by Char Cam
“We were just admiring your bedside manner,” gulped Sonetshea.
“Yes,” croaked Liaylaha. “The serenity of your dulcet voice is so conducive toward recuperating.”
“It’s soothing quality engenders a peacefulness so helpful for resting,” quipped Elspeth enthusiastically.
“What drugs are you three on... and can I have some?” asked the brunette wryly. “One shot of what you’re having and no one will complain about anything.”
Sonetshea tried to contain her giggling. She really did. But she looked at Liaylaha and triggered another bout of mirth.
“Well, if one of you will start at one end and another the middle, we should have these men up and about,” the healer said smiling hugely.
“Wait. What?” asked Sonetshea, startled.
Abruptly, another voice issued commands. “Marrick? Think you can get out of bed and run off while Healer Liolith is distracted? You have another think coming young man!” hissed a svelte blonde appearing from the gloom. “Lay. Down.” She then joined the four women, frowning. She looked similar to Liolith, but her eyes were a lovely hazelnut. She also wore her hair braided on the longish side. Her scrubs were crispy clean and the tag said Denjel.
“Crack in a crater! You’re the Kada!” the blonde shouted in surprise. Quickly she curtsied. Healer Liolith grimaced and hastily did the same.
They rose and the blonde introduced herself. “I am Healer Denjel. Have you come to aid us?”
“Ummm…,” Sonetshea said succinctly.
“We’ve actually come because of gamer quests,” explained Liaylaha. “We’ve come to rescue you from a life of usefulness.”
“Which one of us?” mocked Liolith.
“Oh you, of course, sweetie.” Liaylaha grinned unrepentantly.
“We’re here to invite someone to join our quests," Sonetshea informed both healers, sighing. “But with all these wounded…. What happened that there are so many?”
“HoSafe attack. They have a new weapon, an animal of some kind,” Denjel explained. “I’m not clear on the details of the attack, just on the damage it caused. Every healer was called in late last night. We’re the first to recover from an exhausted sleep. We were able to at least stabilize those we couldn’t outright heal.”
“HoSafe?” Sonetshea questioned sharply. “Funny you should mention them.”
“Your quest involves them?” Denjel asked worriedly.
“Oh yeah,” Elsbeth said tensely. “They’re all over the place in them.”
“Them?”
A terse voice chastised them from beside the wounded. “Healers, you can gossip later. These men need healing.”
“We have a file folder,” Sonetshea said, shoving it forward. “Who does it fit that you know of?”
Denjel accepted the folder and glanced through it. She then slapped it across Liolith’s chest and chuckled, “This has my sister all over it. I’m the sweet one. You better get moving before more healers come and you have to explain everything. Healers are notorious busybodies,” she grinned.
“I’m telling mom you figured out how to lie!” Liolith hissed angrily.
“It’s not lying when it’s a personal point of view,” Denjel smirked. She sauntered back toward her patients and selected one at random for attention.
Liolith glanced through the folder and scowled. “Why me? I mean, you’re royalty. Why would you have me for a friend? And a best friend at that?”
"Why wouldn’t I have you for a friend?" Sonetshea asked, slightly miffed. “I don’t see royalty particularly bothering you.”
"Not at all, really. Just, you know, royalty wants manners. I don’t use those...much."
"They do get in the way sometimes. But when you use ‘em right," Sonetshea grinned mischievously, "they can be a lot of fun."
“Come along with us,“ Liaylaha urged. “Your file says you’re good at organizing. If anyone needs that, it’s the three of us.”
“Hey! It’s lunch time. You could organize the caterers!” Elsbeth suggested excitedly. All three women looked at her.
“She is a growing young woman,” Sonetshea excused solemnly.
“And teenagers always think with their stomachs,” Liaylaha intoned prosaically.
Liolith sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll come. Who knows what she’ll decide is a food group.”
“And the caterers are sure to need organizing,” Sonetshea said batting her lashes.
“Oh that’s just wicked, Sonet,” Elsbeth admonished. Then she had a thought. “Can you really wrap a man’s tongue around a spittoon and pull hard enough to open his mouth for pouring its contents down?” she asked innocently.
“It could happen by the time I got through with him,” Liolith glowered grimly. Looking back over her shoulder.
The resultant monkey laughter tickled Elsbeth with bubbled delight.
By the time they returned to Orientation Hall, Elsbeth, Sonetshea, and Liaylaha still hadn’t quite gotten their giggles under control. During the drive back to the hall, Liolith constantly ordered the mobile stopped to hand out excessive tongue lashings as they traversed the busy streets. It seemed everyone knew her and egged on her strident comments encapsulating their insular habits. She never belittled anyone, or insulted them, merely stated the obvious consequences of doing other then what she ordered. While Liolith berated the mayor for not taking precautions when climbing a ladder with back pain troubling him, a passerby told the gamers that if Healer Liolith said a kind word to you as a Healer, well, you were as good as dead. Also, if Liolith was excessively polite to anyone, that person wasn’t worth doing business with and should be avoided. Elsbeth also realized another thing as they leisurely drove along. Liolith cared. Her nagging was as simple as that. She wanted people to be healthy so they could enjoy the sunshine, or the rain as the case might be. Life. Liolith was about quality of life and living it fully. Elsbeth thought everyone took Liolith’s berating as a sign that all was right in their world. Poor Liolith never seemed to notice that people thought of her as a national treasure while she worriedly pulled aside the relatives and care givers of those she harangued and asked them to slow patients down, or speed them up, or try this tincture instead of that one.
Elsbeth looked at her new friend speculatively as they reached Orientation Hall. Liolith was still freakin’ hilarious, but Elsbeth saw the woman as a true Heroine. She noticed Liaylaha, looking solemn. Suddenly, she reached out and pulled Liolith into a hug.
“We’re so lucky to have you,” Liaylaha said fiercely.
“Ditto!” Sonetshea proclaimed.
Astonishment was softened by a blush, then Liolith batting herself out of Liaylaha’s embrace. “Yeah, yeah. Now get yourselves something to drink before you dehydrate in this heat and you drop and hit your hard heads on the ground and I have to carry your sorry posteriors inside, by myself ‘cause a passing gentlemen didn’t have the courtesy to catch you.”
“Yes Ma’am,” they said meekly.
Elsbeth couldn’t help herself. She winked at Sonetshea and Liaylaha and said helpfully, “Oh look, the caterers are here.” Then she pointed at a server and added, “I don’t think that skinny one should be lifting that tray like that.” Consequently, she released Liolith the Terror on the unsuspecting catering staff for a frazzled round of impromptu medical care; Liolith’s way.
“...and you better exercise or I’ll come find you and rub that mop you call a head of hair into the carpet and we can all watch every balloon for miles come a callin’ on you--which includes the crying kid it’s attached to!”
“Uh, yes Ma’am. I’ll get right on that,” the man agreed as he edged out of the door. The rest of the catering crew hastily pushed past him. The last man grabbed the cornered ‘patient’ and dragged him behind.
“Um Ter? I think she means that, so for your own sake...”
“Where’d you find this absolute Jewel,” Cryson asked Sonetshea, bemused. He had a fully loaded plate and nibbled from it as he watched Liolith as
if mesmerized.
“Oh we found her at the Healers Guild,” volunteered Sonetshea.
“Stuck in a back storage room, no doubt,” Cryson said with disgust.
“Oh no. She was in the main clinic,” Sonetshea waited for Cryson to take a drink before saying, “Assisting with patient recovery.”
Cryson choked on a swallow and stabbed Sonetshea with menacing eyes.
Loudly, Sonetshea asked, “You all right there Cryson?” as gently she patted his back.
“What? What? Someone choking?” Liolith demanded shrilly.
Cryson looked accusingly at Sonetshea. “You did that on purpose,” he muttered hoarsely.
“Payback, my man. It’s all about the payback.” Then she side-stepped Liolith and left Cryson to his fate.
“Didn’t your mother teach you to chew your food before you swallowed silly man?” Liolith asked, forcing Cryson’s mouth open to check his air passage. The gamers stood in anticipation, watching the show. Liolith did not disappoint. “And look what you’re eating!” she shrieked after noticing his full plate. “Heavy on meat with nary a veggie in sight! How have you lived this long or gotten so big with that diet?” She whipped out her ever-ready tablet and viciously rammed her finger over its face.
“There’s the wind-up...” Sonetshea whispered dramatically.
“Now, I’m sending the pharmacy a list for vitamins and I want you taking them at least once per day, some can be twice, if you can manage it,--”
“--and the pitch--”
“-- but you’ll take them that once or I’ll send every herd beast I can find right into your living area to stare you down with accusing eyes so you can’t take another bite of meat until you do!”
“SaLAM,” Sonetshea intoned with satisfaction. “That’s outta the park.”
Elsbeth grinned as high fives spread among the players.
“Good enough,” Alvaro agreed with a nod. However, no one could have predicted what happened next.
Cryson lowered himself onto one knee and took Liolith’s hands. “Woman, I’m just plain in love with you. Please do me the honor of marrying me,” Cryson proposed earnestly.
“He can’t mean it!” whispered Liaylaha in rising tones.
“Oh golly, I think he does!” Sonetshea squeaked.
The five stood, watching the drama unfold like a slow moving train wreck.
“ ‘Course you love me,” Liolith said surprisingly. “How could you not? Think yours is the first proposal I’ve gotten? You’ll snap out of it soon enough,” she said gently patting his cheek. “Get up now, you won’t get out of taking your vitamins this way.”
“I wasn’t trying--”
“It’s no use,” she sniffed huffily. “I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“Then I’ll just have to convince you I have genuine feelings for you!” Cryson declared.
“You do that,” Liolith said distractedly. “Now where did I leave my plate?”
“I think... I think this has gone way beyond simple joking,” Alvaro noted.
“This... this ought to be fun,” Sonetshea said in awe. “She’ll lead him a merry dance, but if he’s serious, I think she’ll be convinced in the end.”
“Aye, this dance will beh merry indeed,” offered Bliztarf. “Or marry if ya like tha pun of it all.”
Elsbeth choked on a groan. “You don’t say much, friend, but when you do, you pack a punch.”
Bliztarf flexed his arm. “I’m a Dwarf. Whatdya expect fro’ one such as me?”
Liolith found her plate and came over to the group. “I think he’ll be fine now. Shall we sit and eat?”
“Before lunch,” Allon began, “we had one person left to tell us the tie-in of her mysteries. We’ll listen now, then you’ll be released to explore as you will with the following provisos: When you walk out of that door, treat your environment as you would the real world--because it is the real world for you now. Healers, if asked to heal, you will heal. Do not doubt you can do your calling. Hunter, you will hunt and hit the wing of a gnat at a thousand yards. Deathgivers, you are the ultimate warriors! Rogue? You will shade yourself to invisibility.” He glared at all of them to stress his point. “Magic will be active and it will respond to your commands. And everyone else out there can do the same. Do not doubt; you will open yourselves to failure. Believe! You’ve been given warning.
"This building is now deeded as Council Hall. It is phased. Only you and these two designates,” Allon pointed to Liolith and Liaylaha, “may enter your phase. No one goes in or out without one of you in attendance. As stated earlier, this will be one of the few places the outside world can be discussed. This is your place.
“Each morning at nine, you will log onto a game server. What you do after is up to all of you. However, until it is determined that each of you understands that this world you now reside in really is real, you will use the computer avatars to enter dungeons or raids. Please note that your game is on a dedicated line, including voice chat. No other players will join in your game. If you miss your log in, a single warning will be issued. After that, players can vote to expel you.
“Everyone should be working hard to solve your mysteries since they are all interconnected. You will find clues and follow up on leads. There will be side quests. You can do these as an individual or grouped. Accumulation of points will accrue with teamwork as well as with individual efforts.
“By the end of your two weeks, three if you’ve managed your time with your outside life as advised, rewards will be assessed on participation and the degree of mysteries solved. If you do well enough, you will receive the Ultimate Reward: a permanent place in the world of Azdromadarim. You will be a Jeweled Card Owner.”
“Whoa!” Elsbeth breathed prayerfully. “I am so here for that!”
Allon smiled. “And now, for our last tie-in.” He motioned for Sonetshea to begin.
“Oh! Before you start, I just wanna add one thing to the end of my story. If I was in the past two centuries ago, like Alvaro, I have no idea how I got to the present either.”
“That’s what was bugging me!” Cryson declared.
“Oh, yeah!” others chimed in. “That’s right!”
Allon nodded for Sonetshea to continue.
She nodded and turned to face her fellows.
"My quest, as you might have surmised, is to reunite the severed consorts’ body into a whole, then summon her essence back from the void from which it drifted. Helping me in my quest are my two best friends, powerful healers in their own right, but with three of us, we’ll surely succeed in retrieving the consorts’ essence and restoring her to life.
“The dwarves have a scepter that shows the truth of questions put before it. It was taken long ago under mysterious circumstances. I’ve run across several dwarves looking for the scepter. Indications are that if I help them find it, they will aid my quest of finding the remains of the consort.
“The Warlords of Tarn, an ancient Elvin clan, also have lost an artifact. A powerful staff that wields a destructive force that can fight the host of HoSafes encroaching upon Azdromadarim soil. I’ve long sought the one in power that is bound to it. I’ve heard rumors upon rumors, but now I can confirm that the staff was with a man who it is said became a Deathgiver in service to witch. He suddenly disappeared and the Staff was lost from knowledge at that time. I must find him and help him solve two quests.” Sonet looked at Alvaro. “I believe I’ve found the Deathgiver and now I will help him retrieve the relic, one of his quests.”
Sonetshea studied Elsbeth. “His second quest….” Sonetshea became disoriented as memories not her own imposed themselves into her mind.
“Sonet? Are you all right?” Liolith was immediately at her side.
“I…I don’t know.” She took deep breaths as blackness crept into her sight. Lioleth immediately pulled Sonetshea’s chair away from the table and pressed her head toward her knees. After a moment, Sonetshea sat up. Looking around her, she saw concern and worry. She gave a little laugh. �
��It’s silly really. Let me return to the ‘outside’ world for a moment if I may.”
Various nods encouraged her. “All my life I’ve felt just a little off from the rest of the world. I didn’t really feel whole until I met my husband. Then I lost him and I was adrift again. I’ve always had these dreams. Well, nightmares really. There’s evil in them, something horrifying I can’t ever see.” She hunched her shoulders in memory. “It’s deep night and a there’s a campfire. There’s a man there. He has a staff that has a blade at both ends and he’s fighting…creatures.” Sonetshea shuddered. “He can’t fight very well. He’s got a crying baby in one arm. I’m fighting to get to them. Always fighting to get to them.” Her voice broke. “But I never can,” She whispered as her eyes watered. “I…the baby’s mine. He’s protecting her while I…I’ve got lightning shooting from my hands. I’m tired,” she sighed. “So tired and the monsters keep coming.…” She laughed. “Weird huh?” She shrugged. “It’s the same dream over and over. For just a moment, I looked at Alvaro and I could see him in my dream. Like he was there. In my dream, he turned to look at me and I could see him clearly in the firelight. He’s got blood all over. He throws his staff at me like a spear and there is horror on his face. But he’s too late. Something gets me from behind.” She took a deep breath. “Then I wake up.”
She looked around and smiled wryly. “Sorry to involve you in my nightmare, but, well, it blindsided me. Alvaro, I really did see you. Is that bizarre or what?”
“Have you ever told anyone?” asked Letty pensively.
Ophelia shook her head. “Look, I think I’m just identifying with the game a little too closely. It meshes in with my nightmare very well.”
“But what if it isn’t a dream,” Elsbeth postulated. “What if it’s a memory and your consciousness really did cross a void and went into another body. Maybe you’re starting to remember ‘cause you’re coming home?”
No one dared laugh. Elsbeth was so earnest it would have been cruel to dissuade her. Yet as Ophelia thought about the parallels of her life and the game she played, suddenly, it was funny and she chuckled. Elsbeth looked hurt and Ophelia hastily explained. “As my second quest, I’m supposed to help Alvaro search for a missing child, who is, yet is not, my daughter. She was taken as a newborn and has no idea who she truly is. Reports are she was rescued by the same Deathgiver that.... Well, if I’ve found him and he claims you....”