by Paul Bellow
I followed him. Bernard walked behind me, guarding our rear.
Would the Four Wizards help us? Or were we heading toward another setback in our quest? Why did the game have to be so difficult?
The ocean lapped against the shore as I walked—so full of thoughts.
A mile or two away from where we’d battled the cyclops, Eric slowed until I caught up with him. He fell into step beside me. Bernard sped up and took the spot to my right.
The sand made it more difficult to walk, but I wanted to stay safe by the water.
“We know the red mage’s name now,” Bernard said. “I wonder if he and Sylvar will attack us again.”
“Count on it,” Eric said. “I’ll be ready for him next time.”
“That wall spell he cast seemed useful,” I said. “With more mana, I’ll cast Ladder of Dwarven Earth and build a ramp over it.”
Eric laughed.
“I can picture it now,” he said. “We need to get the Dawn Acid items before them. That’s our main concern right now.”
“Agreed,” Bernard said. “We should reach the Four Towers before nightfall. Hopefully, they’ll work with us.”
“What do you know about them?” I asked.
Bernard bobbed his head back and forth a few times.
“Not much,” he said. “They keep to themselves mostly, but they’ve been around for as long as I’ve been here.”
I nodded, wondering how many other players were trapped in the game.
And more importantly, were all of them crazy?
We fell into silence as we rode.
The only sound came from the ocean lapping against the shore on our right; it’s so peaceful. After all the excitement of the double-cross and cyclops attack, I wanted to indulge in the lighter side of the game-world.
9
Off to See the Four Wizards
Eric
* * *
I spotted the first of the Four Towers several hours after fleeing the cyclops.
The red and orange stones of the structure stretched to the heavens.
“Beautiful,” Sarah said.
“Each of the tower is located about a mile from the others,” Bernard said. “We should approach this one first and hope for the best.”
“Sounds like a typical plan for us,” Sarah said.
I chuckled, unable to disagree with her. On the path ahead, four wizards in different colored robes shimmered into view.
“Greetings, players,” one in a green robe said.
A wild ginger-haired wizard wearing white stood next to him, waving. The one in black and in yellow, stepped forward.
“Hold on,” I said, raising my scimitar.
The first wizard waved his hand, causing it to fly from my hand. Bernard kneeled on the ground in front of them.
“We don’t want trouble,” I said.
“Then why draw the sword?” the wizard in green asked.
His black, curly hair hung down past his shoulders.
“Those two are coming toward me,” I said.
The ginger-haired laughed as they reached me. Instead of doing anything bad, they hugged me one after the other. Sarah smiled nervously.
“We don’t want any trouble either.” The wizard in green stepped forward and stretched out his hand. “My name’s Ferris. Good to meet you, fellow players.”
“I’m Drex,” I said, shaking his hand. “That’s not my real name, though I’ve been using it so much in the game.”
The mage in yellow laughed.
“OOC penalties suck the big one,” he said. “I’m Sherlock, by the way. The adorable ginger over there is Thom.”
The wizard with ginger hair waved again.
“And the wizard in black?” Bernard asked.
“That’s Aaron,” Ferris said. “He doesn’t talk anymore.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Bad magic,” Ferris said, stepping forward. “Let’s leave it at that for now. This game is dark when you peek behind the curtain.”
What did he mean?
He didn’t explain further.
“Talking OOC without a penalty is nice,” I said to keep the subject on the game.
“Do you like it?” Sherlock asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “We have so many questions.”
Ferris scribbled something on a scroll.
Sarah stepped forward.
“Do you guys have a quit option?” she asked.
My hopes raised a moment only to be dashed on the rocks of despair.
“There’s no way out of the game,” Ferris said. “Not that we know about. And we’re the most powerful players in the game.”
Sherlock nodded his head. “Magi Inyontoo is saying he has a way out of the game using the cursed Pendant of Visions, but I don’t believe him.”
“You know about Magi Inyontoo?” I asked.
Ferris tilted his head, his black curled hair bouncing.
“How long have you been in the game?” he asked.
“Not too long,” I admitted.
He continued questioning me. “Anything else you want to tell us?”
Pursing my lips together, I shook my head.
“We’re not special,” Sarah said. “Just new to the game. I signed up for a beta-test in Colorado to help pay my college loans.”
“Me too,” I said.
Bernard kept his mouth shut.
“And what about you?” Ferris asked as he turned to Bernard. “How did you come to be in the game so recently?”
“I’ve been around,” Bernard said. “A while now.”
Thom stepped in between them and threw his arm around Bernard’s shoulder.
“Don’t let them get to you,” he said. “We know all about your exploits. You disappeared off the radar after that basilisk took you out by cheating.”
Bernard became more animated, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm.
“That mob cheated so hard,” he said. “I can’t believe you guys know about that story.”
“We keep our eyes on everything,” Sherlock said.
The wizard held a wooden staff with intricate sigils carved into it. His pearl-white beard came down to his waist like Gandalf or Merlin.
“Do you have the last of the Gnome Oil?” Sarah asked.
“The original recipe,” Bernard added.
All the Four Wizards laughed.
“That never gets old,” Thom said. “We have what’s left of it.”
“Has anyone else come looking for it?” I asked.
“No,” Ferris said. “Why?”
“A group who follows Magi Inyontoo is looking for the Dawn Acid items too,” Sarah said. “They almost killed us a few times.”
“You’ll be safe here,” Sherlock said. “He knows not to mess with us anymore.”
“How high of a level are you guys?” I asked.
Ferris grinned.
“High enough,” Sherlock said. “We’ve been hiding out here in the Four Towers working on new spells and magic items to defeat Magi Inyontoo.”
“Wait,” Sarah said, her eyes lighting up. “You four create new spells in the game? Is that possible? Will I be able to do it too?”
“Calm down,” Ferris said. “Who do you think came up with a strange spell like Fish Slaying? It wasn’t the game designers or the AI running the place.”
“I love that spell,” Sarah said, becoming even more excited.
“That’s not even a good one,” Sherlock said. “We had a few good experiments going on in my old tower before Magi Inyontoo and his goons took it over.”
“I killed Snargao,” I said, proud of my own good deeds.
All four wizards turned to me.
“You did?” Sherlock asked.
“When did this happen?” Ferris added.
“Not too long ago,” I said.
“Captain Riggard died in the battle,” Bernard said.
The Four Wizards bent over in a huddle, whispering amongst themselves. After a few moments, they t
urned back to us.
“We have the Gnome Oil and Star Rock for you,” Ferris said. “We might have another few items to help you on your quest.”
“That’s great,” Sarah said.
“Come inside my tower,” Ferris said. “We’ll get you outfitted and on your way. Destroying the Pendant of Visions is of great importance. More than you three know. Get into a circle with us.”
The other three wizards joined us. Aaron cast a silent spell, teleporting us all to a brilliant brick room. I glanced around, amazed at all the magic items.
“We’re in my tower.” Ferris turned to Sarah. “Will you join us upstairs?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
“You two should stay down here,” Sherlock said. “We only allow magic users upstairs for a number of reasons.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sarah said.
“Are you sure?” I asked, and she nodded in response.
I watched as she followed the Four Wizards to a staircase leading up. Bernard walked over and stopped by my side.
“We can trust them,” he said.
“I hope you’re right, my friend.”
Bernard’s gaze roamed around the room.
“You know…” he said then stopped.
“One step ahead of you,” I said, walking toward a doorway. “Follow me.”
“We shouldn’t take anything,” Bernard said.
“I didn’t say anything about stealing. We’ll just explore a bit. Come on.”
He looked nervously at the staircase then came over and met me at the door. I opened it, peering through to the other side.
“That’s an awfully big room,” I said.
“We shouldn’t go far,” Bernard said.
I boldly walked through the doorway.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” I asked.
He joined me in the new, larger room.
“I left it back home in the Shire,” he said.
“Love those books,” I said, looking around the room.
“There’s two more doors.” Bernard walked over to the closest one and turned the handle. “This one’s locked.”
“Since when could a simple lock stop two men such as ourselves?” I asked as I walked over.
Bernard stepped aside.
“Can you pick magically locked doors?” he asked.
“Not yet,” I said. “Let’s try the other one.”
He followed me across the room. The door opened, and with a smile, I walked through to the other side. My eyes widened at the size of the space.
“The tower looked big from far away,” I said. “But not this big.”
Bernard wandered past me and into the room. He stared up at the high, vaulted ceilings—where someone had painted an epic battle scene.
“That was a battle from the Great War,” he said.
I saw a staircase leading down on the far wall.
“Come on,” I said as I walked over. “Let’s see what else they have hiding in this tower of theirs. I bet we’ll find something good.”
Bernard stepped toward me.
“They did mention wanting to give us items to help on the quest,” he said.
I stopped at the stone staircase leading down into the darkness.
“We should stay up here,” Bernard said.
I ignored him and ventured down a few steps.
“Are you coming?” I asked without turning around.
“Yeah,” he said. “But this is the last room.”
Two steps turned into twenty then thirty more. At the very bottom, I spotted a door. Probably locked, I thought as I turned the knob.
My eyes widened as it opened. I pushed the thick, wooden door inward. Yet another massive stone room stretched out in front of us.
“It’s so big,” Bernard said. “Are we underground?”
“Not sure,” I said, stepping forward. “But I see something on the ground over there. Let’s check it out.”
Without waiting for his reply, I kept walking toward the round object on the floor.
Too small for a table. Maybe a strangely-shaped treasure chest?
“It’s a round, metal hatch,” I said as I stopped next to it.
Bernard caught up to me.
“We should leave it alone,” he said. “The others will be coming back soon.”
“Uh huh,” I said, not paying him any attention as I studied the hatch.
I grabbed a sturdy metal ring on one side and pulled. To my surprise, it flew open. While it appeared heavy, the door had no real weight to it.
A wisp of dank, grey smoke rose from the opening as Bernard and I peered down the hole. I saw a ladder descending into the darkness.
“Should we go down?” I asked.
Bernard took a deep breath.
“I’m not sure,” he said.
“Do you have that bullseye lantern from back in Esterhollow?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, rummaging through his sack. “Hold on a minute.”
Another stream of smoke rose from the depths below. Tears poured out of my eyes as the acrid smoke and smell hit my nose forcefully.
“Here we go,” he said, pulling out the lantern.
After lighting it, he pointed the beam of light into the deep, dank pit.
“Hold the light while I go down,” I said.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I climbed onto the ladder.
“Positive,” I said, moving down a rung.
As Bernard pointed the light, I kept climbing down.
“Can you see anything?” he asked in a loud whisper.
“It’s a huge cavern,” I said as I glanced around. “Lots of glittering. Hand me the lantern. I want to check it out more closely.”
He lowered the lantern on a bit of rope. After untying it, I shined the light across the immense cavern below me. Gems and gold filled the place.
“This is a lot of treasure,” I said, greedily taking it all in.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Bernard muttered.
“Hold on,” I said. “Let me go down some more.”
I still hadn’t reached the bottom of the ladder. As I climbed down, I lost my grip on the bullseye lantern, and it fell into the darkness below me.
The beam of light tumbled and bounced as it continued falling for more than a second. When it hit the bottom with a loud clang, I flinched.
“Are you okay?” Bernard asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “But I need to get the lantern.”
After climbing down a few more rungs, Bernard shouted, “Watch out!”
I glanced down to my left and saw the piles of gold and other loot begin to stir.
Was it a trap? I wondered as I froze in place on the ladder.
Two massive, reptilian eyes blinked open near a lumpy pile of coins. My heartbeat kicked into overdrive as a huge red dragon lifted its head.
Rivers of coins streamed down both sides of its massive body. It shook like a wet dog, sending them scattering through the cavern below.
“Who goes there?” a booming voice asked. “Are you my dinner?”
“No,” I said. “Wrong door. Sorry. We’re leaving now.”
“Don’t leave,” the dragon said.
As I scampered up the ladder, its serpentine neck zoomed toward me. With a giant dragon eye mere inches from my face, I stopped.
“We don’t mean you any harm,” I said.
The dragon moved its head back and laughed heartily.
“Good to know,” it said, still chuckling.
“What do you want from us?” I asked.
“You came to visit me,” the dragon said.
“And we’d like to leave now,” I said. “Can we?”
“Not yet.” The dragon craned its neck to see me better. “Come closer.”
“I’d rather not,” I said. “Your breath is so hot.”
The dragon laughed, sending flames into the air.
“Careful,” I shouted, stepping backward.
Its head swiveled to me again.
“My name is Wiley,” it said. “What’s yours?”
“I’m Drex, and that’s Bernard,” I said.
“What are you doing in this tower?” Wiley asked.
Bernard stepped away from the ladder.
“The wizards know we’re here,” he said.
Wiley’s head snapped toward Bernard.
“Do they?” he asked.
Smoke swirled out of its nostrils.
“They’re down here,” Thom shouted.
I looked up toward his voice, happy they’d arrived.
“We should get going now,” I said. “But nice meeting you.”
The dragon growled as it settled back into the pile of treasure. After Bernard climbed up the ladder, I followed close behind.
We emerged in the giant stone room above. Sarah stood in middle of the Four Wizards in a semi-circle near the hole in the floor.
“Good timing,” I said. “Nice dragon.”
“Thanks, man,” Thom said.
Sherlock shot him a stern look.
“Why were you wandering around?” Ferris asked.
“Looking for the bathroom,” I said, obviously lying. “This place is huge.”
“Bigger on the inside than the outside,” Sarah said.
She smiled as she walked over.
“I have the next two items for Dawn Acid,” she said.
“That’s great.” I turned to Sherlock. “Any chance of a magic weapon to help finish this quest? We still need monkey ghoul brains.”
“As we were telling Sarah upstairs,” Sherlock said. “We have some items to help you to stop Magi Inyontoo.”
“Or kill him,” I said. “Problem solved.”
Ferris shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Even with our weapons, your group isn’t powerful enough to kill him,” he said. “But destroying the cursed Pendant of Visions will slow him down.”
Sarah put her hand on my arm.
“They’ve been in the game longer than Bernard,” she said. “And they don’t even remember their names in the real world.”
I swallowed as I stared at the Four Wizards.
“You don’t remember your names?” I asked.
“No,” Sherlock said. “Once we stop Magi Inyontoo and learn his secrets, we’ll be able to focus our efforts on getting out of this game.”
“Give me good enough of a sword, and I’ll kill him,” I said.