Olympus

by Cate Ryan

  Taysia was so shocked that she didn’t have time to cast an illusion. As Artemis reached them, she looked up as if realizing that she was being watched. She waved in greeting.

  “Greetings, you are not gods, yet, here you are in the home of the gods. How did you find your way to Olympus today?” She paused looking them over, Taysia’s eyes remained fixed on the woman’s bare chest.

  Artemis’ glanced to Isaac. “You’re not Zeus’ usual type.” She shook her head. “Demi gods?” The four of them all shook their heads.

  “We climbed the side of the mountain.” Taysia was the most honest out of the lot of them. “Please don’t turn us in though. In fact, maybe you can help us?” She put on all her charm, which was about zero levels.

  Artemis looked between them. “What could I help you with?”

  “You are a god after all.” Taysia gestured to the Olympian decadence surrounding them.

  “Yes.”

  “So, you know that some of my people have been sent to the Underworld unfairly?”

  The woman shrugged. “I’ve heard some stories.”

  The wolf continued to suckle. Taysia continued, “Well, someone told us there might be a weapon here that could help us get them out. See, some people from the Stone Soldiers stole something from us.”

  Artemis nodded. “Right. Well, we have plenty of weapons here but none of them can be wielded by mortals like you lot and I can’t see Zeus agreeing to help in this type of matter.”

  She looked to Racquel. “I mean, he might if you’d be willing…” Artemis trailed off.

  “That’s not happening,” Racquel growled.

  “Okay. Well let’s put that one away.” Artemis turned to the rest of the group and listed off weapons, “Lightning rod. Magic boots. Magic shield. Magic sword.”

  “Nope, nothing that can be used by mortals.”

  “Well, thanks.”

  Taysia turned away. Time to admit they would have to do it on their own. Just the four of them against the world. Well, against the Stone Soldiers which seemed to amount to the same thing.

  “Wait. Where are you going?”

  Artemis called after them.

  “Stay for dinner. I can introduce you to everyone.”

  Isaac shrugged.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  A dinner with the Olympians was a once in a lifetime experience.

  Taysia shrugged and turned back around.

  “Is Zeus going to be there? My friend here would really like to meet him.” She sighed with a gesture to Mack who nodded emphatically.

  Artemis looked to the Minotaur seemingly seeing him for the first time.

  “Oh no. Wait. I misspoke. You need to leave as quick as possible.” She looked furtively behind her.

  “You can’t be seen here. Your friend will be thrown right off the mountain if Zeus catches sight of him. An abomination.”

  Mack looked broken. But Taysia and Racquel were quick to move back towards the garden they’d entered from.

  Immediately Taysia cast an illusion using her twins ability that would shield Mack from view. She used Racquel as the model, shifting Mack to look like the woman. She had never used the ability before and was surprised to find, it looked exactly as if there were two Racquel’s walking down the hall. It was an eerie feeling, in part because of their differences in mannerisms. Hopefully it would be good enough to get them out of the Olympians gaze.

  Isaac waved to Artemis then followed.

  The trip down was just as hard as the trip up. More so because they had only made it halfway down when night fell. And Taysia was already tired from the climb up Mount Olympus.

  “What’s the plan now?” she asked while they took a short rest.

  Isaac looked to Racquel hoping she had something up her sleeve, but she didn’t. “Well, it looks like we’re back to Plan A. Break into the Stone Soldiers base and steal back the artifacts without getting caught.”

  Chapter 20

  The round, stone Colosseum base looked suddenly less threatening looming out of the forest, having climbed Mount Olympus.

  What wasn’t less threatening were the booming noises coming from inside the stone structure.

  Surprisingly they saw no guards looping the edge of the perimeter though they waited over an hour to see if any would show up. Nor could they see guards stationed at each rampart higher up. They looped the structure looking for the best place for infiltration. Surprisingly the best spot turned out to be near the front gate. The guard had no line of sight that they could detect, and none had been stationed directly above. Huge stone gates kept just anyone from walking in making guards less necessary.

  [New Quest – Craft a rope and grapple to climb the Stone Soldier’s Base

  Reward – 50 XP]

  [0/15 Reeds

  2/30 Wood

  1/15 Iron]

  As soon as they’d decided on the course of action, the quest log updated automatically.

  Great.

  They shifted away as a group.

  “We need to find that stuff. Shouldn’t be too hard. Careful not to get too close though.”

  Isaac cautioned them.

  They split up each returning a few minutes later with all the materials. Isaac had been right. It had been easy.

  Too easy.

  She navigated to the crafting screen. Scrolled down until she found rope and grappling hook.

  [Quest Complete – Craft a rope and grapple to climb the Stone Soldier’s Base

  Reward – 50 XP]

  [15/15 Reeds

  30/30 Wood

  15/15 Iron]

  “Ready,” she whispered to the others. They huddled some way from the structure but the longer they stayed close to it the more anxious she felt.

  The others each held a grapple too. Just because there weren’t many guards didn’t mean they could dawdle. There had to consider the chance someone would walk past.

  “Should we wait for dark?” Taysia gestured to the sky where the sun sat directly above them.

  “Nope. We’re gonna surprise them and go in right now.”

  Racquel seemed determined and Taysia didn’t dare argue with her.

  They crept up, Taysia was careful to hide anything that could have a metallic glint a thought that came to her unbidden as they approached. Her feet seemed to know exactly where to tread. He stealth skill had increased to 5.

  Isaac moved swiftly with a higher stealth than her and she admired the way he moved flawlessly, silently through the forest.

  Racquel too moved quickly.

  Mack hung back a little.

  When they reached the edge, there had been no changes to the watches. Racquel simply swung her grapple up to the nearest rampart and began climbing. Isaac followed. Taysia shrugged and did the same, careful not to hit the other two. A few seconds later the slight clang of Mack’s grapple on the stone told her that he had begun his climb too. It was a race for the top. Except there would be no prize for the competition. Racquel easily beat all of them, swinging over the top of the wall when Taysia had made it only half way up. Isaac climbed over only a moment behind her. Mack had caught up slightly due to his increased strength and agility but Taysia managed to swing over the top a second before him.

  She found herself on a stone walkway, high above the main courtyard. Isaac and Racquel stood stock still next to her. She looked to where their eyes were fixed and realized the reason for their lack of movement. They were surrounded. 20 Stone Soldiers, each with a weapon trained on them.

  Mack clambered up next to her.

  Shit.

  “Come with us.” The four looked between each other. They didn’t have a choice at this point. At least they hadn’t been killed instantly.

  The men lead them through passageways that Taysia couldn’t keep track of. They wrapped back on each other. Now she stood inside the structure felt bigger than it had looked from the outside. The center formed one large courtyard, similar to the Colosseum she’d seen in old photos.


  What she hadn’t expected was how cool she felt standing between the stones, or how dark. Or the scale of the building. Each passageway seemed to twist into another in a circular labyrinth. Followed by stairs that spiraled down, deeper into the structure.

  Finally, they stopped.

  It was Isaac’s brother again. Noah.

  How had he gotten back there so quick? He must have regenerated at the base.

  His hulking form towered over all of them. He was at least the size of a small orc, muscles larger than Taysia’s legs.

  “You lot again?” He looked between them. Taysia shot him a withering look. Isaac glanced to Taysia and shook his head.

  “I suppose you’re not going to tell me what you’re doing here?” He paced the length of the chamber.

  Without waiting for an answer, he turned to his guards. “Chain them and put them in the dungeon.”

  Taysia sighed. If only she could log out. But then she might not wake up. Racquel could log out but what stopped the Stone Soldiers killing and looting her corpse, then trapping her in the underworld.

  The guards eagerly slapped chains around their wrists. The cuffs had been made from a thick metal and spanned most of Taysia’s forearm. A metal chain between them linked all 4 of them together.

  Their captors led them in an awkward single file down more stairs and far into the depths of the base. So far below ground all the light had disappeared, the only source of illumination from lanterns hung along the walls. The stone was cold to the touch but with a dampness about it. She breathed in something akin to mold with every breath.

  Thanks to her improved night vision she could see roughly where they were going.

  “In,” the guard at the front ordered them forward.

  Taysia wanted desperately to use one of her many spells to get them free. A nicely timed fireball, an illusion that would confuse their captors. But she reasoned that she didn’t know how to get out of the base from so deep, and their chances of avoiding recapture and likely death were pretty slim. She didn’t need a probability calculation to tell her that.

  She chanced a glance at her new surroundings. Stone walls, damp and cold. The floor was dirt. There was nothing else. Tiny bones and droppings littered the dirt floor. Taysia tried to keep herself from panicking. Thinking what could have done that. What was often in dungeons like this?

  They waited.

  “How long we gonna be stuck down here?” The question wasn’t to anyone in particular and she didn’t expect an answer.

  “Hard to say.” Isaac looked out of the cell, his back to the rest of them. “My brother is a pretty stubborn guy. He could leave us down here for weeks if he gets the idea to do that. Or he could get bored with us and just kill us today. Hard to say.” Isaac shrugged. The last words came out with a rasp that said he missed his brother terribly.

  “So, we try to break out?” Racquel examined the metal bars “Says they’re made from aluminum. Could be pretty hard to break. But I think we can manage it. Will take a lot of fireballs to do it. We’ll have to melt the bars away, but we’ve got time.” Taysia shrugged. It was better than staying in the cell with the rats. Or whatever left the droppings.

  The whoosh of fireballs filled the cell for the rest of the afternoon. She couldn’t tell that they were making any progress, but it was worth a try.

  “Stop!” came a sudden hiss from Isaac. “Listen.” And she heard it. Boots coming towards them. Muted by the dirt floor.

  Isaac’s eyes fixed on the darkness waiting to see what would emerge from it.

  Suddenly his brother came into view. A blow in the darkness, his features wreathed in shadow.

  “I thought it was time I came to visit you.” The man looked over them, his eyes glancing to Isaac for just a moment longer than they should have. Did he remember?

  “You.” He pointed to his brother. “I seem to remember killing you a lot. Is there a reason you’re always hanging around my business?” Isaac shrugged.

  “None that I can think of.” He turned away, Taysia could see his face crack. The nonchalant look disappeared replaced by pain.

  “Nevermind. This will be the last time you interfere with my plans.”

  “Oh yeah?” Mack yelled back, he’d been quiet so far.

  “Yes, young Minotaur.” The man grinned looking to Mack.

  “I will make sure that you and your friends are sent to the Underworld with the rest of the Rolling Wave players. I’m going to use those artifacts to wipe you and your faction off the map for good.”

  The man cackled.

  Isaac turned, his stoic image back in place. “So that’s your great plan? Wipe Rolling Wave off the map? You know we’ll just come back right?”

  The man grinned. “For a while, maybe. But I’m in no rush. You will get the idea quick enough that there’s no point in coming back to the Rolling Wave if you’re just going to get eliminated again.”

  He laughed again, looking between the four figures.

  “You lot seem to be causing quite the chaos though, so I’m going to trap you in here until my plan is complete. You’ll be the last three members of your faction to play Pantheon. Once I’m done, I’ll lock you out of the game for good.”

  “You don’t know what that will do.” Taysia spat.

  Racquel looked to her, understanding suddenly dawned on her.

  “Oh my god,” she whispered, glancing to Isaac.

  “Oh my god,” she repeated.

  “Don’t do this.” she pleaded with Isaac’s brother.

  “Just for that, I think I’ll torture you first.” He gestured to Racquel.

  With one quick movement he had the door to the cell open, Racquel out of her chains and the door locked behind him. He didn’t lead her upstairs instead he led her down the passageway further. To where, Taysia didn’t know.

  She looked to Racquel’s scared face as the girl was dragged away.

  A few moments later the screams started. Taysia tried to block them out but couldn’t.

  Isaac looked to her. “He didn’t used to be like this. I don’t know. I think he’s forgotten what it’s like. To live in the real world. He thinks this is all there is. But there’s more to life than the game.”

  Taysia couldn’t say it but wanted to add that there was more to life for everyone else than the game. This was their life.

  “Maybe that’s the difference,” she settled on, “We know how real this feels. How real it is. For him it’s just the game. He can still leave whenever he wants. We’re not real people to him.”

  “Maybe.” Isaac looked to the ground. The only sound between them was Racquel’s screaming.

  Taysia looked back to the bars.

  And sent another whoosh of fireball towards them, fighting tears.

  “We have to get out of here and save her. We can’t be like him.”

  Isaac looked around for a weapon and finding none he set to hitting the bars with his hands and feet like an old school martial artist.

  “He won’t kill her. He wants us alive.”

  Mack joined in too.

  That was worse somehow. That he wouldn’t kill her. Taysia spent all of those hours huddled at the back of the cell, Isaac on one side, Mack on the other. None of them spoke.

  Hours passed before the screaming stopped. Hours before Isaac’s brother brought Racquel back. Her health hovered at just 2%. Bruises and cuts made her body looked broken. Her armor had been ripped off of her. Her skin was burned and cut. Blood seeped from wounds that should have closed over. Taysia waited for the bar to tick up to 3% but it seemed to be taking forever to budge.

  Finally, it changed up as Isaac’s brother chained her back in between them.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow for you.” He turned to Isaac.

  “Good. You should pick on someone your own size.” Isaac glared at the man who used to be his brother. Once upon a time.

  “Are you okay?” Taysia kneeled in front of Racquel who was still shaking.

  “L
et me get you something to help.” She searched through her inventory for something that would restore Racquel’s health, eventually settling on the drink she’d created that first day playing, hot chocolate. She’d never gotten a chance to use it. It wouldn’t restore her health to 100% but it would certainly help with her stamina and her health, and probably her morale.

  The woman shook so much that Taysia had to help her suck down the drink. She sighed as the drink finally emptied.

  “Thanks.” Her body stopped shaking a little. Her health up to 6%.

  “I, it was pretty awful.” She turned to Isaac. “I really can’t believe that asshole is your brother.”

  “I told you, it’s complicated.”

  His voice softened, “I’m really sorry for what he did to you. You deserve better.”

  “It’s a good thing you’re a nice guy. He seems like a bad egg.”

  Isaac grimaced. “I’m not looking forward to my turn.”

  It was as they were discussing Isaac’s pending torture session that a Stone Soldier appeared in front of them. One that Taysia didn’t remember seeing before. That was when she noticed. He was level 14 just like her. But that wasn’t the interesting part.

  “Isaac,” she hissed, pointing to the man, his eye twitched noticing immediately what had her so excited.

  Next to his tag a symbol just like the one above Isaac’s name.

  He was like them.

  “Hello,” she greeted him cheerfully. Hoping to strike up a friendly conversation.

  “Hi. They told me to bring you some food.” The boy shrugged, for that’s all he was. Barely a teenager. He carried a plate. Just a loaf of bread really, between the three of them. And some olive oil.

  “Thank you.” Taysia tried to take the plate between the bars.

  “How long have you been playing the game?” she asked.

  She wasn’t sure if he understood the question she was really asking but supposed he did. “Three weeks. I started on my thirteenth birthday. My sister thought it would be fun.”

  Taysia watched as the boy’s glance shifted to Racquel.