, shaking my head. "You're right. You've convinced me. Humans don't stand a chance against the Evvex. We're doomed anyway, right? Stop wasting everyone's time and get on with it, you pussy."

  He didn't answer, and I sensed something from him that made me lock eyes with him and square my shoulders. "You're afraid, aren't you, Kreeg? Afraid of me."

  "Ludic—"

  "I don't think it is," I said, taking a step toward him.

  He took one back, keeping the distance between us the same.

  I laughed at him. "You see?" I said, raising my voice. I wanted the rest of them to hear this. "The Evvex have never had to bide their time, have they? But you are now. I can see it in your eyes. That's why you've been beating my body to a pulp back in the space station. You need me to be out of the picture, because you're scared that I can win."

  He blinked, and I knew my words were hitting home. "Once you're gone, the rest will be easy."

  That sounded like confirmation, to me. "Tell me, who selects the Contestants?"

  Before he could respond, every Citadel around us began to shiver. The air around us vibrated with power.

  I nodded. "That's what I thought. I already told you, Kreeg, you're a player in the game, just like me. The Evvex have been in here longer, that's true. You've got more experience, better gear, and a vaunted position on the top floor, but that doesn't guarantee victory. Everyone who's allowed to play starts out evenly balanced. It's the only way to make it fair."

  The Citadels thrummed in agreement and I began to understand. Neve had no real understanding of video games, much less Absolute Reality ones. None of my Faction had much exposure to them, either. But why not?

  Atlas, Lucas, Sabine, Isaac... They all lived in the same time period I did, and yet none of them were even casual gamers.

  What were the odds of that? With a huge percentage of the planet's population dumping hour after ho
ur into the pursuit, there was no way it was coincidental that the only guy with firsthand knowledge of a system similar to the one we were locked into was the same dude who was already on death's doorstep when he arrived.

  "The Citadel selected me to even things out," I said. "That's right, isn't it?"

  Every rock in this place was nearly shaking itself to pieces. I had my answer.

  I smiled at Kreeg. "I'm too damn good. At least, I could be. If I was given as much time as you assholes have had, I'd bring this fucking place to its knees. So, I needed to get nerfed. I've got a short shelf life, and I've squandered what little time I had learning the ropes. Now that I know what I'm capable of, you're scared shitless. You can't kill me."

  "Of course I can!" he roared.

  "Nope. You'd have already done it by now. You need to take me alive and keep me that way. I can't even suicide to stop you, since I'll waste just as much time waiting to be let back into the game."

  Kreeg wasn't one to be put into a position of weakness for long. "He's right," he admitted, smiling. "Grab him. We'll hold him until—"

  Before the others could carry out his command I darted forward, slapping my hand down on the surface of the Relic, mentally begging the thing to submit to my will. I sensed that it wanted to obey, though there was a deeper, darker force keeping it in check.

  Kreeg nodded approvingly at me. "Do you think you're the only opponent I've faced who relied on Stratagem? Although I admit, that was a nice attempt. It can only serve one master though, and the artifact is in my possession. You may be a skilled competitor, but you have spent your time within the Citadel picking flowers and squabbling with the XAR filth. If you'd concentrated on the task at hand you may have proven a worthy rival. Alas."

  He tossed the Relic from one hand to the other, his face the same mask of smugness I'd seen when all of the visions had overlapped.

  Toot was wrong. The artifact hadn't been showing me a bunch of possible outcomes. Instead, the thing had been displaying parts of the only outcome over the top of each other. The missing piece I'd yet to see play out in reality was the one where the Relic was mine...