by Cate Ryan
The noise was right upon them. In the distance Taysia could see a huge staff over the bushes, lit up by some kind of device on the top. It didn’t look like fire, more electronic. It looked out of place in the game world.
The tag above the player’s head read:
[Salon (157)
Grigori Priest, Stone Soldiers]
Grigori. Much better known as Dark Angels. From such a distance he looked basically human. She held her breath as the group continued past them. Out the corner of her eye she saw Racquel sneak away, keeping pace alongside the priest and his allies. The end of the traveling group seemed nowhere in sight, like waiting impatiently at a crossing for an eternal freight train to pass by. Boots marched past their hiding spot at a steady rate. All Stone Soldiers. She couldn’t see their tags just hear the rumble of their movement and the vibration of their boots hitting the ground. She lost sight of Racquel. She squinted but didn’t dare move more than that in case they heard her. Even over the din of their own movements.
She heard a cry. Of pain. From further down to the front of the group. Racquel.
But it sounded masculine. Racquel had done something. What an idiot. She would reveal their existence and their position. At least she seemed to be a little way away now. But it wouldn’t take much for them to find this camp. She waited for more sounds. She saw rather than heard Racquel flung a cluster of icy meteors towards the priest, followed by two more attacks flung into the crowd. More cries of pain. She wondered if Racquel had managed to take any out. From this distance she couldn’t see Racquel only the shots of light as she cast a spell. This time she saw a bolt of white light go towards Racquel rather than away from her. The Priest. It had to be.
She sighed. That girl could be so reckless. She itched to go and help but a low level wasn’t going to help much over there and Isaac had made no move to go. Plus, she really didn’t want to end up back in the Underworld. Hades was a total nutter.
She watched as more of the white bolts entered the forest where she expected Racquel to be.
A fireball heading out of the forest confirmed her suspicions. What was Racquel even playing at?
At that moment she realized, Racquel wouldn’t make it out of the fight without help. Racquel cried out in pain.
She rose slightly ready to go and help. Isaac pulled her back down.
“We can’t,” he hissed. “They’ll just kill us too.”
Taysia hoped that Racquel would not suffer the same fate she had. Trapped in the Underworld.
Taysia nodded her agreement. Racquel had made her choice. A few more bolts of white came into the forest. No more spells exited. That told her exactly what had happened.
The marching started up again. Stone Soldiers continued marching past their spot almost 100ft from where Racquel had started the fight. It was a colossal amount of Stone Soldiers this time. Easily several hundred. They couldn’t just be from this region. They had to be coming from further away. That explained the priest’s staff. She’d heard some of the other regions contained slightly higher technology than this one.
They fell back to the camp neither able to sleep and all three too scared to try. Would the Stone Soldiers come back and realize Racquel hadn’t been the only one in the forest? They needed to get packed up and move out of the area as quick as possible.
With or without Racquel.
Taysia wiped a tear from her eye at Isaac’s assertion but remained in the bushes. He was right. Too dangerous to stay.
Chapter 17
“Run,” Isaac hissed. They’d been packing up the campsite as quick as possible. But they hadn’t been quick enough. The Stone Soldiers seemed to have realized that Racquel hadn’t acted alone which mean more people hiding in the forest. Nearby a small group of them approached quickly, but not quietly. Taysia grabbed the tent she’d just finished putting away and ran. She did it quietly. Careful not to make too much noise. Louder than if she’d been actively stealthing at a slower pace but still quieter than the Stone Soldiers lumbering through the forest. She could just see Mack ahead of her and continued behind him.
She thought Isaac ran ahead of him. She ran for longer than she’d ever run before thanks to her recently improved stamina. Just as she was running out of juice, she saw Mack stop in front of her.
He stood in front of a cave. She could just make out Isaac’s form further inside. She looked behind her sure that any moment the Stone Soldiers would catch up to them. By now they would’ve found the camp and likely noticed the tracks away.
Heading into an unknown dark cave seemed like a terrible idea but getting captured by Stone Soldiers sounded way worse.
Mack seemed to agree. He had already stepped in, his silhouette standing cautiously below the cool stone.
“Deeper,” Isaac intoned, ushering them further into the darkness. Was there something on the walls or did she imagine it? They walked for almost a minute before Taysia realized the moonlight had disappeared and they had been bathed in pitch black, she couldn’t even see the entrance anymore. Which way was out? She had no idea. She felt in front of her, finding Mack’s hide a few feet ahead. Careful to keep her fingers on his hide so she didn’t lose him. She hoped he did the same with Isaac.
“Are we far enough?” She shivered, the cave had a cold, dampness to it, but that wasn’t all. She had the uncomfortable feeling they weren’t alone in there. It was probably just her fear speaking, but she felt like they were being watched.
“Yeah. This’ll do. We should stay quiet though.”
They huddled together in the cave. Backs to each other. Squinting in the darkness. Her eyes adjusted after a while and she could just make out the curve of a jagged rock a few feet in front of her and the rocky ground at her feet had become visible. If she looked to her left, she could see Isaac’s eye blinking white in the darkness.
She didn’t know how long they waited. Long enough for several levels of night vision to flash in front of her face. A sudden brightness in the darkened cave.
[Skill improvement: Night Vision – Rank 3 (Novice)]
[Skill Improvement (Night Vision). 15 XP awarded]
[480 XP until next level]
Her eyes definitely felt better adjusted. She could see ahead of her where the cave curved away to what she assumed was the entrance. She even thought she could see a glimmer of brightness in that direction. She wondered how many levels she’d need to be able to see in the dark properly.
“How long do you think we should wait?” Nobody had spoken in what seemed like hours.
“It’s probably safe now. I think we should stay in the cave during the day, but we can probably head closer to the mouth.”
Mack had already jumped to his feet eager to get out, Taysia didn’t need to be told twice. The darkness that surrounded them was absolute.
“You remember which way we came in?”
“Nope.” Isaac groped around for Taysia and Mack in the darkness.
“Let’s try this way.” He dragged them along the black path. Time seemed to pass slower than usual. Taysia didn’t think it had taken so long to get into the cave.
Isaac halted them with his hand, hearing something Taysia couldn’t. She strained, expecting to hear sounds of Stone Soldiers waiting for them nearby. Instead she heard a quiet splash accompanied by an even quieter sound of dripping water. The three of them realized simultaneously they had been walking in the wrong direction.
“Run,” Isaac gave the order. Taysia tried to run but found that she couldn’t. Her feet felt cold. She looked down. One of them was no longer visible, sunk below thick black water. Something held the other one in place. Something big. Something that looked suspiciously like a tentacle.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she growled.
Immediately she sent a bolt of fire at it. She centered it further down the tentacle away from her foot. Hoping it would pull away. Nothing.
She looked around trying to spot its health bar, but even with her improved night vision she couldn’
t see it.
Isaac and Mack seemed to have noticed her plight.
Isaac had jumped forward until he sunk deep in the water hitting at the tentacles with his fists. But he seemed stuck as if he too had been wrapped up by one of the creature’s tentacles. Mack stood close by hacking at the tentacle that held her in place.
“Keep going,” she pleaded. She continued with the fireballs, hoping they were hitting their mark and doing damage.
The creature she guessed was some kind of giant octopus type thing. She searched her mind for ancient Greek myths about sea creatures. Surely there wasn’t a similar creature to Hydraxius for the sea. Hopefully hacking the tentacles off would help in this case.
The only mythical sea creatures she could think of were mermaids and this wasn’t that. Or the kraken. It didn’t seem big enough. Could it be a kraken?
Finally, she spotted its health bar. Not a kraken. Just a giant octopus. And they’d already dropped its health to 50%.
She grinned. They could fix this without too much difficulty. She flicked another fireball towards it. This time watching as its health dropped by nearly 5%. Isaac’s attacks weren’t doing much to damage it. Nor were Mack’s.
“It’s got resistances,” the proclamation came from Isaac, but resistances to what Taysia didn’t know.
“We’ll keep hitting, you take it town Taysia!” Isaac continued swinging at the creature’s tentacles as he spoke.
Her mana bar hovered just above zero. She couldn’t afford to wait to kill it. She searched through her inventory remembering the item she’d picked up in the Underworld. A mana refill. She flicked off her last fireball before her mana dropped to 0, she searched through her inventory as quick as possible. Barely reading the effects.
[Recharge-a-Mana – Potion
Value 125 gold
Rarity Uncommon
Properties Recharge mana to 100%
Description
This potion will bring you from zero to hero in any battle. Chug it back and watch your Mana refill, so you can keep the fight going no matter what.]
It took one gulp to empty the tiny vial. It certainly tasted vile. Like a horrid mix of sweat and sea water. Her mana jumped back up to full.
She flicked two fireballs off in quick succession. The spell switched to cooldown. She flicked off a bolt of energy. And another. It switched to cooldown. The giant octopus still had 10% life. The other two continued hitting it but Taysia couldn’t devote attention to them so long as they remained hitting and not dead. She tried a different attack. Ice. It did nothing. Not surprising but worth a try. Her bolt of energy came off cooldown. She sent another, two beams hit the octopus near its blinking eyes. 9%. Fireball returned. She whooshed one of those into existence. It hit the giant octopus square in the body. 6%. Bolt of energy. 5%. Fireball. 2%. This time she waited. Fireball. It dropped to 0%. It collapsed. The hold on her leg loosened. She stepped out. Pressed her hand to the creature and waited for the loot.
She felt a pang of regret that they’d had to kill it but also, it was just a game. Except that it wasn’t for her.
[Creature has been defeated. 450 XP awarded]
[30 XP until next level]
[Octopus Ink has been added to your inventory]
[Octopus Meat has been added to your inventory]
She checked their entries quickly and found that the ink could be used as a poison and the octopus meat increased agility temporarily.
Very nice.
She moved back to the other two stepping out of the water.
Her shoes squelched, soaked with the inky black water. Mack’s gray fur stained black in places dripped water with every movement. Isaac’s clothes dripped too.
She turned.
“At least we know how to get out now?”
The other two laughed and traipsed after her until finally they found the actual entrance to the cave and settled in to wait for nightfall. Taysia opted to catch up on a little sleep. As did the other two, sleeping in shifts. Her last thought before falling into an uneasy sleep – Racquel. Hopefully the other woman hadn’t been captured. Or worse.
She dreamed of Racquel, trapped in the Underworld with Hades. And he’d taken a shine to her. He wouldn’t let her leave. Stuck playing that awful card game forever. And something to do with a Hydraxius. She tried to remember. Yes. There’d been a priest there who looked like her boyfriend and he’d had 5 heads. She’d tried to chop a head off but two more had grown and all of them yelled at her. That they didn’t remember her and that they hated her and wanted her to die.
She’d yelled back at them, “Well good, you got your wish, I’m already dead.”
She woke with a start to blinding sunlight on her face. Her skin felt clammy and her clothes stuck to her body. She didn’t know if it was a cold sweat from the awful nightmare or sweat from the warm sun on her skin.
Isaac’s gaze fixed on her, a strange look on his face.
She wiped her face for any drool. Typical, she still found herself covered in drool even in a video-game.
“Did you know that you talk in your sleep,” he said it in a whisper. As if he didn’t want to admit it.
“No?”
She turned away from him, rolling until she faced Mack’s snoring form.
“About Racquel, and your boyfriend.”
Silent tears began to well in her eyes, her throat felt like it had shrunk, like a chalkboard.
“It’s so awful. He doesn’t know who I am.”
“I know. Can I tell you something?” Isaac climbed over so they faced each other. Sitting on the opposite side of Mack.
Taysia caught his gaze briefly, urging him to continue. She wiped the tears, trying to appear casual.
“My brother and I, we got the game release day. Started playing together. He’s a couple of years younger than me. We thought the fellowships seemed like a bit of fun,” he paused to see that she’d understood, “There was no wiki back then because nobody had played yet. So, I picked this one and he decided to go with Stone Soldiers.” Isaac grimaced as he said it.
“And then?” She didn’t need to finish the sentence, Isaac nodded.
“He didn’t.”
“They erased his memory. He’s one of the higher-level guys in the group there. He was the guy that Racquel picked for us to attack that other day.”
Taysia tried to think back. She’d not gotten a good look at the guy before he’d killed her. Did he look much like Isaac? Same floppy black hair? Maybe.
“He’s killed me six times already. I’ve never been able to kill him. I’m sorry that meant that you died the other day. I didn’t realize he was the one Racquel would pick until I saw him.”
Taysia smiled sadly. “It’s okay. I’m not sure if I’d be able to kill Patrick either. And I’ve only known him a year.”
Isaac searched her eyes for forgiveness. “Yeah, well. The first time I saw him after it happened, I so badly wanted him to remember me. He didn’t and I ended up dead. I realized after a while maybe it was better that he didn’t remember who I was.”
“Maybe it would be worse for him to know that I was stuck in here. Maybe he’d end up wasting his life in here with me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Taysia looked to her hands. They were her hands but not. She didn’t know how to explain it.
“So, you’ve never been able to kill him?”
Isaac shook his head. “Even watching Racquel kill him the other day,” he paused searching for the right words, “It was like she was ripping a part of my heart out with every attack. I couldn’t even explain why it bothered me so much.”
“We need a support group ‘Pantheon Anonymous’.” Isaac laughed hollowly at Taysia’s attempt at a joke.
“Are there many more like us?”
“I’ve met a couple. But most of them haven’t stayed around here long. A few have tried to end things because they couldn’t handle it. Begged with the developers to delete them or they’d reveal what had happened.”
>
Taysia shook her head. “I don’t want to do that. I want to make sure everyone knows. This can’t keep happening.”
“They’ll delete us. They’ll shut it down. I’ve thought of every possible way it could go and none of them end well.” Isaac shook his head. “I’ve been in here longer than you. And if that’s what you want to do then you’re on your own.”
“Yeah. I figured as much.” She pressed a hand to Mack’s soft hide, at least she had the not so little Minotaur on her side. Even if he didn’t understand what she meant about the other world. The real world.
Taysia pulled herself up. “We should wake him. It’s almost dark.”
Isaac nodded.
When they made it back to the Stone Soldier’s Colosseum Base, they found long before they got too close that it was now well guarded. It seemed like everywhere they looked another guard stared down from the top of the ramparts. Or pacing the ground below.
It was going to be way harder than they thought to get in there.
Creeping through the trees that surrounded the base, they made a very slow, very large circle around the edge looking for weaknesses. They couldn’t see any. Isaac raised his hand. Taysia paused. Mack bumped into her. She almost toppled over. They’d reached the main path, they’d have to skirt deeper into the forest and cross it where the guards couldn’t see.
Taysia followed after Isaac, convinced that at any moment an arrow or spear would pierce her skull and she’d wake up in the Underworld again. Isaac darted across the path. Taysia held her breath, glancing to the guards further up the road. She couldn’t see them. Isaac gestured her across. With a deep breath she ran across the gap and tumbled into the forest. Mack was last. Mack had almost made it across. A hand covered her mouth. She tried to scream but couldn’t. She tried to bite down but couldn’t. They had a good grip.
“It’s me.” She stopped struggling. The voice sounded familiar. Racquel.