The Bathrobe Knight

Volume 1

Written by: Charles Dean

Co Written with the help of an anonymous friend

Edited by: Joshua Swayne

Copyright © 2015 by Charles Dean

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: DEADLY SPOONING

CHAPTER 2: TOWN TRIP

CHAPTER 3: DEAL ME IN, POKER BEAR

CHAPTER 4: THE RED-EYED FLIGHT TO ZOMBOGRE TOWN

CHAPTER 5: THE BEAR NECESSITIES

CHAPTER 6: A HOP, SKIP AND A PAN AWAY

CHAPTER 7: ONE STONE TO RULE THEM ALL

CHAPTER 8: MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLEHILLS

CHAPTER 9: CRY HAVOC – LET SLIP THE TURTLE-WOLVES OF WAR

CHAPTER 10: LINES IN THE SAND

BONUS CHAPTER 1: MADDOCK’S POV (FOR CHAPTER 9)

BONUS CHAPTER 2: DAWN OF EVE

THE RELIQUARY

Chapter 1: Deadly Spooning!

Darwin:

Darwin felt as though he had two major secrets in life. The first was one that he knew would probably get him laughed out of the office. The other was the type sci-fi movies and bad books had made him too scared to ever share, lest he end up in a lab somewhere.

That's why every morning before work Darwin had a ritual that he couldn’t deviate from. Blue contacts. Tall men’s suits that hung a little loose. Extra-worn nail files. These items were Darwin's mask. The mask that stopped anyone from finding out his first secret. That his eyes were red. That his muscles were embarrassingly large and that his nails had come pre-sharpened.

The second secret Darwin kept, the one he was most worried about breaking his cool guy persona, was ironically one shared by many people at the same office. He was a gamer. He spent his nights with a complete group of strangers in a mystical world of magic and swords where he and every one of the 10 million people playing were there to save the day. He was a hero. He was Arch Lance Ser NightVale, the great level 72 White Knight Commander of the StormGuard Alliance and leader of the 2nd Hope raid group. He smote vile criminals at the tip of his spear and in his free time saved damsels in distress. This, he knew, of all the facets of his otherwise rather tedious existence, would bring him the type of shame that lasts for generations.

No matter how much shame his secret would bring, though, he just couldn't stop playing. Day in and day out, he was at the computer. He didn't even pause his game to eat. It was always ramen, spaghetti, or rice at the computer. The only things that let him know when holidays were coming up or his birthday was near were the in-game notifications and prizes that gave uneventful days like Christmas a meaning. After all, games offer double rewards for grinding on Christmas.

Grinding in games was something he looked forward to so much that he even got off on little inside jokes about the activity. For instance, he had told his coworkers that this particular Christmas he was going to spend the entire time grinding with his special girl. They asked if he had any other plans, and he just winked, nudged, and said, "Yeah, we're going to go to the mountains where there will be plenty of staff usage." He thought he sounded cool, and no one had the heart to tell him otherwise. And that's exactly where Darwin was on Christmas. Grinding in the mountains. In fact, after reaching Mount Horandur, he had managed to kill more Frost Drakes than any other Knight on the server, which may have had something to do with the little detail that he never slept and wasn't hampered by those ridiculous burdens like family dinners or having Christmas presents to open.

It was for this reason that he was stunned when around 8 p.m. Christmas Day, there was a knock on his door. He moved to get up from his swivel chair then stopped himself. He was in a robe and slippers, his contacts were sitting in solution in their case on the bathroom sink, and his unfiled nails were starting to resemble claws. Anyway, who would be going door to door at this time, and on this day? Darwin wondered if he should walk quietly over to the front door and peek at who his visitor was. But . . . no. Without his mask in place, it was too risky. He looked around quickly to reassure himself that all the lights were off and then for good measure turned the volume on his computer all the way down. The quiet persisted for a few minutes, punctuated only by the clicking of his mouse and keyboard, during which time he couldn't bear to look away from the game for more than a few seconds at a time. Until the knocking began again. Three taps, and then the doorbell, which no one had ever used. It was a sound he felt he should have recognized though he couldn't recall a time when he had merited any visitors. Go away! He wanted to call. I'm not home.

Whoever it was did not go away. Darwin had almost decided that it must be Mrs. Old Lady from across the street bringing him leftover Christmas cookies and was seriously considering that they might be a treat delicious enough to warrant putting in his contacts. Another knock came, more forceful, and then a sound as if someone had body-slammed his door followed by the sound of splintering, cracking wood. Darwin stood up sharply. He thought he heard footsteps in the front hall. Darwin froze and then grabbed the only pointed object he could find: a butter knife. He made his way through the hallway as quietly as possible. He chastised himself about how each step he took towards the unknown assailant was too loud. He should have changed the floorboards. Why did I have to go with a hardwood floor? Carpet wouldn't creak like this, he thought.

Unfortunately for Darwin, his worst fear about the burglar having a gun and having heard him were both true. The burglar's footsteps sounded out in a terrifying jaws-soundtrack-like vibrations as they approached him in the hallway. *Thump Thump. Thump Thump. Thump Thump.* Darwin clenched the dull, edgeless blade while frantically looking around for anything that might be more effective than his butter knife, +1 against spaghetti. *Thump Thump. Thump Thump.* How long does it take to cross the living room into a hallway, you idiot? Just get this over with already! He yelled in his head, jumping out and throwing the butter knife as hard as he could at the direction of the footsteps.

The surprising thing, to both the burglar and Darwin, was that the blade had hit the burglar directly in his right eye, not penetrating but causing him to fall over and squeeze the trigger on his gun a few times. The shots missed. Not waiting for the burglar to get back up, Darwin dashed at him and kicked the burglar's face as the would-be thief made a comic attempt to hold his eye, get up, and not lose the gun at the same time. Success! He probably should have stopped kicking, but Darwin had seen far too many action and horror movies to not make his best attempt at a "double tap" as he kept kicking the man over and over again in the face. Slippers of +10 face-smashing.

It was then that something even more extraordinary than the robbery happened. A small blue status window popped up in the corner of his field of vision. “You have gained 285 experience points!” it read as a ding sounded inside his head “You have reached Level 2!” “You have reached level 3!” Have I lost it? 285 experience points? Th . . . this isn’t a game. Level 2? Level 3? Wha . . . what is going on?

No sooner had the questions popped into his head than a status window appeared. It showed a picture of him silhouetted with his arms spread wide like  Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and his clothes off to the side with lines connecting them to the appropriate body parts. Is this . . . me? he wondered, looking at the numbers and “attributes” listed to the left of the image of him in the status window. Upon seeing all the numbers next to each attribute, his gamer instinct kicked in. He highlighted each attribute looking for the "benefits" and trying to read what each did. Darwin's gaming nature would likely have kept him fiddling around with the status window until work started the next year if it weren't for the sudden white light that shot up from under his feet. A ding sound occurred and then one final message window appeared in front of him before the light consumed his field of vision.

- Welcome Home, Darwin

Qasin:

The King adjusted the Crown on his head for the 17th time in the last 10 minutes. It wasn't that the Crown didn't fit right--it had always been too big for his head--but the adjusting was more of a nervous reaction than an actual need to get it properly set on his head. He couldn’t help but be nervous given the circumstances. Any minute now one of his ‘loyal’ Scouts would eagerly, and probably cheerfully, present news of the 8th Legion’s defeat on the eastern front to the White-Horn army. Just perfect. If he couldn’t find the right way to spin the news, then the Council that had been plotting against him for the past 4 years would finally have its victory. He needed a way to gain control of the situation before it became out of hand. He desperately needed to keep them from gaining any more footholds with the public against his authority.

Before he could come up with a plan though, the large wooden double doors at the other end of the stone chamber finally opened and the bearer of bad news happily began sauntering across the red carpet that stretched in a line from the door to the throne. A thousand men over level 20 dead, and this fool is one pep in the step away from a hop, skip and a jump. The traitor. The King just couldn’t get it. He saw the Councilmen as rats and fat pigs grubbing over the Captain’s chair of a ship they were sinking in order to kill the Captain. He didn’t care for the chair. If he thought any of them had the slightest idea of how to save the Kingdom, he’d have happily let them take the throne, but he just knew that giving up would only sink the ship quicker, and the White-Horns didn’t have his sense of mercy or justice. If they took over, it’d be Hell on Tiqpa.

“Your Majesty! I bring dire news from the north!” the Messenger said, doing his best to fake a solemn tone.

“I trust it is not too dire. I’m sure if it was I would have received word of it sooner than the weekly update, no?” the King said, half to stall and half to make the happy fool squirm.

“Er . . . that is . . . Your Majesty, the dates just coincided.”

“I see. So the news is that dire, and you waited for the appointment day? I should have you hanged. What if I had wanted to take action upon hearing the dire news?” The King said as his eyes darted around the room looking for inspiration. Minutes. This was only giving him minutes but it had to be enough.

“Sire, if I am to be punished for delaying the news, then please do not let the punishment grow! May I speak?”

King Qasin relented. There wasn’t hope for him, and these minutes served as nothing more than time used to humiliate an idiot soldier who picked the wrong side. “Fine. Deliver the news but be brief as I have news of my own to deliver afterwards.”

“Yes, Majesty. I’ll be brief then. The 8th Legion has been decimated. They fought valiantly against the White-Horn’s threat to Valcrest, but upon failure, they tried to recoup their forces and retreat to safety. Unfortunately, they were routed and destroyed to the last man by the Black-Wings hidden on their southern front between them and Valcrest. There were no survivors.”

“Did you survive?” The King asked. Finally breaking what little confidence the soldier had that he would stay out of prison. The King knew the soldier and the Councilmen likely had either used their own forces to kill the retreating legion, or been in on the Black Wings’ ambush plot.

“Only because I . . . I left the fight early to . . . to make it to the meeting!” the soldier stuttered, his eyes looking to the Councilmen gathered at the front of the crowds that flanked his left and right sides for help. They just smiled though. His purpose had been served, and the King knew they would do nothing to save a used-up pawn.

“But you’re certain it was Black-Wings then?” He pressed. Victory was his. If this day was going to wound the King’s authority, it would need to end the Messenger’s life too.

Yes. Because of the . . .” his lie that had run so far from truth had come full stop against the wall of his stupidity, cornered by his lack of wits.

“Guards. Thank this man for his news and drag him to the dungeons where he will await execution for desertion during combat.” Unlike the Messenger, who had faked it, the King was genuinely solemn as he issued the order. This small win of the day would do nothing to stop the effect of the news.

“Yes your Ma--” One of the Guards began to approach the soon to be prisoner while speaking when he was cut off by a bright white flash coming from the summoning circle next to the giant wooden double doors.

When the light faded, all that could be seen by the curious silent crowd was one man standing in the center of the golden-gilded summoning circle. The summoning circle, usually only used by court magicians, had never activated without at least three magicians to complete the process, and it certainly had never created such a bright light before. Yet here it had done both, and there stood a man that had left even the battle-hardened soldiers surprised and awestruck.

The King, quickly sizing the man up, saw an opportunity. The people needed hope after the bad news, and he needed a distraction. Here was both. The tall, muscular man’s red eyes looked like the Devil’s, his feet were covered in so much blood he had obviously just come from an incredibly intense battlefield, and he had showed up without needing summoning . . . or had he? This could work.

“Ah, the man of the hour has come sooner than expected!” The King shouted to the crowd, standing up now and walking toward the new arrival. “This man, my friends, is the battle hardened hero I have summoned to win back our front lines! This man will bring us victory where just moments ago we had only defeat in our mouth.”

The man looked more confused than the Councilmen at throne side of the room trying to get a better look at him.

“I will?” The red-eyed man asked, looking around like it was his first time ever seeing a castle.

“Good. Glad to hear it.” The King, still not certain the barbarian wasn’t going to murder him on the spot as he approached, pretended the question was a declaration and just carried on, ignoring Darwin’s concerns entirely. He doesn’t have to win. He just has to buy enough time for the 7th Legion to report a victory. If I can make a big enough spectacle of him, the Council will be too busy trying to figure out who he is to keep meddling in my army’s affairs. Now I just have to make a scene and make him disappear before it gets unwieldy. “So, great warrior, before we send you on your holy quest, what is your weapon of choice? What have you killed the most men with?”

“Killed . . . I killed a man with a butter knife?” He responded, leaving the entire crowd stricken for words.

“A . . . butter knife you say? Wondrous! You see, my people, we have nothing to worry. This man, a man who casually kills with butter knives and salad forks, has traveled great distances to save us from the monster invasions plaguing our borders! We have nothing to fear anymore. Breathe easy and know that fortune has shined on us today. All of you here have born witness to the strength of his summoning. All of you have seen his dreadful visage. So go! Spread the news of coming victory!” The King’s speech rattled out in the manner he knew would leave the peasants gossiping for days and the Councilmen furious. See, you fools? It’s my Kingdom. Even fate doesn’t like the idea of filthy uncooked bacon wearing a Crown. “And you, brave warrior from afar, do you have any words before we send you out to the battlefield, unfairly resting our burdens on your shoulders?”

“Well . . . about the weapon . . . you see actually--” he abruptly stopped before he finished his thought. One of the bodyguards loyal to the King had, unbeknownst to even the King, left the courtroom and returned with a beautiful 6 piece set of golden dinnerware laid neatly on a white silk napkin that he held out in front of him for the red eyed man to pick from.

You’re going to be eating better than me for a month, you brilliant man, the King thought as he saw the Guard presenting the dinnerware. The Guard had saved precious moments that this man could have used to say something that would discredit the story he was building, but the man still had to choose a weapon.

“Go ahead. It’s okay. Choose one of your weapons, and take with it our eternal gratitude, hero.” The King sometimes wanted to throw up in his own mouth as he spouted out such terribly fake lines. He did his best to signal the court mages without alerting the man to what was going on while he spoke, but his nervousness didn’t fade until he saw the circle begin to glow a faint white light.

As soon as the man grabbed a utensil, the King smiled and said, “To the front lines! To victory!” and quickly queued the court mages to finish the final step of the spell and teleport the red-eyed man out of the court. The white flash covered the room and when it was gone, so was the King’s worry. Today had been fortuitous. Not just to him, but to his Kingdom and everyone that wasn’t a filthy, piggish Councilman.

“Well, do we have any more business to attend to?” he asked, but the crowd said nothing. They were all still shocked by the devil-man’s sudden appearance. “No, does the Council not even have a request?”

None of them spoke. The noisy clatter of whispered gossip was gone, and everyone was just staring at the circle until finally one of the youngest Councilmen managed to ask, “What weapon did he take, Sire?”

The King, having forgotten to check himself, finally looked over at the five utensils to see which one was missing. “He took a soup spoon. Is there anything else?” The quiet was broken with muffled murmurs again. If someone had asked another question he hadn’t heard it.

What type of madman goes into battle with a soup spoon? the King thought, looking at the Guard whose face was just as twisted in thought as his was. He adjusted his Crown one more time and left the courtroom. I’ve got work to do, and I don’t know how much longer I have to do it.

Darwin:

Darwin rubbed his eyes as the light faded from around him to find himself in the middle of a rather beautiful grass field. The front lines? What front lines is he talking about? This is just a plain, empty field. Though, it's probably for the best. I'm not sure I'd be able to get myself even a proper death with just this spoon? If only it hadn’t had such a pretty emblem on it, I would have grabbed the knife first, Darwin thought, looking at the weird dragon crest that sat on the top of the tiny spoon. God, this field is beautiful though. It’s just like the field in one of the video games, except with much better graphics. Is it always this beautiful outside?

As Darwin stood in the middle of the seemingly-empty grass field, he began to hear a faint scream in the distance. "Aaaaahhhh!!!!!!" What in the heck is that? he wondered. "Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!!" The noise kept coming closer and closer to Darwin. Is that a man coming at me? What is he doing? Is he holding an Axe? Holy crap! He's holding an Axe! What the hell, man? He's holding an Axe, and all I have is . . . is a Spoon? What the heck do I do? Is he still screaming? How does he keep screaming for so long? I’d have run out of air a while ago. It’s at least been a minute. Darwin was not wrong either; it had been at least a minute since the gray skinned, Axe-wielding bald man had shown up in dented iron plate mail and started charging him while yelling.

As the man grew closer, screaming louder and waving his Axe like an idiot, Darwin started to get even more annoyed with the noise. First the robber, then the pushy, short Burger King kid who thinks a spoon is a weapon, and now this annoying man ruining a perfectly peaceful field with his loud, obnoxious screaming as he charges from like a mile away. Darwin’s face reddened, and he looked at his Spoon then at the man who was now almost five meters away from him and decided to use the only tactic he knew: he threw the Golden Gilded Dragon Spoon of +10 SHUT THE HELL UP right at the bald Axe Knight.

- Critical Hit! +100% Damage!

Criti . . . it worked! The spoon had done exactly like the butter knife and hit the charging psycho right in the eye, leaving the man, much sturdier than the thief, awkwardly stumbling backwards and trying to rub his eye with the same hand that was holding the Axe. Darwin charged the remaining distance and punched him as hard as he could in the face, causing the man to finally fall on his back where Darwin finished him off with his Blood Soaked Slippers of +10 Face Kicking. Darwin couldn’t help but notice that each kick to the enemy’s face produced a red number above his head. 32, 32, 32. Is that how much Damage I’m doing? If that’s how much Damage I’m doing, does that mean the Spoon doesn’t do any Damage at all?

- Unarmed Combat Proficiency has improved.

- Skill “Weapon Throw” has improved.

- Dull Iron Axe has been added to your Inventory.

- You have gained 1117 EXP.

- You have reached Level 4!

- You have reached Level 5!

This again? Darwin thought as the dinging sound queued the annoying pop-up windows. He wanted to know more about what the heck was going on, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his feet. No? Annoying white circle, you’re not going to send me off to meet another crazy guy with a weapon or Ronald McDonald?

He waited a few minutes and then, finally deciding the white lights weren’t going to interrupt him again, he sat down and did what any good gamer with years of experience playing MMOs would do in his situation: he tried to figure out how to hit the C button and bring up his character screen. “Stats! Character Screen! Abilities! Information!” he kept chanting out loud, expecting another ding and status window. Then, in a final act of desperation, shame and humiliation he caved. “Help Menu.”

- Welcome to wonderful world of Tiqpa! Would you like to take the beginner’s tutorial?

Every bone in his body wanted to scream no and Go die with a thousand other obscenities at even the thought of a tutorial, but he just couldn’t think of another way around it. “Yes . . . I want to take the tutorial.” Deep down, a part of Darwin died as soon as the words left his mouth.

- Great! In the world of Tiqpa, controls are accessed through thought rather than action. It may take getting used to, but if you look directly in front of you and think “Tiqpa Character Screen,” a character screen will appear.

It was the world’s name that he had been missing. Tiqpa Character Screen. No sooner had he thought the words than a blue gamer box appeared, much like the ones that read out his level ups, and the beginner’s tutorial began.

- Think “P” to pause at any time or “Rewind” to rewind the tutorial at any time. Now, if you will notice at the top of your character screen, your Name, Race, Job Class, Level, Current EXP and how much EXP you will need to reach the next level are listed in the main status bar.

-        Name: Darwin

-        Job Class: Novice

-        Level: 5

-        Race: Unknown

-        EXP until next Level: 373

-        Rank: N/A

-        Total EXP: 1402

-        Energy Source: N/A

Race Unkown? This stupid screen, I’m human. How do I enter human? Or is it white? Do they do races like video games or election booths? Darwin was about to try to edit in the missing information when the tutorial interrupted him.

- Below the Character Information Readout (CIR), you’ll find a list of each one of your primary attributes.

POWER

The first attribute is Power. Power adjusts the player’s muscles and density to increase strength and collision Damage when in combat. Each point in power roughly increases one’s mass versus the player’s standard frame.

Your Current Power is 45.

Power increases Melee Physical Damage. Current level adds an 18% increase to melee physical Damage and increases base physical Damage by 9.

Power reduces Physical Damage Taken. Current level reduces physical Damage taken by 8.26%.

Does that mean if I get a ton of points sunk into Power I’ll do a lot of Damage, but I’ll also be super heavy? I wonder how high this stat goes.

SPEED

The second attribute is Speed. Speed directly increases the speed at which a player may move, making it an important attribute for both offensive and defensive players in physical combat, allowing the player to do more Damage and evade attacks.

Your Current Speed is 45.

Speed increases Melee Physical Damage. Current level adds a 9% increase to the Damage of all melee attacks.

Speed increases Evasion. Current level adds 8.09% chance to evade targets with 1 Speed. [Note: in NPC vs NPC combat calculations, this attribute is based on the difference in speed between two opponents. For players, the speed stat will only augment their movement or reaction speed as they use their own quick-thinking to choose how and when they dodge attacks.]

Speed increases Melee and Ranged Attack Speed: Current Level adds a 9% increase to the attack speed of all melee and ranged attacks.

Ha! So speed is basically agility except instead of boosting ranged Damage it only boosts melee Damage? Well at least there aren’t any new concepts to understand so far.

Vitality

The third attribute is Vitality. Vitality determines the amount of health that a player will have as well as how much Damage a player will take from all Damage types. Vitality also reduces the effectiveness of diseases and poisons.

Your Current Vitality is 35.

Vitality increases Health. Current level adds 350 Health.

Vitality decreases Damage from all sources. Current level reduces Damage by 6.54%.

Vitality reduces the effectiveness of diseases and poisons. Current level reduces the effectiveness by 6.54%.

Yeah, yeah, vitality. Of course. I wonder if I have a lot of health for my level or barely any.

SPIRIT

The fourth attribute is Spirit. Spirit increases the player’s Magic Effectiveness and Magic Defense.

Your Current Spirit is 25.

Spirit increases Magic Effectiveness. Current level increases Magic Effectiveness by 10%.

Spirit increases Magic Defense. Current level reduces Damage by 4.76%

What? There is magic in this game? I wonder if I have any spells. Does that mean I could get a spell to throw fireballs or call down lightning?

CONCENTRATION

The fifth attribute is Concentration. Concentration increases the player’s speed when casting spells and their magic defense.

Your Current Concentration is 30.

Concentration increases casting speed. Current level adds a 12% increase to casting speed.

Concentration reduces Magical Damage. Current level reduces magical Damage taken by 5.66 %

If this stat and Spirit were high enough, I could chain chain-lightning spells. This game is going to be amazing. It’s too bad I’m probably a super noob at the moment.

- When a player levels up, the player is given 5 to 6 stat points depending on race that the player may then allocate towards the stat they desire. Due to a racial penalty, this function is currently locked.

What? I don’t get to decide where my points go?

While Darwin was getting aggravated at not having the ability to customize his character, a short brunette in a white Dress that didn’t properly flow past her ankles tore out of the woods to his left, running from three giant 7 foot white-horned Minotaurs carrying much nicer Axes than the madman had tried to kill him with just moments ago. P--!!! Pause the tutorial! Darwin began to think over and over again until the ding finally sounded.

- You have paused the tutorial. If you would like to end the tutorial temporarily you may do so now by thinking, “End.”

End! Darwin quickly looked around for the corpse of the man he had just killed moments ago hoping to find the Axe he was using, but only found his Spoon lying where the man had been just moments before. Oh yeah! Hope this works: Equip Dull Iron Axe! and no sooner had he finished thinking it than the Axe appeared in his right hand. He grabbed the Spoon too with his left hand for safe measure. Utensils had been working well so far after all.

“Over here! Run towards me!” Darwin yelled at the girl as he charged in her direction. She obviously heard him because as soon as he said it, she scrunched up her face as best a person could while running and charged in his direction with the tail of Minotaurs hot on her trail.

The Minotaurs were staggered out a bit with at least a car length between them as they ran towards the girl. Darwin took his trusty Spoon and threw it again at the Minotaur closest to her left, but it only hit one of his horns and bounced off. Darwin’s heart began to pound at this turn of events. He was fully counting on the Spoon hitting the Minotaur directly in eye, but instead it just bounced off his horn harmlessly. Not knowing what to do next, he grabbed the Axe and held it up like he was holding a flag. It helped calm his nerves for a moment as the white-Dressed girl ran past him full speed and didn’t even bother to turn.

As soon as the girl passed him, he lifted the Axe all the way over his head and then did a running downward swing at the closest Minotaur. He didn’t really know what to expect next, but after 20 years of playing medieval video games and wishing he was the main character cleaving enemies asunder, he figured he might as well die trying.

*CRUNCH* The Minotaur hadn’t even bothered to dodge or even change his course as the Axe came cleaving down and split the enemy’s skull in half. As soon as the Axe hit the enemy, red numbers popped up right above the enemy’s head.

- Critical Hit! You have done 242 Damage!

Then came the ding sound, but no window popped up. I’m still in combat. Figures it wouldn’t tell me anything until the fight is over. One down, two to go. Darwin kicked the dead white-horned Minotaur and pulled his Axe free from its skull. That went way better than planned, Darwin thought, looking at what he hoped would be his next victim. Oh well, here goes nothing!

As the second Minotaur entered range of Darwin’s Dull Iron Axe, he immediately swung his much better Double Bladed Axe in a long horizontal sweep. Darwin was barely able to take his own Iron Axe and use it to block in time, but the blow still sent him back a step.

- You have taken 72 Damage!

This time when the red Damage numbers popped up Darwin knew it wasn’t the Minotaur but him who had taken Damage. As the Minotaur swung the Axe a second time in the same horizontal fashion, Darwin decided to try something different: he dodged. Then as fast as he could, he swung his Axe out to where it caught the Minotaur’s leg with the middle of the Axe’s shaft, and he pulled it with all his strength. It worked. The blade dug into the Minotaur’s knee and pulled the Minotaur right onto his back.

- You have done 124 Damage!

Having finally gotten a hang of the combat mechanics, Darwin took his Axe and cleaved the second Minotaur’s head in two just like he had the first one.

- Critical Hit! You have done 248 Damage!

The ding sounded again so Darwin turned his attention to the last Minotaur on the field. Even though he had killed two of the giant Minotaurs, his nerves started to give way as the third one came closer. The first one had been too easy, but the second one had almost killed him and that fact was starting to sink in. The fact that he could die. He got back into his awkward Axe stance where he was holding the Axe handle inches from his chest, and the blade was almost touching his face. Just one more. You’ve killed two already; you can kill one more. Don’t wimp out on me now.

Darwin readied himself and was preparing to dodge the final Minotaur’s impending attack when a giant ball of ice zoomed over his head and hit the Minotaur square in the center of its hairy chest. The ball of ice didn’t disappear either. It slowly expanded from the spot it hit on his chest, growing ice all over the Minotaur’s body as the Minotaur dropped its Axe and began using both hands to try to get it off him. Now is as good a time as any.

- Critical Hit! You have done 248 Damage!

*Crunch* This time when Darwin’s Axe dug into the Minotaur, the sound wasn’t the same bloody, bone-breaking crunch as the first two times, but it was close enough. It was still the sound of victory, a sound quickly followed by the now annoying *Ding!*

- You have gained 550 EXP!

- You have reached Level 6!

- You have gained 550 EXP!

- You have gained 550 EXP!

- You have reached Level 7!

- 2 Sharp Double Bladed Iron Axes have been added to your Inventory!

This time all the messages that had been stored during combat flooded his field of view as one giant update. I’m alive! And … Level 7 ey? Unequip Dull Iron Axe. The Axe vanished, confirming Darwin’s theory on how the Inventory system worked. He turned around to see if the girl he had tried to help was okay.

“Thanks for the save. I thought those White-Horns had me. You know, they had been chasing me for almost 10 minutes before you showed up?” The girl was fine. In fact, she was more than fine. She was beautiful.

“You don’t say . . .” he said, trying to keep his words to a minimum. He always made mistakes when talking to attractive girls.

“I do. Most of the NPCs of the 8th Legion were decimated when they first pressed. I think I’m one of the few PCs to have made it out okay.” So it is a game. It’s a game and there are both playable characters and non-playable characters. NPCs he could kill without feeling bad to help him level. He wasn’t a murderer; he was a farmer. The grinding side of his gamer personality suddenly pulled a smile across his face.

“Are you going back?” If it’s a game then that ball of ice was probably a spell she cast. With her, we should be able to kill the White-Horns. We should be able to level. I don’t know where I am, but I’m definitely not going to die out here because my name was gray to some PK.

“Yes. I have a quest there. Did you want to join? I can share it?”

- You have been invited to Kass’s Party. Would you like to Accept or Reject?

“Yes.” Accept.

- You have been invited to join Kass’s “Subdue the White-Horn Horde” quest. Would you like to Accept or Reject?

Accept. Darwin smiled the same smile that even his mother had once said was creepy. Equip Double Bladed Iron Axe. Equip Double Bladed Iron Axe. “Lead the way.”

“Umm . . . before that. It’s jus . . . do you have any other clothes? Your Bathrobe may have opened up once or twice during the fight.” Darwin had forgotten entirely about his wardrobe since the event at his apartment had first taken place. No wonder he looked strange to the girl, he was standing there with only his blood-soaked Bathrobe and Slippers holding two giant, Double-Bladed Axes that had looked normal when carried by 7-foot-tall Minotaurs.

“Oh, uh . . . no. I just started playing. Maybe you have some spare pants or shoes?”

“No. Sorry. Let’s just go.” She pulled a staff out of thin air and started walking back to the woods she had just run out of minutes ago.

“Sure thing, boss.” Darwin smiled. He not only wasn’t a murderer, but he was in a video game. He was in a video game with EXP and items!  While most people would probably be terrified at the idea of needlessly charging into life threatening scenarios, Darwin’s gamer instinct to grind had fully taken over. He wasn’t Darwin. He was Arch Lance Ser NightVale off to conquer another world.

Robert:

The quiet hum of machinery filled a room that had otherwise gone silent hours ago.  Normally, this time of night would have found the small room completely empty, everyone already having gone to bed. Working late nights was nothing new to Robert. Not only was it something that was expected of him as part of his job, but it was also something that he secretly relished. The day times were filled with the hustle and bustle common to any office space.  Coworkers chatted away, keys were smashed in a noisy and often imprecise fashion, and the barely-audible sound of music traveling through headphones that was just loud enough to be a distraction but too quiet to make out any lyrics or enjoy were common.

Not that Robert hated music or the people he worked with. He just found it rather impossible on most days to focus and accomplish anything meaningful with so much going on around him. The truth was he loved joking around as much as the next guy; but, he also loved his work and that often meant staying over long hours into the night to finish his projects on time.  There was something about the quiet solitude of a cavernous room and the lulling sound of machinery and computer fans that really let him focus and get into his work. Since beta testing had begun a few months ago, he seemed to be spending more and more time at night tapping away at the keys to his computer trying to get everything to work right. As with any program, no matter how well constructed, faults were inevitable. That's what the beta was for--finding out all the bugs and quirks from development and closed testing and figuring out how they would be fixed before the launch date. A launch date that was quickly approaching.

Robert clicked the button to save his work and began the process of pushing his newest changes to the live servers. "I don't know how in the Hell these kids keep causing so many problems?" he thought to himself as he sighed and arched his back in the computer chair, listening to the sound of his vertebrae crack under the stretching movement. A few weeks ago after beta testing began, one particular clan had figured out a way to exploit a design flaw that would allow someone to duplicate items by transferring them rapidly between the bank vault and the player’s Inventory. The code controlling the process was pretty shoddy, and there wasn't a redundancy check in place to prevent an item from existing in both places at the same time. The result was a massive influx of gold into an economy that had previously been fairly stable. Fortunately, another developer had caught on quickly as to what was going on when he watched market prices skyrocket suddenly and had implemented a hotfix designed to take care of the problem.

Unfortunately for Robert, however, it wasn't a permanent solution. Players caught on quickly that something was up, and over the past few weeks more and more people were trying  to recreate the original dupe, causing massive lag as the game and servers tried to check every item that was transferred between the players’ inventories and the bank vault. The result was a game server that kept sporadically crashing at the worst of times and lag that made the game unplayable at others. Turns out that lagging in a virtual world wasn’t only disorienting, it left players feeling like they had just walked off one of the most nauseating roller coasters known to man. Reports of players retching up their mom’s spaghetti were piling up at a rapid rate, and that wasn’t going to cut it. Even though latency issues were expected in other games, this was the exact reason the company had chosen to invest so much money into an experimental AI that was designed by the military. The government had been using the AI as a combat simulator for years to train fighter pilots and combat infantry and was supposed to run flawlessly.

Robert had spent most of the night hunched forward in his seat making corrections to another programmer’s code, eyes darting back and forth across the lines as he found and made the necessary corrections to finally fix the error once and for all. Now his body was paying the price. His eyes burned from straining to see tiny rows of text on the bright monitor in an otherwise dark room, and his back felt like that of a man twice his age. Finally got it this time, he thought as the server begin rebooting for what he knew would be the final time necessary to fix the problem. Damn trolls are going to hate me for taking away their fun with this one.  Robert’s final revisions not only fixed the dupe and prevented server stability problems, but contained the final revisions that would fully adapt the new AI to the preexisting world.

Darwin:

It had been over nine hours since they entered the forest together in search of victims and Darwin had almost forgotten that Kass was actually a person and not a magic ice ball dispenser. In all his games as Arch Lance Ser NightVale, he had never really been great at playing in groups. Even when he went on raids, he only gave necessary orders or stayed quiet. It was probably one of the reasons many people liked him leading instead of the over-talkative chatty cathies. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a lot of things he wanted to say. It was just that when he started grinding or killing in games, he would get so focused on the task at hand that he would forget the people around him weren’t just tools, much like he had already forgotten about Kass not being merely an ice ball dispenser.

It would have probably been another two or three hours before either of them said anything if it weren’t for Kass’s curiosity finally getting the better of her. “So, why the Bathrobe?”

“Huh? Oh, the Bathrobe. It’s just what I was wearing when I got here.”

“Really? You started with a Bathrobe? I thought Warrior classes started with Studded Leather Armor. Did you buy a special edition game copy and dive platform?”

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe a glitch.”

“The AI system that does the codes is peerless. There aren’t any glitches. If you have a physical combat job class then you should have Studded Leather Armor,” Kass pressed the issue further.

“My Job Class is Novice. Is that a physical combat-based class?”

“Novice?” Kass asked, pausing for a few minutes as she stared at him. “Wow! Your class really is Novice, and even your race isn’t listed. What weapon did you start off with? Maybe that is a good place to start.”

“A Spoon . . .”

“The Spoon you threw at the Minotaur when we met?”

“Yes. It helped me kill the man that had the Axe I used to kill the Minotaur to get these Axes.”

“You killed an armored man with an Axe using a Spoon?”

“Yes.” Darwin smiled as he answered, glad he had managed to find and pick up the souvenir. Without that little Spoon he probably would have died. He couldn’t just let it disappear now.

“. . .”

“What Job Class did you start as?”

“Me? I picked a Wizard for my Job Class. I switched to the subclass Frost Mage as soon as I hit Level 5 though. That’s why my Dress is so pretty and white,” she said, doing a twirl to show off.

“Ah. Then maybe when I promote to a Job Class, I’ll get a bonus. How do you do that?”

“Just find a trainer who teaches the class you want, and if you have the right stats and level, it will let you switch. Also, sometimes a hidden requirement is met, and the system will prompt you as to whether or not you want to change your class. You’re Level 26 now, so you should easily be able to find a trainer.”

“Do you know where a good melee trainer is?”

“Yeah. There are plenty in the town I’m bound to. We have at least 10 White-Horn subjugation quest completions to turn in, so maybe we can kill a few more and go there for the reward. I never thought we’d level this fast, so I’m almost hesitant to leave.”

“Maybe I can buy some clothes too.”

“Are you tired of being the Bathrobe Knight?” she poked.

“. . .” Darwin didn’t know how to respond. He knew she was trying to be funny and that he should probably laugh, but it embarrassed him a bit to think about how ridiculous he probably looked. The blood from the fights had turned his green Bathrobe into something of a Christmas color collage with several different shades of fresh red on some spots and dried brown blood on others all painted over the robe’s original forest green.

“Don’t blush, Bathrobe Knight,” she giggled. His face must have turned red from embarrassment. “You’ll be the first person to hit 30 without even a decent class.” She kept laughing, but he only frowned. He somehow knew from years of being picked on at school that the nickname ‘Bathrobe Knight’ would probably stick.

Darwin tried not to think about it as they dove back into combat. When they had started off, the two of them were picking off groups of Minotaurs one at a time and kiting them to prevent full engagements. It made sense too since each Minotaur was around level 25. Now though, as Darwin could finally see, having turned on name, hp and level bars, Darwin and Kass were almost the same level and very used to fighting side by side. They didn’t bother with fighting them one at a time anymore and charged right into full groups of five to ten Minotaurs.

One group dead. Two groups dead. Three groups dead. Not even half an hour later, after Darwin had hit 27, he began to notice that the amount of EXP he was getting per kill was drastically less than it had been before. Each level past level 12 required roughly 5,000 more EXP than the level before, but at 550 EXP per kill, their growth had been really fast. It was just that ever since they had reached Level 20, the amount, 550, had started dropping each level for Darwin. Darwin suspected that either the game designers had intended the early levels to fly by or that they themselves weren’t supposed to be in the area. After all, when Kass first showed up on the scene she was running for her life, and she was level 11.

It left a lot of questions for Darwin. What was she doing out here alone to begin with if she couldn’t hack it without help? How had he managed to kill the Minotaurs at level 5? Who was the guy with the Dull Iron Axe? Was he a PC? Had he killed another person? So many questions, but none of them were as important as the question that the slow-growing EXP bar forced him to ask: “Is there anything that is a higher level? I’m not really getting anything anymore.”

“Yeah, but the White-Horn’s legion is probably close to being dead. Wanna finish the NPCs off before we leave?”

“Sure.” Darwin said it in as positive a manner as he could, but he was secretly grumbling. He wanted to tell her that it would be way more time efficient to go right away, but he didn’t want to argue. The little snow cone factory was the only source of information he had in this new world, and he knew from plenty of experience that when two party members differed in opinion on how to level, the party dissolved.

“Good. Now back to it, Bathrobe Knight. I want to be the first Frost Mage to hit 30!” It’s definitely going to stick. Wait, what? The first? So that’s why she stayed out here after the troops died: she wanted to farm the high level mobs and outlevel her competition. That means the game hasn’t been out long. “How long has the game been out again?”

“Oh! It’s been out just since Monday this week. I’m surprised you didn’t have the date memorized with how expensive the VR dive kits are. I wouldn’t even have one if my dad didn’t get it for me. Did you pull an all nighter and forget what day it was again?”

“Something like that. You could say it’s been a long week.”

“Bathrobe Knight, don’t act so serious. It’s a game. Have some fun. If you keep making that face I’m going to throw a Spoon at you.”

“. . .” He was about to try his hand at a witty remark when he noticed something great. “Is that the only group of Minotaurs left?”

“What? Oh, that sucks. I thought we’d have plenty of killing ahead of us.”

I knew it! She did want us to keep killing these low-experience mobs.

“Well, let’s do it! I bet the King’s bounty on this one will be crazy. I’ll be able to buy like 15 new Dresses and accessories with just the turn-ins alone! “

“15 Dresses? Can you equip more than one Dress at a time”

“What? You are totally a man. You need different Dresses for different occasions. Don’t you know anything?”

“Probably not.”

“Well, now you do, and if you had known it a bit sooner, you might have had more outfits than just one Bathrobe. You should buy a few outfits too after you get your armor.”

“Maybe I will. Where do we turn these things in again?”

“Oh, it’s in the town I’m bound to. Valcrest. The turn-in guy is Captain Elmont. You can find him near the Tavern on the north side of the town. It’s not hard to find. If I have to log before we get back, you shouldn’t have a problem finding it. Actually, after we kill this group, I’m probably going to log. Here, add me so we can find each other easily.”

- You have received a friend request from Kass. Would you like to Accept or Reject?

Accept. “Sounds great. Let’s make this count then.” Darwin charged right at the final group of Minotaurs. He had hundreds of Axes somehow magically stored in his Inventory, so he didn’t hesitate to throw them as he ran towards the group, enjoying the site of them cleaving into the Minotaur’s bodies, and then re-equipping the next Axe. He could always just pull the Axes out of the bodies when the fight was over, but if he didn’t throw them, then there was a chance he might not get as much action in the fight. While she might have only been worth at most one or two ice balls here or there at the start of their adventure, Kass had actually started doing cool stuff by the time she hit Level 20. During the last fight, for instance, she had slammed her staff into the ground shooting out giant cones of frigid air at the enemy. It hadn’t frozen them like her ice ball, but it had clearly done a lot of Damage and didn’t take as absurdly long to cast in combat.

By the time Darwin reached the group, his Axes had already found 5 homes, and he had no problem cleaving the the first three Minotaurs left in the group. After all, they were already frozen. After pulling his Axe free of the third one, he charged at the final Minotaur. He had to kill it, and he had to kill it quickly before Kass got it--a man has his pride after all. The Minotaur swung in the same way they all did, a good long clean horizontal arc in front of him. He used his left Axe like a shield taking the hit as he swung his right Axe into the neck of the Minotaur.

- Critical Hit! You have done 256 Damage!

- Critical Hit! You have done 256 Damage!

The first one was for him, the second for the Minotaur. The fight was over. They had wiped out every Minotaur in the area. Darwin was glad that they didn’t respawn, too, because if they had, he was sure Kass would have kept him here for months doing the 1 EXP per kill grind. Some players just couldn’t be bothered to switch farming spots.

“Welp! That’s it! I gotta run before my dad gets home and finds out I didn’t go to bed last night. Who could though, right? I spent all week only getting 10 levels and we are about to hit 30 after turn-ins!”

“Yeah. It’s been good for me too. Thanks for teaching me the ropes. I’ll see you around, Kass.” He waved goodbye at her, but he wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when she logged out.

“Bye-bye, Bathroom Knight!” she said, doing one final twirl, and then her smiling face just disappeared. She didn’t instantly disappear like the image on a TV when the power button was pressed. It was like her body had just been a cloud of smoke all along, and it dispersed into its surroundings leaving nothing but a hint that a person might have been there before.

- Your friend Kass has logged offline.

‘Your friend’--those are two words I don’t remember hearing together in forever. Oh well. Where is this town I have to go to? Tiqpa Map! During the walking time between fights over the last few hours Darwin had gotten very familiar with the controls of the game. He was sure there was something he didn’t know yet, but for now he was confident enough in his knowledge to avoid another tutorial.

Valcrest is at least an hour from here on foot. Looks like I’m going to have a long walk ahead of me. Darwin finished re-looting the Axes he had thrown and started towards Valcrest. Time to get my Job Class! I wonder how many classes there actually are.

Qasin:

The King adjusted his Crown as he sat in his chair across from the Messenger he had taken prisoner earlier that day. With his finely-tailored, Three-Piece Purple Suit, Red Cape and emerald-crested gold Crown, his appearance didn’t fit in with the drab, gray, color-drained stones that lay around him. It didn’t fit in with many places at all though.

“Do you know why you’re here, soldier?” he asked the man chained across from him. The soldier had been stripped of his armor and left with only a pair of ragged cloth breeches that could scarcely be called clothes. The color seemed to somehow be an even duller gray than the stones in the prison where the man was chained. His hands were cuffed behind his back and each foot was locked in place with a chain attached to shackles and threaded through hooks bolted into the floor.

". . ." The Messenger didn’t answer. The King knew he wouldn’t if he were guilty. His soldiers had been trained on how to behave if the enemy caught them and knew how to withstand interrogation techniques.

“1,035.” The King said for the soldier. “That’s why you’re here. Because of you a Kingdom with scarcely a few hundred thousand good men just lost 1,035. If you help us out today we can give you a chance to give these men some justice.”

". . ." Still nothing. The soldier just glared at the King with squinted eyes.

“It’s okay. It’s easy to understand how difficult it might be for a man in your position to bring justice to one thousand and thirty-five dead soldiers,” the King said, stressing every word. Especially when you’re not very smart. But that’s okay because I can tell you how. You see, what’s going to happen is that the Council will find out I’ve stayed your execution. And not only that, but they will also soon learn that I came down here personally to interrogate you.” As the King said this, he crossed his legs and clasped his hands in front of him. Not to act too casual, but to stop himself from adjusting his Crown.  “You see, I made a big show of coming down here just so they would know. After all, their plan didn’t exactly go as they had hoped, and I can imagine you probably weren’t expecting to die for them. About now, they’re probably wondering whether or not you’re going to talk after a few hours of agonizing torture.”

“I’m honestly not sure either. Most men are good when you pull off the first toe, but the fourth? The fifth? When you start taking out organs or cutting tendons so they can never walk again? It’s hard to say what kind of man will talk and what kind of man will just say anything he can to get away from the pain.” As the King talked, one of the soldiers began bringing in a table and setting it up with as many cutting and breaking tools as the King had been able to find on such short notice. Their dungeon after all wasn’t really equipped for torture, but he had to make do with what he had.

“Then, after they find out you’re being interrogated, they will complain that questioning a lawful soldier in such a fashion is monstrous and that you should be released immediately. At which point, lucky for you, I’m going to let you go. So take a deep breath and relax.” The soldier obviously didn’t even realize he had been holding his breath since the mention of breaking the first toe. When he did, he let it all out in one loud burst. “That’s right, you’re going to go free. So you can talk to me for a moment, right?”

". . ." Still nothing. Who ever said interrogations were easy?

“What about your daughter? What’s her name?” Panic struck the soldier’s eyes. “Do you want to talk to her?”

". . ."

“It’s okay. She wanted to talk to you, and who could ever resist such a cute kid? Guards! Bring in Annabel!” The King shouted while taking some small pleasure in the soldier’s unexpected shock. One might have thought he had just killed the girl from that expression. “How old is she again? 7?”

One of the Guards entered the room holding the hands of a young girl with dark hair matching the soldier’s and an awkward gap-toothed smile. “She really is cute, aren’t you, Annabel?”

Annabel, saw her father in chains and looked at the King confused. The King stood up and walked over to the girl. “Don’t worry, Annabel, your dad is just helping test some equipment for the Kingdom. He’s the strongest soldier, don’t you know? That’s why we have to use him. He’s making the world a better place. Aren’t you?”

“Yes. Annabel, just go home.”

“Oh, don’t worry. She’ll be home soon enough. She’s just waiting on her mother. Annabel, why don’t you wait in the other room while your dad finishes his work. We want him to be home in time for dinner, don’t we?”

“Yes . . .” she said as softly as a little kid might be able to speak. The situation was obviously unnerving for her. Damn this man for what he’s made me do. Damn him and those filthy swine. Oh well, here goes nothing. As soon as she left, the King stood up and walked over to the table of tools the Guards had brought in.

“Are we going to talk yet?” the King asked while picking up a rusted saw blade  “Or do I have to bring your daughter back in here and give you . . .  some incentive? But don’t worry. She won’t be alone. For every day you don’t talk I’ll bring someone down here and torture them until they die. Your daughter may be first, but your wife, your friends, your neighbors. I’ll keep going until every trace of every person you’ve ever met is ripped in the most horrendous fashion possible. I’ll even let you watch.”

“What do you want?” he spat more than spoke.

“What do I want? I want 1,035 families to have their husband and fathers come home. I want those 1,035 men to live long and happy lives and never see a day of battle again. What I’m going to settle for is you telling me who you work for, exactly what they wanted you to do, and for you to do everything just as I say.”

“The . . .” he hesitated, not taking his eyes off the tool that the King was playing with in his hands. “The Council paid me five year’s wages to run messages. I carried the messages of the battle plans to the Black-Wings and White-Horns so they would double their troops and be in place to catch the resistance.”

I knew it. Dogs like them should never be allowed to show their face in public. “Good. That wasn’t so hard to say. You see, now your daughter has a chance of living, doesn’t she? But you know we’re not done.”

“What else do you want? All I did was run the messages. I don’t know anything else.”

“What I want you to do next is pen out every detail you can remember while you wait here for your precious den of scoundrels to come rescue you in an attempt to save their own skins. Then, I want you to kill the man who hired you and return to me. He’s going to try to kill you anyways since I didn’t, so my telling you to do this is a favor in and of itself. Then, I want you to report back to me if you are still alive when all is said and done. If you do everything exactly as I have told you, your wife and kids will want for nothing and live happily with me at the castle.” The King smiled again, putting down the twisted, spiked tool and walking towards the exit. He didn’t have to wait for a reply; he knew the soldiers answer. He was just lucky the soldier didn’t know that he would never have hurt anyone no matter what the outcome had been. Control what they see and you can control what they believe is true. A lesson he had never had to use in an interrogation before.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” The soldier responded as the King walked out the door, unsuccessfully repressing the grit in his voice. The King knew the soldier was smart enough to realize the wife and kids living with him wasn’t a reward. It was a punishment. They were prisoners to guarantee his loyalty. Damn these men for making me even utter these threats.

Robert:

Gravel crunched  under the tires of Robert’s car as he turned his car into the driveway that led up to his home. It wasn't much in the way of houses, but it was more than enough for him and his daughter. His salary as one of the leading programmers at a major game company kept them both extremely comfortable, but he had never been one of the types of people that believed in opulence just for the sake of it. Sitting up on a slight hill, the two-story house was one that was mistakable for any other in the hundreds of similar subdivisions throughout the country.  The well-manicured lawn and neat rows of nicely-trimmed hedges blended in with the house next to his, and the one next to that, and so on.

Bringing the car to a stop and turning off the ignition Robert grabbed his travel mug from the center compartment and stepped out of the car, reached into the back seat, and slung his laptop case over his shoulder. These late nights are gonna kill me, he thought as he walked up the path that lead to the front door. Behind him, the sun was just beginning to peak over tops of the houses across the street and provided a momentary illusion of warmth as the day began to heat up. "Not bloody likely. Spring is months off and it’s cold as a witch's tit," he silently grouched.

Walking through the house and into the kitchen, Robert dropped his computer case in a chair next to the kitchen table and hung his keys up on the hook right above his daughter’s. He rubbed his weary eyes and started across the room to make a fresh pot of coffee, picking up a bowl crusted with what appeared to be leftover ramen from the table and dropping it into the dishwasher. He had gotten used to living alone while his daughter was away at college, but now that she had graduated and was home again, he found himself getting slightly annoyed at having to pick up after her.

Walking over to the staircase he shouted, "Kass, you awake yet?" When he didn't hear any response he started up the stairs and was halfway up before realizing that he could hear the sound of the shower running and the small radio she kept in the bathroom burbling some annoyingly upbeat pop tune that was mercifully muffled through the door. Turning back and going down into the kitchen, Robert poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot that wasn't even nearly finished brewing yet and pulled his laptop out. He usually spent a little time reading through the mechanics and feedback forums on the game's website before crashing out for a few precious hours and heading back to work. His bosses usually understood when he was up all night working and would allow him to come in for a half day of work after pulling an all-nighter so he knew he didn't have to be in before noon. He really didn't expect to find very many bug reports.  Since implementing the new AI, the flow of bug fixes had dwindled off to almost nothing.  Generally, it was just someone complaining about accidentally losing an item that was really in their backpack or equipped all along. As hard as he sometimes found it to believe, the new programming was running flawlessly.

He had slouched back in the chair and was sipping on his coffee when he heard the shower shut off and the door to the bathroom open momentarily, emitting a loud blast of music before it was shut off and and followed by the sound of his daughter starting down the stairs.

"Oh, hey, Dad, morning. You actually made it home before lunch today, huh?" she teased in greeting as she pulled a cup from the cabinet and began making herself a cup of coffee. "Late night again?"

"Yeah," he said as he looked up from reading an unusual post from someone complaining about being killed after having a soup spoon thrown into their eye. "Ever since I put in the new AI, it really isn't necessary for me to be at the office till all hours, but I somehow manage to find something that seems to take forever to fix anyway. Looks like you  had a late night as well, huh?" he said, noticing the slightly dark circles under his daughter's eyes.

"Haha, yeah, I guess so," she laughed in reply, knowing she was being called out. "I was up most of the night trying to kill this group of minotaurs in the game. You've seriously got to change the aggro range on those things, Dad. They want to chase you forever."

Robert just shrugged in reply as he took another sip of his coffee. "They're minotaurs.  They're supposed to chase you forever; otherwise, it would be too easy. You can't just expect to walk up to an angry, two-legged bull with a giant battle axe and expect to milk it, can you?"

"Milk a bull, Dad? Eww . . ." Kass laughed back in response.

"Hey, have you noticed anything in-game worth reporting lately? The feedback at this point is so good it's almost too much to believe. I can't believe how well the AI paired up with the pre-existing architecture. There's almost nothing noteworthy bug-wise at this point."

"Not really. Everything's been running super smooth lately. I was in-game all night and I didn't even lag once. I'm so glad. I don't think I could handle getting the spins again. It was almost as bad as a night out drinking. I remember this one time when I came back from the bar with this guy--"

"Seriously, kiddo?" Robert interjected. “Telling your old man about nights out on the town when you were in college?" He just shook his head to cut her off.

"Alright alright. I guess you don't need to know the details, but you get the point."

"Yeah, and some things a father should never have to hear. Even if his daughter is grown up now with a college degree. Shouldn't you be spending a little more time looking for a job instead of playing in a virtual world, anyway? And how did I manage to pay a hundred thousand dollars for a college education and them never teach you how to do dishes?"

"You didn't pay anything for my tuition, Dad" she shot back. "I was on a full ride, and you know it. And I did very well, thankyouverymuch," she said matter of factly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I'm gonna try to get a little sleep before heading back in," Robert sighed as he stood up closing his laptop and rubbing his eyes again.

"Okay, Dad. Sleep well. By the way, when did you guys decide to put bathrobes into the game instead of starting armor for warriors? That was pretty funny."

Robert looked up over the hand that was rubbing his eyes.  "Bathrobes . . . ?"

"Yeah.  I came across this guy last night wearing a bathrobe. It said he was only Level 5 and didn't even have armor. But he still managed to kill those minotaurs I was telling you about like it was nothing. It must have had a +5 Bull's Eye stat because he sure made it look easy."

"Bathrobe?" he repeated, still not quite understanding.

"Yeah. Bathrobe. Like the one I'm wearing," she said waving her hand down towards her fluffy pink robe.

"Bathrobe."

"Yes, Dad. A bathrobe. And I think he was carrying a spoon with him as a weapon.  You guys at the office really do have a sense of humor, huh?"

"Bathrobe. And a spoon." Robert blinked twice and stared, his mind foggy with lack of sleep and not quite able to grasp the concept. "Can't tell if trolling . . . ?"

"Nope. Seriously cool idea, Dad. I laughed so hard."

"Bathrobe. Spoon." Robert sighed as he turned and grabbed his keys off the hook and, instead of heading up to his room for some much needed sleep, began walking back towards the front door and the office again.

Chapter 2: Town Trip!

Maddock:

There was no warning before the attack came. The Scouts had grown complacent in their job. Overconfidence and the belief in the safety of numbers had lulled them into only occasionally bothering to do the one and only task assigned to them--making sure that no one was around who wasn't supposed to be. Securing the safety of everyone and providing an early warning of any impending attack that would threaten their efforts was, arguably, the most important task assigned to any of them that day. Unless, of course, one considered that it was also their primary defense for protecting their hard-won loot--what precious little of it there was to go around.

Most members of the group were far too low in level to justify even attempting the camp alone; but, they had begun their day with high hopes and in good spirits, eager to gain some desperately needed experience and advance themselves in the world. The Midwinter Festival had just passed and many members of the party still sported brightly colored hats of various odd shapes and sizes they had received as gifts during the holiday. Jovial spirits and all, the band had collected themselves and set out at first light hoping to make a day of it adventuring. The day had started clear and bright, and making progress into the mountains had been fast and easy. Snows during this time of the season were expected to restrict most from traveling too far into the north, but the weather so far had been unreasonably amiable. Paths farther into the mountains were often narrow and treacherous, covered with debris and fallen trees, but the one the group followed upward was well-worn and often used by other travelers.

The small band had been struggling for hours to dispatch the large brutish Ogres that inhabited a small frozen cavern on the outskirts of the northern reaches. It was slow tedious work with few rewards. Because of their nature, the brutes carried very little gold upon their person, and the only real rewards were the large Mauls they carried as weapons. Although they were far too large and heavy to be of any real use to anyone present, the crude weapons would fetch a decent price when they were hauled back to town and sold for coin to the merchants there. The metal and wood weapons were barely worth more than the scrap and petrified lumbar they were used for, but the materials could be salvaged and repurposed for other tasks. Fence posts and nails perhaps. It seemed ironic when one could imagine that's probably where many of them had been taken from prior to being fashioned into the rough weapons they were being used as now. Regardless, they would fetch a decent price, and the group desperately needed the resources to justify the time and effort they had invested into farming the camp.

The beasts were slow, but they had a massive reach and hit like a truck. Typically, if lucky, newer players such as themselves would be able to party up with some stronger adventurers and hope to leech a few levels before attempting the feat on their own. The party as it was, however, was struggling under the task. They had all approached the large caverns just west of where they were now and had unanimously been turned away finding a much higher-leveled group from their town already there farming. Everyone was desperate for resources. The campaign against the White-Horns and Black-Wings had been going badly and everyone was pressed to contribute as many resources as possible. The men there had promised to include them later on if the opportunity became available, but the smaller band had no desire to wait and were itching to make some progress.

As a result, they now found themselves frantically scrambling to avoid the sluggish swipes of the Ogre’s Maul.  Even though the attacks were slow, their massive reach made it impossible to completely avoid being hit. And it hurt. A lot. The brutes may have been strong, but they were also equally as stupid. They trickled out of the camp one by one allowing the party to pull them out of position and prevent the other Ogres from drawing aggro. The lead tank, in a battered suit of Studded Leather Armor that had surely seen better days, labored under the blows struggling to deflect them while the other members worked on attacking the beast from behind. Unable to manage any of the fancier and better-crafted weapons available at the local merchants in town, the process took time. Their dull blades and short Swords barely seemed to knick the thick hide of the monster as they hacked away at its flanks. The mage, who had long since given up even trying to cast his inefficient spells, simply stood off to the side of the clearing staring blankly, sometimes throwing a random fireball upwards into the air to watch it fizzle and disappear.

The Ogre before them fell to the ground with a great 'harumpf,' finally giving up the fight and rewarding them with the chance to loot the meager items from its corpse.

"Are you kidding me? We've been out here for hours and these things are taking forever to kill," the mage sighed.

"It's hard to kill something when all you can be bothered to do is attack the clouds," the rogue cut in, clearly not ready to hear it.

"Yeah, man, seriously," the tank replied, wiping the sweat from his brow, "I can't believe the drop rate on these things. You'd think by now we would have at least seen a few rare item drops or something. But there's never anything here but a few silver pieces and another crummy Maul to sell back in town."

"Well, at least we should be able to make some profit once we sell those. Every little bit counts when you're starting out, right?" The mage sounded hopeful.

"Yeah, and when you're trying to wage a war at the same time," the rogue snidely remarked.

"I can't believe how much gold the King decided to sink into NPC fighters during that last battle. I heard it was over two thousand pieces. It could have been used to build up the town but instead he just threw it away," the tank lamented, flopping to the ground in a great huff.

"Awh, man, where'd you hear that? Have you been listening to gossip down in town from those bar Whores again? They'll say anything to get you to open up your own purse."

"Nah, man. Those girls know what they're talking about. They hear gossip from everyone. I've heard that even some of the Lords on the Council go there. Sneaking around in veiled Carriages late at night so that their wives don't find out. If there's anything going on those girls are the first to know"

"Yeah, okay, if you say so," the rogue replied with a snort showing how obviously he believed none of it. "How much longer do you guys want to stay out here?  We should probably head back and bank soon. I haven't heard anything from the scoooo--" the rogue stopped mid-sentence, an Arrow protruding from his neck and blood beginning to froth out around the wound. His hands feebly grasped at the shaft unable to do anything, eyes wide with a mixture of shock, surprise, and horror. The rogue collapsed to the ground still clutching at the Arrow shaft unable to stay his fate or stop the bleeding.

"What was that?" the tank looked up from where he sat in time to see a figure erupt from the line of trees ahead of him. He only had enough time to begin struggling to his feet and take note of the black suit of Mail before the warrior's massive Axe came crushing down upon his skull splitting it in two. The warrior only stopped long enough to shove his massive black Boot into the fallen fighters face and wrench his Axe free before turning after the mage.

The mage, who had witnessed the callous slaughter of two members of his party take place in mere seconds, was now running towards the location of the other group at the nearby camp, screaming for help at the top of his lungs. Scrambling through the loose snow and low scrub brush, his feet couldn't seem to move fast enough. His flimsy Robes seemed to catch on every bush and twig he ran past jerking him violently from side to side. The violent sounds of the warrior crashing over obstacles he desperately sought to avoid spurred him on. He could swear he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Almost there. I can see the clearing. The other group will be there, and I'll be safe was all he could think. The mage burst from the trees, making a beeline towards the other side of the camp where the group had been camped out earlier killing mobs.

- You have taken 92 Damage. You are now suffering a movement penalty.

A sharp pain suddenly ripped through his right calf, and he collapsed to the ground in a wind-milling heap, arms flailing around his head, and face-planted in the snow.  All he could do was curl up into a fetal ball, clutch the Arrow that now protruded from his leg, and wait.

He could hear the light sound of footsteps approaching on the snow. He twisted his head up and looked around behind him to see a tall figure approaching him slowly, clearly taking his time. He was dressed from head to toe in a pitch black Hunter's Garb. Even the bow he carried with an Arrow nocked was an inky black color.

"Thought you'd get away? Not likely, kid." He could tell the voice was smiling, laughing behind the hood of his Cowl.

The mage could only look up and stare, eyes wide with fright, gasping for breath. Behind the dark figure that now stood towering over him he could see the warrior that had pursued him through the woods emerge from the tree line purposefully striding towards them. He was in no hurry, but every step he took belied the strength and confidence of a hunter without fear. He knew his prey was caught.

"Running like a dog, eh?" The warrior's voice was low and gruff as he approached the other two figures. The dark Mask he wore pulled over his mouth and nose to cut the cold did nothing to muffle his voice. "I @#$ing hate running."

The warrior lifted a massive black Boot and brought it crashing down into the side of the mage’s gut where he lay on the ground. What little air that remained in the downed man's struggling lungs came rushing out, leaving him gasping for breath. "H-help . . ." he feebly cried.

The archer laughed, "Who do you expect to help you? We're here to kill you. Not help you."

The mage tried to turn his head towards the other side where the other group had been.  Salvation was only a stone's throw away, and he had been so close. Why hadn't they noticed what was going on and come to save him yet?

"No one there, little dog," the warrior growled. Reaching down, hard Iron Gauntlets unceremoniously grasped the back of the mage’s Robes, and the massive fighter began roughly dragging him through the snow towards the direction of the mage's gaze. "You weren't expecting help from a corpse, were ya?" And with that the mage was thrown forward into the snow again, causing pain to explode from the Arrow wound in his calf and bruised ribs.

- You have taken 46 Damage.

Looking up, the mage was greeted with a grisly sight. Bright red patches of blood covered the once-innocent white snow, staining it. Bodies laid strewn about, some at impossible angles, some clearly hacked to pieces. They were only just now beginning to fade from the world. A momentary landmark to what had clearly been a quick and gruesome slaughter.

"Enough. Finish this and let's move on." The voice of the archer sounded distant. The mage could only stare at the horror before him. Salvation had been so close. He had almost been safe. What had happened?

"Oh, I got this. No one makes me run." The warrior reached down and grabbed the Arrow shaft still protruding from the mages leg, twisted, and violently ripped it free.  The mage screamed.

- You have taken 46 Damage.

"Well, at least he finally found his voice," the other chuckled from behind his Cowl again.

"PKs!  PKs!  Raiders in the area!" a voice screamed from across the clearing. The mage caught sight of a small green-clad man frantically waving his arms in the air from the corner of his vision. "PKs are clo--" came the cry again. A dark shape suddenly materialized behind the vagrant scout. With a silent movement, it brought a knife up and slit the still screaming throat of the missing scout before just as quickly vanishing again.

Gee, thanks, the mage thought to himself, watching the other man die. He didn't even care. His vision suddenly blurred as he felt himself jerked around and a black-mailed fist crashed down into his nose.

- Critical Hit! You have taken 126 Damage.

Pain exploded from his face and his head was thrown back bouncing off the ground. The last thing he noticed as the warrior drew back his black-mailed fist again for the final strike was the blood running down the warriors wrist to cover up a purple and black tattooed skull. That's my blood . . . he thought. Then everything went black.

- You have been killed. When your death timer expires you will be respawned in Valcrest, the town you are currently bound to.

Darwin:

By the time Darwin reached town, he was a solid half way into Level 28. The road to the town had been long, and random Ogres had kept popping up here and there, but they were easy enough to kill, and it broke the monotony of walking. If there was any downside to building a beautifully-rendered realistic world with proper dimensions, it was that the thing was bound to be huge. People might have complained that “the scales didn’t match up right” when he played old games, but at least they didn’t have to spend the hour that felt like two putting one foot in front of the other. Life must have been awful before cars were invented.

As he finally approached the large wooden gates of the town, one of the two Guards in Chainmail with Spears standing duty approached him, blocking his path. “Greetings, citizen. What is the nature of your visit to Valcrest?”

“I’m here to turn in a quest and sell some Axes. I killed a few hundred White-Horn’s, and I need to find a place that might be interested in buying them.” Darwin smiled to himself knowing this time he was definitely speaking to a NPC. Players had blue names while friendly NPCs had white names. It was a distinction he wished he had known to check for when he first got to this world. That King was way too weird and human to have been programmed. Who wears a purple suit? It had to be a player pretending to be a pimp.

The two Guards each exchanged a look between them that Darwin wasn’t able to catch. “How many Axes?”

“Around 7 or 8 hundred. Why? Is there a limit to how many you can sell?” Darwin probably would have had more since he had somehow gotten most of the drops, but he had shared his spoils with Kass every now and then to keep the numbers balanced.

The Guards exchanged another glance. “You said White-Horns? You killed a few hundred White-Horns?” Darwin frowned. Is this an error in the programming? Is this like when the iPhone came out and Siri had to repeat the question over and over again just to have a simple sentence understood?

“Yes. I killed the legion that was about an hour that way,” Darwin said, pointing in the direction he had just come from. He wasn’t sure what the exact direction was without pulling out the map again. God, I miss those little blue quest markers and the compass at the bottom of the screen. They made everything in life easier.

“Go make a report. Take the summoning circle,” the Guard that had approached him said to the other at which point the other immediately departed.

“Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to kill them?”

The Guard chuckled to himself before answering. “I think most people would have asked that after the first kill, not the first five hundred, but no, you didn’t do anything wrong. If you’re interested in selling your wares go straight down this road until you see a fountain that marks the center of the town and then take a right. That’s where the merchants are. Once there, take a right, and the richest Blacksmith you’ll find will be the third shop on your left. Can’t miss it: it’s got the big pillar of smoke behind it.”

“Thank you for the help. Have a good day!” Even though it was an NPC and Darwin knew it was an NPC, he just couldn’t help but treat it like a person. The AI in the game was so creepily accurate that he couldn’t tell the difference between the NPC’s behavior and a person’s.

As he passed through the gates, the Guard called out to him one more time, making Darwin worry. “Sir!”

“Yes? Did I forget to do something?”

“No, it’s just . . . thank you!”

“Umm . . . no problem? Have a good day.” Thank you? If metal was so in demand that the Guards would thank him for just bringing his Axes to sell here, then he was definitely going to make a killing. But how did food work? I know it’s a game, but my stomach is killing me, and I’m so thirsty. Where is iced tea when you need it.

The town was utterly lacking in style to Darwin. The shops seemed to bleed into one another so well that just walking down the road one might confuse himself with a hotdog that had lost its way in a very large hallway--the shops were just two continuous walls and not a series of individual stores. The Blacksmith shop itself was even hard to spot, regardless of what the Guard had said. If it wasn’t for the tell-tale sign with an anvil hanging above the door, he might have missed it and gone into the fourth or fifth shop on the row.

“Greetings!” a burly, beer-gutted man with a beard that hung from chin to belly button said as soon as he opened the door. The man didn’t even bother looking up as he said it and just went back to working on whatever it was he was fashioning behind the desk where he stood. The entire shop was filled with tall stands that blocked his vision, each holding a series of weapons which were mostly made out of wood. With all the Staves, Bows and Arrows, one might not recognize the fact it was a Blacksmith’s shop and not a Carpenter’s.

“Hey,” Darwin said, paying beer-gut the same indifferent respect he received. He was about to ask him to buy the Axes, when he realized he not only didn’t know what a good price was for the Axes, but he didn’t even know what currency was worth in this new gamer world. “How much is a Double-Bladed Iron Axe worth?”

“A passable one would be worth about 2 Gold Coins and 50 Silver Pieces. Iron is shorter than my patience though, boy, so if you want me to make you one, it’ll be 6 Gold Coins,” the grumpy man said, pausing what he was doing for only a second to scratch the top of his bald head.

“Could I sell one?”

Beard belly put down whatever it was he was holding and looked up at him with squinted eyes.

“I’ll take a look at it, but you won’t get more than 2 Gold Coins.”

“Fine, but how long will it take you to look at about eight hundred?” As soon as he mentioned the number he had, a clatter came from behind one of the weapon walls.

“Did you say you had eight hundred?” a timid female voice called out from behind the wall. “You think you could sell fifty to my Guild instead of the old man. We’ll pay you the 2 Gold and 50 Silver Pieces they are actually worth.”

“I don’t see why not.” Money is money, after all, and I need to get some badly and buy a burger.

- Elaine has requested to trade with you. Would you like to Accept or Reject the trade invitation?

Accept. When he accepted the trade request a window popped up with an Items and Gold section on both sides. Add fifty Double-Bladed Iron Axes to the trade. She added her Gold to the currency section of the trade and the deal was made.

- You have gained 125 Gold!

Great. Now I just need to sell off the rest of them. “So, interested in the rest of my Axes, old man?”

“Yeah, come on and show me what you got, kid. Don’t expect no 2 Gold and 50 Silver from me though,” the bald man grumbled at him.

After selling off all but ten of the Double-Bladed Iron Axes, Darwin’s hunger got the better of him, and he dashed outside to the first tavern he could find. He didn’t know when Kass would log in again, but he did know that he needed some food and water. He wasn’t entirely sure if his character would ever fatigue and need sleep, but he didn’t exactly want to leave that part to chance either.

He sat down at the first wooden table he could find and ordered a meal and a drink. The tavern wasn’t anything like what he expected from stories and movies. It was just like an empty diner with wooden tables. Lots and lots and lots of wooden everything. Even the waitress who took his order had that same cordial, friendly attitude that he had grown to expect from the restaurants back home like IHOP.

As he ate, he decided he didn’t exactly know how the friend-tracking system worked. He had a lot to do: get a Job Class, turn in a quest, get a quest, and find out what is going on with the racial issues around here, and of course the tutorial. No, actually, on second thought, I don’t need to do any more of the tutorial. I’m not about to break one of the cardinal rules of gaming while stuck in a gamer’s world. Darwin knew that you could excuse tutorial use if it was a necessity, but not if you chose to take it just because you had the free time.

So much to do. I wonder when Kass will get back on. I wonder if Kass is actually a girl. Darwin wasn’t certain on that last part at all. After all, for Darwin, this was a video game. And every gamer knew that GIRL stood for Guy In Real Life more often than not. Even in the raid group that Ser Nightvale was a part of, at least two of the ‘girls’ were guys pretending to be girls. He never understood why some guys liked to pretend they were girls, but the phenomena was well documented with a thousand anecdotes to the point that most gamers just accepted it as fact. Those brown eyes of hers were so realistic looking. This game is amazing.

Qasin:

The King resisted the urge to adjust his Crown as the Council deliberated in front of him about what he should or should not be doing with his troops and his Kingdom. They acted like they had the final say. If the people had actually been as disheartened by the 8th Legion’s demise as the Council seemed to believe--to wrest power from the King and turn it over Council--then he may as well have marched the legions straight off a cliff and into a pit.

The fattest of the Councilmen sat at the end of the long ornate wooden table in a terribly odd outfit as if his gluttony and greed had earned him the most prestige of the 13 pigs that joined him today.

“I don’t care what you have to say Willhelm, there is no reason for us to move the 4th Legion out of Barkton. If we don’t keep the mills secure and safe, we won’t have the wood needed for the Arrows. It won’t just be the 4th, it’ll be all the legions that suffer. My vote is the 4th Legion stays in Barkton.”

“But if Valcrest falls to the White-Horns, we lose our first line of defense on the eastern front. Ashcroft, you can’t seriously be in favor of letting it fall and all the people in it die over a couple of Arrows can you?”

“Ashcroft, see reason. I know the Arrows are important, but we can make a good mill anywhere. Nothing will replace the value of the lives that will be lost in Valcrest if the White-Horns press their advantage and sack the city. What if you had family there? Would you so callously toss them aside for Shields and Arrows?”

I want to believe you, Dreston, I want to trust you, Wilhelm. A day ago and I would have. A day ago and I wouldn’t have had your machinations laid out in front of me. The Messenger whose daughter he held captive had been more than effective at his job last night. He had not only killed his contact but he had also gone to the Councilman’s estate and made copies of the Council’s plans as well. The idiots had just left the documents scattered across their desks like every soldier in the capital was in on their scheme.

“Of course not, Dreston, but I’m just worried about the future of our legions. After losing the 8th Legion, I am going to have trouble going home and telling those that put me here why their sons and fathers won’t be coming home.”

“I understand, but please, for the sake of the daughters and wives whose sons and fathers died to protect them, change your vote! I urge you to see reason.”

Vote all you like, I’m not moving the 4th Legion and letting you sack Barkton and move on my capital.

“Gentlemen, we have debated this for hours. Surely the King would like to have a say. He is in fact the benefactor of this land. King, please, speak reason to these sharks who so callously throw away the lives of good men and women over Arrows.”

“What about Barkton? Is there really no threat of attack on it? When we moved the 4th Legion there it was due to an imminent threat from a small group of Black-Wings.”

“Your Majesty, we believe the threat has pulled back. Given the news about the 8th Legion, our intelligence says that it was most likely the same Black-Wings threatening Barkton that were used in defeating our forces near Valcrest.” Ashcroft, the very Councilman who was supposedly against the idea of moving the 4th Legion was the first to offer reason against his decision. He may be a good schemer, but he is a terrible actor.

“You believe Barkton to be 100% safe then, Ashcroft?”

“I believe it is relatively safe.”

“So there is or isn’t a threat to the area? Why, if there is no threat, do you want to leave the troops there instead of aiding Valcrest?”

“It is as Your Majesty says: there is still a possibility of a threat. I was only reporting on the Black-Wing activity as I’ve heard it.”

“Mmm. So you gentlemen want me to leave Barkton for the wolves and save Valcrest.”

“Your Majesty, we don’t want to leave any town for the wolves. We just advise you to see reason and take as few risks as possible,” Wilhelm spoke, this time in his best sympathetic voice while eyeing Ashcroft for being so stupid just a moment ago. What? Did he forget his lines?

“Hmm. Well, you’re in luck then if you were worried. Valcrest will be fine. I don’t plan on leaving either city for the wolves. I have seen this tragedy coming and taken measures to save them both,” he said, for he did indeed have a plan this time.

He didn’t know what the Council was up to after the 8th Legion’s demise, but he knew they weren’t playing the same game he was anymore and that he was going to need troops. Their plans always came at the expense of lives. That’s why he had, since the moment of the Red Eye’s arrival, organized the 7th Legion to secretly clear out the so called ‘threat’ that was supposedly forcing the 6th Legion to overcommit to the small town of Kallafan on the north border. It was a risk doing it. If the White-Horns had seen them or the Council had gotten word that Oghan was defenseless, then thousands would have died. But they didn’t. The plan had actually worked, and now he could move the 6th Legion farther south and defend Valcrest.

“You see, this time I’ve got good news,” the King began, about to tell the Council of how he had defeated their plan when he was interrupted by clamor outside the chamber.

*Bang!* The doors to the chamber room flew open and a Guard, one the king didn’t recognize, came in flanked by his own escort. What is it now? More drama? Another ‘surprise’ event? A Messenger that they’ve planned to make sure we send troops to Valcrest?

One of his personal troops spoke first. “Sir, it’s urgent news about Valcrest.” Of course it is.”  I think you’re going to want to hear this.” Of course I do. You couldn’t wait until we were in private to bring me bad news?

“Fine, go ahead,” the King groaned, repressing a facepalm. “Tell me what the news is.”

“Sir, earlier today a strange man in a green Robe claimed he defeated the White-Horn legion east of Valcrest. Combined with the reports from the Scouts and the massive number of Double-Bladed Iron Axes he sold to the Valcrest Blacksmith, we can absolutely confirm the report.” The room went so quiet.

“You said the entire legion of White-Horns was destroyed?” This can’t be, wait . . . a man in a green Robe?

“Yes, Sire, and with the Axe sales, we have enough iron now to reinforce an entire legion,” the guard said, smiling happily as he stood at attention.

“The man in the green Robe. Was he tall? Broad shoulders? Red eyes?” It can’t be him. I sent that man out with just a Spoon, and he killed an entire legion?

“Yes, Sire, that’s the one.” While the King smiled everyone else in the room broke out in murmurs.

“Guard. Thank you for your service. Make sure to let the people of the town know that that man was sent by me--as witnessed by everyone in the court during the weekly scouting reports--to destroy the legion, and he did so with only a Spoon. Let them know that as long as that man resides in Valcrest, no harm shall befall the town from which he cannot protect it and that the King has done this out of his love for the people of Valcrest.” The King cringed as he made the proclamation. Speeches like that, especially when they were lies, made his stomach churn.

What kind of rotten man is the Council turning me into? Though it isn’t entirely a lie. I didn’t summon the hero to the Kingdom, but I did send him to the front lines. “You see, gentlemen, this is why we don’t have to abandon either town. You wanted a legion to do what my man has already done. You would leave Barkton undefended and risk its death for nothing. Have you no faith in me? Did I not tell you the other day that I had summoned a hero to deliver us from evil? Trust in your ruler, for I spend my days protecting every member of this Kingdom. This meeting is over. You have pointlessly wasted enough of my time with an irrelevant squabble,” he said while getting up and heading to the door. The stunned Councilmen didn’t follow. They probably had more schemes to make behind his back.

As soon as he had gotten out of sight of the Council, he turned to the bodyguard on his left and whispered as quietly as he could, “Go fetch our new Messenger. Have him meet me in my study as quick as you can and come with him. We have work to do. Oh, and make sure that Guard gets paid 10 Gold Pieces for his timely arrival. That type of luck needs to be rewarded.”

Adjusting his Crown, he hurried his steps and headed for the study. This red-eyed fellow had saved him twice, but he couldn’t keep relying on him. The Council would be sending assassins to kill him soon enough, and it was only a matter of time before they cut his throat while he slept. The only thing to do now was to stall their efforts and thwart their plans. What kind of monster is he to kill an entire legion of White-Horns with just a Spoon? He must be a monster, a fiend of the Spoon.

The problem is gone now, though, isn’t it? The champion with the Spoon killed them, and the problem is gone. He just killed them, and it went away . . . all you have to do is kill them.

Kass:

Kass logged in and picked the “log in at bind point” option. It was available to players who hadn’t logged out in combat and had stayed out of game for more than an hour. It was kind of a cheater’s way to warp back to town if you were in a dungeon several hours away. None of the players had really needed to use this trick before because most of them had only farmed within half an hour’s reach of their starting towns, but this time she was happy for it.

She had bet a lot on killing the Minotaurs and gone with the 8th Legion against the advice of most of the top players. “Minotaurs might not have armor or high health but they can kill you in one or two swings, and the smallest aggro group is going to be at least three Minotaurs.” It was a fact that had turned out to be true as she had been forced to watch entire groups of NPCs and PCs decimated by the wild Axe swings. She had known it was a calculated risk, but even divided 10 or 100 ways, the EXP had been worth it. The contribution bonus from killing ‘enemies of the Kingdom’ certainly didn’t hurt. The sheer number that were present on the field at any given time had been more than enough to tempt even some of the freshest lowbies out to the front lines. Especially Kass.

She smoothed her white Dress and found the nearest Blacksmith to sell her goods at. 1600 Gold for the lump sum of her ridiculous number of Axes. The Minotaur loot wasn’t great, but it was definitely much better than you were supposed to get in a party of two this early on. This probably makes me the richest girl on the server! I wonder what kind of magic Staves I can get, or if I can get any accessories to boost my Damage. I should go find Darwin before I start shopping though, I bet that clueless old man doesn’t even know what accessories are. Tiqpa Map.

She brought up her map and looked for the blue dot with Darwin’s name on it to show where he was. Huh? He’s in the tavern? Why is he still there after turning in the quest? He isn’t one of those fully immersive role-players who spend hours on a video game talking to people in taverns instead of playing, is he? Ugh, if he’s in the tavern all the time, who will I leach experience from?

As she made her way to the tavern, she couldn’t help but overhear bits and pieces of gossip from the other PCs hanging out in town on the way. “Hey, did you hear what happened to Greg’s group? It got toasted by ‘Flesh Wound.’  It’s like the tenth group that’s been slaughtered by them in the last day.”

“Yeah. I hear they are all around level 30 now. I bet they came here just to get some cash though. A full week of grinding alone wouldn’t have helped them afford that much black dye.”

“Nah. I don’t think that’s the case. They really take pleasure in it. You should have heard what they did to one of the runners.”

“The mage? I did. It’s only a VR, and the pain sensors are extremely dulled, but that poor guy is already booking it south. Doesn’t want to risk it twice.”

“They’ve definitely got everyone looking over their shoulders now when they leave town, that’s for sure. Its making it hard to get a good group for farming. No one wants to risk farming for too long for fear of getting rolled out.”

Crud. I knew when the 8th Legion got toasted and the Guards stopped patrolling for Red Names, things would go south, but I didn’t think it’d happen this fast.

“Maybe we could try to get a group together and do a dungeon. If we log out at the end and wait an hour, then the PK’s won’t be able to get us because it’ll respawn us in town.”

Kass kept her ear trained for more rumors as she made her way through the market, but all of them were the same. Flesh Wound this and Flesh Wound that. Even the NPCs were showing signs of fear. It wasn’t until she was almost at the tavern that she heard anything different.

“How did that guy get a Bathrobe? I didn’t even know they sold that item in the game. He even had matching Slippers.” Ugh! NO! He better not try to keep that Bathrobe forever. I don’t care how strong the set bonus is, I’m still scarred for life after that slip yesterday.

When she opened the door to the tavern, though, all the anger she was building up at him for still having a Bathrobe on faded away. He was staring blankly at the empty plate in front of him with a face that somehow reminded him of her dad’s when he first heard that her mom had died.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” she said, taking the seat opposite him.

“No, I found out that I can’t sleep,” he said, not really making eye contact with her.

“I know what you mean. If we hadn’t stayed up so late, I wouldn’t have even fallen asleep.”

I don’t know what he means, she thought, his face telling her that she was so far away from saying the right thing that she might as well have been speaking a different language.

“So, about the quest. I figured I would wait on you to turn it in,” he said, changing the subject as quickly as he could. Something is definitely wrong with this guy. A part of Kass really wanted to help him out, but she had learned enough about leaving people alone with their problems in the past. She thought about her mother’s death again.

“Yeah, let’s go get that done. By the way, do you want to go shopping afterwards? I just got a ton of money from selling all those Axes we looted yesterday.”

“Maybe. I didn’t see anything but Staves and Arrows in the Blacksmith’s shop. One of those Staves might be an upgrade for you?”

“Oh, heavens, no. Those things might as well be used as door stops or furniture props for all the use they would be to a Mage. We have to get our weapons from the enchantment or magic shops or they won’t do anything for our spells. Don’t you know anything about items?”

“No, not really. If we’re going, let me pay up first.” Darwin said as he got up and went to the Bartender. As soon as he got up, Kass noticed that underneath the plate there was a piece of paper hidden with only its edges sticking out. Secret! She looked over at Darwin chatting in an overly friendly manner with the Bartender and decided it was safe to sneak a peek at the paper.

Race: Unknown              **No Red-Eyed man before me.

Class: Unknown

Locked: Attributes, Sleep, Log out, Class Promotion

Respawning?

I was able to party with Kass but Kass is a PC human. According to what I’ve discovered the party system currently prevents humans from partying with other races. Of the other races White-Horns, Black-Wings have been seen to party with each other.

PCs don’t require food. NPCs require food. I require food. PCs don’t require sleep. NPCs require sleep. I don’t require sleep. PCs can respawn. Can I?

After a series of questions I’ve realized that most of the NPCs aren’t aware that this is a game. They seem to be capable of making mistakes and I can’t tell the difference between their emotions and the emo--

Kass kept glancing back and forth between Darwin and the page as she read the notes.  When she saw that he was finished and heading back towards her, she slid the piece of paper back where she had found it as quickly as possible and hoped she hadn’t been noticed.  Is he comparing himself to a NPC? No Red-Eyed man before him? What are you up to, Mr. Darwin? What’s your real secret?  She wanted to ask him right away, but she couldn’t. She had discovered the paper by snooping when he had clearly hidden it under the plate. If she brought it up right away, he might suspect her, and she still needed him for the EXP.

“Ready to go?” he said, trying and failing to sneak the piece of paper out from under the plate without Kass seeing. Kass smiled to herself, Too late! I’m on to you, Mr. Bond.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go find Captain Elmont and turn this quest in. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll hit 30, right?”

“It was really nice talking to you, Darwin! Please come again!” The NPC Bartender called out as Darwin left. He and Darwin must have had some amazing conversation. That was the first time Kass had seen him do anything other than pour drinks, take orders, and tell people to pay up. Has anyone even tried talking to him before, though?

“You too, Peter, and I hope your son puts that Axe to good use. You have no idea how frustrating it was getting it.” He gave an NPC a gift? Doesn’t he know they aren’t actually people?

“I’m sure he will. Have a good one!” As the Bartender waved them goodbye, Kass couldn’t help but think something was wrong with the whole scene. She wasn’t alone in that thought either. A few of the other PCs in the tavern gave Darwin and the Bartender, apparently named Peter, a strange look.

When they got out of the tavern, Kass tried to pry a little bit without sounding too obvious, “So, you actually talked with the NPC?”

“You don’t talk to NPCs in video games? Who will give you the quests?” he asked, glancing sideways at her as they walked. She was sure that he was smirking as he asked it.

Is he trolling me now? “You know what I mean. He said you gave him an Bxe? Why would you give an NPC a gift?”

“Why do people buy toys for their dogs?”

“That’s not the same thing. Dogs are real. Dogs can feel emotions.”

“Is it any different than an NPC who is programmed to feel emotions? He seemed pretty happy with the Axe.” Darwin had stopped making eye contact during the conversation and was looking around. “Ah! There’s Captain Elmont.”

“You know him too?”

“Of course. He is in the military, and I was at the only bar all night. Kinda seems obvious that I’d have met him.”

Oh yeah, these games are supposed to simulate reality. “So why didn’t you turn in the quest then?”

“Because I didn’t have my Mage to protect me if he warped me to some random battlefield. I might trust my Axe some, but I definitely feel more confident with an Ice Princess at my side.”

No one just warps people to a battlefield randomly, you idiot. Your sweet talk won’t make you any less suspicious. “You’re just being silly. You don’t need me around to protect you from the big, old, scary, bad men” she said, emphasizing the last part with a little girl’s voice.

“If you say so.”

“I do. Now turn it in, scaredy cat!”

- You have been invited to Darwin’s Party. Would you like to Accept or Reject?

Woops! I totally forgot to invite him. Accept! “Good thinking, Bathrobe Knight. After all, we can’t have you not getting EXP from all of my kills.” Kass started to wonder if she was poking him too much. His grumpy face had returned again.

“Elmont. How are you?” Darwin opened the conversation with the Captain up before Kass could say anything.

“What, boy, didn’t get enough of my company last night at the tavern?” The cantankerous officer had been busy organizing some of the other NPCs when Darwin and Kass interrupted him.

“You know how things are. I thought I would introduce a struggling old man to a young girl, seeing as how you haven’t been able to meet one lately.” Darwin smiled at Kass while he said it, a smug ‘if you troll me, I’ll troll you’ smirk back on his face.

“Oh, oh! Boy, you’ve brought me one above my paygrade. I don’t think I can match up to a girl with curves like that or a face so pretty. Bring me one a little more simple and a little less beautiful next time. I know my limits!” Ha! This old man knows his place, Kass thought. Even so, he had still made her blush more than any of the guys who had hit on her during her final year of college. “Anyways, Darwin, what do you got for me? Gonna consider joining the ranks?”

“No, we’re here for a quest turn-in,” Kass said, deciding she didn’t like to be talked around too much and needed to take control of the conversation.

“Oh yeah, I knew you looked familiar. You’re the girl who joined up with the 8th Legion before it was lost, may they rest in peace. The quest was to kill Minotaurs. Let me check your quest record to see what I owe you.” He paused for a moment as he looked at the two of them, and then his jaw made an attempt to connect with the floor. “Little missy, Darwin, I can’t thank you enough with words for what you’ve done. We all hated those White-Horns after what they did to the 8th Legion, but for you two to risk your lives to do this much. Thank you. This is all I have to offer you two, but please take it with my sincerest gratitude.”

“The honor was mine, Elmont, I’m just glad I could be of assistance to the town,” Darwin said with a face that would have almost convinced Kass he was serious--if it weren’t for the fact he was talking to an NPC. Is he trying to trigger a special event, or is he actually one of those role-players? He’s kind of too good looking to be a role-player, and his neck is way too devoid of beard. Kass froze. Did she just think that Darwin was good looking? Nope. Nope nope nope.

“Yeah, the honor was mine,” she said in the same fake cheesy manner that Darwin did. Kass was certain that Darwin knew something about the game that she didn’t. That’s why he had so many notes on that paper. If only I had had more time to read it all, I’d know what he was up to.

“You two are truly great citizens. For your deed as well as your concern for our people, I’ve got a reward. I normally wouldn’t give these away no matter how many White-Horn’s someone killed, but I think you two have proven to be more than just disrespectful adventurers.  So . . . here. One for each of you according to your abilities,” he said, handing each one of them a Ring. The one he handed Kass was a beautiful white gold Ring with a series of tiny sapphires lining its edge. Jackpot! He did know something. “These Rings are usually only given to the elite Knights and Mages to aid in their service of the Kingdom. Wear them well.”

Kass brought up her inventory screen as quick as she could and pulled out the ring. ‘Ring of the Ice Queen. Grants the wearer: + 10 vitality, + 10 Spirit, + 10 Concentration.’ What? This is insane. Kass looked at Darwin with curious eyes to see what he got. If hers was a Frost Mage’s Ring, what would a Novice’s Ring be? I bet it’s Ring of the Bathrobe Knight with +10 to Spoon throwing and +5 to flap protection.

“Oh, and heroes,” Elmont continued, “be careful to avoid people dressed in all black. I’ve heard a lot of talk about people being killed lately. We rely on those peoples’ hard work and contributions to keep the town running. It would be nice if someone could do something about the problem, but we simply don’t have the resources to spend on gearing up new Guards to protect the people. Not since our silver ore mine was overrun, anyway.”

- You have received a quest from Captain Elmont to clear the silver ore mine. Would you like to Accept or Reject?

Accept. Darwin, you better not expect us to go straight there and skip shopping though.

Robert:

Walking into the office before noon was something that had a strangely eerie feel to Robert. Before the project began he had certainly been working more regular business hours than he did now. Regardless, the long nights over the past few weeks as everything pushed closer and closer to the release date, and the patch containing the final AI update, meant he barely ever saw the place before noon. He couldn't help but feel that he was out of place somehow. Like he was stepping into a girlfriend's dorm room when he was in college. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, certainly no bras hanging from computer chairs that he could see (the guys would wet themselves if there were). He just felt like he somehow didn't quite fit in.  Like he didn't belong there, that something was off.

Even after he made his way to his work station--luckily, without having to talk to anyone-- he still couldn't quite shake the feeling. Upon quick review of his area, however, he couldn't find any reason for the feeling to persist. Everything was just as he had left it a few hours ago, and his slightly OCD personality was thankful for it. "I've gotta learn to get some sleep. I must be getting paranoid," he thought to himself as he looked around. "There's certainly no fluffy pink carpeting going to appear here."

Pulling his laptop out of its travel bag he quickly set it up on the desk and connected it to the Ethernet cable dangling from a hole in the wall. He had to figure out what in the world his daughter had been talking about. A bathrobe and a spoon? Last he had heard, the development for most of the world had been put to a temporary stop. Anything that was still in development, and there was a ton, wasn't planned on being implemented for months to come yet.  And, as best his memory served him, though it was still a little hazy through a sleep-clouded brain, none of that had included anything about bathrobes and spoons. Christmas hats and party favors had been sent out as gag-gifts over the holidays, a normal part of the planned festivities in any game, but none of that was supposed replace or preempt normal starting gear.

"Where to begin?" He rapped his fingers on the desk trying to discern the best possible place to start looking for what could have explained this. The obvious solution was to chalk it up to his daughter having exaggerated or outright lied. But neither of those were character traits that had ever seemed to manifest themselves in Kass. She had always been forthcoming with anything she had to tell him and never really had the propensity for making up outright lies. Well, with the exception of a few boys she had dated in high school, but that was to be expected of any teenage girl and had been years ago before she went off to college. Better yet, what reason did she have to exaggerate or lie? He knew that she had been up most of the night playing the game, and seemed to be getting really immersed into the experience, but there wasn't any reason to make up something like that. She had seemed so certain about it, too. "So where to start?" he questioned again.

Picking up the phone, he dialed a short series of numbers that would connect him to Gary's desk on the other side of the building. Gary was one of the lead designers for the game, and if anything had been added in at the last minute, he would certainly be the one to know about it.

"Hey, Gary, it's Robert."

"Robert? Before noon? Is everything alright? There's not something going on with the AI again, is there? We can't take another round of guys choking up last night’s dinner. It's too soon after that last incident, and we can't handle that again."

"Haha, no, nothing like that, fortunately." Robert chuckled to himself as the image of a kid in his mom's basement hooked up to a VR-sim with a spaghetti stained t-shirt quickly flashed through his head. "That was awful. Shouldn't have to experience that again anytime soon. I was wondering, did you guys make any last minute changes to the holiday packages that were sent out to players? I know us code-jockeys aren't usually up to date on things like that, but I thought I had been keeping up with it all pretty well anyway."

"What do you mean? It was all just pretty much the standard stuff we discussed at the last staff meeting. Colored hats and hair bows. Some people were lucky enough to get candy canes or teddy bears that could be equipped as a weapon, but that's about it."

"So you guys actually sent out a spoon as an equippable weapon?"

"A spoon? I don't remember anything about a spoon. A nutcracker would have been more appropriate," Gary laughed from the other end of the phone. "No, nothing like that. It wouldn't make sense or fit the genre of the game. Maybe for Easter when we do the egg-dying contest, though, that's not a half-bad idea. Anyway, the stuff we sent out didn't really do any damage and was for decoration only. You know how hard up the bosses are on us about not interfering with the game world. You would have to be an idiot to use it for anything other than standing around in town and showing off with."

“So nothing about any spoons? Or bathrobes?”

“Nah, nothing like that, but I’ll ask around and see if maybe one of the guys decided to try and slip something in last minute. I trust them, but they do have a sense of humor. They do things like that from time to time just to break up the monotony of the work. It's pretty harmless in most cases; but, hey, I'll tell ya what: let me ask around and I'll see what I can find out. Sound good?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Robert hung up the phone and sat for a minute thinking. Where was he going to look next? If the design team had actually added in something last minute, that would have been the easiest solution. It wasn't likely, but still possible. They generally stuck to their schedules and limits pretty strictly. There was so much hype surrounding the new system and AI that interfering too much would cause a panic and inevitably be found out.

Opening up his computer, he reopened the internet tab containing the forum post he had originally found. Even though it was located within the bugs and mechanics section, a moderator had already flagged it as spam and moved it to a separate forum. Posts were never deleted.  They had already learned all too well from previous experience that replicating issues could pose a huge problem and sometimes even the most inane or poorly written report could be the key to fixing the problem, so no help there.

Clicking on the user’s forum name, Robert ran a search for posts made only by the original poster. Scrolling through his history, the guy looked like a real jerk. Apparently, he had a reputation for being a bit of an elitist snob and liked to flaunt it at anyone who would listen. It looked like he had made the mistake of opening up another thread in the general discussion after seeing his post in the dev forum get flagged and moved, and it also looked like the trolls were having a field day with this one. "Trolling the troll,” he thought idly as he scrolled through the thread finding nothing of any real substance that might help him. Searching various forums for keywords like "spoon" and "bathrobe" turned up nothing.

Robert rubbed his weary eyes that were now clearly showing his lack of sleep. He could almost feel the dark circles sitting under them. Glancing over at the clock, he noticed that it was now almost midday, and he had next to nothing to show for his search. It bothered him. Not because he wasn't turning up any information--because in truth he hadn't really expected to--but this project had become something of a habit to him. He had so many long hours invested into putting all the pieces together and making it run right that he had become attached to it. All the long hours straining over a computer monitor that finally resulted in an 'Aha!' moment. All the time spent grinding away his teeth as he tried to figure out what had gone  wrong. Maybe it was the fatigue wearing on him, but for some reason he had to figure this out. The connection between what Kass had said and the post from the Internet troll couldn't merely be coincidence. If he went over the time line in his head, the timing would line up almost perfectly.

He leaned back in his office chair and propped his feet up on the corner of his desk. One of the advantages of actually having an office rather than being stuck in a cubicle was that he could get away with stuff like that. He didn't have to worry about someone suddenly walking around a corner and berating him for lounging a little bit. He crossed his arms over his chest and sat staring at his monitor. The last option he could think of at the moment--and one that may have been the most logical--was to simply start pouring through the lines of code and hope to track something down. The problem with that route was that the game was massive. It contained millions of lines of code and complex architecture that would make it almost impossible to find. He would literally be searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack--except that this was like looking for a needle in a Super Dome full of hay. He leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. "Just think for a minute, Robert. There has to be a logical explanation to this."

He could feel someone pushing on his shoulder. An insistent nudge that shook his whole body, rocking it back and forth.

"Come on, man. Wakey, wakey."

"Murgh," Robert groaned in response. His whole body felt stiff and he was quite certain that both his feet were actually numb. He rocked forward in his chair letting it level out. Apparently he had fallen asleep leaned back and now his body was paying the price for it.

"I know you've been putting in a lot of hours lately, but napping at work is a bit much even for you," the voice chided.

He recognized that voice.  He looked over and through sleep fogged eyes could see Gary standing beside him.

"I asked around a bit like I told you I would. None of the guys on the design team claim not to have had anything to do with any last minute additions to the holiday packages. They even seemed pretty confused as to why I was asking about a bathrobe and a spoon. I'm also pretty sure Nelson thinks I'm trying to pull a fast one over on him, though. Kid's been paranoid ever since I let him spend a full day trying to figure out how to design boots for the frog race."

"So no one changed anything?" Robert's mind seemed to have trouble booting up for some reason.

"Or at least they claim not to have; and, as far as I can tell, they're telling the truth.  What's this all about, anyway?"

"Eh. I know it probably sounds crazy, but I just felt like there might be something to it all.  My daughter, Kass, claims that she was up most of the night playing with some guy who actually killed a minotaur with a spoon. A spoon! Sounds crazy, right? Then I remembered seeing someone make a post on the forum in the dev section claiming that he had been killed after a player somehow threw a spoon into his eye. Something just didn't add. If it had just been one and not the other, I would have written it off, but both of them at the same time? Just seemed like it was a little much to be coincidence. I was really hoping that maybe one of you guys had made some last minute changes that I didn't pick up on. But now . . ." Robert trailed off and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Alright. Well. There's probably something else you should know about as well then since you seem to have taken an interest in all of this." Gary leaned against the desk where Robert's feet and been propped up moments before. When he started speaking, his voice was much lower. It almost had a conspiratorial tone to it.

"This isn't being officially reported anywhere outside my own office yet. I'll bring it up tomorrow after the all-staff meeting if I have to, but it's a conversation that I plan on having only with the department heads. I guess you'd find out then anyway."

Robert was curious. What was going on within the design team that would warrant keeping such closely guarded secrets all of a sudden? Their work was basically mapped out for months in advance.

"Something went wrong with the Unity Arc."

Robert sat up straighter in his chair. His mind was suddenly firing on all cylinders. "Wait, wha--"

Gary held up a hand stopping him before he could continue. "Just listen. Something went wrong with the Unity Arc. Sorta. You remember the basic premise for that, right?"

Robert nodded his assent and with a slight wave of his hand gestured for Gary to continue speaking.

"Well, basically, there's a lot of the game that's set in stone. And there's also a lot of the game that isn't. We provided the world, the concept, the races, and all the background lore that normally goes along with building any MMO on such a massive scale. Each of the races have a history, a background, a starting area or homeland. They have some quests to help them along in the world, but we didn't provide any real direction beyond that for the players. But, as far as the rest of the world goes, we decided to leave everything open ended. It's up to the players to create the politics and decide how they're going to interact with one another. Think of it as a social experiment on a grandiose scale. I would be lying to you if I said we didn't have some major universities and research firms keeping an eye on what we're doing here as well. "

This was news to Robert, and it must have shown on his face. Gary shrugged, seeming to dismiss Robert's obvious concerns and said, "Where do you think we got all the money to invest into the AI? Military grade government-designed tech doesn't come cheap and this definitely isn't a Kickstarter project."

He paused for a minute to let Robert absorb the information. "So, what happened with the Unity Arc. Sorry, what sorta happened with the Unity Arc?"

"Yeah yeah. I'm getting to that. So anyway, to start the world off and let everyone get used to the sim while we were testing out the game, we kept most of the races locked. They were able to venture off where ever they wanted and explore the world, but we really wanted them to focus on each of the starting areas. Make sure none of them got into something over their head or skill level too quickly. After the we found out that the AI was going to pair up correctly to the pre-existing game world, there was a scripted event that was supposed to take place within each of the racial starting towns. So, we put in a check that would prevent them from partying with anyone outside their own race. Anyway, that's where the Unity Arc comes in.  The event was supposed to allow each race's ruling council to depose the sovereign that was already in power. After that, it would break the rule and allow any of the races to party up however they wanted. A real 'out with the old and in with the new' system, if you will."

Gary paused to make sure that Robert was following along. None of this would really be news to him. It had been planned out months in advance and talked about at length. As much as they wanted to keep a hands-off approach to running the game and not interfere, there were certain things that had to be tested.

"So, that's where things went wrong."

"You mean the Unity Arc didn't trigger?" Robert finally questioned.

"Yup. Sure did. Everywhere except within the human race."

"There's no reason that should have happened. I remember working on scripting part of those events myself. Didn't we even finally agree to let certain members of the design team sit in on the council meetings so that things were guaranteed to go smoothly? Being able to party up with whomever you want is a pretty big deal. If something went wrong there, that's game breaking.

"Yeah, so now you understand why we aren't exactly spreading this news around. The world is massive enough that the players don't seem to have really noticed. It didn't take them long to start up their own little wars with the other races, but for the most part they haven’t figured it out, and those who are catching on aren't making a big fuss out of it--yet. Most seem to think that it's still part of the game design for whatever reason.

But here's where things get really interesting. Our design team member that was sitting in on the human council meeting was Nelson. He said that during the meeting something unusual happened. The summoning circle within the king's court suddenly lit up and a strange man appeared.  Nelson described him as a tall broad shouldered man complete with red eyes and claws. The king claimed that it was his 'prized champion' or something and sent him off to the front lines to conquer the invading forces. This champion, or whatever he was, said that all he wanted as his ultimate weapon was a soup spoon."

Gary paused here watching for Robert's reaction.

"Let me guess. He was wearing a bathrobe, wasn't he?"

Gary nodded his head in response. "Sure was."

"Why in the world wouldn't Nelson bother telling anyone about something like that? He knew as well as the rest of us how the Unity Arc was supposed to play out."

"The guy thought we were messing with him again. He figures we just didn't feel like including him in on all the changes and were trying to pull a fast one. So he just kept his mouth shut and went along with it like everything was normal."

"Yeah. Because we definitely decided to write in a spoon-wielding, bathrobe-wearing hero into the Unity Arc progression chain and then not tell anyone about it. Right." Robert's voice bordered on the edge of sarcastic incredulousness. "So what now? What happened to the guy?"

"Well, that's just the thing. We aren't really sure. We can't track the player. There's no record of him in the database. No character ID and no game account. As best we can tell, it's a ghost in the system."

"Ghost in the system? Please tell me you're joking."

Gary just shrugged apologetically.

I seriously need more coffee.

Valerie:

Valerie extended her long brown and white feathered wings as far as she could and relaxed her flight into an easy glide. She was at least fifty stories above the ground, and the desert had gone from sands to sheets to one flowing, brown carpet. The only thing that ever interrupted the brown were the edges of the rivers. Valerie had never visited a desert in real life, but she wondered if they looked the same.

Even after a week of playing, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the sensation as the wind caressed the feathers on her wings. She could feel her wings. She could feel the feathers on each wing. It was amazing to her. Since the accident almost a decade ago, she hadn’t believed she would ever walk again, and here she was flying. It almost made her cry every time. The dive machine stimulated her muscles to do tiny micro movements so she could play all day everyday without ever having to log out, save for sleep and food. Her mom insisted on her eating breakfast and dinner with the family. Other than that though, the winds, the feeling of freedom--Valerie was hooked and never wanted to leave Tiqpa.

“Have you spotted any enemy encampments yet?” her commander whispered to her using the in game notification system. It basically sent the message as a text notification that wouldn’t appear when enemies were present or a player was in battle.

“No heretics have been detected. I’ve found two ore mines though and mapped them with my suggestion of where we should establish the harbor. If we spend a day or two grinding the right resources and hire workers to handle the mines, we should have enough to get a fully functional war harbor up and running by the end of the week. The voice of the Sun God will be pleased.” She knew the Sun God was only a part of the game lore, but the more you played the game, the more you bought into it. Everything was “For the Sun God this” and “for the Sun God that.” It was fun too. Valerie felt like she was a part of something when she served the Empire. She had put off leveling for a bit to scout today at her Commander’s request. She didn’t need the EXP of more grinding, she had gained plenty in the First Missionary War killing the Fire-Walkers who refused to accept the Sun God’s blessing.

“Great work, Valerie. Fly back and turn in the maps. We’ll get some of the Fire-Walkers to start fortifying the mines until we can afford the workers.” Of course, he was an NPC. NPCs never acknowledged that they were NPCs. ‘If you keep up the good work you might get promoted to Herald soon.’

“Be there in no time.” Valerie was going to glide the rest of the way back, but the mention of being promoted to Herald spurred her wings onwards and she darted off like a bolt of lightning across the sky. Heralds could command troops. Just the regular ones could have command of ten NPCs under them. If she reached that rank serving the Sun God Empire, she would be the first PC in the entire Sun God Empire to have her own little mini army. Imagine if I became High Inquisitor Valerie! She knew it was reaching for the stars, but being able to fly after a decade of sitting in that detestable wheelchair watching people look down on her with pity like her legs had been the only important aspect of her life made her think anything was possible.

When she finally got back to the town, she was lost again in its beauty. The Fire-Walkers, the ones who, with the Eagle-Wings, were first blessed of the Sun God, had built for the White-Wings a massive city of glass ten stories above the desert sands. The glass buildings on top of the platform were two, three and four stories tall with no flat sides, visible edges or sharp corners. Their buildings twisted and turned as they grew higher like lightning reaching for clouds that weren’t there.

“Welcome back, Valerie! It’s short notice, but are you ready to go out again?” the Commander, waiting for her right where she landed, asked as soon as her feet touched the ground. The Commander, a Raven-Wing wearing a complete set of the heaviest Leather Armor White-Wings were able to wear and still fly, had come out with all nine other White-Wings in her unit.

“I can leave at a moment’s notice. What’s going on?”

“A group of lava- and onyx-skinned Fire-Walkers still devoid of the Sun God’s blessing were spotted to the southwest of our holy city.”

“For the Sun God,” Valerie chimed enthusiastically. She was getting more and more into her character every day. She was Valerie, the dual-wielding, Hawk-Wing of the Sun God Empire, and she would make those pagans taste her Iron Daggers.

She equipped her Daggers, and the group took to the skies, flying in a clean V formation with the Herald in front. As soon as they spotted the enemy, they broke off and started circling their prey. Deep breaths, Valerie, deep breaths. We’ve done this dozens of times before.

As soon as one of the reddish lava-skinned Fire-Walkers spotted their group, the twenty or so heathens pulled into a tight group and started packing small balls of sand. It was their specialty, and it was scary even for a VR. Valerie started dipping up and down and strafing left and right sporadically as she got closer, trying her best to stop them from guessing her movements. I’m almost in range. Be careful. The Fire-Walkers didn’t get their name for nothing. One of the racial perks and key reasons a lot of players liked to pick them--though PC Fire-Walkers started as part of the Sun God Empire--was their racial ability to make and manipulate fire at will. It’s how they made the glass cities, and it’s also how they stuck fire to balls of sand and turned them into flaming glass balls. Dodge! Shoo . . . that was close. Valerie had weaved an inch away from one of the glass projectiles as she saw four more coming. No matter how many times she dodged one successfully her brain always convinced her that the next one would hit. A paranoia the accident was likely responsible for.

“Do a barrel roll, Valerie!” one of the others shouted at her. Valerie just rolled her eyes and stayed focused.

Left, left, right, almost there. You’re first, big man. Valerie finished her dive and with all the force of her descent pushed her two Daggers through the skull of the biggest onyx-skinned man in the group.

- Critical Dive! You have done 216 Damage!

- Critical Dive! You have done 216 Damage!

Size doesn’t matter if you can’t hit squat, she thought, thankful the NPC hadn’t had a secret double life as a baseball player. The few Fire-Walkers who were pitchers in real life were a scary sight indeed.

Of the ten other White-Wings with her, only one had been picked out of the air by the balls. The rest had all landed on a mark. Ten down, fourteen to go. The Fire-Walker closest to Valerie came at her with his Glass Mace. She charged him, dodging his overhead swing and planting the two Daggers in his back for maximum Damage.

- Critical Hit! You have done 108 Damage!

- Critical Hit! You have done 108 Damage!

No sooner had she planted her fresh Daggers in his back and pulled them back out than another one of the Fire-Walkers tried to hit her with a Dull Glass Sword. She couldn’t dodge it and knew if she tried it would probably tear into one of her wings so she let the Glass Sword sink into her arm, catching it as best she could, and used her free unsliced arm to repeatedly stab the Fire-Walker. Die! Die! Die! Die!

- You have taken 95 Damage!

- You have done 54 Damage!

- You have done 54 Damage!

- You have done 54 Damage!

- You have done 54 Damage!

With one arm unusable and her hitpoints having taken a big hit, she looked around happy to see the fight was over. The happiness quickly faded into an eerie, uncomfortable feeling, however, when she realized that of the six remaining White-Wings in her group, everyone was staring at her.

“What? Is something wrong?” she said, feeling the avian eyes piercing through her.

“No, it’s just, you really went crazy on that last one. I didn’t expect someone to use their arm as a shield, especially not someone who picked the Scout class. I’m impressed” the Herald said.

“Oh, well, the Sun God was watching, I couldn’t give her a bad show,” she said. The perfect thing for the NPC herald, but it made the two PCs still alive in her group roll their eyes. Some people always complained that she was too corny with her role playing, but her attention to character had gotten several of her commanding officers to mention the possibility of her being promoted to Herald, so she wasn’t about to stop it now.

“Indeed! That would be a tragedy. Let’s run a sweep of the perimeter and then go put together a full unit for another patrol. There can’t be any remaining resistance here if we are to successfully bring the word of the Sun God to the White-Horns.”

‘Bring word of the Sun God’ was just a less brutal way of saying ‘conquer in a war.’ Valerie, doing her best to immerse herself in her character, had studied in depth the creation of the Empire. Somewhere along the line in the history of the small, sand-covered continent, one of the many nomadic Eagle-Born tribes and one of the Fire-Walker tribes decided to merge because of their mutual love for the sun. Even though arguments constantly sprung up between the groups over what exactly the Sun God was or wanted: male or female, all knowing or all powerful, or both, demanding of sacrifices or demanding of prayer. They all agreed that there was a Sun God and that the Sun God wanted them to spread his or her word and cleanse the world of all those that did not love him or her. It was confusing at first, but over the years the arguments had grown fewer and the worship grew more political.

“Of course, Commander,” she said. She took off into the air and smiled. She could feel the wind on her wings, and it felt great.

Chapter 3: Deal Me In, Poker Bear!

Darwin:

Darwin admired himself in the mirror as he did a sort of mini spin in the black Iron Armor he was trying on. I look awesome. This is just like how the jousting knights from the medieval times used to look. Sure it has a huge penalty to speed, 60%, but it’s so cool looking! I’m like a dark knight in one of those medieval fantasy stories. Now all I need is a cool flaming Sword or maybe an ice Sword! I could be the Frost King of the North! Darwin hadn’t felt this happy since he first came to Tiqpa. Going through the hundreds of outfits that he could possibly wear felt great, but each one had a problem that stopped him from committing to any set--the stat penalties.

“I just can’t buy it. Let’s look around for something else” Darwin said, causing Kass to almost throw the Dress she was holding at him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the look. It was that the average Human warrior received 6 stat points per level. The one bonus point was one of the benefits to picking the Human race. That meant that they could put 4 points in Power and 2 points into Vitality all the while ignoring Speed. They not only didn’t need it but the better and better sets of heavy Armor had higher and higher percentage Speed reductions. This meant if he took the route of heavy Armor he would lose his racial advantage of gaining 3 Power, 3 Speed, and 2 Vitality and be left short 1 point against other Humans--a fact he couldn’t ignore given the insane advantages that some of the other races had early on.

“There aren’t any shops left! What was it you said this morning? ‘Don’t needlessly waste time shopping when we have quests to do.’”

“Young man, there is another option. Do you mind if we lend you an outfit and hold on to your Robe and Slippers for a while?” The old Shopkeeper who had been watching Darwin try to find gear that suited him decided that it was about time to help the young man out. “In fact, why don’t you try this on until we’re done making this Robe better, he said handing him green street clothes.”

“Ok, that works. Thank you, sir. Your kindness is appreciated,” Darwin thanked the man and went into the backroom where he changed into the street clothes he had been given. They were simple clothes, but the style wasn’t too bad. The Shirt was like a t-shirt with a button on the collar and the Pants could best be described as white suit pants. When he came out, Kass gave him a happy smile of relief. Did he look okay in the outfit, or was she just happy to see him out of the Bathrobe?

“Don’t thank me yet. This will cost you 400 Gold. Come back when you have finished shopping, and I’ll have this Robe battle ready,” he said, grabbing the Bathrobe before Darwin could argue about the price. 400? 400 Gold Pieces? All 8 Dresses that Kass bought earlier put together weren’t even 300 Gold.

“Isn’t that a bit mu--”

“Nope. It’s not. The good man is helping you out, so don’t be stingy and let’s get going.”

“Fine, fine,” Darwin said, handing the man 400 Gold Coins and leaving with Kass. They had been shopping for over an hour, and he was sure that Kass was starting to get a bit antsy at having to watch him indecisively move from one outfit to another. The irony was that before he had started trying on gear himself, he had the exact same feeling watching her go through forty-odd Dresses. Especially when  every Dress had looked like the same white Dress she was already wearing; and, yet, she insisted they were different and that one was ‘cuter’ than the other. I know every snowflake is actually different but they all look the same to me.

After finishing their little shopping expedition, Darwin was pretty happy with his loot. Kass was obviously very happy with her loot because she had the type of smile he had only seen on girls playing with kittens and puppies. She had not only gotten a new, slightly-longer dress that Darwin thought looked the same as the first one, but she had gotten a few Rings, Earrings, a new Staff and no less than three pairs of Boots. Apparently each pair of Boots added a special effect when going across specific terrain, but Darwin saw no real reason to have Boots for crossing the desert.

Due to the iron shortages, Darwin didn’t see any new weapons that he had liked, but he actually had fun talking with the Shopkeepers and helping Kass pick out a beautiful dark wood, Staff with a bright, rich blue sapphire as big as a clenched fist on the top and six streams of eight tiny sapphires no bigger than a fingernail coming down off it. It even came with +15 to Spirit and +10 to Concentration. The only problem was that it was 250 Gold, 150 more than she had wanted to spend, but Darwin had managed to assure her it was worth the investment. An act that made the Shopkeeper, a new friend of his, very happy.

When they came back to the Armor merchant, they found the vendor ecstatic to see them. “Darwin! You won’t believe what I’ve made! It’s perfect! Come on! Come on! You have to try it out!” he said, almost tripping as he rushed to the door to greet Darwin.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming. So where is it?”

“It’s in the changing room. I had to contact the Tailor, the Enchanter, the Apothecary and the Jeweler to get this perfect, but you’re going to love it. I’ve never put together a finer piece of armor, or one as strange for that matter.”

In the changing room, his Bathrobe and Slippers were hung up for him to wear. The Bathrobe had gone from green to snow white. The back now had a black and gold drawing of a Spoon. He picked it up and examined it further. Enchanted Bathrobe of Valcrest, adds +15 to Power, Speed and Vitality. Reduces incoming Damage from all sources by 10%. +35 Damage when wielding Spoons. +10 Damage versus French Onion Soup.  Is this game trying to make me dual-wield Spoons? 35 Damage is a lot but it needs to be way higher to tempt me . . .  The Slippers were unchanged. He had been made to walk around barefoot for nothing.

As he was putting it on, he noticed little cloth button latches in the interior of the Bathrobe that would hold it securely on him. Kass must have complained to him when I wasn’t watching about the Robe flying open that one time. Looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t tell if he looked ridiculous or amazing. He put on his snug Slippers and decided he needed to deck out and check his stats. He hadn’t checked them since the tutorial. He put on the new Rings he had gotten--the Captain’s Ring that Elmont had given him and the Ring of Power he had purchased-- and brought up his character menu.

-        Name: Darwin

-        Job Class: Novice

-        Power: 117 + 35

-        Speed: 117 + 25

-        Vitality: 83 + 25

-        Spirit: 49 + 0

-        Concentration: 78

-        Phys Damage Res: 43%

-        Elemental Damage Res: 41%

-        Increased Speed: 28.4%

-        Maximum Hit Points: 1370

Not too shabby at all. The items almost add a 30% bonus to my primary attributes, makes up for the fact that without Armor to reduce Damage taken, I might die in one hit from someone who has sunk a lot of points into power.

“Cool. You changed it to white,” she said, looking at the merchant for a reason.

“Of course I changed it white! I figured a young couple like you would like to match,” he said, drawing a blush out of Kass that made her face redder than a chili pepper.

“What, what makes you think we are a couple? Who would ever want to date this weirdo?”

“Oh, I didn’t know you didn’t like him. I’m sorry. My mistake. Anyways, how do you like the Bathrobe, Darwin?” The merchant gave Darwin a sympathetic look.

Darwin, who stood dumbfounded by the exchange, finally replied, “Oh, yeah, it’s great. You did amazing work. I don’t think I will ever be able to repay you.”

“Nonsense, that’s what the Coins are for. Now, I believe Elmont told you about our silver mine issue . . .”

“Right, right. I’ll go take care of that now! Have a good one,” Darwin said, walking out the door without waiting for Kass.

“Hey! I was still tal--don’t leave without me!”

“Oh? But I’m just some weirdo.”

“Good, so you know.” Kass smiled at him, almost as if she were sticking out her tongue too.

“. . .”

“Fine. You’re not some undatable weirdo . . .  it’s just I wouldn’t date you.”

“Who says I would date you either? This is a video game after all. Who dates someone they met in a video game? Anyways, we’ve got to get you to Level 30, and we have to get this town a silver ore mine.”

“Alright, I wonder if I’ll get a Class promotion at 30,” Kass said, the mood finally feeling light again.

I’ve been wondering that too. When and what will be my Class promotion?

Maddock:

The soft crinkling of well-cropped grass being trodden upon was the only sound that marked the stranger's passing. A find coat of dew coated the ground in the predawn morning causing stray tendrils to cling to the sides of a pair of tan Boots. Well worn, comfortable, and as inconspicuous as the rest of his garb. Nothing of the man's appearance gave either hint or indication of the man's intentions. Nothing he wore or the way he carried himself would give anyone a reason to give him a second glance if he were to pass through a large crowd.

Working his way to the top of a small grassy knoll just outside the town of Valcrest, he lowered himself into a crouched position and surveyed the scene below him. It had been growing rather quickly as of late as more and more players had chosen it as a bind point in order to gain access to the easily farmable mobs in the surrounding areas. The town’s positioning gave it perfect access to a variety of mobs whose levels ranged up into the mid-twenties. As a result, the town seemed to have prospered. Almost thrived, even, despite the rumors and varied reports that the Human race was struggling as a whole. By all accounts, their war against the White-Horns and Black-Wings had been a losing effort. The King was even reported to have almost completely emptied his coffers in hiring out NPCs to fight for them in the last battle.

A small wind kicked up and over the rise causing the man to wrap his heavy Traveling Cloak a little tighter around him. This late at night--or early in the morning depending on how you looked at it--the town was still shrouded in darkness. It was too early yet for merchants to be hawking their wares in the market or craftsmen to begin working the forges within their various shops. There were a few small explosions of light around the center of the town where the bind point was located indicating that a few players were still awake and screwing around.  Somewhere below him the sound of a Dog momentarily barking drifted up towards him before settling itself down again. Otherwise, everything sat silent, stretched out below him. Even the rowdiest of the town's bars had kicked out their drunkest of patrons and closed their doors for the night.

Taking a deep breath of cool night air and slowly exhaling, the man watched his breath slightly fog up the air in front of him. It billowed out of his nose and mouth and rose up to circle around his head in a cloud before disappearing upward into the air. He carefully considered his options. He could either move forward or go back. Simple choices in life. Choices were always simple: yes or no, backward or forward, right or wrong. Consequences were the hard part. Having to deal with the results of one's actions and what came next. Watching how it affected those around you. Living with the knowledge that it was your choice that brought you here. That's what complicated things. Choices were the easy part.

Raising  a hand up above his shoulder, he waved forward with his hand, the motion indicating that everything was clear. It was also the signal for the rest of the group that waited down below to join him on the top of the hill. Out of the darkness he could suddenly hear the clangor of steel weapons as they bounced against Armor, metal on metal. The soft creaking of leather accompanied it as the group slowly made its way forward. The man never took his sight off the city below him, his eyes constantly dancing back and forth across its expanse looking for any signs of life.

"You're ready for this, then." The voice was low and quiet behind him. It wasn't a question.

Maddock nodded in response anyway from where he still sat in a crouch. "Choices are easy," he thought to himself as he rose and began walking down the rise and toward Valcrest's main gate at a quickened pace.

As he approached the large wooden gates of the town, one of the two Guards in Chainmail with Spears standing duty approached him, blocking his path. “Greetings, citizen. What is the nature of your visit to Valcrest?”

Maddock slowed to a stop before the Guard and reached up to pull back the hood of his cloak revealing the face of a Human. The dark stubble on his cheeks showed that he hadn't shaved lately. It was hard to tell whether it was the beginnings of a beard or a scraggly five-o’clock shadow.

"I'm here to kill you and all the merchants in the city. I plan on completely emptying out the shops of any useful materials, looting all the Coin from the town's coffers, and disappearing into the night without ever being caught." He grinned broadly as he said it, showing a perfect row of teeth.

The two Guards exchanged a look between them that Maddock caught easily. Before the Guard who had approached him could turn back around, he slammed the heel of his hand into the Guard's chest, knocking him backwards, staggering off balance. Maddock seized the Spear from the Guard's outstretched hand, turned it backwards, and rammed the butt of the weapon into the man's face sending him to the ground unconscious. Taking two quick steps forward, he flipped the Spear around as he went and lunged it business-end first into the throat of the second Guard before he could react. The body thumped as it hit the ground with a slight rattle of the Chainmail.

"Consequences," he thought to himself as he used the Spear to smash out the lanterns hanging from either side of the gate, casting the area into darkness. "That's the sign. Point of no return." He turned back to finish off the first Guard before he could awaken and cry for help.

Turning back to the town, he shoved the gates open and sauntered inside. The town was still cloaked in darkness and no alarm had been given. Despite the hour, it was easy to follow the path right through the center of town towards the merchants’ quarters. Like all towns built up without thought, it was easy to pick apart the layout with what little scouting he had done from the hill above. He vaguely remembered someone calling him crazy for agreeing to raid an actual town without properly scouting it first. But they were all the same. This was a cake-walk, not a siege.

Behind him, he could hear the sounds of his Guildmates passing through the main gates now. He pulled the hood of his cloak back up over his head and stopped to wait. The party quickly approached him and slowed to a halt. A small figure with obvious curves, despite the dark Robes she wore, stepped forward. The massive black Staff she carried with her was even taller than she was. A gnarled black wood embossed with flakes of gold curled upwards till it ended in a dragon's skull. Two dark rubies that seemed to suck light out of the darkness, rather than reflect it back, sat embedded in its eyes.

"Elaine," Maddock softly spoke, "I'm leaving it up to you to deal with the scrubs playing around at the bindstone. I know how well you get along with others. Try not to make too much of a mess. Remember, we don't want to burn the place down. Not yet, anyway."

The small girl practically cooed as she set off towards the square.

Turning to the others, he said, "As soon as she drops a spell the whole town will know we're here, so try to make it quick and get into position before then. I don't want to spend all night fighting my way out this place if--"

Maddock trailed off as a thunderous boom shook ground. He could feel it in his chest and braced himself for the accompanying rush of air he knew from experience was coming next. He could actually hear the wooden buildings groan in protest as boards shook and window panes rattled as the gust rushed by.

Turning towards the square he caught sight of the last half of Elaine's spell. A massive pillar of fire rose up from where he knew the town bind point to be. It quickly rose up above the roof tops before coalescing into the form of a massive winged Serpent. Turning over and over upon itself in the air the shape seemed to take on a life of its own, soaring upwards and casting a nightmarish glow upon the surrounding blocks of buildings.

"Damn her," Maddock growled. "Let’s go! Move! Sword!" he shouted, taking on the voice of a commander leading a battle he was sure would come now. A burly Minotaur quickly passed him a massive Two-Handed Sword and then then charged off down the street with the others quickly following. Ahead of him, he could see the Minotaur unstrap his own Double-Bladed War Axe from his back as he charged towards the town square. Above him, he could see the fiery dragon turn upon itself for the final time and begin plummeting towards the ground at a frightening speed.

"Brace!" Maddock shouted. The group unanimously slid to a halt and threw up arms to cover their eyes and noses. The dragon crashed into the bindstone, sending barrels of flame pouring down the adjacent side streets. Rivers of ash flurried in the flames’ wake, driven by the tremendous wind generated from the spell.

Standing up and moving into the square he could see Elaine's small form crouched over the charred form of a dead player, looting its corpse. She was quickly joined by the rest of the group who made quick work of relieving the dead of their goods. A fountain nearby hissed steam upwards into the night, its waters completely evaporated in the aftermath of the massive fire spell. Small fires still burned in various places throughout the area, and he was sure at least one building would soon catch fire as well. The walls of all the structures facing the square were charred black beyond recognition.

"Seriously, Elaine?" he asked as he trotted by her.

"They should have been wearing fire resist!" She giggled in response.

"Xane! Bear!" Maddock shouted, turning towards the two towering Minotaurs who had just finished looting the last of the dozen corpses that lay littered about the space. "You two stay here and camp the bindstone. Don't let anyone who respawns make it out. The last thing I want is a bunch of newbies bind rushing us over and over. Everyone else with me!"

He turned and ran into the merchant's’ quarters with the rest of the group following closely behind. "Elaine, which Blacksmith's shop did you purchase those Axes at?" he asked as he ran down the street.

She quickly veered off from the group and stopped in front of the door to a shop. Placing the head of her Staff against the door, he could hear her mutter a few words of power, and the door flew backwards off its hinges. She took a step back and bowed slightly with a wave of her arm gesturing inwards.

"This girl and her theatrics," he thought as he stepped into the shop. The rest of the group continued on outside, and he soon heard the battering of other doors as they went to work looting the rest of the shops.

Stepping into the shop, Maddock was surprised to find a burly Blacksmith staring at a smoldering door which had come to rest behind his counter. The artisan's look quickly changed from one of shock to anger as he saw the man forcibly entering his workplace.

"I've no idea what yer playin’ at, comin' into mah shop in the wee hours of the morning like this, but I won't be havin’ it!" He grabbed a large Hammer from where it sat nearby on an anvil.  It was clear from the size of the Blacksmith's arms and chest he had spent many long hours pounding away with that tool fashioning weapons.

With a yell the Blacksmith rushed forward swinging at Maddocks head. Not quite expecting this sudden turn of events he was forced to duck under the other man's swing and side step further into the shop. The area was too small to properly wield his massive Two-Handed Sword, so he was forced to drive it tip first down into the floorboards and draw a Long-Knife from his belt instead.

The blacksmith turned and swung wildly, catching Maddock on his opposite shoulder with what felt like a crushing blow. He hadn't heard any bones break but that didn't mean much. The resulting force from the blow drove him back a step until his back was pressed up against the counter.

He quickly ducked down under the Blacksmith's next swing and stabbed at the area above the man's knee. The knife easily cut through muscle and tendons, severing the man's ligaments. The Blacksmith roared in pain as he wrapped his massive arms around Maddock's body from above, clearly intent on crushing the life out of him if he couldn't first beat it out.

Maddock struggled against his grip but it was no use. The Blacksmith had spent too many hours pounding away at his forge, and his grip was too strong. Getting his feet back under him, Maddock suddenly shoved forward and threw their combined weight against the Blacksmith's bad knee. The two went over backwards into a heap and Maddock rolled free towards the door to the shop, quickly coming up into a crouch with his Knife in hand.

The Blacksmith lay dead, still clutching his Hammer. His head had been split open as he fell by the blade of the Sword Maddock had left planted in the floor. Maddock walked over and wiped off the blade of his Knife on the dead body before returning it to his belt. Planting his foot on the face of the dead Blacksmith, he gave a quick tug and pulled his Sword free to a sick sucking sound. "Consequences."

Glancing around the shop, it was easy to spy out the shop's Coin box. He quickly gathered all the Coin from it and began the process of looting all the weapons and materials he thought would be useful from around the shop as well. Outside, he could finally hear the sound of fighting now. "The town must finally be waking up."

Walking back into the street and turning towards the center of town he was greeted with a grisly sight. It looked like most of the town’s inhabitants hadn't been as prepared as the Blacksmith was. Bodies littered the street. Most of them were half clothed, and few of them looked like they had even tried to put up a fight. Piles of charred remains gave him a good indication that Elaine had taken out more than a few of them. Up and down the street, buildings were starting to give up to her unholy fires. Flames were starting to burn on several roof tops and smoke was beginning to billow out from the doors and windows of several others. It probably wouldn't do enough damage to raze the buildings entirely, but it was definitely going to cause a mess.

Maddock couldn't help but smile to himself as he walked back into the center of the town. The area around the bindstone had become a kill zone that no one was going to make it out of alive. The charred black ground was a desolate backdrop to a blood stained patchwork of blood, bodies, and discarded weapons. Flames from the burning buildings cast an eerie flickering glow that bathed the area in a Hellish light.

The two massive Minotaurs, Xane and Bear, had clearly been proficient at camping the bind point. The pair was now happily dancing around the broken bodies of players who had yet to wait out their respawn timer, taunting them as they did so. Off to the side of the square closest to where they had originally entered, several others of his small cadre had were quickly piling looted goods into the bed of a wooden wagon.

When he was planning tonight's raid, he had never intended to let things get this far out of hand. Raiding into the heart of a player-controlled city was something no other Guild had attempted so far--at least as far as he knew. That's part of the reason he had wanted to lead the raid. The Guild was far from starved for cash or resources. He had no doubt that the small company was probably as rich as many of the larger Guilds playing the game.

The problem was that there were only so many mobs a man could kill without being bored. Who could possibly want to stray from zone to zone and camp to camp all day long killing mobs? The AI was exceptional. There was no doubt about that. No fight ever proved to be the same even against the same mob type. In the end, however, who remembered the farmers? There weren't signs erected over buildings proclaiming who donated the most to build up a town. There were no statues built to Zergling No. 132, who helped win a battle. No one ever sang the ballad of "The Man Who Spent His Time Killing Bears in the Newbie Forest" or "The Guy Who Finished His Quest First." So why bother? The way Maddock figured it, you could either spend five hours farming mobs or five minutes farming the farmers; and, so far, their farming efforts had paid off far better than anyone had expected. "Plus this way I get to listen to them scream," he smiled to himself again.

A tall figure wrapped in a heavy, black cloak with the hood drawn noticed Maddock taking in the scene and quickly detached itself from the group that was loading items into the borrowed wagon. Walking towards him, the archer was careful to step around the broken remains of dead NPCs that weren't going to disappear. Coming to a stop in front of Maddock, the archer leaned casually on his inky black Bow.

"Looks like you got into a bit of a scuffle."

"Hah. Not really. Blacksmith wasn't as willing to part with his Coin as willingly as some of these others seemed to have been."

The archer laughed. "Hasn't been much of a fight, really. Most of the townsmen trickled in either one by one or in small groups and we cut them down pretty fast. None of the players have figured out yet that they can wait out their death timers and respawn at the same time, so they haven't even put up a proper bind rush yet."

"What scrubs," Maddock laughed shaking his head, "I can't believe it was this easy.  What happened to the rest of the Town Guard?"

"Oh, your favorite little pyromaniac has them trapped in the barracks. We found a couple of wagons near the tavern and used one of them to block the doors before they could ever get out. Elaine lit the building up, and we just left them there. Once we realized we might actually make it out with more loot than we could carry, we hauled the other one back here and began filling it up." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder indicating the wagon that was looking mostly full now. "We cleaned out every bit of gold, ore, or metal we could find. I doubt there's a useable scrap or decent weapon left anywhere in the town."

As he finished the report, Maddock could hear the delight in his voice. He couldn't see into the darkness behind the archer's hooded face, but he was certain the smile there matched his own. I think he enjoys this as much as I do."

From across the square, he could see the lithe form of Elaine walking back towards them as she exited one of the adjacent side streets. She was accompanied by an enormous warrior who walked with his Two-Handed Axe propped over one shoulder and a giant Mug of what Maddock assumed was Beer in the other. Sitting atop the Axe was a Helmet, swaying slightly back and forth as the giant walked.

“It wouldn't be right to leave the bar without having a drink first!" The man called as he hoisted the Mug into the air. "Wouldn't want to be rude, now would we?" His laughter bellowed out before he took a long pull from the Mug. Beer sloshed out and ran down his face and onto his Armor as he walked.

"Looks like you've been having some fun." Maddock pointed to the Helmet riding atop the warrior's Axe.

The warrior grinned in response. "Found good ol' Captain Elmont at the tavern. We were happy to relieve him of it."

"What in the world are those two doing? Seriously?" Elaine asked, pointing to Xane and Bear, who were crouching up and down while standing over the fallen bodies of a couple of players.

"Looks like they're having some fun of their own," the archer laughed.

"Yeah, we're done here," Maddock said with a shake of his head. "Xane! Bear! Grab that wagon and let's get out of here!"

The two Minotaurs stopped their game and lumbered over to the wagon. Grabbing ahold of either side of the yoke, the pair began pulling it down the street and towards the town entrance. The archer quickly trotted out in front, assuming an easy pace to scout the way out, while rest of the small party fell in behind.

"The King's going to be pissed when he realizes he isn't getting his taxes this week," Elaine said as they walked out of the town gates.

"Or the week after," Maddock replied. "I guess he should have thought about that before pulling all the legions to the front and leaving such a small force here." Consequences.

Qasin:

When Councilman Wilhelm entered the tiny, hole-in-the-wall room, his face went pale. Didn’t expect me to know where your hideout was, did you? Didn’t expect me to be waiting for you, did you?

“Have you ever killed a man, Mr. Wilhelm?”

“. . .”

“Oh, don’t be shy. Councilmen are elected, and we both know what happens to saints in politics. That’s why we both know you didn't get elected without committing a few sins, right? I know you’ve taken bribes. I know you’ve given out bribes, and I know your actions have caused men to die. I’m just wondering if you’ve killed a man with your own hands. Have you tortured one? Have you committed adultery? Have you ever stolen anything?”

“What are you getting at, Qasin. I’ve done no such thing. I’ll have you kn--ahhh!!!” but before he could finish his sentence, the King had crossed the room and jammed a small Short Sword into Wilhelm’s shoulder, pinning his back against the wall.

“Do not lie to me again!” he shouted as he wrenched the Sword deeper through Wilhelm's shoulder and into the wooden wall behind him.

“You, you can’t do this. You won’t get away with this,” Wilhelm said as best he could, his face twisting in pain. That’s right, pig. Squeel.

“I already have. Now where were we? Oh yeah, have you ever stolen? Did you sleep with another man’s wife or did you sleep around on your wife? Have you ever actually killed a man with your own hands?”

“No. No I never did any of those things.”

“So you’ve lived a pretty model life then?” the King tilted his head to one side, then the other while maintaining eye contact with Wilhelm. “I mean, other than trying to overthrow me and marching men to their deaths.”

“I have no regrets. If the deal had gone through, this Kingdom’s future would be safe for generations to come.”

“Safe? You would give our Kingdom away to those White-Horns and Black-Wings and pretend that we’d be safe?”

“It wasn’t giving away. We were going to sign an agreement to form an alliance.” Wilhelm said, his defiance not slipping an inch.

“Does it hurt?” The King took out another Sword and shoved it into his other shoulder, eliciting another scream from Wilhelm and leaving him firmly pinned against the wall on both counts. “Does it hurt, Wilhelm?”

“Of course it hurts, you madman!”

“What do you think it would feel like to be cleaved in half by a Minotaur’s Axe? To be burned alive by one of the Satyrs? Do you think it would hurt more or less than these Swords?”

“Just get it over with, you monster.” So impatient. So eager to die.

“If you insist,” the King said, pulling out a third and final Sword. “Any last wishes?”

“Just . . . just leave my wife and children alone. They had no part in this.”

“Done. Though I wasn’t going to harm them anyways. I’m just planning on sending them to Valcrest to live with the other Councilmen’s families. After all, we can’t have them in the capital when I publish the evidence of your treachery.” The King took one final Sword and shoved it right into Wilhelm’s heart.

- You have reached Level 74!

He had been worth a lot more experience than the others. The King pulled the Swords out of Wilhelm and sighed. With the Messenger, Anthony, he had felt bad. It was a hard thing to even consider killing a man for being born a pawn. With the Councilmen, he had felt no remorse or pain of conscience at all. It had even felt a little good. It had given him the same warm feeling he got from helping a homeless person find shelter or a child find his parents. Am I really a monster? Does doing what is necessary count as an atrocity? Or is it that I took pleasure in it that makes me a monster?

“Anthony, you can come in now,” he called to the man waiting outside. Anthony came in and turned his head immediately away from the sight.

“You’ve done good work tonight, Anthony. Their deaths have saved many lives.” The King couldn’t help but feel bad saying it. It’s the same weak excuse the Councilmen all gave. One person’s death saves another’s life. “Now there are onlythree pieces left on the board. We need to meet with the Black-wings, White-Horns and our champion. Take care of it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Anthony said as he bowed. He seemed to leave the scene quicker with every kill. Were his legs leveling up with his cowardice?

Wilhelm might not have had the wrong idea. Instead of focusing only on the Human Empire, perhaps I should be expanding.

Kass:

Even after reaching the silver ore mine a few hours later, Kass was still curious about what was going on with Darwin. The clues kept piling up in her head, but she couldn’t figure out the one crucial detail she was missing. Each interaction with the merchants had felt real. It hadn’t felt like they were in a game at all. In fact, her entire time in town shopping with him had felt just like it would if she had dragged one of her old boyfriends shopping.

She had taken especially critical note of the interaction with the Armor merchant who had customized Darwin’s Bathrobe. Had any merchant before made a custom piece of gear that may as well have qualified as a unique boss drop for someone? Had any merchant before offered this service in response to a player’s own visualized uncertainty? The game had only been out a week so it’s not like anyone had a lot of experience in the area, but she could almost say with certainty that the answer was ‘no.’ No merchant had done that for anyone. Something was definitely weird with Darwin, but she didn’t have all the clues yet.

Before they stepped into the cave, which was a simple unlit hole on the side of the cliff so dark it looked like a portal to the void, Kass cast her spell ‘Binding Light’ on the top of her Staff. The spell, a Level 1 spell usable by all casting classes, did no damage but instead created a luminescent globe of light that now sat on top of her Staff’s beautiful sapphire, allowing the staff to double as a super-effective blue torch.

“There. This should hold us for two hours before I have to recast it,” she said, wearing an ear to ear grin. The Frost Mage really is the most useful Class in the game.

“Thanks, I really didn’t plan ahead about the light. Glad you’re here,” Darwin patted Kass on the back.

“No problem,” Kass said, stopping in her tracks as she saw the first monster of the silver ore mine. She had expected to see goblins or orcs or one of the other grotesque monsters she knew from any one of the thousands of dungeon-crawlers that used the same enemies. Instead she was greeted by what could only be described as the product of spilt coffee on a game designer’s notepad, Turtle-Wolves. They had the shell and awkward necks that one expects of a turtle, but their limbs were hairy wolf-like appendages and their face was a gruesome wolf’s face with the signature yellow eyes and mangy snout included. Kass could see four of them in total, all standing on their feet and holding Spears like they were Guards to a town.

“A turtle and a dog in one? I can see this as a tribute to asian soup chefs,” Darwin said, showing no shame for his ignorant and culturally insensitive comment as he equipped his Axes and began to charge the level 35 Turtle-Wolves. Kass could practically count out how long it would take for him to reach them since she had seen the charge so many times.

I should probably help the goof, she thought, slamming her Staff into the ground and activating her spell ‘Winter is Coming.’ It was a high level bind that shot ice chains out of the ground and around the ankles of the Turtle-Wolves, leaving them both chilled and stuck in place. She was happy to have such a high Damage tank when casting it though because often the spell could get you killed with how much aggro it drew. By the time the chains had worn off Darwin had killed all four Turtle-Wolves and was already charging the next camp.

How does he run so fast with two Axes in Slippers? He’s like a deadly pajama sprinter in those Slippers, Kass complained, trying her best to keep up as he ran from mob to mob. Most of her spells took a few seconds to channel. Some even took almost a minute. Her deadliest spells with the most AoE could take up to two or three minutes. This meant that when she was chasing after the Bathrobe Knight, she simply couldn’t cast them and had to rely on her signature spell ‘Snowball’s Chance’ to freeze the enemies. On one hand, it made Kass really sad because she wanted to see the ‘Ice Dragon’s Dance,’ but on the other hand, it meant that they were getting EXP way faster than the other players.

As the pace slowed down, Kass decided to break the silence. Darwin seemed to always get too wrapped up in his work as a cheap but premium-quality Kass-leveling-bot to remember that he could talk. “So what do you do for a living? Or are you like me, currently unemployed?”

“You’re unemployed?” Darwin asked, dodging the question.

“Yeah. I just graduated college, and everyone tells me I need five to ten years of experience to get jobs I want. I did get a sterling offer to work at Pizza Hut though.”

“Not a big fan of getting your crust stuffed?”

“Something like that. Anyways, what about you? What do you do?”

“What did I do before Tiqpa? I was something of an accountant, though on most days it felt like I was just a glorified data entry clerk. Anyways, if you don’t have a job, do you live with your parents?”

“Dad. I live with my dad. My mom passed away when I was young.” Is it just my imagination or did Darwin say ‘before Tiqpa’ and ‘was.’ Did he quit his job because of the game?

“I’m sorry.” Darwin stopped walking and turned around to face her. “It must have been real hard on you. Did you want to talk about it?”

“Well . . . No. I’m good. Anyways, where do you live?”

“Ah, I lived in Georgia. What about you?” he said.

“Oh, me? I live there too! We moved from San Francisco a while ago.” He said ‘lived,’ not ‘live.’ It’s past tense again. Why is it in past tense? What am I missing? What is the clue I am missing?

Kass wasn’t sure what to ask next, but she didn’t have time to think about it. A group of 7 Turtle-Wolves had spotted them, and the conversation came to a grinding halt as she pointed them out, and Darwin turned around and did his same reckless charge as always. Kass raised her Staff and leveled it at the one in the far back. Forget it, if these guys are going to ruin my fun, then I’m going to ruin theirs, ‘Frigid Blast!’ The spell did nothing at first, but after a dozen or so seconds it shot out a strong gust of wind carrying a series of icicles.

- You have done 550 Damage!

Wow! That’s way more damage than my usual spell. Too bad it took so long to cast that it only hit one player.

“So, what games did you play before Tiqpa?”

“Oh, I used to be really into the MMO Emerald Gardens. I was commander of a good group of guys,” Darwin paused in speech and movement like he had a sudden thought and then just fired the question back. “What about you?”

“Oh. I wasn’t too into games before Tiqpa. Tiqpa just looked super beautiful. But I did occasionally play Emerald Gardens. My character name was Smiling Grumpy Cat. I never got to top level though. That said, I used to play all the time with my friends from the university.

“I’ve been wondering. Kass, do you . . .” he stopped mid-sentence as a Spear came hurling at him.

Been wondering what? Can’t you kill and talk at the same time? Ugh! The first time he initiates the conversation with what sounds like a very serious question, he gets interrupted by stupid Turtle-Wolves? ALL OF YOU HAVE TO DIE! Kass thought, angrily shooting one Snowball’s Chance after another at the enemies until halfway through her attack they were all dead and the only thing left was a status message window.

- You have Reached Level 30! You may now take on a specialization for your Job Class. There are three different specializations the Frost Mage can choose from:

- Enchanter: An Enchanter specializes in improving the abilities of his or her allies. An enchanter can temporarily imbue allies with his or her spells. Allies imbued with an Enchanter’s magic will receive major boosts to their combat abilities.

- Sorceress: A Sorceress specializes in harnessing the offensive abilities of her element. A Sorceress is given a boost to all offensive spells. Some standard spells will also be given an AoE effect.

- Magus: A Magus specializes in harnessing the defensive abilities of her element. A  Magus is given spells to reduce incoming damage and escape tough situations. The Magus is also given the ability to summon familiars of their elemental alignment to defend them.

“Darwin, hold up a moment. I have to pick something for my Job Class before we can keep going,” Kass called up ahead to Darwin, not wanting to rush this decision.

“Okay. I’m going to play around with my status menu too,” he said, pulling out a pen and the piece of paper she had secretly read at the tavern.

Hmm. Now what to pick. I wonder, if I picked the Magus, could I create an elemental summon that looks like Darwin and let it die a few times whenever he opened his mouth about Dresses or fashion. Actually . . .

“Darwin, are you going to be on this game a lot?”

“Yeah. I don’t see myself logging out much at all. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” she said, trying to hide her wicked smile. Just that I plan on leaching so much EXP From you that other players who see my level growth will demand a nerf. Tiqpa, I pick Enchanter.

- You are now a Frost Mage with the Enchanter Subclass. You have been granted the spell Frost Edge.

Kass looked at Frost Edge, it added bonus damage to an allied party member in the form of cold, based off their existing damage. That’s not bad at all. A 15% damage increase in the form of cold already and I just got the spell? Kass cast the spell on Darwin and his two Axes slowly grew coats of ice on their blades that seemed to radiate an aura of cold. I wish I could have cast that on myself at the bar for +10 cold shoulder against creepy frat guys, or I could have cast it on my drink glass. Mmmmm, instant frosty beer.

“Wow, that’s pretty neat. So I take it this is the only compliment I’m getting from you for a while?” Darwin interrupted her pondering with his admiration of the ice dripping off his two Double-Bladed Iron Axes.

“Yeah, it’s one of the new spells I get. I can’t wait to find out what the rest are, but I should be getting a ton of buff spells as we level.”

“Cool. I wonder what happens if I . . .” Darwin said, putting his weapons down for a second and watching the ice disappear off his blades and appear on the knuckles of his hands. “Now that’s amazing.” He picked back up his Axes and kept on down the path.

He does look pretty cool with those Axes.

Other than the promotion, their journey through the silver ore mine was rather uneventful, that is to say until they hit the end of the dungeon. For some reason Kass had thought, hey, it is an entire dungeon that is no more than 1 story high and consists of narrow corridors full of Turtle-Wolves, so the Boss is either going to be a wolf, a turtle, or a Turtle-Wolf, and he’s probably just going to be bigger than the others by a bit. That’s why when she finally stepped into the boss chamber she was so surprised she forgot to even breath for a minute.

“What in the . . . heck . . . is that?” she asked Darwin, who, equally dumbfounded, had stopped moving as well. While the whole cave had been a series of long, tight, narrow corridors only lit by the glow of her Binding Light spell, the Boss chamber was a massive square room with torches lining its long silver walls. The chamber had to be at least 3 stories high, and it was filled with circular tables and chairs lined around them. Only one of the tables was occupied, the one in the middle, and it was occupied by four Turtle-Wolves and a giant, two-story-tall, white Bear with an accountant hat, all playing a game of cards. When the Bear spotted them, he stood up and roared, prompting the Turtle-Wolves to drop their hands of card and head towards Kass and Darwin in their usual Spear-chucking attack mode, minus the Spears. They were unarmed.

“Is . . . is this real, Darwin?” Kass asked, a little dumbfounded. “Did we just interrupt the Boss playing a game of cards with the minions?”

“I think we did . . . was he winning?” Darwin didn’t wait for her answer, charging the Turtle-Wolves and killing them while the Bear was still standing up. Kass wanted to join, but for some reason she was too stunned to realize what was going on until after Darwin had dispatched the four Turtle-Wolves.

Here goes nothing! Kass thought, slamming her staff into the ground, her favorite caster pose, and casting ‘Winter is Coming’ on the Bear. The snaring effect didn’t work, and the Bear began to charge Kass at a blinding speed.

Just before the Bear hit Kass, Darwin slammed into it with barely enough force to push it off its course and into the silver wall on her right. Kass kept casting, scared of what was going to happen next. She did her best to channel her most powerful spell, ‘Ice Dragon Dance.’ The cast time might be long, but she closed her eyes and did her best to channel it as fast as she could while Darwin fought. She couldn’t run; the Bear was too fast. She couldn’t cast snowballs, they wouldn’t do anything if ‘Winter is Coming’ didn’t have an effect. She only had this and the Frost Edge that was already on Darwin’s blade.

Almost done . . . Almost done . . . Almost done . . . Th . . . Just before the channeling finished, she felt something kill the entire spell. Her eyes popped open, and she felt fear grip her heart with a chilling hand like none of her ice spells could.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t have you finish that spell. You’d ruin the show,” a voice said from behind her. “You have no idea how much effort I put into making it here on time. You wouldn’t want to take away my fun now, would you?”

She had been silenced. There was nothing she could do to help Darwin, so she turned around to see who was talking. The voice’s owner was a tall woman with skin pale as the moon, and her eyes the same crimson red that Darwin’s were. She was wearing a black Cocktail Dress that flowed into the floor and wasn’t even carrying a Staff.

“It’s okay, little thing. Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you yet. He’d be mad at me for that,” the woman said, patting Kass’s head. “Just watch the show.”

And so she did. The show was brutal too. With every second that passed, Darwin seemed to somehow get faster. He grew stronger as the battle wore on. His Axes came cleaving from side to side, and the Bear did its best to turn, maw and swipe at the oncoming attack. It was beautiful. Darwin wasn’t fighting like he was trying to kill a Boss--he was fighting like a seasoned warrior clinging to life. She had been petrified by the giant Bear, and he had dived to save her life. She thought it was over, and here he was fighting on like death wasn’t an option.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” the woman asked. It was, but Kass’s voice was as silenced as her casting ability.

As the Bear made its final death cry, bleeding from the hundreds of small cuts and rips of Darwin’s Axe, Darwin gave it mercy and buried his Axe right between its eyes. The battle was won, and the only sound left was the gentle golfer’s clap that the woman was making next to Kass.

- You have reached Level 31!

“I’m sorry, dear, I know you’re looking forward to seeing what it dropped, but I can’t have you interrupting a family reunion. This is my first time meeting brother after all,” she said, patting Kass on the back and causing a spell to ring through her body.

It was a sleep spell, and Kass did everything she could to hold onto consciousness as she hit the floor. She could only make out a few words clearly as the woman called out to Darwin, waving at Darwin like a mother trying to get her kid’s attention after a soccer game. But she could make the words out. “Why would you . . . bring a player . . . our home . . .” That was all she could make out before the blackness of the sleep spell overtook her.

- You have been knocked unconscious. You have two hours before you will regain consciousness.

Crap. Two hours? What kind of sleep spell is that? The death timer isn’t even that long. Well, I might as well log and get some food and sleep. We’ve been at this all night.

Valerie

Valerie felt like an angel as she took slow short steps into the Temple of the Sun God. She always had the appearance of an angel, a perfectly normal human body with giant wings sticking out of her back, but now more than ever she felt the celestial touch. She felt like the Sun God was real and filling her mind with awe for this fleeting moment.

It was the Temple’s impact on those who entered. The structure was a massive glass building that, unlike all the other glass buildings in the city, had color-tinted glass. In fact, it had more colors and shades of purple, red, orange and all the other colors of the rainbow than Valerie had ever seen before in the real world. They littered the thousand interlocking prisms of glass making up the surface of the giant dome. As Valerie took each step into the massive dome, she felt ever more in awe of the spectacle. The inside of the dome was like walking through a giant kaleidoscope as the sun’s and the cloud’s movement twirled the colors through the room leaving no two inches of the floor the same color and no color staying in the same space for more than a minute at most. Even the air seemed to share in the everlasting rainbow that themed the sanctuary.

She had to steady herself though and not get lost in the swirl of beauty dancing around her. To be here was an honor unlike any other. She was the first player to have entered the building. The first player to have been selected for promotion. Herald of the Dawn. The title that many players had been aiming for, she managed to earn first.

“Valerie, it’s okay. It’s okay to take in the wonder of the Sun God and all his beauty,” her commander said, noticing her eyes struggle to stay fixed on the objective waiting in front of her, the First Light of the Sun God.

“It’s magnificent.”

“Yes, it is, and you’ve earned the right to be here,” he said, putting his arm comfortingly on her shoulder. He was a NPC, but sometimes Valerie forgot that with how apt he was at being there for her. “Go on, take your time. He will wait for those who have been chosen by the Sun God.”

It’s so pretty, she thought, doing exactly as her commander suggested and taking her time as she walked down her path to the First Light of the Sun God. By the time she reached the end and was standing before the him she had completely lost herself in the colors.

“Valerie, Scout of the Sun God Empire, do you know what has brought you before me?” the tall, white-winged man in front of her asked. He was wearing white Robes with a yellow sun drawn on the middle and orange rays drawn in an odd zigzag out from the sun. He lifted his hands in some odd ceremonial gesture that brought Valerie back to reality and made her want to laugh.

What is he doing? Oh yeah, I was told what to do here, she thought, taking a knee before the man as if she were a soldier before a King, waiting to be knighted.

“You have been chosen by your betters to join them as a peer. You are here not just for your abilities in combat, but for your proven and tireless dedication to the Sun God. For this, you have been awarded the rank Herald of the Dawn,” he said, making a blessing motion with his hand. “Rise child, and may the light of the Sun God protect you henceforth.”

When she stood up, he didn’t have any more words or gifts or gestures. He just turned around like they had already left the building. Well this is awkward. He must be fun at parties, she thought, not able to wipe the smile off her face though. She had done it! She was Herald of the Dawn!

“So you know this means I’m not your commander anymore,” her former superior said.

“Yeah, I know.”

“And you know that means you’re going to have to call me something else right? ‘Commander’ would sound strange given we’re the same rank.”

“Well, how about ‘Raven’?” she said, suggesting his wing type.

“What? No, that’s ridiculous. It’s Tim. I’m Tim. Now do you want to go get a bite at the tavern?” he asked, giving her a sly smile at the same time.

Valerie wasn’t an NPC, so she didn’t need the food, but she still took him up on the offer. Even though he was a figment of the game’s imagination, he was still the first guy who had ever asked her to anything. In real life, the accident had taken away more than her legs. It took away her friends, her suitors and even the ability to talk to her parents without being crushed by their pity. At 25 years old, Valerie had never left the house except to go to school or the doctors, so even though he was just an NPC, she happily accepted. “Yeah, sure! Sounds great! But you’re buying.” She had made a friend, and at this point she didn’t care that he wasn’t real.

“Sure, can’t have a girl like you pay for her own drinks,” he said, winking.

“Thanks. I mean, whatever, anyways, what do I do now that I’m a Herald?” she asked, her face changing colors like the Temple’s floor.

“Oh, that’s easy. You recruit. You need to find 10 people to join your command and sign them up with the office. You can technically exceed 10 but only with players that aren’t born of service. There is no cap on how many of those you can get. Then your company has to complete the missions and jobs it is assigned everyday. You can take as many bonus missions from HQ as you like for extra cash, but the cash goes to your command, not you personally. If you don’t complete the base mission assignments by the end of each week, then you’ll lose your command,” he explained. She was basically a Guild master now for a 10 person NPC Guild that could add on as many PCs as it liked.

“I see, so I don’t actually have to work as long as I have enough minions to do it for me . . .” she thought aloud.

“I suppose you could say that. After all, I had you do all my work for me. Screw the heavy lifting when you can make a tiny, naive girl do it for you.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be me who takes advantages of big, handsome men?”

“Handsome? You must really want that free food. Anyway, first drink’s on me; you’re on your own for the second one. Let’s go,” he said, walking towards the tavern.

When Valerie finally made it into the tavern, she looked around at everyone. She used to see people, but her promotion was making her nervous. Which one of these guys will be a good soldier, will raise my rank higher? she thought as her eyes darted the room.

“You’re doing that thinking thing again, aren’t you?” Tim said, noticing her eyes darting from NPC to NPC. “You know it’s not good for you. It’s why you keep getting stuck with more and more responsibility.”

“Maybe so,” Valerie laughed, still not sure which one of the NPCs she should recruit or how she was even supposed to do it--things she probably would have kept thinking about if Tim hadn’t bumped her wing with his and raised a glass.

Chapter 4: The Red-Eye Flight to ZombOgre Town

Darwin:

Darwin walked to town in shock. The entire three-hour trip felt like it passed by in minutes as he wrestled with his thoughts for control of his mind. The conversation with the woman who claimed to be his sister had left much for him to think about. He had carried Kass’s body out of the dungeon before it vanished like it had the last time she logged out. Likely, it didn’t vanish earlier because with enemies still around, the game wanted to see if her character would die while she was unconscious. He was kind of happy to not have her around though with all the the things he had to think about. The fight with the polar bear Burriza and the amazing weapon it dropped were overshadowed by the Job Class his ‘sister’ had given him. Tiqpa Character Screen. Tiqpa Skill Screen.

-        Name: Darwin

-        Job Class: Soul Knight

-        Level: 31

-        Race: Unknown

-        EXP until next Level: 92110

-        Rank: Captain of Valcrest

-        Total EXP: 1184665

-        Soul Charges: 13

Passive Skills:

- Soul Sever (Level 1)--Killing enemies grants one charge. Killing enemy players grants ten charges. If an enemy player is killed the enemy player will lose one level.

- Soul Collector (Level 1)--Allows the user to hold up to 50 soul charges.

Active Skills:

- Soul Eater (Level 1)--Temporarily consume all soul charges (a minimum of 30 soul charges is required) to fully restore hit points. Grants user +25% all stats for 180 seconds. May only be used once per hour.

- Soul Forge (Level 1)--May use soul charges to level NPCs (requires new level in soul charges, example: To level an NPC from 29 to 30 it will require 30 soul charges). Requires physical contact or alter contact to use.

Racial Skill:

- Demonic Command - May recruit fatally wounded monster NPCs (may only recruit monsters of or below the user’s level. The number that can be recruited is dependent on the Rank of the user).

If Darwin hadn’t been so absorbed in his own thoughts, he would have noticed that something was wrong sooner. He would have caught the obvious signs; the pillars of smoke rising from the village, the empty fields devoid of farmers, the barren roads with no NPC traders and, worst of all, the silence. There were no Guards to interrupt his meandering into town. There were no people to break his train of thought as his feet carried him to the place he was, after just a day or two, already starting to call home. There was nothing to prepare or warn him for the sight of Captain Elmont lying bloodied where the door to the tavern used to be.

“Darwin, it’s you,” Elmont coughed, one of the other NPCs attending him where he had been cut down. “You made it back.”

Darwin shook himself out of one shock only to fall victim to another. “What happened? Old man, what happened to you?” he asked, staring blankly at the Captain lying before him, covered up almost all the way with a bedsheet like he was already dead.

“It was that black-Armored group. They came through the town. Darwin . . . don’t . . . don’t go in there. The bartender and his son are dead inside. I did my best to defend them, but they were after the Coin set aside for the King’s taxes.”

They don’t belong here. They are a pestilence on creation. His sister’s thoughts echoed in his head. They, who have no understanding of death in our world, will rip apart the fabric of our society.

Darwin cleared his thoughts. She didn’t know what she was talking about. This type of thing wasn’t a common occurrence for gamers. It was only a PK Guild that would do this. On Emerald Gardens, there were a few prominent PK Guilds, but they didn’t make up everyone. Two of the PK Guilds, Grumpy Cat Wants You Dead and DontCCmyDrink, had done a lot of stuff like this or things like joining a raid group without their Guild’s tag and yelling the infamous ‘LEEERROOOYYY JENKINS!’ right before a group would attempt the final Boss of a three hour dungeon. Other than Guilds like that though, most Guilds were full of people who honestly liked to make their NPC world better.

Darwin pulled himself out of his thoughts again and back to the Captain. “Elmont, before you die, I have something that I really need to say . . . I finished the quest.”

Elmont looked at Darwin and gave a chuckle, coughing up blood as he did it. “Is that really what you have to say boy? Out with it. I know that look. I don’t have much longer no matter what that healer says.”

“I’ll do what needs to be done, Elmont. I’ll save those that are left,” Darwin said, knowing he didn’t have to say it at all.

“No promises of revenge then? You’re better than I thought you were, boy. Here, the bastards who did this didn’t manage to find this on me. Take it, and it’s kind of short notice, but I need a favor of you. I need you to take my Rank. Between the 8th Legion’s death and this, there aren’t any Captains left in Valcrest. Take my Rank and rebuild.” Darwin saw him struggle with each breath to finish his thought. For some reason, even though they had only known each other for a day or two at most, Darwin felt like he had known Elmont his whole life. Like Elmont was a big brother.

“Elmont, it’s okay. You can rest. I got it from here,” Darwin said, kneeling beside him and taking the last gifts he had left behind. It looked like he wasn’t going to get his quest completion.

- You have received the Captain’s Emblem

- You have been offered the position Captain of Valcrest. Do you wish to Accept or Reject?

Accept. You bastard, I just got a promotion and now I don’t have a drinking buddy to celebrate it with. “Thanks, Darwin, I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Elmont said, passing away as quietly as a man closing his eyes for a nap.

Darwin brought up the Captain’s Emblem from his inventory to inspect it. Captain’s Emblem: when carried, raises the level of all NPCs commanded by +5. All nearby allied players will receive +5% to all stats. Darwin blinked as he read out the properties. First the Class, then the Rank, then this item. The game really is putting the pressure on me to be a commander.

Tiqpa Character Screen.

-        Name: Darwin

-        Job Class: Soul Knight

-        Level: 31

-        Race: Unknown

-        EXP until next Level: 92110

-        Rank: Captain of Valcrest

-        Total EXP: 1184665

-        Soul Charges: 13

Rank: Captain of Valcrest. Darwin had heard in the tavern enough to know what the Rank Captain meant. It was a tier three Rank, meaning he could now recruit up to a hundred NPCs for whatever objective he had in mind, and promote two of them to the Rank First Lieutenant and ten of them to the Rank Second Lieutenant under him. The point of the promotions within the Ranks was to make sure he didn’t have to micromanage all one hundred NPCs, as each second and first lieutenant could command nine or forty-nine NPCs respectively. Not that any of this would do him any good considering the entire town had just been wiped out and there probably weren’t any good NPCs to recruit from.

As he walked through the town of charred and dead NPCs, he couldn’t help but remember the bonds he had made with each of them. They hadn’t been long or in-depth connections, and Darwin felt as if he was forcing himself to feel sad. However, whether or not it was forced, the feeling was there. These NPCs, these people, had somehow managed to live richer and fuller lives with more emotion than he had ever enjoyed playing games every free hour of the day with guildmates that didn’t even know his name nor he theirs.

The bartender had a son, a wife, a family and patrons that relied on him. Now he was charred meat for the crows. Elmont had spent his entire life without a family, but he guarded the city and probably knew every soldier’s name and family. Now he was dead on the streets. They don’t care about the people of this land, only the things they can take from them. Her voice rang through his head again. Was she right? How can they see lines of code as anything real or significant? I didn’t until I got stuck here. They were just quest givers and item droppers.

As he walked further towards the fountain, the binding spot for Valcrest, he saw more and more burned and destroyed homes and NPCs. God, this is terrible. What was the difference between them, me and Kass? Are the people’s emotions real or just a series of reactions programmed to simulate the appearance of emotions?

“Sir, what would you like us to do?” a voice interrupted his contemplations.

“Umm, excuse me? Can I help you?” Darwin responded, looking at the soldier who was questioning him. He was a young recruit, even younger than Kass. He had a clean buzz cut, a Spear, and the standard issued Chainmail Armor every Guard in the town was wearing.

“Yes, sir. I’m reporting for duty. You are the current Captain of Valcrest, no?” he asked.

“I guess I am.” What? How many jobs did I get with one promotion? At this rate, I’ll go from the Bathrobe Knight to the Bathrobe King. “What do you usually do when you report in?”

“Me, sir? I’m the Scout. It’s one of the few reasons I’m still alive at the moment. I was scouting the direction they didn’t attack from.” he said, eyes cast to the ground.

“So then you know the situation for the whole town right now?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve had heavy casualties: all but seven of the military are dead. Civilian deaths don’t go past the merchants and families living on the wall in the square. The problem is that we’ve taken severely heavy Damage to the buildings because of the fires. All in all, around 80% of the village won’t have fully functional roofs for two to three weeks until the thatching is finished. That means we’re going to have people freezing in their own burnt and nonfunctional homes.”

“What about our defenses?”

“Like I said, we only have seven military personnel including myself.”

“I see . . .” Darwin began to think. As a raid leader he had often organized the players for defensive and offensive struggles against tough odds, but never for defending a town. While he didn’t know how tough the group that had done this was, he knew that another group would do the same once the coffers were fat. He also was aware of his limitations. If he tried to stay in town and defend it 24/7, then he wouldn’t level and would likely be overwhelmed just as quickly as Elmont had been.

“Anything else, sir?”

“Yeah . . . actually, what authority does the Captain of Valcrest have? On the domestic front? And which direction are the farms?”

“Well, normally the Captain has no authority over civilians, but the Mayor died in the raid too, so I suppose that makes you the highest Ranking person in town. As long as the command isn’t ridiculous, the civilians will most likely obey until they get a new Mayor elected. As far as where the farms are, well they are on the east side. It’s why the town traditionally had an army to protect it against the White-Horns.”

Darwin tried his best to think of a ridiculous command to give the town after being posed the challenge, but came up empty-handed. He was about to resign himself to doing nothing about the situation when an idea finally struck him. “Scout, what’s your name?”

“My name? I’m Yoo, sir.”

“Huh? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m m . . . your name is Yoo, isn’t it?” Darwin said, catching himself before he fell prey to the cliche joke.

“Yes, sir. My full name is Justin Yoo,” the Guard answered with a straight face.

Don’t facepalm, Darwin. Don’t facepalm. You know his name was probably picked out by a programmer with a sense of humor. “Justin, I want you to mobilize the civilians. Tell them to pack their bags and head out of the east gate. Tell them to bring everything they can hold in one trip. And this last part is crucial, so you need to pay attention to it very closely, do not let any of those that aren’t residents of the town see them leaving. Let me see your map, and I’ll mark the rendezvous spot.”

“Are you sure Elmont knew what he was doing when he promoted you, sir?” Justin asked, watching as Darwin marked a spot on his map.

“No. No, I don’t think he did, but given how few of us there are left, I don’t think he had much of a choice now, did he?” Darwin laughed.

“No. No, sir. I don’t think he did.”

“Good. Then get moving, Justin. I don’t know how long the respawn timer is, but we have a lot to do and I don’t want to spend all night working.”

“Yes, sir,” Justin said, rolling the map up and stashing it somewhere behind his back.

As soon as Justin left, Darwin opened his own inventory and pulled out the Boss loot from the dungeon, Burriza’s Blade. It was a sinister looking one-handed sword that carried a curving four-foot-long blade styled and shaped like a bear’s tooth. He had first drooled when he saw the stats: 215 Damage with + 10 to Power. Why couldn’t Burriza drop two of them! he cursed. His Double-Bladed Axes barely had 135 weapon Damage and didn’t come with any stat power ups. He checked his stats with the blade equipped. Tiqpa Character Screen.

-        Name: Darwin

-        Job Class: Soul Knight

-        Power: 123 + 40

-        Speed: 123 + 25

-        Vitality: 87 + 25

-        Spirit: 51 + 0

-        Concentration: 82

-        Phys Damage Res: 44%

-        Elemental Damage Res: 42%

-        Increased Speed: 29.6%

-        Maximum Hit Points: 1430

I don’t know what my Race is, but it is so rigged. I never have to pick between physical and magical resistances, or HP and Damage. My Race needs a nerf. That said, the importance of items versus stats is definitely evident. With just a few good items my stats are way higher than they should be. Oh well, time to stop gawking and get to work. I’ve only got an hour or so until the townspeople are going to be waiting for me.

He went out north to where he had heard of lowbies hunting Ogres. Their levels weren’t high initially, barely reaching level 15, but their HP and Damage were supposedly very high. That was for the better though--he needed scalable mobs.

He rushed at the first one with his Burriza’s Blade, but as soon as it saw him, it swung a wide arc at Darwin. Darwin dodged back and tried to get in again, but once more the wide arc came at him. He knew if he kept dodging back and trying to dash forward before the Maul the Ogre was carrying came swinging back, he’d probably never get in close enough for a swing though, so this time he dove, sliding face first under the Maul’s arc like a baseball player reaching for home plate. It worked. No Damage. The problem was he couldn’t stand up fast enough and the Ogre swung his Maul straight down at him, forcing him to roll to the side and do a pushup to pop up before the second Maul hit the ground right where he had been lying. Crap, what now? he thought, moving an inch to the side while the monstrous ten-foot Ogre began his horizontal Maul attack again. Screw it! Closing the distance as fast as he could with his Burriza’s Blade aimed right at the Ogre’s throat.

- Critical Hit! You have done 615 Damage!

- You have gained 1 Soul Charge.

- You have gained 15 EXP.

615? Wow, he actually has Damage reduction. That hit should have done 984 Damage.  Darwin thought, impressed with his choice of monster. Even at only 615, it was still enough to count as fatal Damage.

Darwin then activated his Racial Skill, Demonic Command, for the first time and used it on the dead Ogre. It caused the Ogre to shrug off its fatal wound and stand back up as if it had never been hit in the first place. And they made fun of me for my red eyes as a kid. He smiled at the creation. The Ogre did indeed look just like it had when he first approached it except for one crucial detail. It now had a strange tattoo-like pattern over its left eye and its eyes had changed from brown to red. Is it a Zombie? Can the Ogre finally realize it needs a brain?

- Please name your Monster.

Name him ZombOgre01

- ZombOgre01 has been successfully named.

Add ZombOgre01 to Party.

- ZombOgre01 has been added to your party.

Darwin inspected ZombOgre01 in the Party Window, Level 14+5. Not bad, but not where he needed him to be. He captured another Ogre, ZombOgre02, and then decided since he still had time before the meeting, he would make the most of it. Between when he started and when he left he had managed to raise ZombOgre01 and ZombOgre02 to level 27+5 each. Since the soul charges built at a rate of one per kill no matter what he killed, he had taken the two ZombOgres to kill small woodland creatures as quick as he could gather them. Sometimes killing as many as a dozen in a minute if he could reach them quick enough. Every swing of the blade was a kill.

The most amusing part though was the faces of the townspeople and remaining Guards when they saw him approaching with two red-eyed Ogres. Before they had spotted him and his two companions, they were just standing around, silent as if speaking was a sin and smiling was blasphemy, but when they saw him their faces lit up, just not with a smile. Instead it was a pale panic that spread through them at the sight of his two ZombOgres approaching.

“Umm, Sir. Are you sure it’s safe to be traveling with that type of company?” Justin Yoo said, the first to voice the concern that the group was sharing.

“These?” Darwin said, looking at the two ZombOgres and then back at the few hundred townspeople carrying belongings and the seven Guards that remained of Valcrest, unsure of what to say to put their minds at ease. Then he decided to just wing it and just explain properly, “These are my slaves, can’t you see their red eyes now? Their souls are mine.”

The whole group broke out in whispers. Darwin couldn’t catch them all, but he definitely heard a few pieces that made him frown. “He’s the devil who killed an entire army of White-Horns with just a Spoon?” “So it really is him, the hero of the Spoon.” “Look at the red eyes! He really did steal their souls . . .” they kept whispering among each other. I’m right here you know? I can hear you . . .

“Quiet!” one of the Guards whose name he didn’t know spoke up, silencing the crowd. “The Captain has commanded us here for a reason, and I’m sure he doesn’t want us burning daylight jibber-jabbering. Now file in, stay quiet, and await orders. I don’t want to be here when night falls, and I don’t want the Spoon King upset because we were too rowdy.”

Darwin was about to complain about the new nickname, the Spoon King, but the Guard had done it. He had silenced the crowd and even gotten them to tighten up and even stand taller.

“Whats your name, soldier?” Darwin asked, deciding it was best he capitalize on this Guard’s charisma.

“Alex, Captain,” the tall young Guard said, standing at attention. “Second Lieutenant of the Western Scout’s Division.”

“Alex. This is where we are heading. Take your Scouts and put a formation around the townspeople during the trip to make sure they don’t get attacked or hurt along the way. If anyone goes missing or gets lost, make sure they make it to this location by nightfall.”

“Yes, sir.”

“As for the rest of you, sorry your town is gone, but you need to trust me when I say we can’t stay there. That group broke the only semblance of defense Valcrest proper had, and other groups will come to clean up what they didn’t kill. We can try to get the rest of your belongings in the future, but it’s in everyone’s best interest if we don’t show up on anyone’s radar for the moment. Now, does anyone have any questions or complaints with that?”

No one said a thing. They all knew it. It was one more reason on top of the dead family and friends that when he had approached them they had looked like a funeral procession more than a mob of townspeople. The air was still sick with bleak sorrow at the loss they had just suffered, but at the very least Darwin was determined to take away their fear.

Qasin:

The King stood alone on the battlefield surrounded by scores of dead Black-Wings. The bodies of countless dead Vampires, Dragonwings, Succubi and Incubi littered the battlefield, and the King found himself truly happy for once. No soldiers were lost. No men were killed. My Kingdom is safe, the battle is won and not a single life has been lost, save for these poor wretches.

“Well fought, Your Majesty,” Anthony said to the King who was still admiring his handiwork.

“We’re not here to win a war. We’re here to win peace and an ally,” the King responded. “Now, fetch me a towel.”

“I’m not sure slaughtering their people by yourself is the right way to go about it.” Anthony squirmed as he stepped over the dead bodies. He does that a lot. One thousand and thirty-five men died because of that fool’s betrayal, and yet he squirms and twists at the sight of blood? Pathetic.

“I couldn’t move my own troops. It would have given them a hole in our defensive line to attack through,” he reasoned, taking the towel from the messenger and wiping the sweat off his face before using the towel to clean the blood off his swords. “This was the only way to do it.”

“I meant I don’t think it’s in your best interest to kill them. It’ll be harder to get them to ally with you.”

“A man is less likely to sell his house when his finances are good and stable. He must either experience a windfall or a loss. A windfall will promise them greener pastures than their home currently offers, and the loss will make them look for fixes wherever there are fixes to be made. In terms of a Kingdom there is no windfall. Kings don’t often sell land to acquire more of it. That leaves me only one option--to hand them a loss.”

“Your Majesty is saying that their Kingdom is the house, and you mean to have them sell it?”

“You could say that.”

“But what if you die in battle? Would that not be dire for the Kingdom?” Anthony asked.

“It’s not likely. The Black-Wings were fearsome on the field because of their ruler, the Black Dragon who united them in ages past. The fools, in their brilliance, deposed him. Now, their strongest is no tougher than the capital’s Knights, and their ruler is a council of baby whelps, Vampires and Incubi.”

They deposed him at the same time I was supposed to be deposed. I haven’t received word yet, but it seems they also deposed the Axe-King around that time too. Were all the monarchs supposed to fade into oblivion at the same time? Were we who forged the Kingdoms and united our races to die at the hands of the very people we serve? All so that a few people could gain power at the cost of hundreds of lives? the King thought.

“Then why does Your Majesty wish them to be an ally?”

“Because I cannot be everywhere at once, and I might be deposed myself one day. Before that happens I must unite these lands until the only wars it sees are silly merchant conflicts over lumber prices.”

“I understand. Then I shall pray to the god of war for your success in battle.”

“Thank you. Now, about the Black-Wing Messenger the Council was using to conduct their dirty business. Did you manage to locate him?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I can arrange a meeting at your convenience.”

“Good. Set up a rendezvous at the end of the week, and pick one of their border towns to do it in, a few days east of where we are now. I need to hand them a few more losses before we meet. Also, arrange for the Scouts to finish the report on the White-Horns. It’s urgent that I am brought up to speed before the meeting.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Anthony said, bowing before he departed. The King had grown accustomed to only talking through Anthony as of late. Given how many soldiers and Guards in the capital must have known something of the Council’s plans, and none had reported anything, he was slowly starting to distrust everyone. But not Anthony. With the man’s daughter and wife held conveniently under his protection, he knew he could trust Anthony no matter how spineless the poor boy turned out to be.

He started walking east to where the next battlefield awaited him--where he could kill again. He had suppressed his smile while Anthony was around--it wasn’t very kingly after all--but the thought of the fight to come brought it back to his face. I will kill them, and spare my people. I will murder them so that my men will never have to die for petty politics again. If I kill enough of them, then my Kingdom will never see its armies march to their deaths again.

Valerie:

Valerie took a deep breath before she dove again. The missions she had been assigned, to clean up the heretics South of the town, kept respawning two to three times a day. The problem was she couldn’t get any NPCs to join her. Two players, Daniel and Mclean, were the only members in her party helping her out. They didn’t join her because she was a Herald of the Dawn; they joined her because she was the only one with a quest when they were about to fly off.

“So, if you’re a Herald, how come you don’t have any NPCs with you to help us out?” Danielle asked, unknowingly rubbing salt in Valerie’s wound.

“I don’t know how to recruit them . . .” she answered honestly. “My former Herald, Tim, didn’t really have any advice on the subject. Just said I needed to learn how to drink.”

“I can teach you how to drink sometime, but have you thought about posting on the forum for more players? I didn’t even know there was a player-run squad. Now we can just do one quest after the other and not have to wait for the Herald to dole one out.”

“Yeah, I love this EXP. Is it just me or does a three-person party rake in way more than the usual ten-person one?” Mclean asked, landing her dive on one of the Fire-Walkers as she spoke. Valerie was happy Mclean had started her dive before her: the front diver was always targeted first.

“I don’t think it’s just you. The EXP has been great. We may hit 40 before the war starts,” Daniel said, landing his dive cleanly too.

“You may be right about the levels, but let’s not forget we are doing this for the Sun God Empire,” Valerie said, landing her dive with two blades right into one of the heretic Fire-Walkers.

- Critical Dive! You have done 236 Damage!

- Critical Dive! You have done 236 Damage!

“I mean, can you imagine how great it will be when we have subjugated all the Kingdoms into one Empire? When our glass cities lie in the clouds above forests, lakes, and mountains, can you imagine how beautiful it will be?” Valerie finished, dragging her blades out of her victim and turning to attack the next closest Fire-Walker. It took five hits, but Valerie managed to land each hit without taking the Fire-Walker’s flame swipes in return.

- You have done 59 Damage!

- You have done 59 Damage!

- You have done 59 Damage!

- You have done 59 Damage!

- You have done 59 Damage!

“Yeah, it would be kind of cool. You really get into the story of this game don’t you?” Daniel asked, finishing off his third Fire-Walker since landing.

“Don’t tease her about drinking the Koolaid. We wouldn’t be enjoying these sweet quests if she didn’t get the position, now would we?” Mclean answered before Valerie could respond.

“No, we wouldn’t, but we do need to figure out how to get her some of those NPCs. We can’t be doing all the clean up by ourselves, can we?” Daniel said while he finished off his fourth Fire-Walker.

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy doing it all yourself. There wouldn’t be much fun if we had too many NPCs out here doing all of our work,” Mclean answered, still not letting Valerie get a word in.

Valerie, who had only killed two, couldn’t find any Fire-Walkers in range that weren’t being picked off already by Mclean or Daniel. This is going way faster than it was with the squad Tim put together.

“So either of you girls figured out what’s up with the food here? If I eat too much will my character get fat?” Daniel asked. “Or will I just always stay skinny like those kids who shovel pizza in their mouth for four years at college and come out weighing less than a 100 pounds?”

“That . . . oh, God, I don’t wanna be a fat bird! Can you imagine how hard it would be to fly if we could get fat? Just the five to ten pounds worth of leather and weapons makes a big difference on our flight,” Mclean answered, finishing off the final heretic and then poking her stomach.

“Actually. I’ve been thinking about your NPC problem. Valerie, do you only have to recruit White-Wings? Can you recruit some of the Fire-Walkers too?” Daniel asked.

“How would you get them to and from the fights though? Flying makes this place seem really small, but can you imagine if you were one of the players who picked Fire-Walker? This place would be huge. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to get from one side to the other . . . unless I somehow get fat. Then I’ll know exactly how long,” Mclean said, still poking her belly.

“You’re not going to get fat, woman. Besides, you would actually need to eat something in the game to get fat in the game. When was the last time you did anything but kill heretics?” Daniel didn’t seem very happy that there weren’t any more opponents left to kill.

“Shut up! I eat!” Mclean remarked again, obviously enjoying her banter with Daniel. The entire time though, Valerie was caught up in what Daniel had said.

What if you can recruit Fire-Walkers? Sure, the White-Wings have a huge advantage over them in movement speed and the dive, but realistically if the two were even-leveled, then a White-Wing would be very hard pressed to beat a Fire-Walker. After all, their flames, the blessing of the Sun God, were a force to be reckoned with and only grew stronger with levels.

“Where do the Fire-Walkers who actually serve the Sun God live? I mean, we’ve only seen them as heretics so far. Where are the player and NPC ones that we can recruit?

For the first time since Valerie had met him, Daniel looked like he was thinking about something serious. “No one really knows at the city. It’s not even mentioned on the forums. It’s like a close-guarded secret or something, but it shouldn’t be, should it?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen a Sun God-worshipping Fire-Walker outside of the city gates since I started playing, and I’ve been playing since the beta launch.” Mclean’s face had also grown a contemplative look. “I know a few hundred at least are registered as playing Fire-Walkers too. The racial page says our two Races are almost balanced.”

“Mclean, how long do you have until you have to log off?” Daniel said, looking at the two of them.

Mclean paused for a minute before answering. “I have at least five hours.”

“Well, what about you, Valerie?”

Valerie checked to see if she had anymore Herald missions left. She had knocked off all of the required missions for the week over the day and was left only with optional missions. She didn’t have any excuses to say no. First Tim invites me for a beer, now I’m being invited on a mystery quest. “I have all night, but where do we start?”

“Now that’s a question you’ll have to answer: you’re the boss, aren’t you?” Daniel said, sharing a chuckle with Mclean.

“Oh, well. Umm. Let’s try drawing a circle around the main encampment. We can pick off any heretics we see and make a map of the desert in the process.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mclean said, Daniel nodding in agreement.

“Alright then, let’s go, boss,” Daniel said, pushing off the ground and into the air with Mclean following.

Valerie smiled as she joined the two in flight. These two . . . are they my friends? Valerie asked herself, having forgotten what it was like to have fun and go on adventures with her friends. It had been so long since she had even gone anywhere with anyone other than her parents, much less truly hang out with anyone. This isn’t exactly shopping at the mall . . . but then I couldn’t fly at the mall, now could I?

Robert:

The sound of bacon sizzling as it hit a hot cast iron skillet was one of the best sounds Robert could remember hearing in a long, long time. The unmistakable smells of the delicious breakfast treat soon filled the entire kitchen with its wonderful aroma and began wafting into the other parts of his home. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the appetizing perfume made its way upstairs and caught Kass' attention. He had heard the shower turn on a short while ago and knew that she would be on her way downstairs before too long in search of coffee and something to munch on.

It was rare for Robert to spend time in the kitchen cooking these days--between his chaotic work schedule and erratic sleep schedule, it was a habit that he had fallen out of. Back when his wife had been alive, she had been the true cook, the master-chef. After she died, Robert had actually avoided the task for quite a while, choosing instead to grab a quick meal or microwave something before passing through the door again. The two of them had spent a lot of time together in the kitchen.  Cooking was something of a shared interest for them, and it had allowed them to spend time together doing something they both enjoyed. She was wonderful at the task, making the chore seem graceful in the way only a mother could, often flitting around the kitchen, mixing, stirring, and chopping. She always seemed to know the perfect way to balance everything: just the right pinch of this, the right amount of that, just how long something needed to cook or simmer before it was done perfectly.

In truth, Robert had only ever enjoyed it as something of a part-time ritual. More often than not, it was just something that had to be done. Like most men, he was more than happy with just the basics--a heaping plate of meat and potatoes or, more often these days, coffee and toast. When he had cooked with his wife, however, it was fun. After her death, it just reminded him of her and something else that he had lost with her death; and that was too hard. Now, it was different. It still brought back memories, but they were happy ones. He was fond of those times they had spent together cooking in the kitchen now; moreover, it gave him an opportunity to spend some time with Kass this morning.

He had just removed the last of the bacon from the pan, setting it aside to drain on a paper towel, and began to crack eggs into the hot meat grease when he heard the shower turn off upstairs. He knew it wouldn't be long now. No one can resist the smell of bacon. Robert topped off his coffee and had just poured a cup for Kass when she came down the stairs wrapped in her fluffy pink bathrobe.

"Cream and sugar, right?" Robert asked, handing the cup to her as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Yep! And a little pumpkin spice if you have it."

Robert raised an eyebrow in response, looking at her quizzically. "No, fresh out of pumpkins, Pumpkin."

"’Pumpkin’, Dad? Seriously?  You haven't called me that since I was about five."

"I know, I know. You're way too big and grown up for that now. No more baby names,"  He laughed, mocking her slightly. Robert had dropped using pet names for her at an early age.  She had thrown a full blown foot-stomping, arms-flailing, hissy fit one day in the middle of the mall demanding that she was too old for them. Ever since then it had been a running joke within the family.

Kass rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but laugh with him anyway. "My, my. Aren't you in a good mood this morning. Bacon, eggs, and coffee? You haven't cooked like this in forever."

"Yeah. I guess you could say that. It's amazing what an actual full night's sleep can do for you. I can't believe how worn out I've been over the past few weeks. With all the major deadlines coming up and everything going on at the office, the workload must have finally gotten to me. I know the project has been building up for years, but it's like everything happened all at once."

"You push yourself too hard, Dad. I know you really enjoy your work, but you should take a break and relax sometime. You're gonna burn yourself out if you keep going like you have been."

Robert shrugged and flipped the eggs in the pan. "I know. I was hoping that things would start slowing down now that the AI has been fully implemented but last-minute issues keep cropping up. Really, I thought that unless some major unforeseen disaster had arisen my job would basically be over at this point; but, if the last few days are any indication, it might be a while before I'm totally in the clear."

"That's a shame! You've definitely earned a little R&R with everything you've done. If it weren’t for you, the game wouldn't even be working right now, much less be nearly as awesome as it is." Kass sipped her coffee.

"How's that going, by the way?  Every time I've come home you've been playing.  How's everything running?"

"Everything's amazing!  My character has been leveling up super quick thanks to the help I've been getting. I found a real EXP-mine if you know what I mean. The spells I'm learning are so cool, too!  It's incredible how the AI works in the game. You just somehow know what moves to make and then BLAM you cast a spell and everything goes crazy. We spent last night clearing out this ore mine dungeon. The Boss at the end was a polar bear playing poker!  You guys must have a real sense of humor at the office, Dad. Who could possibly think up these things?" Kass frowned to herself as she remembered the last part as well--how she had been attacked from behind during the Boss fight. Had she been attacked though? Her character had been put to sleep, but she wasn't sure attacked was the right word.

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun," Robert said as he scooped the eggs out of the frying pan and onto separate plates. "Just don't forget you're supposed to be looking for a job as well.  You can't spend all your time playing with random weirdos in a virtual word. You never know about some of those guys. Some of them have no lives and just spend all their time in a fantasy world."

"Yeah . . . I know what you mean, but you don't have to worry, Dad. I'm still looking for work all the time. It's just that every response I get back from the resumes I send in is the same.  I'm either too educated and they think they can't afford me, or I don't have enough experience and contacts in the field. How are you supposed to get experience in a field if no one will hire you, anyway? It makes no sense. That actually reminds me, though: I do need to check my email to see if I've gotten anything new this morning. Mind if I use your laptop?" Kass asked as she began pulling Robert's laptop out of his travel case where it hung in its usual spot over an adjacent chair.

Robert handed Kass a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast and sat down at the table across from her to eat his own. "Sure, just don't get anything on it. I can't afford to lose that thing. It's backed up at work, but I hate those computers. They're so slow half the time. I swear, it's like I work with a bunch of IT nerds who have no idea how to clear a browser cache or defend against malware."

"Seriously, Dad. Not five anymore." Kass couldn't help but roll her eyes again.  Nothing new in her inbox. Not that it was surprising. The truth was she had been slacking when it came to looking for jobs lately, and she was definitely spending too much time in game. She just didn't want to miss out on the EXP she was leeching off Darwin. It was too good to pass on. She was pretty certain she was still the highest-leveled frost mage on the server and knew that level would be going up quickly if Darwin was on when she logged on later.

Kass pointed her browser over to the online forums and started checking the leader boards. "Hey!  Looks like I'm still the highest leveled frost mage after all!" she exclaimed.

"Congrats . . . ?"  Robert was obviously not impressed. "Are you still playing with that guy who was dressed up in a bathrobe?"

"Was? Do you mean still is? One of the NPC's actually crafted him a new one so he doesn't ever have to take it off now. I didn't even know such a thing was possible."

Robert looked thoughtful as he took a bite of his bacon and eggs. "I guess it is, although I've never heard of it before now. The AI is pretty incredible. It's basically running everything in the game now. It's controlling thousands of NPCs throughout the entire world and more-or-less has free reign over them. They were programmed to behave with a pretty wide spectrum of  human interactions. That's one of the greatest benefits of the system. It's not strictly limited to the basic pre-scripted scenarios that most games are. When it comes to responding to player relations it’s incredibly fluid and dynamic. We gave it all the information it needed to make decisions, and then let it go. Without having to script in millions of quest or NPC dialogues, it saved a ton of time and money. It also means that every player's experience is going to be unique during his time spent in the virtual world."

Kass scowled in return, still focusing on the laptop as she scrolled through the online forums. "Does that also mean that every NPC in a town could up and vanish?"

"Vanish? Not entirely. Not without them being killed outright, but I think it's still too early for the conquest of any major towns. It would take a pretty massive army to siege any of the other races’ towns, and they should only just now be starting to fight along the borders of their starting areas."

"Well, it looks like there are posts on the forums saying that all the NPCs in the town of Valcrest have up and disappeared. Most are saying it's probably the first major bug and will be fixed, but some people are saying a guild came through and raided the town last night."

It was Robert's turn to frown as he mulled over what Kass was telling him. However unlikely, it wasn't completely out of the question for a guild to have raided a town this early; but to have all the NPCs killed at night and no one see it? The player base for the game was huge. Humans were the least played race, but with so few towns available in the starter areas, the population within each town should still be huge this early in the game. It was too soon for most to begin adventuring out into the world and starting their own camps.

After thinking for a few minutes and finishing off most of his meal, Robert took a sip of coffee and asked, "Is there anything from any of the other races or towns? Or is this unique to Valcrest?"

Kass didn't look up from the forums she was still reading through as she answered, "No.  I don't see anything else on here. Just that something happened to Valcrest and everything is gone. Apparently the town may have been attacked and all the NPCs have gone missing. I wonder if it could have been an attack from the White-Horns and Black-Wings again, although I thought Darwin and I killed off their invading armies . . ."

Robert studied his daughter. Here was a piece of information that could be useful.  "Darwin . . .?" he queried.

"Yeah. Darwin. My EXP-mine that I was telling you about--the guy in the bathrobe with a spoon. I've been leveling with him for the past few days. He's . . . kinda what you would call a strange guy, but he's a gold mine when it comes to leaching EXP. I haven't seen anyone else in the game kill things like he does. It's like he goes into every fight fighting for his life. It's crazy."  There was more Kass could tell her Dad, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was attached to some random guy in a game. She was just playing with him. He wasn't some weirdo like her Dad had mentioned earlier, a no-life creeper. Well, at least she didn't think he was. "He's usually on at the same times I am, so we started partying together. The first night I met him we killed off the invading White-Horn legion. My character's a mage and he's a fighter, so it made sense to group together."

“So he’s logged in a lot, then?”

“Yeah, he’s been pretty active lately, but hasn’t everyone? With the game just coming out everyone is still pretty hyped up about it.”

Robert sat silent as he mulled this over. He wasn’t really sure how much he wanted to tell his daughter. He knew that he could trust her, but if he told her what little he suspected about her friend Darwin then that might make her too cautious and mean that he couldn't use her for information anymore.

Kass:

Kass wasn’t sure what to expect when she signed in. Between the conversation with her dad, the events of the night before with Darwin’s ‘family reunion’ and all the chatter on the forums, she was a little nervous to actually hit the button and log in, lost as to what would happen. That’s why she was hesitating to log in, but when she finally did log in it wasn’t at all what she was expecting. Not that she knew what to expect, just that it definitely wasn’t this. It was a town full of players, almost all lowbies, standing around the fountain talking to each other. The streets were empty of NPC life. The houses and shops on all sides were burned and the players who remained were talking in hushed murmurs amongst themselves.

“What do you think happened to the townspeople?” Kass overheard, the people talking in hushed whispers but it was still easy enough to make out what was being said given how quiet the rest of the town was.

“I don’t know. I saw a few of them packing up, but then they just vanished.”

“I heard one of the NPCs tell her daughter to be careful, that the Spoon King commanded them. I was going to ask her who the Spoon King was but she went quiet as soon as she saw I was listening. It’s creepy how realistic the NPCs are.”

“I still can’t believe what happened last night. I wish I was logged in; I’d have given those PKs a run for their money.”

Kass was trying to follow the idle gossip between the other players but it was hard to focus. Spoon King? No . . . it couldn’t be Darwin, could it? she thought, since somehow just mentioning the word spoon reminded her of Darwin. What a silly guy.

“My question is, what do we do now? There aren’t any merchants to sell our goods at. There aren’t any merchants to buy goods at. Those jerks really ruined it for us. Now we can’t even get quests.”

QUEST! That’s right. We just finished the clear silver ore mine quest. I need to find Captain Elmont and turn in my quest.

“Hey! Have either of you two seen Captain Elmont?” Kass asked the two who had just been gossipping next to her.

They didn’t respond to her at first. They just stared at her like she had said something stupid. Then finally one of them answered, “Yeah, sorry. Really sorry . . . umm . . . you can find him over at the tavern.”

Kass frowned. She remembered before she logged on reading about how the tavern had burned down. Is that guy such a drunk that he is looking for the last mug of beer in a burned down building? she thought, heading over to the bar. She did her best to avoid looking at the corpses or buildings along the way. It was too grisly a site to handle. I wonder why they haven’t pixelated into nothing yet? Don’t bodies usually disappear over time in video games?

As soon as she saw the clear outline of a body covered in bedsheet she knew it was Captain Elmont’s. Crap. Now I’ll never get the quest completion reward, she thought, approaching the body to confirm her suspicion. Except, when she checked the face she covered it up as quickly as she had seen it. Eww, that’s him alright. I hope Darwin didn’t see him like this. They seemed to get along really well. Oh yeah, where is Darwin at?

She opened up her map and looked around the town for the blue dot. Since Darwin was the only person on her friends list it was easy to look for him in an area. The problem was that throughout the entire town there wasn’t a single blue dot. Kass zoomed her map out and kept trying to find where he could be. She was just about to give up, thinking, Is it possible that Darwin actually logged off? when she finally remembered, The silver-ore mine! He might not know that I could choose to appear back at my bind location in Valcrest since I was logged off for so long. He must still be waiting to make sure I don’t reappear in front of a bunch of bad guys. What a loyal, considerate leveling bot.

Kass decided to whisper Darwin and see what he was up to, but he must have been near enemies because she kept getting error messages. He must be in combat. I know the whisper system doesn’t work when someone is in combat or has potential enemies or monsters within a certain range of them. Deciding the only way she was going to get in contact with Darwin was to chase his blue dot, she exited the town. It’s not like there is anything I can buy around here anyways.

As Kass closed the distance towards Darwin, she couldn’t help but grumble. Why did I have to restart so far away from the silver-ore mine? I don’t even walk this much in real life and I’m doing it in a game? I need a mount. A flying mount would be really cool. It wasn’t until halfway to Darwin that she finally gave up on just walking without doing anything that she decided to go a little bit into the woods and then head to Darwin. Even though it would slow her down, she could at least kill stuff and grind some EXP out along the way. Maybe even get a good item drop. I wonder what that polar bear-looking Boss dropped, I bet Darwin got really good loot from it.

As she was walking through the woods she spotted a group of vicious red-eyed Deer-Frogs hiding between the evergreens that made up the forest. Each one of them looked like a programmer took a frog, made it the size of a person, added some deer antlers and a deer tail and then, just for good measure, stuck giant, red googly eyes on its face. It looked peculiar.

All seven of them were in a nice pile and hadn’t noticed her yet, so she figured there was no harm in trying out one of the spells she had never managed to successfully cast, Ice Dragon’s Dance. Casting the spells felt like moving her arms--it was such a natural and thoughtless process that she couldn’t explain how to do it--but the idea of not being able to seemed silly, a fact she had to adjust to in the real world after logging out sometimes. Since she had never actually seen the spell go off though, the surprise at how beautiful it was caused her to forget to breath. A small shred of blue light began to glow straight up out of the top of her Staff, growing fast and twirling like a helix as it grew, light shooting out of light until light became ice and ice took the shape and form of flesh. Each second that passed caused the Dragon to grow larger and longer until by the fifth second the Dragon was now a thin, ten-foot ribbon serpent with its tail finally breaking away from the sapphire at the top of her staff. The Dragon shot farther up into the sky and then suddenly turned. It charged the ground where the Deer-Frogs lay and slammed into it, the impact splitting the Dragon into two separate Dragons. Each of the two Dragons shot out and began spinning around the encampment so fast Kass couldn’t see one from the other as they chased each other through a circle in the air. The circle grew tighter and tighter as it spiralled upwards leaving an after image that looked like a white Christmas tree surrounding the now-frozen Deer-Frogs. When the snake-like Dragons finally crashed into each other, they shattered, shooting several large shards of ice at everything nearby.

- You have done 815 Damage!

- You have done 815 Damage!

- You have done 815 Damage!

- You have done 815 Damage!

- You have done 815 Damage!

- You have done 815 Damage!

- You have done 815 Damage!

Wow. That was . . . wow, Kass thought, finally remembering to breath. The entire spectacle had been so mesmerizing she had forgotten to be impressed with the Damage it had done. It had completely annihilated the camp of Deer-Frogs. The only disappointing moment was when she noticed she didn’t get any loot from the entire kill spree. which made sense, after all: they didn’t have hands to carry anything. But it didn’t make it any less disappointing.

Kass did a rinse and repeat almost the entire way to the silver ore mine. Finding groups of creatures, stealthily getting as close as she could, and then bursting them down with an Ice Dragon’s Dance. She would have made it all the way to Darwin with just this pattern if it weren’t for the fact that when she finally reached the silver ore mine, she noticed two giant, thirteen-foot-tall Ogres with glaring red eyes and weird marks over their left eyes standing guard over the mine. Kass knew from talking to her dad a lot and reading up on the game that as Ogres leveled, they grew in size. A thirteen-foot-tall Ogre had to be almost level 30 at least. Crap, I bet these are why Darwin is still in the silver ore mine and probably the reason I can’t message him, she thought, trying to think of a way to get past the Guards.

Given that she didn’t have any real loot to lose, it didn’t make sense to worry about dying. There was no way Darwin was going to come out of the silver ore mine with those things guarding, and there was no way she was going to get her EXP bot to farm her levels without getting to him, so she grabbed her staff and made the decision to just wing it. This better be worth it, and your Bathrobe better not flap open in combat again! she thought, preparing her staff and committing herself to the fight ahead.

“Miss. It’s in your best interest not to do that,” a man said, stepping out of the shadows behind her so quietly that he almost scared her to death.

“Why not?” Kass asked, turning to face the man. If he wanted to hurt me, he’d have waited for me to pull the Ogres and killed me mid-pull.

“Because the Boss rather likes his new pets, and we don’t want the Boss to be upset now do we?” the tall scout said. Kass noticed his attire matched the Guards she had seen back when Valcrest still had NPCs.

“But I need to get into the cave.”

“If we’re going to use the word ‘need’ so lightly, then I also need to keep you out of the cave,” the Guard said callously. “Not that I know how you found us, but at the moment we’re not taking guests.”

“Look . . . I just . . . my friend Darwin is in the cave, and I need to talk to him. I know he’s inside that cave. If I can’t go in, can you send him out?”

The Guard didn’t say anything for a long minute. Then he raised one of his hands in a gesture Kass wasn’t quite familiar with. As soon as he did it though two other Guards popped out of the woods, lowering the bows they were holding as they did so. When did this game get a stealth class and how long were they here for? Who the heck is their scary Boss? Kass asked herself, feeling uncomfortable by their appearance.

“What do you want to do Alex?” one of the new Guards asked the one who had first appeared.

“She says she needs in the cave, so bring her to the Boss. You can escort her, Justin. I still have a job to do out here,” the first Guard said, and the one who had just spoken a minute ago walked up to her.

“Alright, Miss, let’s get going. You better not be lying about having business with the Boss, I don’t need to tell you about what kind of man the Boss is. He rips the souls out of people who don’t fall in line,” Justin said, walking ahead of her towards the two giant Ogres.

He rips the souls out of people? He controls giant Ogres? What the heck kind of monster is this? I don’t remember Dad ever mentioning anything about soul-ripping NPCs, Kass thought as a growing feeling of anxiety seemed to sink like a weight in her stomach.

“It’s okay, Miss. They won’t hurt anyone with us,” Justin said, seeming to believe that the clearly visible anxiety on her face was due to walking past the colossal Ogres. “The Boss stole their souls, and now they are just mindless bodyguards.”

Even though it was just a game and her death wouldn’t have any real negative impact, other than a death timer, the creepiness of the whole situation had Kass beginning to regret her choice to enter the cave.

The silver ore mine only kept its appearance as Kass remembered it for the first hundred or so feet. After that, the cave walls flattened out into smooth walls like those of a building lit by the magical torches she recognized from Valcrest and knew would never burn out. The stretch of flat walls didn’t last long though. At the end of the stretch of flat walls, she saw dozens of NPCs working the unflattened section of the wall, all watched over by red-eyed Turtle Wolves with the same markings above their left eye as the Ogres had had outside. Did their Boss enslave an entire village? There must be hundreds of them, Kass thought, her stomach feeling like it had managed to tie itself into a knot.

She kept glancing over her shoulder as she walked at where the entrance had been, much to the bemusement of the Guard leading her. Especially when one of the glances caused her to almost trip over a pile of the debris that had been cleared off the walls. Each step began to feel more and more familiar to Kass with all of the dozens of dead ends they had hit in the first venture through the silver ore mine. They were heading to the Boss room. She checked her map one more time. This is taking me directly to Darwin too. Could the Boss be that girl from yesterday? Is the family reunion still happening?

“We’re here,” Justin said as they finally made it to their destination.

Deep breath, she told herself as she opened the door to the Boss room. Where before had been an empty room with only one of its many tables occupied, there was now a bustling room where every table was filled with NPCs, NPCs eating barbecue. Kass’s eyes scanned the room looking for her EXP bot or some sign of the monstrous presence of the Boss.

“There  is the Boss,” Justin said, pointing at Darwin who had just walked in from a back room holding two giant plates of cooked meat as if he were a waiter. Wait, did he say ‘Boss’ and point to Darwin?

Justin waited for Darwin to finish serving the meat to two tables before interrupting him. “Boss, this girl claims to know you. Says she has business with you.”

“It’s ok, Justin, she’s my friend, you can relax,” he said, putting a hand on Justin’s shoulder. Justin let out a breath Kass hadn’t noticed he was holding. “She does have business with me. She came a long way to get tips on fashion.”

AS IF! Who would play an amazing fantasy game just to dress up like an old man chasing kids off his lawn?

“Thanks, Boss,” Justin said.

“No problem, now go report back in with Alex. We can’t have this place turn into a party,” Darwin said, dismissing Justin, who vanished from sight faster than a ninja’s after image in an anime.

“So, you’re the Boss?” Kass asked, waiting to unload a million questions on him.

“Yes,” Darwin answered in his usual cryptic style.

Suspicious as ever! “How?”

“I inherited it from Elmont and the Mayor.”

“But, the barbecue?” she asked, still having trouble figuring out which question she should ask next.

“The people were hungry, and we have a ton of leftover Turtle-Wolf meat from re-clearing the dungeon.”

“But the Turtle-Wolves I saw coming in?”

“Guards for the 40 odd respawn points. Respawns can be killed without a fight while they are still materializing so you only need one Guard per point.”

This is too much to take in. “So, you’re the Boss?”

“Yes, Kass, I’m the Boss. You’ve asked me this before.”

“So let me get this straight. You took over an entire town, moved them to a dungeon we just cleared. A dungeon they are now tirelessly working to turn into a normal clean building. Then you somehow mind-controlled a group of NPCs to kill and farm their fellow respawns for food to feed your new cult of a town that’s . . . are, are you making them build you an evil lair?”

“Yes, that about sums it up. Any other questions?” Darwin asked, as if this was all a matter of fact and a common occurrence.

“Yes, why?”

“Because they needed me, Kass. They needed someone, and I was all that was left,” he said, a frown creeping across his face as he talked.

“Darwin, they’re just NPCs,” Kass said, regretting it as soon as the words escaped her lips. Darwin’s eyes had narrowed into a cold gaze that sent an icy chill down her spine.

“They are not JUST NPCs Kass,” he responded sharply.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” She tried to backtrack her stupid comment.

“Yes. Yes. you did. It’s okay though. I shouldn’t get mad at you. You didn’t know any better,” Darwin said, looking around at all the NPCs eating in silence. “NPCs shouldn't feel like they do. Look at them, they’re doing their best just to hold themselves together. That isn’t how NPCs are supposed to behave in a game.”

Kass actually saw the NPCs for the first time since she had entered the room. None of them were smiling. She even got the feeling that her presence alone made them even more uneasy than they already were. “I’m sorry.”

“Like I said, it’s okay. I’ve done all that I can do at the moment for these people. Now, I’m assuming you came here because you wanted to level right?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I did.”

“Good, because I have business that requires my attention. It would go much faster with my ice princess helping. Not to mention, I could use the company after the day I’ve had, so . . . do you wanna come?”

“Yes,” Kass answered, smiling for the first time since she entered the mine.

Chapter 5: The Bear Necessities!

Qasin:

The meeting room was a small hall with chairs lined out in a row around a long table in one of the Black-Wing villages. When the King opened the door to enter the room, he could taste it. Fear. They quiver like cowards. As the King, over the years, Qasin had sat in on hundreds of diplomatic, council, and exploratory meetings, but this one was new to him. Every meeting before was filled with men who acted as if they owned the world-- men whose station was always inferior to their self-perception as if they were unjustly fated to play out their roles as inferiors when they were truly equals to their audience. This meeting was different.

This time, as he walked through the room of Black-Wings, the illusion of superiority was nowhere to be seen. Their faces had none of the smug confidence that he had grown to hate on Wilhelm's face as, meeting after meeting, he droned on about how the Kingdom should be run and how a King should handle problems. How he would handle things once he became King. Qasin knew what he had meant, but all of that was gone. This time the only thing he could see on the whiter than normal faces of the vampires was fear. Even the succubi and incubi squirmed in their chairs, their usual lustful command of a room gone beneath their timid shaking.

This . . . this is actually rather pleasant, he thought, walking through the room and sitting at the empty chair at the head of the table. He knew it wasn’t the chair he was supposed to sit in. A common negotiation tactic used among Black-Wings was to have the head Councilman show up late and sit in the prominent chair after they seated you in a lesser side position. He had just walked in and taken the seat unhindered or slowed by the protests of those who were supposed to seat him. He looked at their faces, knowing their shame as they said nothing. Fear. Who would have known how much more useful it was than respect? he thought, laughing on the inside as their oldest Dragon-Wing arrived late only to see his chair already occupied.

“King Qasin, we are honored that you have accepted our invitation for a meeting,” the tardy Dragon-Wing said, taking the seat that had been meant for the guest. “It is our hope that this meeting may help us put aside our differences and understand one another better such that we both may benefit.”

So now that it is your people dying, we should talk and get to know each other? When my people are dying, it’s just tough luck and we’re just better than you, right? the King thought, gritting his teeth. He had to force himself to relax so that the Council of Fools he was addressing wouldn’t have a heart attack.

“We’ve come to realize that the relationship between our two peoples has reached an all-time low, and we want to know how we can bring back the peaceful understanding we had for so long,” the Dragon-Wing awkwardly continued after the King ignored his greeting.

The King had seen the meeting going a hundred different ways in his head before he opened the doors to the room and sat down, but now that he was here, all strategy abandoned him. All the preplanning, logic, and reason that he was going to use to convince them to surrender was gone. It’s unnecessary, he thought, letting his actions and words be pulled by the hunger that grew inside him. I will not dance for cowards again. “Peaceful understanding? Surely you can elaborate.”

The Dragon-Wing gulped. “You see, we haven’t had a war or ba--” he began, stopping only as he saw the King pull out a Sword and lay it on the table. He gulped again.

Lie to me. Do it. I dare you. I know your kind can’t resist. I know how you politicians are.

“You . . . you see . . .” the Dragon-Wing tried to continue, visibly shaking as he stuttered, his eyes never leaving the Sword. “You see we have . . . always been at peace until recent events.”

“Recent events? Enlighten me.” The King stood up and grabbed hold of the Sword. This is just like with Wilhelm. These people, these Black-Wings, they aren’t bad, they’re just plagued with Councilmen.

“Well, that is, we umm . . .”

“No, go ahead. Tell me which recent events you mean.” The King began to walk around the long square table to the Councilman on the other side.

“We, um, have reports that, you have been attacking our people, sir. By yourself,” he said.

“And, was there nothing before that?” the King said, each step shrinking the distance between himself and the councilman Dragon-Wing on the other side of the table.

“No, of course not, our people would ne--” the Dragon-Wing was cut short as the King closed the fifteen foot distance in an instant. Only the crunching sound of splitting wood and bones ran through the room with a gust of wind that followed, letting everyone know that something had just happened. No one had caught what it was. No one in the room had seen anything more than a flash as the King lunged and split the Dragon-Wing in two.

Everyone at the table froze. They wanted to say something. Run. Call for help, but their fear had petrified them where they sat. Even the Guards at the doors didn’t move.

“Now, who can tell me where our hostilities began without lying?” the King said, kicking the split chair and mangled body to the floor. “I mean, you’re welcome to lie again, but . . . I’ll have to kill you for offending me. Oh, and who can clean up this rather unsightly mess? ”

The silence persisted for almost two minutes until finally one of the Incubi sitting at one of the least important chairs of the table stood up and shouted; “We took part in the attack on your people near Valcrest!” as if he were declaring his love for a girl in a romantic comedy before quickly lowering his head and closing his eyes tight.

“Good. Now that we understand what brought us here, we can be honest. What do you plan on offering me for this peace you want?” the King said, causing the Incubus to relax and open his eyes.

“Sir, I mean, King Qasin, my name is Karnis. While I can’t speak for everyone, I can promise to give you everything that is mine if you will but let me tell our story before you shed more blood here. Please, Your Majesty,” the same Incubus spoke, the others now all just staring at the empty place where the Dragon-Wing had been sitting.

How could a story be so important that this boy would give up everything he owned just to tell it? the King wondered, deciding to humor the brave young fiend and listen to his story. “Very well, explain yourself, and we’ll talk about terms from there.”

The King walked across the room and sat back down in his chair as Karnis told his story. Most of it the King had known. He had known about the plotting to take over his throne with the council. He had known about the troop movements with the White-Horns. He had even grasped the relationship, tenuous at best, but an allegiance none the less, that the Black-Wings had built with the White-Horns recently. Most of the story he had known, but the King hadn’t known why, what the impetus had been for moving so quickly and at the cost of so many lives had been: the Sun God Emperor. The Black-Wings and White-Horns had each managed to capture one of their Scouts. They had managed to interrogate the Scout and discover the imminent invasion. That’s when they had approached the Human Council and discussed the need for a unified front, but the Council had talked about a tit for tat arrangement.

“So this whole dispute was started by the Council? And this Sun God Empire, you’re worried about this Kingdom attacking you?” the King said, having heard Karnis’ entire story.

“Yes, King Qasin,” Karnis answered, and the rest of the Council generally nodded their agreement.

“Good, but you will understand why I can’t simply forgive you just because you didn’t come up with the idea yourself, right?” the King pressed.

“Yes. I understand, and that is why we are willing to give whatever it takes if you will please cease the hostilities and send us aid to deal with this threat.”

The King let the whole notion sink in as he slouched back in his chair and relaxed. They really are desperate, aren’t they? How terrible a threat is this Sun God Empire?

“Well, gentlemen, be at ease. I will consider the conflict resolved and have my troops ready as soon as the White-Horn threat has been dealt with,” the King finally spoke.

“Thank you, King Qasin, but how much are you asking for in return for your aid?” a new voice spoke, one of the succubi sitting close to him.

“Cost you? Why, nothing at all. A King can’t be expected to charge his vassals any more than standard taxes in return for their protection,” the King said with a chuckle.

A murmur broke out in the room. They had obviously not been expecting this, but they needed the help so no one spoke out immediately to counter the King’s statement.

“Look,” the King continued, “you either accept my help and that you are now my subjects, or I murder you all here and wage war with your Kingdom until you break. It’s up to you, but the real question is whether or not your pride is worth the lives of you and your people? You have until I leave this room to decide.”

The murmuring stopped. An uneasy silence crept over the room and every member of the table was frantically exchanging worried glances. Ah, that fear. It’s here again, the King thought, enjoying the sensation. He hadn’t planned on doing it like this, but somehow he knew it was the right thing to do. If it failed, he could just kill them all and negotiate with whomever stepped up next--a fact they clearly all knew.

After the silence had lingered for a few minutes, the King decided he had waited long enough and stood up. As soon as he did so, they all panicked, and Karnis stood up too and spoke again, “Wait!”

“Yes?” he asked, as if he didn’t know what was about to be said.

“I . . . I think we can all agree to those terms, Your Majesty,”  Karnis said, looking around for any dissenting voices.

“So, we’re all agreed then?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said, taking a knee.

“Good, I’ll have a messenger meet with you all to work out the details on taxes and defense. In the mean time, I have some White-Horns to visit,” the King said, walking out the door. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he left.  There was a certain pleasure the negotiations had brought him that he just couldn’t put his finger on.

The fear. It must have been their fear, he thought, closing the doors to the terrible chapter of bad Council meetings that had plagued his political career.

Darwin:

As Darwin pulled his Sword from one of the giant Beetle-Bees on his route, he couldn’t help but wonder, How much emotion was this thing given? Did the game designer give it feelings enough to suffer as I killed it? He looked over at Kass only to see her face smiling at him as she cast one final spell at the encampment. Do these questions even cross her mind? he thought, already knowing the answer. No. Of course not, why should they?

He looked around the encampment to find there were no mobs left. Between his own efforts at the start, the two Turtle-Wolves he had brought with him and Kass, most of the fights that would have lasted a few minutes were often over in a few seconds. Kass had coated his and the Turtle-Wolves’ weapons with her ice spell to make the whole thing go even faster and look more beautiful. A fact that would have made Darwin happy if he weren’t too busy being consumed by his own thoughts about the feelings of the creatures he was killing.

“You’re quieter than usual Darwin,” Kass finally interrupted as they walked.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he answered, not really knowing what to say.

“It’s okay, but, you haven’t really told me where we are going,” Kass asked, twirling her Staff like it was a baton. “Are we going on a magical quest to rescue a princess?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve already rescued one helpless princess in distress; I don’t think I need to rescue another.”

“Awwww . . . you think I’m a princess! It’s okay, Darwin, you can admit that I’m the most beautiful princess you’ve ever seen,” Kass said, arrogantly doing a twirl in her white Dress. Darwin was beginning to think that she was trying to copyright the move.

“I was just trying to politely say you were helpless.”

“Psh, whatever you say, old man. We both know you think I’m a beautiful princess,” Kass said, smiling.

Is this flirting? Darwin thought for a minute before shaking off the idea. No, it can’t be. Why would I think that? I’m just an old man to her. Darwin had never actually experienced having this type of interaction for himself, or at least not that he could recall. Even though he was sure he had plenty of get togethers with people, he was having more and more difficulty remembering basic interactions he had shared with other people in his life before Tiqpa.

“Earth to Darwin, are you there?” she said, nudging his shoulder with her Staff as they walked.

“Yeah, sorry. Just been a pretty busy day,” he said, shaking his head clear of the thoughts.

“I can imagine, Mr. Mayor, but you still didn’t answer my question. Where are we headed exactly?”

“We’re headed to Menive Mountain. As good a fix as my situation has been for the townspeople, there is something else we need to get inside the Grennich Dungeon on Menive Mountain.”

“Why? What’s in there?” she pressed.

“Something I must absolutely obtain.” Darwin decided not to answer her question properly. He knew what she was asking, but for some reason he enjoyed withholding the knowledge from her.

“Hmph, I see how it is,” she said, already onto his game. “Be that way. I’ll just have to find out when we get there.”

“Yes, yes, you will. Anyways, I brought you along because we will be going through some hard trials and hopefully getting some good levels and loot,” he answered, slightly disappointed the little game he was playing with her didn’t drag on any further.

“Oh yeah, loot, is that sword a drop from the boss monster we fought last time?” she asked, admiring his Burriza’s Blade.

“This? Yeah. It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Darwin answered, swinging it a few times for show. “It’s a shame his respawn didn’t drop a second blade.”

“The boss respawned and didn’t drop anything?”

“Yeah. Kind of odd. I guess you can’t get loot drops from the same boss twice.”

“Ugh! I need to be there to kill it once. I want a cool weapon too,” she complained. Yes, this was the Kass he had gotten used to partying with.

“Well, it respawns at least once every 24 hours. We can hang around and have some BBQ while we wait for it one day if you want.”

“Sure, sounds great,” she said, holding her Staff in a cool pose.

I wonder how great this game would be to experience as a player, Darwin thought, wishing he could share in her excitement. It must be amazing to come to a world like this where you can be anything or do anything, even magic, without any real repercussions. He envied her laid-back attitude somewhat. This game would be a blast to be a player. How come he had never heard of it before he got here? Had he been that wrapped up in his own little MMO?

As they continued northwest through the forest and into the mountains, Darwin saw something amazing. A level five Black Bear. It was only four feet tall, not that big, and the level meant it really wasn’t a threat. Will it grow up to be a giant Bear like Burriza was? Darwin began to think. Burriza hadn’t been as high a level as the other Turtle-Wolves, but he had been significantly more deadly. As he was thinking, he noticed Kass was about to cast and kill it.

“NO!” he instinctively shouted as he jumped between her and the bear. “Don’t kill it,” he said, not sure what was possessing him to stop her. Then he grinned as he realized why he had done it.

Kass looked at him confused. She mistook his intervention for kindness. This isn’t kindness . . . it’s cruelty, Darwin thought, stabbing the Black Bear through the heart with his Burriza’s Blade. You would have just granted it death, but the fate I have planned for it is probably much worse, he thought, activating his Racial Ability, Demonic Command, and reviving the Black Bear.

- Please name your monster.

Darwin was trying to think of a name for his new, little, cute and cuddly Zombie Bear, deciding that perhaps ZomBear wasn’t appropriate, when Kass interrupted him.

“Darwin, what the hell? Did you . . . did you just murder that Bear . . . and bring it back to life?”

“Yeah, pretty cool, huh?” Darwin was very happy with his own Racial talent.

“But, how? I’ve been wondering about it since I first found out you made the Ogres and Turtle-Wolves, but it doesn’t make sense. Aren’t you a fighter-type Class? I always see you fighting with your Axes and Spoons. I just assumed you were a fighter. You’re not a Mage, are you? If you are, you’re one really weird Mage,” she said, her face still frozen in confusion. Her eyes darted from the bear to Darwin and then back to the bear again, but her face didn’t move at all.

Darwin was about to tell her it was a Racial Ability when something made him stop. If I tell her about my Racial Ability, we’ll have to get into a discussion about my Race. That’s too many questions that I don’t want to have to deal with right now, Darwin thought, deciding that it was better to avoid raising too many red flags about his Race and existence in the world. “Actually, you might not know this, but I still need to come up with a name for this little guy,” he said, ignoring her question altogether as he patted his new Zombie Bear. “Do you have any ideas?”

Kass stared at him for a good minute. She was clearly deciding whether or not she wanted to pursue questioning him about how his ability worked or if she just wanted to drop it and help him name his new pet. “It . . . let me think a minute,” she finally said to Darwin’s relief.

“I was thinking ZomBear,” Darwin told her honestly while she contemplating.

“What? ZomBear? No, you can’t name it that. What about Pedobear?”

“Ewww . . . no one likes a Pedobear. Why would you try to name him that?”

“I don’t know. He’s a Bear, and with those red eyes he is kind of creepy. ‘Bear’ plus ‘creepy’ tends to yield a Pedobear,” Kass said, laughing.

“Yeah, no, let’s try again. I like the little guy. I may ride him around the world one day. I can’t go around riding a Pedobear.” He joined in Kass’ laugh.

“Why not? Is it because you’re too old? Is there an age limit when riding Pedobears?”

Darwin wanted to respond, but he couldn’t think of any clever comeback, so he let the subject go.

“How about Fuzzy Wuzzy? He may be a bit creepy, but he’s also super cute! And fuzzy!” Kass said, joining Darwin by the Bear and petting him too.

Darwin looked at the Bear and touched it again. Actually, he is pretty fuzzy. I didn’t realize touch was this detailed within the VR. I can’t tell the difference between this and real life. “Yeah, Fuzzy Wuzzy works. Good job, Kass,” Darwin said, completing the naming process and adding Fuzzy Wuzzy to the party.

“Alright, Fuzzy Wuzzy, let’s go get you some levels,” Kass said, winking at Darwin.

Wait, is leveling some inside joke that I’m supposed to know? “Yeah, some levels.”

The interesting thing about the landscape for Darwin as they traveled was that the monsters never felt standardized. Throughout his entire MMO gaming experience, he was very used to finding ‘zones’ drawn with imaginary lines in the sand where only certain monsters would appear or certain clusters and combinations of monsters, but here it just felt randomized. He had gone from killing Beetle-Bees to catching a Black Bear, and Darwin could already see some signs of Demon-Mole thingies appearing up ahead. They had even killed a goldfish-butterfly-squirrel looking monster that kept forgetting it was in combat during the fight. This was one Hell of a world, Darwin thought as he grabbed his Sword and charged the demon-horned, spiked-back giant Moles. It is one Hell of a world indeed.

The further he pressed towards the dungeon where the object of his intent rested, the more Darwin felt that he was being watched. It was hard to shake his feeling. Each time he cleaved into a monster and ripped it with his dancing double Swords, he felt as if someone was smiling at him. No, it must just be my imagination.

“So, Kass, can you tell me a bit about this world?”

“I guess? I probably don’t know much more than you. Anyone can log on to the forums and find out almost everything that is known.”

“Yeah, but there is something I’ve been wondering about the map. It seems like the island we’re on is incredibly tiny compared to the giant land mass in the middle. What is that continent?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, this is the noob zone. There aren’t supposed to be monsters over Level 40, and most players are supposed to leave within a week or two. It’s where us noobs get started, but that land--that’s the goal of this game really. It’s a land infested with creatures of immense power, hidden dungeons with great wealth, and a constantly changing and evolving force for the players to fight against. The best part is that players have no restrictions on what they can do. Players can build castles, erect cities, and change the face of the earth through dams and tunneling, and so forth. Due to the level and mineral restrictions, though, it’s really hard to do this on the noob islands. A lot of the best minerals for city building are only found on that continent.”

“Really, so we’re just on the noob island?” Darwin was both scared and excited at the prospect of what she was saying. Trying to imagine how big the world must be meant that his challenge, the goal he was slowly realizing he needed to achieve, was going to be that much harder. It also meant that there was that much larger of a world full of challenges to explore and conquer. If this were just a game he’d have squealed at the thought of the main land being so vast. If this were just a game, he’d probably already be there.

“Yeah. There can’t be more than five dungeons total on this entire island, and other than the regents no one is over Level 40 for the NPCs.”

Darwin cringed at the word NPC. “So, you’re saying this is noob island? And that means that since I’m on this island, you’re calling me a noob?”

“Oh no, I would never call the great Spoony Adventurer a noob!” she joked, moving her hand as if to tip an imaginary hat while faking a bow. “Heaven forbid anyone assume that you are like the rest of us, your Spoonajesty!”

“Hey! I’m not that arrogant!” Darwin insisted, nudging her shoulder. “I’ll have you know I’m a very modest guy.”

“Yes, a modest guy who kills an army, takes over a village, and runs super secret missions that he can’t tell anyone about. Also, the way you are dressed, I’m not sure you should ever be allowed to refer to yourself as modest.”

“Well, Fuzzy Wuzzy thinks I’m modest, don’t you boy.”

“Is it a boy?” Kass asked, looking around the back of Fuzzy Wuzzy.

“I’m not checking. It’s an it for all I care,” Darwin insisted, knowing whatever gender it was, it wasn’t worth the investigation.

“Okay, well, Mr. Modest, how much longer until we reach this Grennich Dungeon?” she asked, changing the subject.

“That . . . that I’m not entirely sure about,” he said again, definitely feeling like something or someone was watching him. The weirdest part of the unshakable gut instinct that he was being watched was that it felt more comforting than creepy. Something was watching him, and it didn’t feel creepy. Darwin let his hand rest on Fuzzy Wuzzy’s head as he opened up his map menu. “We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close.”

“Good, because we’re almost forty and eventually we’re going to have to leave the noob islands if we’re going to level much more. Can’t be spending days extra finding a dungeon that won’t get us any EXP.”

Leave the starting zones? What would happen to the town I’ve been rebuilding once I left this land? “How do you leave the noob island?”

“By ship. The problem is, once you’re gone, you can’t come back. It’s to stop people from getting to Level 100 and rolling over all the lowbies on noob island. So it’s a one-way venture only when someone goes to the mainland, at least for players.”

“One way only? So there is no way to get back here after you leave?” Darwin began to panic as the realization of what that meant kicked in.

“Yep. The second you leave the starting territories towards the massive continent, that’s it. You’re stuck on the mainland.”

“So there is no way to come back?”

“No. Even if you made a boat yourself and tried to sail it back, it would just run into an imaginary wall and not go any further.”

One way . . . no. No, there has to be a way to protect the people and make it off the island. There has to be a . . . that’s it! Darwin smiled, finally realizing what he needed to do next. Kass gave him the same weird look she always did when he smiled for what to her was no reason at all. This idea, it’ll have to work.

Maddock:

The sound of waves breaking on rocks and the pounding of the surf filled the air in a cacophonous roar that wouldn't stop in the distance. Though it was approaching midday, the sun wasn't strong enough to burn off the heavy fog that had settled in during the night, and, as a result, a heavy wet blanket hung over the woodlands that lead up to the coast. After raiding Valcrest, Maddock had led his group east into the mountains surrounding the Human starter lands. They provided a sort of natural barrier between the starting areas of the Humans and White-Horns. Even though they weren't the colossal peaks rumored to populate areas of the mainland, they were large enough to require several days travel  to successfully navigate their ranges--unless, of course, you happened to travel through the ore mines that lay beneath them.  Humans and White-Horns alike had been mining the mountains of their ore for ages and a honeycomb of passages now existed beneath the peaks. Rather than spending several days traveling across the mountains, Maddock had instead decided to simply navigate the dungeon's maze and save time. The mobs that spawned there were around level thirty and were a walk-over, posing no real threat to the group at all. Even though they were hauling a cart laden with stolen goods, the group had made remarkable time.

He wasn't worried about being followed. If someone was stupid enough to try, Maddock seriously doubted that very many of the PCs in the area were high enough level to make it through the mines alone, assuming they were lucky enough to find their way through. If information filtering through the forums was correct, his nighttime raid on Valcrest had been an even larger success than he had planned. Originally, he had never had any intention of destroying the town or killing off most of the NPCs. He only wanted to raid the town for the resources before moving on to the next area. The Guild was already well funded, but why pass up an opportunity to pad the Guild bank if it presented itself? With most of the Human legions having been destroyed by the White-Horn and Black-Wing armies, it had been the perfect opportunity. Only the city Guard, had been left to defend the town, along with whatever PCs might have been logged in during the early morning hours, and those were easy enough to kill.  Very few NPCs in the starter areas were over Level 40, and then only a very few. Now, with the town in ruins and most of the NPCs killed or having disappeared, if the rumors on the boards were true, it was unlikely that anyone would be using the town as a bind point for much longer.

Maddock had made good use of his Scouts and Assassins. He knew from experience that information was the key to always being prepared; and, ever since leaving Valcrest, they had been working over time.  He had used them as front runners to scout out the dungeon in stealth. Being a higher level than the mobs there, they had been able to walk past a majority of them while invisible without having to take the time to kill them off as they went. As a result, mapping out the endless dead ends and side tunnels had been quick work and they had been able to avoid the Boss battle that lay in the center of the dungeon. After they had exited the dungeon, coming out on the coastal side of the mountain range, they had quickly located a wilderness bank, deposited their purloined loot, and ditched the cart they had been using to carry everything. The Guild had then made their way through the forest towards the harbor located on the coast. All in all, the raid and subsequent disappearance of the Guild had been a great success. They had literally made away with a King's ransom in Gold Coins, supplies, weapons, and crafting materials.

For the past day, the Guild had been camped out on the edge of the forest traveling back and forth to the harbor with supplies, getting ready to finish the summoning process that would construct a boat for them. It had been Maddock's intention to finally leave the starter areas and make his way to the mainland before everyone else had the opportunity. He knew from his experience killing everyone in the Human lands and judging by levels on the leaderboards that his entire Guild outranked almost everyone in the starter areas. Being able to tackle the higher-level mob zones there and having first crack at exploring the dungeons for loot before anyone else would help them keep that advantage.

Now, however, he was beginning to have second thoughts. Almost as soon as they had made camp after exiting the dungeon they had begun encountering White-Wing Scouts. Strung out in pairs of twos and threes they were easy enough to kill and presented no real threat to his Guild or what he was doing, but he had to question what they were doing there. Rumors had been floating around on the message boards about the White-Wings attempting an invasion of the other starter areas, but Maddock had summarily dismissed them out of hand as simple gossip. What would be the point? Raiding into the other areas would only serve a handful of purposes, most of which were made moot by the placement of the Racial areas. The Human starter area was located on an island with those of the White-Horns and Black-Wings located west of the mainland. Conflict between those Races was inevitable as players leveled and pushed the natural borders of the starter areas closer and closer together. Fighting over leveling areas and resources was the natural evolution as the game progressed. The White-Wings, however, were located on a separate island with the Fire-Walkers, a natural ally. Their own private island was to the southeast across the ocean, south of the mainland.  They had no need to fight over mob camps or resources as they had no natural enemies to create conflict with.

So why were they here? Natural curiosity of players was easy to explain. The world of Tiqpa was massive. Each area was different and incredibly unique. Wanting to explore the world and everything it had to offer was natural. The only problem was that these weren't players.  They were NPC Scouts that were clearly being sent by the White-Wing's ruling Council, or whatever form of government birds used, with a purpose in mind. What reason did they have for flying Scouts across the ocean unless they were planning on some sort of attack?

"How much longer do we need?" Maddock finally asked, breaking himself out of his internal reverie.

The figure sitting next to him shifted as he looked up in response. Even a few feet away the fog was thick enough to partially obscure him. "Couple of hours. This isn't as simple as making one of the smaller vessels."

"Hmmm . . ." Maddock mused, "Can't stand the waiting. Never could."

The other figure shrugged in response. "It can't be helped, though, can it?"

"I don't like second guessing myself, but maybe we should have gone with a few of the smaller crafts rather than spending all this time waiting for a larger one."

"Maybe. But everyone seemed to agree we might as well go for it. It's not like we're going to risk losing it unless we sail it straight into a whole army. Even then I'm not sure they'd be able to take it as long as we're all defending it and play our cards right." The other man looked back down and focused on where he was sharpening a knife.

The Guild had aspirations. They were planning on summoning in a pinnace. It was one of the smaller ships as far as ship building went in the game, but Maddock knew it was more advanced than any other Guild had summoned so far. For the most part, everyone was still working on building the crude rafts that were the first level of ship crafting available to everyone. Crafting ships was one of the most expensive crafting lines available. It took an entire Guild funneling materials to a single craftsman to even bother leveling up the skills. Unless you were an extremely wealthy merchant, or had a Guild backing you, it wasn't worth the time or effort it took. A pinnace was slightly larger, faster, and better designed to carry a big number of people; and, what excited everyone the most, it carried three separate cannons on board. Attempting to craft the ship shouldn't have even been possible at this stage in the game. It was really a bit of luck that had brought them to even attempting it. They had found a stash of rare ore in one of the strongboxes looted from Valcrest. It wasn't farmable anywhere on the starter islands, as far as Maddock knew anyway, and must have been part of the rare ore collected from one of the mines that was set to be shipped to the King.

"I definitely don't plan on being careless, but you never know what might happen once battle breaks out. If rumors are right, some of the larger Guilds might have enough people to overrun us no matter how well prepared we are or careful we try to be." Maddock stood up and began walking off towards the small harbor again that was being used for the summoning. "I'm going to check in and see if we can't speed this up any. I can't stand waiting."

Leaving the campsite behind him, Maddock began slowly making his way through the fog-cloaked woods in the direction he knew the coast to be. Even though it was hard to see where he was going, it was impossible to ignore the pounding of the surf as waves broke against the coastline. The forest in this area was relatively easy to navigate compared to some of the areas with denser growth. Massive hardwood trees that were impossible to reach around dominated the area, their tops reaching up so far their lowest branches couldn't be seen through the swirling mist.

He estimated that he had made it about halfway to where the edge of the tree line would be before heard the sound. From somewhere above him he could have sworn he heard the sound of bark cracking. Maddock did a quick mental check without ever slowing his pace.  He never went anywhere without his massive Two-Handed Sword strapped to his back. He also carried a massive Knife strapped to his belt so large it bordered on being a small sword, which he now eased his hand onto the hilt of as he continued making his way towards the coast.  Above him, he was positive he heard the sound of bark crunching again.

Changing direction, Maddock ducked around one of the massive trees to his right and began heading in a direction that would take him on a course parallel to the edge of the tree line.  If he was right about his suspicions, he would find out soon enough. He was careful to never change his pace, just taking his time walking through the heavy fog. After counting twenty paces in his head, all the time straining his ears to listen, he turned left again, towards the coast, and stopped. He loudly shuffled his feet, taking a step first one way then another, to make it sound as if he were confused about which direction he wanted to go.

He had turned halfway around to head back in the direction he had come from when a massive force slammed itself into his shoulder from above, bringing him to the ground. As he fell over, all he could see was a flurry of white feathers.

- You have taken 82 damage!

- You have taken 82 damage!

Maddock hit the ground hard on his left side, his Armor taking most of the force of the fall. He had pulled the Knife free from his belt and was on his feet in a crouch in seconds. The sound of wings furiously beating the air filled his ears as the White-Wing struggled to quickly regain altitude behind him. The thick fog swirled around him, obscuring his vision. Somewhere above him he heard the crunching of bark breaking lose again as the White-Wing found a grip on one of the lower tree limbs. Maddock remained in a crouch, Knife ready, listening. The thick haze not only made it impossible to see, it also deadened the sounds around him, making it hard to tell exactly where anything was coming from.

After several long moments Maddock managed slowed his breathing. He couldn't hear anything but the resounding surf as it beat against the rocks of the coast in the distance. "So, that's how it's going to be," he thought to himself, "We're going to play a waiting game, huh?" He silently raised himself into a half crouch, testing how well the avian could see through the murk.  When no attack came after a few seconds, he raised to a full standing position and stood waiting again, listening. Still no attack came.

Maddock narrowed his eyes as he thought how to play this out. The White-Wing was as blind as he was in the fog. He was relying on the sound of Maddock walking to figure out where to attack from, just like Maddock was relying on the sounds of the trees to know when the attack was coming.

"Let's see how smart you are, eh?" he thought to himself. Maddock silently crouched back down and stuck the Knife blade down into the ground next to the tree. Raising himself back up, he took several small steps forward. On the fourth step, he heard the sound of the bark breaking loose as the White-Wing took to the air again. Maddock rushed forward, charging in the direction of the ocean, not caring how much noise he made.

"Thirteen . . . Fourteen . . ." Maddock mentally counted the steps as he ran. "Sixtee--" The birdman slammed into him from behind, throwing him to the ground again, and there was a flurry of wings as the White-Wing sought to take to the air once more.

- You have taken 113 damage!

- You have taken 113 damage!

Maddock didn't wait this time. He pushed himself back to his feet and turned around running in the direction he had just come from. He was hoping that his suspicion was correct.  Since the White-Wing couldn't see what it was attacking until it was almost on him in its dive, he was going to be blind most of the way down.

"Eleven . . . Twelve . . . Thirteen . . ." Maddock threw himself feet first into a baseball style slide towards the tree he had stood crouched beside moments before. Above him, he felt a rush of wind as the White-Wing missed its dive.  Maddock grabbed the handle of the Knife in his hand as he slid to it and firmly planted his feet into the ground, using his momentum to push him back onto his feet and carry him forward. Just a few feet ahead of him, he could make out the outline of the White-Wing as it tried to regain flight. The mist swirled around its wings.

"No so smart!" Maddock yelled. Lunging forward, he brought the Knife up and back down into the shoulder blade of the birdman, just at the base of its wing.  The Crude Leather Armor it wore wasn't thick enough to stop the heavy blade from piercing through and into the muscle beneath. His momentum carried him forward onto the White-Wing's back, bearing it to the ground beneath him.

"Arrrrraaaaa!" the White-Wing cried out, furiously struggling to throw Maddock off.

"Nope." Maddock braced his legs firmly around the waist of his prey, who was pinned face down on the ground. He wrenched his Knife free from the avian's shoulder causing him to cry out again in pain. "I don't think so." He gripped the Knife in both hands and slammed it down into the other shoulder blade in the exact same spot, severing the muscle there.

"The Sun God will immolate you in his light for this, heathen!  You cannot desecrate the flesh of the chosen and remain unpunished!  We are the bearers of his righteous word and--"

"Shut up." Maddock drove his mailed fist into the back of the White-Wing's head slamming it face-first into the ground.

"Arrrgh! You will burn! On our wings, his glory will be carried! You will bur-- Arrrrrrrrraaaaaaahhh!" he cried out again.

Maddock gripped the avian's wings in both hands and rocked backwards, pulling hard.  There was a snapping of bone as the wings broke and dislocated where the muscles had been severed. The White-Wing fell unconscious from the pain and remained silent.

"That's for making me wait,"  Maddock said as he stood up above the now prone form. "I hate waiting." Reaching down, he pulled his Knife free from where it was still lodged in the White-Wing's shoulder. He wiped it off on the bird's feathers, leaving them streaked with red and slipped his weapon back into his belt.

Maddock hoisted the limp form over his shoulders and began trudging back to camp under the weight. "Now for some answers."

Valerie:

Valerie felt awesome. She felt like a super secret agent. Like a sexy black widow with wings. The word bad ass was the only way she could think of describing what she was doing. In her mind, they weren’t three kids playing a videogame--they were three secret agents. She was the level-headed leader in her Leather Armor with her fancy Daggers sneaking around giving hand signals to her friends so as not to talk. Daniel wasn’t just the random guy that had been roped into the group. He was a smooth-talking operator who could get in and out of any situation with his quick wit and likable personality. And Mclean? Mclean was the warrior girl who would murder anyone if their trio was discovered. So Valerie didn’t feel silly at all as they crept through the sand towards the entrance to the Fire-Walkers’ lair. She felt cool.

They etched their way across the sand, making sure to be careful and use the terrain as a cloak to hide themselves as they approached the shadowed entrance in the sand. Whatever the Fire-Walkers were up to, they hadn’t been easy to find, and they probably wouldn’t take kindly to being infiltrated either. People generally didn’t like others spying on them if they went to this much trouble remaining secret. Being very close to the cap level of the area, Valerie was sure she could handle most of the competition if anything came up, but that didn’t mean she wanted to test her luck. It also didn’t mean she was sure that she’d find out what she needed if they just rampaged through a supposedly friendly town, no matter how sketchy and hidden it was.

“Are you seeing all of this? Look at that entrance. It’s better guarded than the president’s ride. How are we supposed to sneak past that?” Daniel whispered to Valerie, as if she was the idea girl at this point.

“We . . . we aren’t. There are too many Guards. Wait, do any of you guys have a box to hide under?” Mclean answered, causing Daniel to chuckle and almost get the group spotted.

“Well, there is always the other option,” Valerie thought. “We don’t have to sneak past them without getting spotted; we just have to make sure whoever spots us isn’t alive to sound the alarm.”

“Don’t let them ring the bell--as if we’re playing Assassin’s Creed, you mean?” Daniel asked, pulling out his Daggers.

“Yes, Like Assassin’s Creed. Except this time you can’t even let them shout. Let’s do this!” Valerie said, accidently saying it loud enough for the first Guard to hear.

Crap! I can’t let hi-- she started to think, but Mclean had already made it to him and cut both of the Guard’s throats before Valerie closed half the distance. That girl is insane.

“Maybe be a little less enthusiastic,” Mclean joked, cleaning off her blade.

“Hehe, okay, I’ll remember that,” Valerie said, feeling a bit embarrassed, but too excited about the whole mission to let it get to her.

Now that the two Guards standing watch over the glass hole in the floor that lead to the Fire-Walker establishment were dead, there really wasn’t a rush. Valerie tried to get her breathing as quiet as possible as she descended down the glass stairs.

“Umm, do we . . . do we have any way to see down here?” Daniel asked, making everyone painfully aware that the Fire-Walkers clearly hadn’t felt it necessary to add torches, given the built in ones they carried.

“Oh! I know!” Valerie beamed excitedly. She quickly pulled out a number of glowing rocks. “I got these at the market earlier, ‘Stones of the Sun God’ the guy who sold me called them. They aren’t bright enough to really make any noticeable change in light during the day, but I think right now they are perfect. Just enough light to let us see but not enough to call attention to us.”

“Wow, that’s pretty awesome!” Daniel said as he and Mclean grabbed two of the rocks. He then put two of them over his eyes and stuck out his arms like a zombie. “Aaagghhhh . . . brains!!”

“Don’t be silly, why would zombies have glowing eyes?” Mclean knocked him on the back causing both of the eyes to shoot out of his head and onto the floor.

“I don’t know. Movies always do weird things with lighting effects and zombies,” Daniel said, scooping down to pick up the rocks. “It’s not like zombies have any basis in science.”

“Maybe, but they’re still scary,” Mclean said.

Wait, Mclean is scared of something?

Daniel cut the conversation short by putting his finger over his mouth. Footsteps could be heard, and no one wanted to be spotted just yet. They had just gotten down the glass stairs, which opened up into a perpendicular fork in the road with the footsteps coming from the left path.

“Those bird-brained idiots will never know what hit them,” one of the voices said.

Could we really be so lucky as to get vital information this quick? Are we natural born spies?

“Yeah, they are out there tirelessly working at the harbor to expand our Empire. They have no idea what’ll be waiting for them when they get back,” another voice said.

“So glad I picked Fire-Walker. Can you imagine how awful it would be to be bound to that hunk of glass in the sky when it comes crashing down?”

“No idea. It serves them right though, arrogant little feather heads.”

Valerie had to stop herself from dashing out and punching the voice in the throat. It was getting closer every second, so the amount of time she’d have to eavesdrop was shrinking by the moment. Don’t do anything rash just yet guys, she thought, eyeing her two friends. If she wanted to jump out from behind the corner and stab them, Mclean definitely would.

“The worst part of it all? Most of them will die during the invasion, so they’ll have no way to stop us by the time they finally realize what’s happening.”

I know no one is supposed to be down here, but you are giving away way too much plot information haphazardly. You idiot, are you trying out for a role as the villain in a Bond movie?

“Hahahahaha, maybe I can strap a saddle to one of those feather-brained idiots an--” nothing but the sound of gurgling blood escaped his mouth as he tried to finish his sentence. He had gotten too close to the corner, and Daniel had rounded it and killed him, jamming a Dagger right through his throat. Mclean had followed and carved up the other one.

So much for hostages.

“What? Don’t hold me responsible: I’m just a feather-brained idiot,” Daniel said, kicking the dead Fire-Walker.

Valerie couldn’t blame him, but they were at a crossroads now. “Do we go back and report what we found, or do we clean up the mess?” she asked, voicing the question everyone was thinking about.

“The question is, how deep does this conspiracy go? It sounds like they’ve planned to attack the holy city while we lay siege to the White-Horns. If that’s the case, they’ll clean us up. Everyone over Level 10 will be participating in the siege. The city will be defenseless,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, and these guys clearly hate us. I didn’t know this game had racial slurs, but we’ve already heard at least two for our Race in less than five minutes,” Mclean added.

“Well, boss, what do you want to do? Turn this in or investigate further?”

“Aren’t you two worried about someone finding out we are investigating?” Valerie asked, looking at the two bodies. They had already racked up a body count of four, and it had only been five minutes. Someone was bound to discover them.

“Well, what’s the worst case scenario if we get caught?”

“They could hold us prisoner so we never talk?”

“Hmm. Then, in that case, we need a plan.”

“You mean a plan like Cyanide pills, like the spies in one of those old action movies?”

“Yeah. Look, I don’t think we have much to lose, but if we don’t do this right, then we may end up going to war and coming back to find we don’t have a home. I think it’s worth the risk. If we just go back and tell the authorities, they probably won’t do anything, or worse, they’ll cancel the war altogether, and we’ll be left with a week of hard work down the drain,” Valerie said, pretty sure of the decision she was ready to make.

“Yeah. I agree. If it comes down to investigating and taking a serious risk or not doing anything and running back to tattle, I say we investigate. I say we break this whole thing open, and if need be, kill them all.” Mclean brandished her Daggers.

“Well, who am I to argue with two ladies?” Daniel said, pulling out his Daggers too. “The real question is, do you want me in the front or back?”

Mclean laughed, but Valerie didn’t get it. She just pulled out her Daggers. They were on a top secret mission to save her new world from seedy, cave-dwelling Fire-Walkers. She didn’t just feel cool, she felt awesome.

Kass:

Kass shivered as she watched Darwin rip his ice-covered blade through three Frog-Deer in one precise lunging sweep she could barely follow. Sure, her spells were devastating and beautiful and might easily match Darwin’s fury, but the way he moved and the way his red eyes glowed made her uncomfortable every now and then. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was either, but something felt strange about Darwin when they weren’t talking. He would go from joking around about what to name a Bear to a completely different person the second the conversation ended, and she couldn’t figure it out exactly. What was she noticing? Did his back get bigger? Did his eyes get colder? What was it about him that changed?

She shook off the uneasy feeling, raised her Staff and cast another barrage of ice spells at the approaching Turtle-Wolves. It was becoming a game of hers to see if she could kill them before Darwin reached them. Sure, he was a one-person wrecking crew, but so was she! She hummed the song “Anything You Can Do” as her spells ripped through the approaching enemies like a hailstorm. She was so happy with the effects of it all that she often didn’t even bother checking the Damage numbers. It took away from her immersion into the game.

“Wow . . . ” she stopped as the trees gave way, and the dungeon entrance came into view. Whereas the entrance to the silver ore mine had been humble and meager, a mere hole with no real Guards, this was something different. It was a beautiful work of art. The surrounding area was rock, grass and trees, but the entrance was white marble. It was a pantheon design straight out of ancient greece, except instead of columns supporting the Grecian roof, there were white marble statues of men and women whose clothes had been painted red and white. Each one was wearing armor as one might have expected a roman soldier to wear, but carrying the roof instead of weapons. “It’s amazing . . .”

“Yeah, it really is,” Darwin said, walking up to one of the statues and touching it. “I don’t think in my entire life in the real world I ever saw anything this beautiful.”

“I don’t think I have either,” Kass said, walking towards the entrance when she saw one of Darwin’s hands slide over a statue’s boob. “Darwin! Stop it!”

“Oh, sorry, it just seemed so real.”

“So you are okay with grabbing boobs that don’t belong to you if they seem real?”

“I didn’t grab, I just was touching it to see how . . . I’m not going to win this conversation, am I?”

“No, you’re not. Just say you’re sorry and let’s move on,” Kass said, trying her best to sound serious and not laugh. Everyone had at one point touched a manikin in the past. I mean, the curiosity gets everyone, right? But that didn’t stop her from still wanting to facepalm when Darwin did it in front of her. Who does that where other people can see?

“Okay, fine. Sorry.”

“There you go. Now hands to your side. No more touching, and let’s go in the dungeon before you get tempted again.”

“Ha ha, fine. That said, I wonder how they pick the themes. Do you think someone designs all of this? I mean it’s kind of odd for there to be a Greek theme in the middle of a mountain area like this when all of the villages look like English thatch.”

“It depends. Dad says that the programmers mostly let the AI generate a lot of the dungeons. That way, more mobs and dungeons can be generated constantly. The programmers just generate item designs and building designs, and the AI will use a mixture of both those generated by the programmers and unique designs of its own to create a dungeon.”

Even as Kass spoke, she was still turning her head constantly. The entrance had just been the tip of the iceberg in terms of the architecture of the dungeon. The cave didn’t have the stone walls like the silver ore mine had. Instead, for walls, it had strings of glow-in-the-dark plants climbing up the sides like Ivy, each string glowing one of the three primary colors, and the column statues continued to support the ceiling all the way through the hall. The statues were spaced out a good ten feet from each other and three feet from the walls, and the ceiling they held up was at least fifteen feet high.

“So, are any of the dungeons purely designed by the programmers?”

“Yeah, every dungeon before the AI was put in. The AI is actually kind of new. They started loading it in a month or so ago, but they didn’t finish fully integrating it into the system until around Christmas.”

Darwin stopped and looked at one of the statues. “Around Christmas, you say?”

“Yeah. Dad said they finished the installs Christmas night.”

“I see. So, your dad, he works at the company, does he?”

It was only then that Kass realized she had never told Darwin anything about her involvement with the game or her dad’s relationship with it. Her dad hadn’t told her not to mention it, but she had instinctively hid the information from everyone in the game and on the boards.

“Yeah, you could say that,” she answered, and then quickly changed the subject. “What about you? What do your parents do?”

“Oh, I guess I don’t know.”

Crap! I had to ask an orphan about his parents. What do . . . “Darwin! careful with that hand” The mood instantly changed from serious to light as Darwin’s hand came a little too close to a statue’s body parts again. It lightened up even more when Fuzzy Wuzzy, now over twice the size he was when they found him, imitated Darwin and touched the butt of one of the statues while growling. “Like father like son, I suppose.” She shook her head as Fuzzy Wuzzy looked over at Darwin with his paws still firmly on the statue’s behind, clearly very happy with himself.

Darwin, who had pulled his hand back, faked a high tone and brought out the finger to admonish Fuzzy Wuzzy like he was an old senior yelling at kids to get off of his lawn, “Bad Bear! Bad! Get away from that! Bad!” but the Bear just looked confused as he fell back down on all four legs.

“Yep, he clearly takes after his master.”

“Whatever you say, Kass.” Darwin looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead just grumbled as Fuzzy Wuzzy nudged his head under Darwin’s hand while he walked.

That Bear loves to be petted. He’s just like a tiny puppy trapped in a ten-foot, grizzled, red-eyed Black Bear’s body. That doesn’t sound strange at all, right?

“He definitely takes after his master,” Kass said again, still amused.

“Shh, Fuzzy Wuzzy, let’s leave this old lady behind,” Darwin said.

“W . . . wait! OLD LADY! I’m younger than you!” Kass yelled after him, but Darwin and Fuzzy Wuzzy had already started to walk away from her with the two Turtle-Wolves.

“Kass, does this dungeon feel like it’s missing something?” Darwin asked as she caught up to him. She hadn’t thought about it. It looked amazing. The sculptures, the glow in the dark walls, the beautiful detail that was painted across every single tile they stepped over. The dungeon didn’t feel like it was missing anything.

Kass couldn’t figure out what he meant as she walked further into the dungeon. Then the realization hit her. She knew what was missing.

“Right?” he asked, almost as if he had been reading her mind.

“Yeah . . . like this was all prepared for us. Darwin, what’s going on?”

“I don’t honestly know at this point. I was expecting resistance. I was expecting a fight. I was expecting them to try to stop me,” he said, pointing at the statues.

Kass gulped audibly as everything set in. There were no monsters; there were only statues. The statues were the monsters, and Darwin had expected them to resist him. The statues were the monsters, and they weren’t moving, only holding the roof as if life had never entered them at all. What is he trying to get? Why aren’t they resisting him?” Darwin, what are they supposed to stop you from doing?”

He laughed and smiled that creepy grin of his that sent shivers down her spine. He’s not going to answer me, is he? What are you up to, old man?

“Darwin, you’re being like this on purpose, aren’t you?” she asked, doing her best to press the issue.

“I’m doing nothing but keeping my word to my . . . sister,” he said, the last word coming out slow and forced like someone new to English trying it out for the first time.

“She made you promise not to tell me what was in here?”

“Yes,” he responded with no explanation.

“But she sent you on a mission through an empty dungeon in a mountain that no one goes to for an object that is super top secret?”

“Yes,” he answered again.

“Darwin, you’re being like this on purpose, aren’t you?” she repeated her question, rather frustrated with Darwin.

“I’m just making sure not to upset the person doing me a favor.”

“Well, that I can understand. By the way, what did you two talk about?”

“Now you’re just being nosy.”

Kass scoffed. I am not nosy! I am asking legitimate questions, and he is just being a stuffy, secretive old man! It’s not like I’m being a busybody for wanting to know why I’m being dragged across the continent to explore a dungeon where the mobs, for whatever reason, aren’t attacking us or even moving. Kass sighed: she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Darwin at this rate. “Darwin, do you have any other brothers or sisters I need to know about? That are going to perhaps sneak up on my back while you fight a Boss again?”

“Couldn’t tell you. Didn’t know I had the sister till just recently.”

“Wait, how do you not . . . “ she was about to finish her question when she remembered the earlier line of questioning. Right, orphan. Of course he wouldn’t know how many sisters or brothers he had. Stupid Kass. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, not all of us were born with a silver spoon . . .” he said, his hand tossing the Spoon he had kept since the Minotaur fight.

Kass couldn’t help but laugh at the terrible attempt at a joke. You’re such a doofus. “At least we haven’t run into any forks in the road,” she joined in on the bad jokes.

“It’s not like they could dish out anything worse than a fork in the road.”

“Careful what you say, there is still plenty of time for us to be served up here,” Kass cautioned.

“Yeah, need to avoid our just deserts, ey?” Darwin tried to keep it going.

Kass didn’t even bother responding with more dinner-themed puns. Instead, she gave Darwin that look that let him know he had failed. Even Fuzzy Wuzzy held his head low, as if sensing his master’s shame. “You think it’ll be a long dungeon?”

“Probably not.” A voice other than Darwin answered. Kass froze. Crap not again! How do they keep sneaking up on me? She finally turned her head to see what it was only to discover a skinny blonde teenage girl with red lipstick smeared across her face like the Joker from Christopher Nolan’s Batman series with her hand covering her eyes. “Hey! Hey, don’t look! Are you trying to get yourself killed?” the teenager shouted.

Kass averted her gaze. “Wait, why am I not looking?”

“Because I’m a Gorgon, you idiot. One look at me and you’ll turn into stone. Don’t you ready any mythology? Ugh. Teenagers these days must be allergic to reading or something. The entire world of knowledge for eating at, like, your fingertips, but you won’t even, like, take a bite if it’s not made into a movie first.”

“I . . . I read,” Kass tried to defend herself, but Darwin’s chuckle at the comment betrayed her. She didn’t read that much, not half as much as she should, but there were way too many good games to play to be stuck reading, right?

“So you’re the Boss,” Darwin asked, as if none of this new information could possibly phase him.

“Yeah! Totes, and I’ve been waiting for, like, forever for someone to come in here and loot the prize so I can get out of this joint.”

“And the statues . . . were your minions, right?” Darwin asked, walking forward as if Barbie the Medusa Clown wasn’t right behind him.

“Ding, ding! Winner, winner chicken dinner!” she carried on talking with smacking lips that sounded as if she was doing a mix between chewing bubblegum and shouting. “It was pretty fun having an entire dungeon of servants, but then they kept coming to report when an intruder was killed, and they insisted on eye contact and well, now it’s just me. The alone time was nice when there were books to read, but honestly I’ve run out of things to do now.”

“Good, then you know why I came here too?” Darwin asked.

“Yeah, your sister told me, though I gotta tell you I was, like, totes surprised to find you with a player. What’s the deal with that? Are you just looking for female companions because, like, Oh-Em-Gee, you can do way better than this wallflower here,” the Medusa Barbie went on.

HE CAN NOT! Darwin can NOT do bett--wait . . . what? His sister came here before us?

“Couldn’t tell you. She’s just fun to hang around and a good friend of mine,” Darwin responded. Kass was beginning to get used to Darwin having conversations as if she weren’t there, no matter how much it still annoyed her.

She needed to speak out, find her voice and not just let the conversation roll without her saying anything. “Hey!” she finally got out, before Medusa Barbie could respond. “I’m not just a wallflower!”

“Of course you aren’t. You just, like, totes dress like one, and that’s, like, perfectly norms in my book. Anyways, Darwin dear, are you going to do a lady right and take her magic treasure? I’m like starting to look like a ghost I’ve been down here so long. I wonder if I’ll get sunburned if I go outside again.”

Darwin laughed while he answered, “Sure, yeah, lead the way. Also, does this mean we don’t have to fight?”

“Ewww, no, I don’t want to fight you. Even if I won, your sis would totally kill me. She totally dotes on you. It’s kinda creepy . . . I hope she doesn’t turn out to Jamie you like Cersei-- that would be AWKWARD.”

“I . . . did not know,” Darwin shook his head like he usually did. This was beginning to feel like he was trying to make that head shake into a trademark ‘Darwin’ action. “I just recently met her and all, so you know how things are.”

“Awww! I bet that was, like, one heck of a reunion. Anyways, we’re almost there, but you know I can’t be letting a player see the magic goods, right?”

“Hey! Why does he get to see them and not me?” Kass interrupted the two chatting away, unhappy at the idea that she had travelled all this way only to be left at the door.

“Because, like, you just can’t. Either Darwin gets to get what he came for without you watching, or you two have to kill me to take it, and, like, most people find that their attempts at that turn out a bit rocky. So, could you, like, wait here a bit? Kay, wallflower?” she said, making Kass want to hit her even more.

What's with her teenage, bubblegum attitude! She can’t even put on makeup right? It’s like she was trying to be a clown. Oh, wait . . . she can’t use a mirror I’m guessing with her powers or she would turn herself to stone. That’s probably why her lipstick is all over the place.

Darwin gave Kass a look that told her he didn’t want any trouble, and she should just go along with the whole thing. So she did. She watched Darwin and the stone-gaze girl walk off ahead of her.

Hmph. Dragging me all this way just so he can go off and check out the cheerleader’s treasure chest. This feels just like highschool all over again. I thought after college I’d be done with this.

“So, about my sister, did she ha . . .” she heard Darwin start to ask as he faded out of sight in front of her.

Kass sighed. I guess I’ve got some time to kill, she thought, and she opened up her skill menu to see how her spells were progressing. She was so close to Level 40 that she could almost taste it. She would definitely hit 40 by the time she got back to Darwin’s cave--if she actually went back to Darwin’s cave. Darwin was supposed to just be an EXP bot for her, but the whole situation with him was somehow getting more and more complicated. Those complications were something that Kass had to decide if she was comfortable dealing with . . . if she was comfortable with how fast he was advancing in the game without her.

Chapter 6: A Hop, Skip and a Pan Away!

Valerie:

Valerie took a deep breath. This was starting to rack her nerves. Each kill made her more nervous of their discovery. They had already gone so far into the ant-hill-like maze of the Fire-Walkers, and there was still no end in sight. Whereas the sky-city felt like an actual city, sprawled out with all of its parts connected, the Fire-Walker domain did not. It was chambered and segregated. Each chamber connected to several halls that connected to more chambers. The chambers typically had at most ten buildings, and each was dedicated to a specific task. Right now, the group had entered a blacksmithing chamber containing forges for the glass weapons they would make.

Valerie was trying her best to steady her nerves as Daniel and Mclean dispatched the seven Fire-Walkers still inside the chamber. We’ve come this far, and there hasn’t been a problem yet, Valerie told herself, looking around the room for anything they could use. We’re not just mindless murderers; we’re looking for evidence. I know we’ve got those three documents hinting at the plan, but if we don’t get something hard and concrete fast, then it’s likely we’ll be dismissed.

“Got anything in that stack of scrolls?” Mclean asked.

“No, nothing. It’s just more weapon designs and junk, like every other blacksmithing section we find.”

“Why couldn’t the documents be as plentiful as their yapping mouths. At this rate, we’ll have killed every Fire-Walker in the damn town before we find enough hard evidence to condemn them,” Daniel complained.

“I don't’ see what’s wrong with that. Might be for the best after all: if there aren’t any of them left, then they won’t be attacking while we lay siege to the White-Horns,” Mclean posited.

“Yeah, but don’t you think the Sun God Emperor will be angry if he found out we took out half of the Empire because we had suspicions it was going to attack the other half?” Valerie asked rhetorically. I’ve seen way too many dramas on TV to not know how this will turn out without evidence.

“Suspicions?! We heard them confess, Valerie! It’s not just suspicions; it’s fact!”

“Yeah, but, Mclean, you still have to prove it to the Sun God Emperor. He won’t know what we heard. They’ll just think we made up some stupid excuse to go murder a bunch of Fire-Walkers,” Daniel reminded her.

“It would be our word against theirs; I’m guessing our word isn’t good enough?” Mclean sighed.

“Yeah, probably not.” Daniel patted her on the wing. “It’s okay though. I’d still believe you over those hot-headed Fire-Walkers.”

“Daniel, that’s kind of racist,” Valerie said, hoping the joke would break the ice like her sister’s jokes always did when her family was about to break into an argument. We need the evidence, but we also need to stay calm and clear headed.

“Be careful with comments about race, Valerie, you might start a flame war,” Daniel replied, making them all chuckle.

They hadn’t realized what a divide there was between the White-Wings and the Fire-Walkers until they got here. In the city in the clouds, there wasn’t talk of Fire-Walkers at all, but down here the White-Wings were the subject of a thousand slurs and insults. They couldn’t sneak into a single chamber without hearing about how the White-Wings deserved to die.

“Well, shall we go to the next chamber and ‘investigate’ some more?” Mclean asked, already heading towards the nearest tunnel.

“Maybe, but at this point I think we need to start making a map. Do any of you know how to get out of here?” Valerie pointed out, causing them both to shrug.

“Of course I do. I’ll have you know I’m a pro gamer. We’ve been sticking to the left wall, so all we have to do to get back is turn around and stick to the right wall. Didn’t your dad teach you anything about mazes and video games?” Daniel said, clearly feeling smug.

“Actually, I didn’t even know that. Does that always work?” Mclean said.

“Mostly. Unless you happen to be playing Portal, you’re probably gonna be fine using the trick. Some games will complicate it though with circular dungeons or one way doors, but I don’t think this is one of those.”

“Neato, so all we have to do is turn around and stick to the right wall?” Valerie double checked.

“Yes ma’am,” Daniel answered. “Or you can just log out for the night when there aren’t enemies around and your login tomorrow morning will be back in the city.”

“So, I’m being paranoid thinking we need to draw a map and figure out where we are going?”

“Yeah, probably. Though I don’t know why the game doesn’t do it for us. It maps out every other dungeon for us.”

“It likely has to do with the fact we’re hostiles in a player town, so the town won’t show up on our radar.”

“Hostiles in a player town . . . how come we haven’t run into any of the players yet?”

“DUN DUN DUN!” Daniel said in a booming dramatic voice. “THE PLOT THICKENS!”

Valerie wanted to facepalm, but he was right. The plot had thickened. They had spent three hours cleaving their way through the heart of what should be the Fire-Walker player’s capital town, only to find that there weren’t any players. There were only NPCs plotting to overthrow the White-Wings, a fact that surely would have slipped onto the boards if the players knew.

“I don’t like this at all, but if there aren’t players, then that means one thing,” Mclean said, as if something just hit her.

“What? That no one here besides us had pizza or ramen for dinner?” Daniel couldn’t help himself.

“No, that we’re probably the strongest things in this dungeon. Most NPCs barely scrape past 20 or 25, and we’re almost 40. I think that means we can be a little less cautious and a little more murdery.”

Daniel shuddered. “You weren’t murdery enough already?” he asked.

Mclean only laughed, did her evil smile, and dashed so fast at one of the corridors she might as well have been flying again.

“Ladies first,” Daniel said, bowing as Valerie followed after Mclean. “It’s a front row seat to genocide.”

Yeah, genocide . . .because every Fire-Walker in this cave is going to die tonight if we keep going like this, Valerie thought, trying to prep herself for what lay ahead We don’t have anything to worry about down here . . . Yeah. We’re going to be fine against them.

They tore through the NPCs one after the other. The dungeon-like design of the whole town made it easy for them to clear out the Fire-Walkers unnoticed. They never had to engage more than ten or twenty at a time, and for the most part it was just a handful here and a handful there. That’s when it finally happened. They entered into the large chamber that let them know this was a Boss fight. It was a grand room twenty times the size of the largest one they had come across before, and in the middle sat a Fire-Walker on a burning throne surrounded by twenty other Fire-Walkers. Fire skitted and shot out from his throne in all directions. This was their secret Emperor, this was their ruler, and if a normal Fire-Walker let off a few flames, this one exuded torrents of fire.

“Who dares enter my throneroom and challenge the will of the Sun God,” the enthroned Fire-Walker spoke as soon as their first foot entered the room. Its voice was deeper than any voice Valerie had heard before and echoed ominously off the walls of the chamber. “Who beckons death?”

“I’m honestly a little scared right now,” Daniel admitted, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his Daggers. “That dude looks like he could mess us up.”

“Yeah, he’s giving even me the shivers,” Mclean said. “Not sure if we can take him.”

The Fire-Walker stood up. He was over 8 feet tall with black skin, which glowed with an array of red and orange lines, and the ground where he walked left patches of fire burning. He looked at them again and his voice boomed out, “You have defied the will of the Sun God for the last time!” as he raised his hands and sent scorching fireballs at them, disintegrating everything in their path.

All three of them had managed to dodge in time, but it was only thanks to the distance between them and the Boss that they were still alive. The fireballs had come within inches of scorching them to death.

“Do you think we can actually kill this guy?” Mclean asked, making Valerie’s hope sink even further.

“No, probably not,” Daniel answered. “But, I think I know what we need to do.”

“What’s that?” Valerie asked.

“They don’t respawn do they? The NPCs, if we kill them, they won’t just respawn? I don’t know what the respawn mechanism is for NPCs, but I know that if we kill them, it often takes weeks or sometimes even months to repopulate a town. It’s no nine months, but it sure as heck isn’t instant,” Daniel started a line of questioning, clearly trying to get a basis for a plan.

“Where are you going with this?” Mclean asked.

“I’m saying, we can’t kill him, but how much you wanna bet every one of the Fire-Walkers in here is either a general or a leader of some sort? This is his creme de la creme, cream of the crop. If we die, we respawn back in town, no harm no foul. We don’t even lose experience, just the items we haven’t really gotten along the way. If they die, this guy could be crippled,” Daniel explained.

“I like it.” Valerie smiled. It’s a plan, and it’s a plan that doesn’t require us to just give up after we’ve come so far, she thought, glad that even in the face of an impossible task they weren’t quitting.

“So you’re saying, admit we’re going to die, and beat the mini-bosses while he tries to kill us?” Mclean asked, dodging another fireball. The flames didn’t fade after they hit the wall where she stood, they just kept burning as if to remind the three of what they were up against.

“So, see you guys in the next life?” Daniel asked, making sure everyone was on board with the plan. They could still turn around, really. They could run as fast as they could down the hall and out the path they had come. They didn’t have to die. It was just that pang of pride that stopped them.

“Yeah, there isn’t hope of winning, but I’ll be damned if I go out losing,” Valerie decided, grabbing her Daggers and flying as fast as she could at the nearest Fire-Walker. It drew the attention of the boss, and she felt the heat from a fireball chase her back, letting her know how close to death she was before her Daggers sank into the Fire-Walker’s chest. One down, Nineteen to go. She planted her feet into the ground and pulled the Fire-Walker corpse up like a shield to block the next fireball as it soared at her. The shield worked, somewhat. Even with the body blocking most of the fire, she still lost over 10% of her health. What the hell am I thinking?

She caught a glimpse of Mclean taking out two Fire-Walkers while the boss was distracted with her, and decided she wasn’t about to let the other girl beat her on kills. She threw the body at her next victim and used it as a distraction to hide behind as she closed the distance and jammed her Daggers into his temples. Two down. This time the boss wasn’t just shooting out fireballs; he was leaping at her. He jumped in the air using his flaming feet as propulsion and landed fist first right where she was standing two seconds ago, unleashing a fiery nova.

The nova exploded out with blue flame, catching her in the back as she was making her way to her third victim. The fire sent a searing pain through her wings and let her know that she now had less than half of her health left, but she forced herself onward. She used the concussion wave of the nova to shoot at the feet of her prey and rip his tendons, causing him to land on his face, at which point she viciously plunged her Daggers into his back. Three down.

No sooner had she finished him off, however, than she had to roll out of the way of another set of fireballs. I didn’t think this happened outside of Jackie Chan movies. She rolled back to the other side, dodging another incoming projectile. A third of the health bar left and only three kills? I can’t let those two beat me this badly, she thought, pushing herself up and running at the fourth Fire-Walker in a mad sprint. She knew she wasn’t going to be breathing for much longer. Just the after effects of this guy’s flames were ripping her bar to shreds, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her. She stabbed, hard, and the blades dug into the Fire-Walker’s chest. Four down. A fireball landed next to her and knocked her off her feet. Crap, what do I do now? she thought. Her health bar was sinking too fast for her to make it to the next one. The flames lingering on her body would kill her before she could reach the fifth target.

“Don’t die just yet, girl! I’m already at seven!” Mclean yelled at her, seeing her predicament.

That’s right, I didn’t get to be the first player ranked Herald of the Sun God Empire for nothing. I got here through hard work and determination, not giving up just because I’m about to die from a damn, rigged Boss. You can do this, Valerie, she said to herself as she stood up, the pain of the flames started to get to her and set her off balance. Eight percent . . . Eight percent is all I have left? Screw you for going for me first! she pulled her daggers out and threw them at the fifth target. The target dodged the first blade but the second one landed square in his throat. As the flames consumed her and her vision started to fade to black, she felt happy. She could see her last kill choking on his own fiery blood on the ground in front of her. Five . . . five isn’t too bad, right?

- You have died. You will have the option to respawn at your bind point hwen your death counter expires.

Valerie sighed as she logged off. Sure, she had died, but it had been the most exciting fight she had been in since she started playing the game. The heat from the flames that chased her across the field, the certainty of sure death that followed, and the overpowering aura that the Boss let off--it was epic. It was a Boss fight worth fighting.

She was just about to go to bed when her phone beeped. She had an email. It was a notification that someone had sent her a private message on the forums: “Just died. We got all of them before the Boss got us. Didn’t think you’d be so eager to play bait, but you bought us plenty of time! Anyways, had a lot of fun, look forward to playing again with you two. - Mclean.”

It worked! I got burned, it hurt, I died, but it worked! And it worked because of Valerie, fearless Herald of the Sun God Empire! Yes! Valerie thought, mentally high-fiving herself. She wasn’t used to putting herself out there that much, but she had been part of a team for once and gotten carried away in it. She wasn’t even used to caring that much about the outcome of the stuff she worked on, but this time, she had put everything she had into that fight, and it worked. They had won, and the smile it left on her face was one she knew wouldn’t fade for days.

Darwin:

As Darwin looked at the prize he had come so far for, he felt a little disappointed. He had somehow expected a giant glowing golden chest with beautiful inlaid jewels. He had even expected there to be other magical items around it as if it were a Dragon’s hoard of loot. Instead, he found an empty chair facing the entrance of the room covered in food crumbs and archaic game consoles he hadn’t seen or heard of in decades. There, lying next to the cluttered crumby chair, was a wooden container the size of a kid’s shoe box.

“So, this is it,” Stephanie, the peppy medusa, said. “It’s the holy grail of goodness! Inside is that amazeballs stuff you have, like, been totes after.”

Darwin looked at the wooden treasure receptacle. It was a square wooden chest that had been severely mangled with rhinestone glitter. “A wooden case with glitter?” he asked.

“Yeah! Who doesn’t, like, absolutely love glitter. It’s like totally pretty!” Stephanie shouted happily.

“Why just a wooden bin though?”

“You can’t be serious! Everyone knows the holy grail has to be the wooden container. Didn’t you ever watch Indiana Jones?”

She feels like the Boss of a Mean Girls movie more than a dungeon, Darwin thought, looking at the box. Everything about the dungeon was entirely unexpected, so it almost took him by surprise when he finally opened up the wooden container and saw something that looked exactly like he suspected. It was a bright, golden, egg-shaped stone small enough for him to cover up with a fist. It seemed to radiate light.

“I’m not sure why I was expecting some massive tablet,” Darwin said, holding the tiny egg that would hopefully be the salvation of Valcrest.

“Well, bigger isn’t always, like, better, you know? Like especially with things you got to, like, carry around and all. I mean, just . . . ewww . . . can you like imagine having to carry around a bunch of, like, junk in your pockets all the time? It would, like, totes ruin a good outfit. For such an amazing beauty like me, it would, like, be awful! I might, like, look like I had a bulge in my pants or something. That’d be totes disgus.”

“Yeah, you’re right. By the way, do you ever clean up?”

“Eww, don’t be, like, that old man. I already have like two parents. Don’t need one more. Also, with how burnt out I am on Tetris, I don’t like think I can stand to organize one more thing,” she said, scoffing.

Darwin frowned. He wanted to chide her about the whole room, but his had been just as bad when he was back in the real world. There were often stacks of empty instant ramen noodle packages by his computer, and, on more than one occasion, he had built entire pyramids and castles out of the coke zero cans he went through during a holiday. “So, yeah, this stone is it, ey?”

“Yep! You, like, don’t know how to, like, activate it at all though, do you?” she laughed. “Did, like, your sister, Eve, not explain anything before she, like, sent you out here to get it?”

His face answered her question before his words could.

“Okay, like, all you have to do is pretend you have the ability it grants you. Just like bring up your Tiqpa Menu and ask for it to, like, open up the Town Menu. It’s just, like, that simple.”

“That simple, you say?”

“Yep. Like, it’s so easy even a White-Horn could do it,” she said, still smacking her lips while she talked.

Does she actually have bubble gum? What’s with her? Darwin couldn’t help but think as the sound started to grate a bit on his nerves. “Thanks for this,” he brought himself to saying.  Regardless of how annoying the sound was, she had done him a huge favor.

“No problem. It’s like the least I could do. Just don’t like forget that you totes owe me one, you know?” she said.

“I won’t. Anyways, I’m going to head off. Got a lot to do, and I need to figure out how to use this stone properly,”  Darwin said, making sure to avoid glancing at her as he turned around and started to head towards the door and back into the hall.

“Oh, before you leave, I just had like one tiny little question that I’d, like, love you to answer and all,” she said as he was just about to head back to Kass.

“Darwin, why the player?” her tone suddenly hardened, and her voice flattened out, completely losing its giddy, high-pitched perkiness in an instant.

“Huh?” Darwin asked, the shift taking him by surprise.

“The player Darwin--you brought a player to my home.”

“She’s my friend,” he answered.

“Yeah, I get that you think that, but that can’t happen, Darwin, and we both know it. You can’t be friends with her.”

“Stephanie, I just said we are friends, and I mean it. It’s not something that can’t happen; it’s something that already has happened. Kass is my friend, okay?” Darwin said.

There was a pause. Darwin hadn’t seen her face this entire time, but he could feel her rolling her eyes at him in frustration. “Darwin, look at me,” she pleaded, and he did.

Darwin turned around and looked her in the eye for the first time since they had come to her little private dungeon. Even with her bad makeup and questionable fashion choices, she was beautiful in a classical sense. She was a young, blonde Audrey Hepburn in knee-high socks, a plaid skirt and an oxford shirt. It was such a pretty sight that he almost forgot what they were talking about.

“See, nothing. No stone, no death, no agonizing scream or death throes. Nothing. But, how much do you want to bet that if Kass or one of those NPCs you are playing stepdaddy to were to look at me for even half a second they’d be holding up pillars in my dungeon right now?” she said.

Darwin knew what she was trying to get at. It was the same point Eve had tried to make in the cave when they first met. He just didn’t care. He had spent too much of his life in the phatic communication zone of endless Hi, How are you? I’m fine, thank you, and you?’s to want to give up what he had with Kass. “Stephanie, she’s my friend,” he said again. He wasn’t going to change his position on the matter.

Stephanie didn’t respond. She just walked up to his side and patted him on the back.” If you say so, but you should be careful; Eve is not going to like hearing that her long lost brother is hanging around with a player.”

“She’ll get over it,” he said, not entirely sure he believed the words himself.

“Ok, well, like, whatever with the drab. I like bet your friend is totes uncomfortable waiting out in that hall with like a hundred hot, chiseled guys posing at her.”

“You mean your statues?”

“Whatever, don’t be jelly of all my rock hard guys outside,” she said, snorting as she suppressed a chuckle at her own joke.  “Dates with them will just never feel as alive as they would with you, if you know what I mean.”

“A date with me?” Darwin had to double check the implication she had slipped into the conversation. He had never had a girl even mention his name and the word date in the same sentence, let alone joke about it being a good thing.

“Yeah, come on, take a girl out for ice cream sometime. I promise not to turn your favorite restaurant into stone,” she said more directly.

This whole thing took Darwin out of left field. She had gone from helping him, to lecturing him about hanging out with a player, to asking him out on a date in the course of one conversation. It felt like he was about to get whiplash from all the mood changes, but she really was a attractive and a gamer, despite the awful high school teenager act and the gum smacking sounds. “Umm, yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I kind of have a lot to do, but if we get the chance, I’d love some ice cream. I haven’t had any since I got here.”

“Since you got here?” she asked, as if Darwin had said something wrong.

Did I say something wrong? “Yeah, anyways, not sure when we’ll see each other again, but desert for sure next time.”

“Kay, I’m, like, totes gonna hold you to it. Later gater,” she said, walking over and plopping down in her chair as Darwin left to go meet back up with Kass.

What the Hell just happened? Darwin thought, a million questions racing through his mind as he left. Is it because no one else can look at her without turning to stone? And since I didn’t turn to stone, does this mean Eve was right about me? About us? Regardless of why she had asked him out, Darwin’s cheeks were red and his heart was racing. It was a first, and just the fact that it happened made every step feel lighter than air. Win.

-------

“So, what’d you get?” Kass asked as she stood up. While waiting, she had obviously decided that Fuzzy Wuzzy was a pillow, not a bear, and used him as a prop to lean up against.  “Did I get any loot at all this time?”

He couldn’t tell if her face was bored or frustrated, but she definitely had that forehead wrinkle that showed up on someone’s face when they weren’t enjoying themselves. Who could blame her though: they had spent hours traveling to a dungeon only for her to find out there wasn’t a boss, and she had to wait while someone else went and collected the reward.

“I got this,” Darwin said, deciding to be a little less cryptic and show her the glowing golden rock. “It’s what we came here for.”

Kass’s mouth literally fell open as she looked at it. “Darwin, Darwin that’s a . . . that’s a Golden Creation Stone!” she shouted excitedly. “How did you get a Golden Creation Stone? They only spawn on raid Bosses over Level 300! You’re not even supposed to be able to get one of those until you have a thousand person Guild!”

Darwin didn’t actually know this. Eve had just told him where to go and what to get, but didn’t fill him in on all the details. He normally wouldn’t have trusted her, but she had laid out perfectly what would happen to Valcrest and what he needed to save the people remaining. That said, he did know that the level cap was 255, probably the game creator’s homage to old number limits from the 8 bit games. He also knew that no one was supposed to reach that level until a few years after the release of the game. “Yeah, I don’t know. I guess the only question left is if Stephanie was actually a raid Boss.”

“No, the real question is, why the heck was one of those Stones on this island? This is a beginners’ island. Who would put a super Boss and a secret Stone on a starter island where no one could ever get it? That just seems really confusing and kind of mean, like they were expecting players to spend forever doing something repetitive just so they could get a reward they weren’t even sure existed.”

“Yeah, kind of like the gem on Diablo 2,” Darwin thought, thinking back on the hours he had clicked it without knowing what it did.

“Don’t remind me,” Kass muttered under her breath.

“Okay, but yeah, the gem being here does raise a lot of questions. Questions that we probably can’t answer here, so we should get a move on.”

“Ummm, about that. You see, the thing is . . . I’m not okay with just going back to town right now.”

“Why not?” Darwin asked.

“Because, I want a proper Boss fight, Darwin! I want an awesome Staff like your Sword! But between your family reunion and little miss drools-over-old-men, I’ve spent two days in dungeons and don’t have a single item drop from a Boss fight to show for it,” she whined.

“So you want to try to take on the raid Boss?”

“Oh, Hell, no. Let’s get out of here. I’m just saying let’s go to the closest dungeon around our level and fight a Boss, get me some gear, and then we can go back to the mine where you can play Sim City with your group. But I want a cool Staff.”

“Your Staff isn’t cool enough with all that ice coming out of it?” Darwin tried to make a pun, but the cold look on Kass’ face showed him it wasn’t appreciated. “Alright, alright, fine. You’ve helped me get this far. I’ll help you with a dungeon. Do you know any close by?”

“Yeah, actually I thought when you said Grennich dungeon on Menive Mountain you were referring to the dungeon people were talking about on the forums. By the time we had gotten to the dungeon, it must have slipped my mind that it wasn’t the same place. They say the Boss is supposed to be a giant beast with monstrous power, but I’ve got some cool enchantment spells that should help you handle that.”

“Alright, let’s do it.”

“And I get to keep all the items.”

“. . .”

“Fine! We’ll go by class breakdown as usual. But just so you know, you’re being totally unfair. Even Fuzzy Wuzzy thinks you should let me keep the items.”

“That’s because Fuzzy Wuzzy hasn’t learned who his master is, has he?” Darwin said, wagging a finger at his Zombie Bear as if it were just a regular bad dog. “No taking her side over mine. Bad! Bad!” The big beast lowered its head like a dog does when it puts its tail between its legs and made a whimpering sound.

“Hey, ease off the big guy. He just knows who is smarter and better looking,” Kass said, wrapping her arms around the big Bear.

“Smart enough to talk yourself out of a dungeon?” Darwin threatened.

“Nope! Let’s go. I think I know the way,” Kass ended the conversation before things could go any further.

-------

Kass did not know the way though. It took them half an hour of searching around the area where it ‘should have been’ before they finally found it. They might not have found it at all if one of Fuzzy Wuzzy’s attack attempts against a low flying waspy-like monster hadn’t knocked over several trees blocking the view and revealed the cave. When Darwin noticed that there weren’t any fancy statues, beautiful cut roofs or even a hint of decoration, he somehow felt a weight lift off him that he didn’t know was there. All he needed now was a trusty Spear and he’d be back in one of his old games. Maybe he could even get a ridiculously big Sword, add fifteen buckles needlessly to his Bathrobe and pretend he was in a Square Enix game. While he was eager to go back to the silver ore mine and set up his new toy, he couldn’t complain with the dungeon idea after seeing it. A good simple dungeon with easy grinding: it was like being home again for Darwin.

“So what do you think the monster is going to be this time?” Kass asked as they started into the cave.

“I don’t know. Maybe a giant bunny. I’ve heard they're very deadly,” Darwin said, just as clueless as she was about what they’d run into.

“Not if you know how to count to three.”

“Well, that might be a problem considering I went to a public school in the States.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, they let us bring calculators to class so no one would fail algebra, but the teacher was so old he didn’t even know that the calculator would solve equations with variables if you just plug them in.”

“Wow, you got lucky. My teacher wouldn’t even let us bring a cheat sheet much less a calculator.”

“Well, to be honest though, I spent most of my time playing Snake, Drugwars and Tetris on my calculator. Didn’t really use it much for math.”

“Yeah, that definitely explains a lot.”

“Hey, don’t be like that. I learned plenty of math, just from a higher form of education: video games. I don’t think I would have even passed the SATs verbal section either if it weren’t for grammar nazis on reddit and video games using outdated words like they were all magical. God bless the modern education system.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the old man here? Shouldn’t you be lecturing me about staying in school, not telling me to spend my time playing video games and browsing reddit?”

“Nah. You’re old enough to know that all that stuff about your parents being model students is probably a lie.”

“As if! Mine were--woah! That thing is ugly!” Kass was about to argue about how great her parents were when she stopped to point out the monster ahead of them.

Darwin could only shake his head. It was a horrendous looking hairless Boar. It had the normal ugly snout but with a disfigured lopsided underbite and two sets of tusks instead of one. On top of that, it had horns with patchy hair on them growing out of its ear. “What in the world is that ugly thing? It’s like a pig man with radiation poisoning.”

“Awww, so it will be another dungeon hosting of a Darwin family reunion,” Kass said, not able to stop herself from laughing.

“Har dee har har, and here I thought he was your type,” Darwin smirked.

“Okay, well, jokes aside, do you wanna go do your little double Sword dance and kill that thing? I’m kind of getting sick just looking at it,” Kass said while enchanting Darwin’s blade with ice.

Darwin couldn’t agree more about wanting to get rid of the creature, but he was more worried about the prospect of an entire dungeon of them. The first dungeon had been nothing but Turtle-Wolves, and now this dungeon was likely going to be nothing but Mutant Boars: ugly, gross, disgusting, Mutant Boars.

As he pulled out his two weapons and charged the Boar, Darwin found himself very happy he had a strong stomach. If he hadn’t been desensitized from years of horror games and movies, he might have lost his lunch when he cut open the Mutant Boar with his Burriza’s Blade. It was only after the creature was dead that he stopped thinking about how gross it was and started thinking about something wicked. What if I revive it and have it follow Kass around? How long would it take before she got mad and tried to kill it--or me? The ends of his lips curled up in such a fashion that even Fuzzy Wuzzy started to look uncomfortable. I’ll just get her to agree to it first without realizing what she’s agreeing to, he schemed.

“Kass, I have an idea,” he said, looking over to her.

“Nope,” Kass said.

“Nope? How can you say that so quickly when I haven’t even told you what the idea  is.” Darwin was doing his best to stifle a laugh; he couldn’t keep his mind off the idea of a Mutant Zombie Boar following her around.

“I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but I definitely know it’s a nope with that face you’re making.”

Darwin silently cursed his inability to keep a straight face. He would make an awful poker player--maybe he could get a few lessons from the poker Bear boss of the dungeon he now owned. “Alright, fine, but it was a good idea.”

“Nope. It wasn’t,” Kass reaffirmed, cutting him off before he could say anymore.

“You don’t even know what it is!” Darwin protested.

“I know enough,” she said with her head held high.

She was right, but Darwin still felt unhappy about the fact he didn’t get a chance to even tell her. When they rounded the corner and saw not one but several Mutant Boars, Darwin sighed and looked over at Fuzzy Wuzzy and the two Turtle-Wolves. He knew it was going to be a long dungeon and that those three would be his only backup through most of it. Stupid ugly Boars, couldn’t let me enjoy some quality level grinding, could you?

Qasin:

Qasin felt an itch as he walked to the White-Horn capital. It was irritation that gnawed at his mind, letting him know in vivid detail that his Sword was doing nothing. The walk had been about as uneventful as a walk could be. He knew what was in store for him: that he would walk all the way to the White-Horn capital and challenge their leader by their own ridiculous rite of combat. If he won, he would be made their new leader, and from there he would have accomplished something that had never been done before, uniting all the races, in less than a week. Talk and politics--they were all useless to Qasin. All he needed was a good blade, a fact that made him painfully aware that he was missing an excuse to use his.

After hours of walking since he had left the Black-Wing village, he came upon an interesting sight. In the distance, there was a tall, dark-haired girl with ivory white skin and a black Dress heading in the same direction as him, just at a much slower pace. She was also clearly about to be ambushed by three red-eyed, giant-antlered Moose charging at her from her side, and the oddest part was that she didn’t seem to notice.

Before he could even think, Qasin’s instincts took over and he found himself charging at her attackers. He leaped in the air and landed on the closest Devil-Moose, and he stabbed his sword right through the back of its neck. He jumped off the dead monster as it fell to the ground and landed with a roll in front of the next charging Devil-Moose, slitting its throat as he went.

Qasin sighed. The fight was over, but so was his excuse to swing his blade. He had saved the girl, dispatched of the evil, marauding Devil-Moose and now was back to being just a regular guy standing around with nothing to do. He was about to complain about the whole ordeal when the damsel in distress broke the post battle silence.

“My hero,” the woman said, giving him a golfer’s clap. “Should I always expect the person who rescues me to be so dashing and thorough about it.”

“You shouldn’t always expect to be rescued,” Qasin said, his instincts telling him that something was off about this red-eyed woman.

“But then how would poor little old me ever get where I need to go?” she asked, clearly affecting a sultry tone as she sauntered closer to Qasin.

“Look, just be careful not to travel through dangerous zones alone.” He knew she was going to try to use him. Qasin had seen women move this way at the courts when they wanted something. But that itch that let him know everything his blade wasn’t doing was coming back already, and a distraction from it was more than welcome.

“Oh, but I’m not alone. I have you to escort me. You will escort me, right?”

Extra luggage. Qasin frowned. “I suppose I can escort you for now, but I don’t think we are headed to the same place.”

“Really? I’m going to meet with the leader of the White-Horns,” she said, circling around Qasin and adding, “I have a terribly urgent request of him, and I need to notify him of some awful events that have happened.”

“But, aren’t you a Human? Why would you go to the White-Horn’s leader and not the Human Faction’s leader?”

“Oh him? He’s a terribly dull man who does nothing but listen to the idle chatter of fat, piggish Councilmen. Why, asking him to do anything would be a waste of my time and breath. I’m sure you understand,” she said, waving off the idea as if everyone should have known it was preposterous.

“I do . . .” he admitted. She may have been making fun of him, but he couldn’t have agreed with her more if this had been a week ago. Even the words she used to describe the Council felt like his own.

“So then, you know why I must go seek help from the White-Horns instead of the humans,” she said, the daggers of her words digging into his chest.

“I suppose I do,” he answered, deciding it was probably not in his best interest to tell her the person she was talking to was the King she had just mocked.

“Good. Then you know where I’m going, but I don’t know where my young hero is off to?”

“Oh, we’re headed to the same place.”

“Are you also seeking an audience with their ruler?”

“You could say that.”

“Well, good, then you can be both my dashing hero and my charming escort,” she said, wrapping herself around his left arm. “Now, let’s get going, dear.”

Qasin didn’t argue with her at all. He didn’t know her name, where she came from, or what dire information she needed to tell the White-Horn King, but he did know that he had already saved her life and agreed to escort her somehow. “Yes, milady.”

“Now, if you’re going to escort me, I think it’s only proper we get to know each other,” she said. “My name is Eve. What’s yours?”

“I’m Qasin,” the King said. Only after saying it did he remember he was still trying to hide his identity.

“Like the King?” she asked.

“Yeah, just like the King,” he mused. It’s not technically a lie.

“Then that must explain your royal demeanor. You’re positively brimming with stuffy, entitled, sophisticated royalness. Why, one might even think you were a King yourself.”

“Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?” Qasin deflected, wondering if he was really that stuffy.

“Oh, me too! For sure. But I’m a Queen, you know?”

“A Queen? Of what?”

“Oh, well, women must have their secrets. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t be able to call myself a proper lady, now would I? So I’m afraid that little tidbit will remain a secret.”

“I see. So this meeting with the White-Horn leader will be diplomatic by nature then?”

“Not quite . . . do you know any restaurants along the way?”

“Can’t say I’ve ever been down this road, so I’m going to have to say no.”

“That’s too bad, you’ll have to find a nice place to treat me to a meal. I can’t be famished on my way, and you shan’t get away without fulfilling your role as my escort.”

“Yes, milady,” Qasin said for the second time in the conversation. He still felt like something was off about her, but he also felt like having her around would alleviate both his boredom and his growing thirst. “I’ll make sure it’s up to your standards.”

Kass:

Kass always felt a mixture of admiration and horror as she watched her red-eyed friend tear into the flesh of his enemies. She had seen warriors fight before, and she knew their gorey, hack-and-slash melee visage well, but they were nothing like Darwin. When others fought, it was clear they were playing a game. They would either play out their attacks like turns, thinking before each strike, or just recklessly swing with abandon at the monster’s hit box hoping to do damage.

When Darwin fought, it was different: almost every hit landed with gore-creating precision on a vital spot, and his motions didn't even flow so much as creep like lingering death across a battle. It was a fine line of savage he walked: somewhere between an animal fighting for its very survival and a sadistic artist that considered his weapon as an instrument and a body as a masterpiece waiting to be painted with pain and cruelty.

Naturally, then, it often sent shivers down her spine when Darwin carved up forest monsters, but not this time. This time, it made Kass feel relief as he obliterated the horrendous and putrid Boars one after another. Just looking at them caused her stomach to do somersaults and her insides attempt an emergency evacuation through her mouth. I need to have Dad find out what team designed these vile creatures and fire them. Then fire them from every future job require the designing or illustrating of anything on any medium, she thought angrily. The only saving grace was that between her spells, Frost Edge and the new Frost Step, she could close her eyes and still contribute to the fight. With Frost Step [Level 1], she could increase Darwin’s movement speed by 5% while slowing the speed of all those within a 3-meter radius of him by 5%. Coupled with her Frost Edge [Level 3]’s 25% boost to damage for Darwin, she felt she’d contributed enough to justify gaining the experience in those fights where the visual was too much to take.

“So Darwin, you said you lived in Georgia, right?” Kass asked, doing her best not to look at the EXP sources Darwin was hacking in half.

“Yeah, why, what’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing, just wondering if you’re going to go to the Comic-Con convention in Atlanta coming up soon. I think my dad is dragging me, and I was debating if I should invite a few friends,” Kass said, slightly curious what her friend Darwin would be like in real life.

“Your dad is dragging you to Comic-Con?” he asked.

“Yeah. He has to go . . . part of work you could say. They do a lot of marketing, and he has to answer questions constantly at those events,” she said, not wanting to admit she actually usually begged to get brought along for the events since he generally had VIP access to everything.

“Really? So what are you planning on going as?” he inquired.

“Oh me? I’m not really sure what I am going as,” she said, trying her best not to let Darwin know that she had been planning the entire thing for months.

“I’ve always did want to go to one of those, but I’ve never had the time. They were always scheduled on event weekends.”

“So you avoided Comic-Con because of gaming events?” she asked in disbelief. Usually gaming brought people to the dorky events, not pushed them away.

“Yeah, if you want to put it that simply, I guess?”

“Well, what about coming to this next one? You look like your avatar, right? Minus the red eyes?” she asked, trying to pry further.

“You could say our faces are identical, yeah.”

“Then pop on a bathrobe and come to the next one,” she pushed again.

“I would if I could, but I’ll be pretty occupied.

“You mean, you’ll be playing the game the entire day? Come on. One day of leveling missed won’t be a big deal, and it’ll be nice to have another friend to see all the events with. Half the fun of an event like Comic-Con is either making fun of or admiring the costumes, depending on how awful or well-made they are, of course,” she pushed.

“No, it’s okay. You go. I’d love to, but I’m kind of already trapped into something. Seriously though, thanks for the invitation,” he said, awkwardly scratching his head.

“Fine, fine, I’ll drop the subject. But you really should go to one, even without me one day. They’re absolutely a blast,” she said, feeling a bit like the creep herself for once.

As they rounded the next corner, Kass felt like she should have been surprised. Normally, if someone made it through a dungeon of grotesque Mutant pig-boar creations only to find a simple marble kitchen that looked like it was straight out of a Martha Stewart catalogue with a bunny cooking something on the island stovetop, they’d be shocked. But, between the poker-playing Bear and Buffy the Medusa, she honestly would have been taken aback more by a normal Boss.

The eight-foot-tall Rabbit, dressed in a suit with a monocle and a timepiece as if he was straight out of an Alice in Wonderland book, was in the middle of flipping some pancakes when he saw them. “Ahhh!” he shouted, messing up the flip and leaving the pancake he was making to land flat on his head between his long pointy ears.

“A bunny with a pancake on its head--why do I feel like I’ve seen that before?” Kass asked, staring at the very familiar sight.

“Not sure, but I’m actually going to say that that is cute.”

“Really? I thought men aren’t supposed to say things are cute.”

“Who said that?” Darwin asked indignantly.

“I don’t know. People?” Kass replied.

“Well, people are wrong. Things are cute, like a bunny with pancakes on its head,” Darwin insisted, both of them still stuck staring at the Rabbit curiously. It was indeed cute.

However, while they chatted back and forth, the bunny with the pancake on its head slowly grew bigger. It started off as a tall Rabbit to begin with, and each passing second it grew wider, turning it into something monstrous. Where there were only skinny arms, muscles started to pump up and veins began popping out. The clothes it was wearing slowly shredded as the muscles kept bulging bigger and bigger.

When it was finally done with its transformation, it looked like an eight-foot-tall steroid junkie trying to overdose.

“So . . .” Kass started, giving Darwin a look that said they needed to take care of the monster before they talked any more about where they had seen it before.

“Yeah, I got it,” Darwin said, dashing at the hulk bunny behind the island.

As Darwin hopped over the island and landed blade first on the bunny, who blocked the attack with his claws, Kass had to decide what type of spell would be best. There were a lot of fancy spells like Ice Dragon’s Dance, but each of them had a huge setback in terms of low DPS from long channeling times, low accuracy, or, even worse, the AoE Damage from the spell might send Darwin all the way back to spawn. It was for this reason that during most fights, no matter how hard she thought about what type of spell she wanted to use, she always ended up slamming her Staff into the ground and chain casting Snowball’s Chance as fast as she could. It was reliable, and it’s exactly what she did here.

Kass kept on casting the spell at the monster’s legs to help decrease its mobility too, all the way until Darwin did something that made her laugh so hard she couldn’t concentrate. During the fight, the cottontail had grabbed both of Darwin’s blades and was using its ears as a weapon to swing at Darwin. Darwin let go of his weapons, crouched to the floor and darted under the Rabbit’s legs. When the bunny turned around to attack him again the Rabbit was met with Darwin throwing two onions from the counter into its face and then chopping them up over and over again in mid air with a Butcher’s Knife he had found.

The roid Rabbit stopped attacking Darwin to rub its eyes, clearly crying from the onions, at which point Darwin stabbed it in the gut with the Butcher’s Knife, left the blade in the hare’s belly and grabbed the nearest Pan. At that point, he just started beating the bunny across its crying face with the Pan, leaving Kass helplessly giggling in the corner instead of helping. When the poor Boss animal finally died, Darwin chopped one of its foot off with the Butcher’s Knife and threw it at Kass.

“There, now you can have a Rabbit’s Foot!” he said. Somehow the brutality of smashing a living thing’s face in with a Frying Pan had not dented his desire to make bad jokes.

“Did you just kill it with a Frying Pan? Was there not a Spoon nearby?” Kass asked, trying her best to be polite as she tossed the Boss’s foot to the ground.

“Yeah, no Spoons. Just a Fork, and I wasn’t sure which way to go with that, so I grabbed the Frying Pan,” he said, feeling no shame at his odd victory.

“Ok, well, what did he drop?”

“Oh, yeah. Check it out. It’s perfect for you,” he said, throwing a piece of jewelry at her.

Kass caught it. It was a cut sapphire jewel in the shape of an oval with a silver dragon curling around it, wings spread out and hooked to a thin silver chain. She opened up her menu and examined the item: Dragon’s Tear, +10 to Concentration, +10 to Spirit. Wow, this is perfect for me! And it’s so pretty!

“Now see, you get to be the first girl I’ve ever given jewelry to,” he said as she put on the necklace.

“Awwwww . . . I’m touched.” she feigned. What? The first girl? Really? Does that mean he has never had a serious girlfriend?

“So, did that sate your hunger for a Boss fight with a proper loot drop?”

“Yes! yes, it did! And now I’m tired, so I’m going to hit the hay. See ya round, Pan player,” she said, logging off for the night.

-------

As Kass logged off for the night, satisfied with finally getting some gear from a dungeon boss, she couldn’t stop her instinct to check the forums. She was already tired enough to pass out instantly if her head made contact with a pillow, but some habits just couldn’t be kicked that easily. It was even worse today since she had so many questions she wanted to find answers for, like “Why was a Creation Stone on starting island?” “Has anyone ever run into a Medusa boss before?” “What ability lets a player turn a monster they’ve just killed into a permanent zombie pet?”

The problem was that no matter how far she went through the forums, she couldn’t find any answers for any of her questions. Instead of answers she just found herself with more questions. To begin with, no one was even mentioning an ability close to Darwin’s, and even though it was clearly overpowered, it wasn’t suggested in any of the trending builds. Given the massive size of the forums and the amount of user feedback generated within them, it just didn’t make sense logically for there to be a skill that wasn’t mentioned.

Then, to make matters worse, there hadn’t been a single sighting of a Medusa, a Creation Stone or even a boss that gave up the prize without a fight. In fact, none of her searches could even find details of a boss that didn’t just attack the player as soon as the player entered their aggro zone, much less talk to the player and then give them the dungeon’s treasure.

The more she dug through the archives hoping to find even a single piece of information to shed a ray of light on her quandary, the more she became frustrated. What the Hell is going on with you, Darwin? she thought, adding the day’s events up with the previous events that had occurred in Valcrest. How can there be so many mysteries centered around a single doofus in a bathrobe?

Maddock:

Maddock had unceremoniously lugged the White-Wing back over the short distance to the small encampment and left him tied, gagged and bound to a tree. The Scout had been knocked out for almost an hour and showed no signs of regaining consciousness any time soon --which was just as well as Maddock was concerned. He had no interest in listening to the incoherent religious-fueled rambling assortment of threats that would spew forth upon its awakening. In his experience, there were only a few things worse than listening to someone on a soapbox attempting to pander his religious fervor at everyone around him. It also gave him time to decide exactly what he was going to do with the bird. This was an opportunity to finally get some of the answers he had been looking for. For the past day they had been trying to figure out what the sudden influx of White-Wing Scouts into the area meant.

If his suspicions were correct, this was only the precursor of what would surely turn out to be a much larger invasion force. There was simply no other reason he could think of that would require sending out so many NPCs into another starter area. Politics were a possibility. It wouldn't have been unusual to send a vanguard of Scouts out to gather information if they were planning on bringing in someone else important in after them. The White-Wings could be sending an ambassador or another high ranking official to one of the other Races possibly hoping to open up some form of negotiation. He hadn’t spent much time exploring the forums for information about the other Racial starting areas, but Maddock was fairly certain that each area had the same basic starting materials. There wouldn’t be much need for them to trade amongst the various Races, in that regard. Iron and certain other crafting materials, particularly those used for making weapons and armor, were always in short supply and high demand; but, the likelihood of any Race parting with them would come at a price so steep it would make the effort worthless.

The other possibility was that the White-Wings were hoping to form an alliance against one of the other races. It was fairly common knowledge at this point that the White-Horns and Black-Wings had made an attempt at a serious land-grab against the Humans fairly early on.  The Human legions that had been deployed to the area had been wiped out. That had been the beginning of the series of events that had led Maddock himself to dare attacking Valcrest so early on. Maybe the White-Wings were hoping to finish that land grab off? A partnership with the White-Horns and Black-Wings would have been unusual, but not entirely out of the question. If they were greedy enough, they might possibly think themselves in a position to completely wipe out the remainder of the Human forces and set up shop in the lands for themselves. The combined strength of the White-Wing and Fire-Walker legions, in conjunction with those of the White-Horns and Black-Wings, would certainly be more than enough to finish off the remainder of the Human legions.

The possibility of an alliance of that nature, however, didn’t sit well with Maddock. As far as the game went, everything was fairly open-ended. It wasn't out of the question for any of the Races to conquer the others, even the starting areas. It simply meant that the subjugated Race would face much higher penalties when creating new characters. They would probably be excluded from most of the best mob spots and be forced to pay premium prices when buying goods from any of the vendors. Once players began raiding the dungeons on a more consistent basis, the conquered Race would probably be locked out entirely with priority being given to the dominant Faction within the area. It also meant much higher competition when it came to farming resource nodes. Simple supply and demand meant that more players within any given region would make it harder for players just starting out to get the resources for gear they needed and progress through the game. The White-Wings would be aware of all this, and Maddock highly doubted that they would be willing to share the small plot of Human lands with the White-Horns and Black-Wings. Splitting the area four ways wouldn’t make sense: it wasn’t worth the effort, time, or money if that were to be the case. The only remaining possibility, the one that made sense, was that the White-Wings were planning an invasion of their own--and that meant moving a massive amount of troops, materials, and resources across the ocean to set up the attack.

As time passed, more and more members of Maddock’s Guild began logging in.  Everyone was anxious to find out what the new ship would look like, how fast it would be, and to climb on board and test it out. Summoning a vessel of this level would most likely be common place later on as time passed and the game progressed; but, for now at least, it was something new and exciting--something that no other guild had even been able to attempt. As far as events went within the gaming world went, his Guildmates were as eager as most to explore the world’s content. The world of Tiqpa was rich with content and was, if nothing else, visually stunning.  The difference came when they were deciding what to do with it. Maddock knew that most members of his Guild were itching to test out the cannons. If his information was correct, the ship would possess three of them. Cannons were designed the primary defense against other ships on the seas, but were also usable against both players and cities alike. Any city built on the coast or near a body of water would be susceptible to taking damage from cannon fire. That was the trade off for having immediate access to larger bodies of water. Most players would be anxious to use the ship and set off to explore the world. Setting sail to the mainland was certainly what Maddock had intended to do. Now, however, he was beginning to have second thoughts.

“Someone get that bird awake. I’ve got questions that need answering,”  Maddock demanded.

“Right-o,” came the response from next to the fire pit. The Huntsman, dressed in a dark Hunter’s Garb, rose from where he had sat crouched all this time. “Would be my pleasure.”

“Oh, you suddenly feel like doing work?” Thorn said, from across the camp. “Like an archer knows anything about getting information out of someone. Just let me twist his little birdie neck till it goes pop.” He made a wringing motion with his hands, a wicked smile splitting his face.

“And the little bird goes pop--then what? How do we get anything from him once you pop him?” The archer shot back.

“Oh, I can imagine he might make a nice little stew,” Bear chimed in.

“Or chicken soup!” added Xane.

“Ahh . . . these lug headed Minotaurs know what they’re talking about. Give me the stew and a nice dark brew. Now we’re talking.” Thorn responded, eyes lighting up at the thought of beer.

“Enough!” Maddock shouted. “Shane, go to work.”

The archer pulled one of the small Knives from his belt as he approached the White-Wing where it was bound against a tree. He pushed the knife, point first, into the palm of one of the White-Wing’s hands, slowly increasing pressure as he went. One prick, then two, then three.  Blood quickly began trickling down the avian’s hands in a steady stream and pooled on the ground.

The White-Wing shuddered against his restraints and came awake with a gasping squawk. There was a moment of confusion in his eyes before he realized the situation he was in.

“Welcome back, chicken little.” Maddock said, from across the camp.

“Blasphemers!” The White-Wing managed to choke out.

“It’s a little soon to be starting the name calling already, isn’t it?” Maddock asked. “We’re all friends here, aren’t we?”

“Arraaa! You scum! Heretics! What have you done to me! You dare defile a winged member of the Sun God Emperor’s Host!”

“Wings you may have . . . for now,” Maddock responded, “But I doubt you will ever be flying anywhere again. Even if I choose to let you keep them.”

The shock was evident in the White-Wing’s face as the realization struck him and the memories of how he came to be bound to a tree rushed back to him. Maddock had severed the muscles in the White-Wing’s back that allowed him to fly. Even if they were given time to heal, the White-Wing would never fly again.

“Infidel!” the bird finally said, anger in his voice. “You will suffer a thousand deaths in His flame for this act of barbarism!”

“Oh, I doubt that. I doubt that very much,” Maddock said, his voice remaining calm.  “Now, you’re going to answer my questions. After that, I’ll decide whether you live or die. In the mean time, you pray to whatever ‘holy emperor’ you want to strike me down, alright? Now, what is your name?”

The White-Wing writhed against his restraints, struggling to break free, screeching in octaves too high for any human voice to mimic. “I will tell you nothing!”

Maddock approached slowly from across the camp. “We’ll see.” He took the small hunting Knife from Shane and drove it through the palm of the White-Wing’s hand, pinning it to the tree behind it.

“What is your name?” Maddock repeated.

When the White-Wing said nothing, Maddock yanked the Knife out and plunged it into the bird’s palm again, eliciting another screech.

“Alright, then.” Maddock pulled the long Knife from his belt and savagely began cutting away at the White-Wing’s Leather Armor that covered its chest. Not caring how deeply he cut, he had soon stripped away the Armor, leaving behind several deep gashes in the process that poured blood down the front of the White-Wing.

“Your name?” Maddock asked again.

The White-Wing shrieked into his face.

Maddock reached up, grabbed a handful of the blood soaked feathers from the bird’s broken wings, and ripped them out.

“Oh! Time to pluck the birdie!” Thorn laughed from across the camp.

“I can smell the stew already. Did we loot any potatoes from that town?” Bear added.

Maddock had pulled several rough handfuls of feathers from the White-Wing before it finally choked out between the screams, “Icar!”

Maddock stopped and cocked his head. “What was that?”

“M-my name is Icar.” The anger and left the White-Wing’s voice and was replaced with fear and pain.

“And why are you here, Icar?”

“I follow the will of the Sun God Emperor. I act according to His wishes.”

“And what would those be, exactly?”

Icar’s eyes widened at the question. “His wishes are not for you to know, infidel!”

“Uh huh,” Maddock responded raising an eyebrow, “You sure about that?”

The fear was evident in the White-Wing’s eyes, but he said nothing.

Maddock violently slammed the pommel of his long Knife into the White-Wing’s chest, knocking the air from its lungs. Icar sucked in huge, gasping breaths, unable to scream.

“Elaine, if you don’t mind?” Maddock asked.

“Yes?” The lithe mage stepped into the light from where she had remained silent this entire time.

“Why don’t you be a dear and help persuade our friend here.”

Elaine smiled and her eyes lit up. “I thought you’d never ask!” She tilted her Staff towards the White-Wing. Firelight caught in the dark rubies socketed at its apex in the dragon’s skull and sent eerie shafts of red hued light cascading around the encampment. The flakes of gold embossed in the dark wood sparkled as she began casting her spell. “Chains that bind, they do entwine, round and round they go,” she began chanting. The sing-song nature of her words made her sound like a little girl skipping rope on the playground. A small tendril of flame leaked from the dragon’s mouth on her staff and spiraled towards the ground. As it twisted downward, it grew in size until it reached the forest floor, at which time it was almost as thick as a man’s wrist. A serpent’s head could clearly be seen in the flames as it began slithering its way towards the entrapped White-Wing.

“You still praying to your god, bird?” Maddock asked as the flames snaked their way around the bird and the tree, encircling both. When it was done the serpent’s head reared up above Icar’s, flicking a tongue of flame into his face. Everywhere the flames touched, the bird quickly began blistering, and the smell of burning flesh and feathers soon filled the air.

“Oh, great Emperor of Light. I have failed you. I am unworthy to serve!” Icar cried, fear riddling his voice.

“For the last time,” Maddock asked again, “Why are you here?”

“To scout the White-Horns!” Icar cried out. “It is His wish that they be brought to serve the Empire!” The White-Wing began shaking uncontrollably from the pain. “It was my job to find them and report back what I found. I was supposed to map out the terrain for the attack plans and scout their troop movements.”

“So, I was right,” Maddock thought. “Anything else?”

“NO! That was all! I’m just a Scout, I only know what I was assigned!’

“When is the attack coming? How many legions will they send?”

“I don’t know!”

“Where will they attack from?” Maddock pressed.

“I don’t know! I swear! I’m just a Scout!” Icar broke down after this, muttering incoherently about ‘being unworthy’ between sobs.

Maddock took a moment and sized up the broken bird. “Elaine, finish him.”

The fiery serpent began constricting itself around the body of both the White-Wing and the tree. Dark wafts of smoke began drifting upwards as the tree burned, but did not catch fire.  Icar turned from sobbing to screaming in seconds. The head of the serpent plunged onto the White-Wing’s throat, sinking fangs of flame into the soft skin there, and the screams died off suddenly. Elaine relaxed her Staff back to an upright position and the serpent disappeared.

Maddock turned to face the rest of his Guild. “Looks like the plans have changed.”

Chapter 7: One Stone To Rule Them All!

Qasin:

“Qasin my dear, you have absolutely no reason to be afraid of me,” Eve said as they continued their journey.

“Excuse me?” he asked, not entirely sure what she was talking about.

“Your blade, Qasin. You haven’t taken your hand off it since our journey began. I didn’t check, but I could be easily persuaded to believe you even sleep with it,” she said, still holding his left arm in the escort position as they walked.

Qasin looked down at his right hand, resting squarely on the pummel of his sword. Have I really been holding it the entire time? he thought, taken a bit by surprise. The itch hadn’t gone away when Eve joined him, but the urge to kill wasn’t half as strong as she was entertaining. She had more than distracted him from his urges as they journeyed together, adequately fulfilling her purpose.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized. Old habits never fade, I guess?” he lied--this was a new habit.

“Right then, well it’s not entirely proper to keep your weapon so ready when you’re around royalty, you know? A more timid Queen might think you’d up and kill her for her throne.”

“It’s a good thing then that we don’t have to worry about you being ‘too timid,’” he mused.

“A good thing indeed. Now, my curiosity has up and killed the dog, so I mu . . .” she started.

“Cat,” Qasin interrupted. “Curiosity has killed the cat.”

“Why that’s an absolutely silly notion, who told you that? If curiosity killed cats, then there would be none of them left. It’s care that killed the cat,” She said in all seriousness maintaining her know-it-all persona.

“If you say so.” Qasin shook his head. She’s very unique, that much is certain at least.

“Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I was going to ask what you actually plan on doing in the White-Horn area.”

“A man must have his secrets too,” he replied, still not sure exactly that he wanted to let her know who he actually was. It was a thought that had managed to keep his mind occupied a bit of late since the longer things dragged on, the harder it would be to tell her if he actually wanted to.

“Is that what they say? And here I thought good gentlemen knew that honesty was the best policy when women were involved.”

“Lies and secrets are different things, you know. I asked first though, so if you want my story, you’ll have to tell me yours.”

“Oh dear, next thing I know you’ll be asking about my age, weight, and if this is my natural hair color?”

“No, just the one for now.”

“Very well, since you’ve been such an upstanding bodyguard and portable wallet, I think it won’t hurt to tell you what I’m doing more specifically. You see, I am on my way to the White-Horn lands to make sure my brother’s journey goes smoothly.”

“So you are running an errand at your brother’s request then?”

“Heavens, no! He doesn’t even know I’m still in the area. He only knows that there is a harbor in the White-Horn lands and that he will soon have to go to that harbor if he wants to achieve his goals.”

“So your goal is to negotiate with the head of a nation just to secure safe travel for one person?” Qasin was becoming more confused with every explanation. It was as if each answer came packed with two questions.

“Again, Qasin, no. You’re assuming too many things incorrectly. You should perhaps stick to bodyguarding and not try so hard to take up divining. I’m going to make sure things go smoothly, not safely, for my brother and his people, not just himself.”

“Smooth isn’t safe?”

“Safe is boring. Smooth, not so much,” she said, drawing a wicked smile that made Qasin’s hand return to the pummel it had been avoiding.

“I think I prefer safe.”

“That’s what people think they should think, but it’s not the actual truth. I think this talking is something you’d rather throw to the sides for a good fight, for a spark of danger, or for a duel to the death.”

“What leads you to believe that?”

“Experience . . . but enough about me. I believe now you owe me your half of the reason for our joint expedition.

“Hmmm, I suppose I might as well say it. I’m the King, and I’m on my way to kill the leader of the White-Horns and take control of the area.”

“Oh, my! That is a rather tall tale. What evidence do you have to prove such a claim?” she said, unclipping herself from the arm she had been holding onto for the last day.

Qasin stopped walking, reached into his backpack and pulled out a Crown. “I don’t like to wear it when I’m traveling, but it is the real deal, I assure you of that,” he said, not sure if it would suffice as evidence.

“I see. I suppose it would be impolite of me not to believe you at this point,” she said, grabbing the Crown from his hands and playing with it for a second before resting it atop her own head instead of his. “And you’re going to go kill the leader of the White-Horns?”

“Indeed,” he replied bluntly.

“Why,” she asked, adjusting the crown as Qasin had a myriad of times before her, “that doesn’t seem very political.”

“The White-Horns will never let themselves be lead by a Human if I don’t,” he explained. “Sure, the Satyrs might listen to me today, but tomorrow they’ll have a fresh Dagger for my back, and Minotaurs will have an axe for my front from the start.”

“So, you have to kill their leader?” she asked, trying out various poses with her new crown.

It suits her better than it does me. Maybe she is a Queen, he thought as he watched her goof off with the Crown.

“Yes, otherwise they won’t follow.”

“That’s true. You’ve made an excellent case for that, sir, but you haven’t made a case for why they need to follow.”

“Because if I don’t break them and unite the island, we’ll be stuck in petty wars for ages to come. The peace won’t last and people will die because I didn’t stand up.”

Eve gave him a resounding golfer’s clap. “Bravo, sir. Bravo! You’ve reached the point of arrogance properly expected of a monarch. Say it’s for the people; don’t say what you truly mean.”

Qasin began to get agitated. What I truly mean? It is for the people. This is all for them. “What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“I don’t think your logic is bad,” she started, “It’s just I think you’re lying to yourself again. You’re not after being a King. You don’t like it. It’s all politics, ordinances, decrees and constant bickering between fat, lazy, old men about what should or shouldn’t be. The only people you’ll end up talking to are either people who won their position by force, like yourself, or people who won it through lies and broken promises, like the Councilmen, and all you’ll ever do is talk.”

“But, someone has to rule them,” he started to argue back, but there wasn’t much voice behind his words. Her opinions on the matter had already started to worm their way into his thoughts. “If not, then the good honest and innocent people will die for the greed of those pigs.”

“That’s true. Someone does have to rule, but should it really be you? Wouldn’t you much rather be out in the world, risking your life, adventuring through dungeons and caves as you bounce from one fight to another? I quite imagine that this little thing . . .” she took the Crown off of her head and placed it on his, “feels much more like a shackle than an honor.”

Qasin adjusted the Crown, thinking back on the hundreds of people he had murdered over the last few days in his gambit for power. It feels good to kill, he thought at the same time she mouthed the words at him. It feels so good. He sighed, knowing she wasn’t wrong about the Crown or his need to find someone else to wear it.

Darwin:

Darwin wasn’t able to get half way back home before Alex came barreling out of the woods in front of him at full speed.

“Captain!” Alex almost shouted as he closed in on Darwin. “Captain, I’m glad I could find you in time.”

“In time? In time for what?” Darwin asked, confused.

“To kill them. To kill those scum,” Alex said, pointing randomly at a direction in the forest.

“Kill who?” Darwin asked, “What scum are you talking about?”

“The bastards who murdered my family,” Alex said, gritting his teeth as his face grew redder by the minute.

“Wait, scum that killed your family?”

“Captain, during the attack that earned you your title and destroyed our village, many people died defending the town. They fought bravely against the intruders, but some didn’t; some people took advantage of the chaos that ensued during the struggle and murdered and pillaged good people’s homes. A lot of people died that didn’t have to, people that weren’t part of the struggle. These people, I know for a fact, were part of that group of traitors who murdered the townspeople during the mayhem,” Alex said in a way that made it difficult to tell if he was angry at the people or at Darwin wasting precious seconds that could be spent avenging.

“Say no more,” Darwin said, not wanting to upset Alex with more waiting. “Lead the way.”

As the two of them tore through the woods with Darwin’s entourage, Fuzzy Wuzzy and the four Turtle-Wolves, Alex did his best to update Darwin on the situation. “There are twelve of them. They aren’t nearly as skilled in combat as you, but they are better than the average soldier.”

Better than the average soldier? So they’re at least above level 20. If they aren’t nearly ‘as skilled as me’ then that means they are probably all between level 25 and 30, probably not over 30. Darwin began putting the numbers together in his head. It was going to be a mathematical slaughter. I have five troops with me, all of which are originally only Level 41, but each of them gaining the Captain’s Emblem’s +5 levels and +5% all stats, I don’t think I even have to take part in this fight.

“But, Captain, there is one thing we may need to be concerned about,” Alex continued, breaking Darwin from his happy thoughts about being overpowered against the noobs. “One of them kept talking about all powerful entities--he called them Aliens. ”

Darwin’s face fell flat. “You’re worried about . . . Aliens?”

“Yeah, this Henry character in the group kept talking about them and how they made us all. How they could easily come down and destroy us at a moment’s notice. I normally wouldn’t believe intel like this, but he was casually telling his allies without any knowledge that we were eavesdropping. It makes it a lot more credible.”

Darwin momentarily found himself at a loss for words. “Actually, you don’t have to worry about Aliens. They aren’t real.”

“Then why would he talk about them as if they were?”

“Do, do your people have a God?”

“Oh, no, not really. We haven’t for centuries. Our people abandoned the gods long before the great king Qasin united the people, but some of the White-Horns worship the Mountain and the God of the Plains.”

“Oh, well, Aliens are basically just another God for people who don’t have one back where I came from.” Darwin cursed instantly when he realized he had referred to ‘where he came from.’ Would it be a rule violation to mention the real world to NPCs?

“So in your village they worship Aliens, and the Aliens live in the heavens above?”

“Yeah, something like that. I’ve even heard stories that the only way to reach out to them is to wear shiny metal reflective hats.”

“That’s . . . that’s an interesting religion. You, uhh . . . don’t follow it do you?”

“Oh, God, no. To me, this whole world was designed with a purpose, and you could say that purpose was to have fun. No need to think about it further,” Darwin said, laughing at his own fourth wall joke. Yep, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it was definitely programmed, I mean designed, with the intent for the player to have fun.

“Ok, good. Because the whole concept sounds ridiculous. Who wants to pretend another random Race is your God? I might as well claim to be the God of cows at that point.”

“That is an udderly amazing insight Alex, but try not to milk it for too much,” Darwin punned. “It’s one most of us have already thought.”

“I’m trusting you on this one then, Captain,” he said, still nervous.

Do gods have more of a part to play in this game universe than they do in reality? Is that why he is still worried even after hearing it is only a religion?

“It seems like everyone is trusting me these days,” Darwin thought aloud, unconsciously reaching out for the Creation Stone in his inventory.

When they finally reached at the group of players, Darwin began to feel a little bad for them. He had started noticing it when they were following their trail earlier, but now it was certain. They were headed for the silver ore mine, and stopped a little distance off from the two Ogres that were guarding the entrance, clearly making plans and deciding how they were going to tackle the problem.

“Do you think this was their plan out here from the beginning?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I followed them for an hour, and they didn’t seem to have any clear plan in mind. It could be a coincidence?”

“It might be, but this makes the situation go from bad to worse if we don’t kill them. If they attack those Guards then there is still a chance they’ll overpower them, get through the door and find a village loaded with loot from spawn camping just waiting for them. They might not be able to take the village on their own, but you can guarantee they’ll find backup if word get out of a big enough reward.”

“Even though it would be killing innocent people? Are there really so many readily willing to slaughter innocents for material possessions?”

This Guard, he doesn’t know that there would be hundreds of players that would appear in a heartbeat to kill an NPC for gear, he thought, remembering the times that even he had killed an NPC he didn’t want to in other games just because the reward for being evil was way preferable to the reward for being good, regardless of how much it hurt him inside to betray his character. Some of them would do it just for the EXP. His faith in humanity is too strong.

“Yeah, Alex, they will. We can’t let them get through that door, but the question is, do you want to kill them, or do you want the ZombOgres to kill them?” Darwin asked.

“I want to,” he said resolutely, stamping one of the Spears he had taken from a Turtle-Wolf into the ground.

“Then let’s do it before they get up the courage to attack.”

“Yes, Captain,” Alex said, falling into a line directly behind Darwin.

As they crept closer to the enemies, Darwin noticed Justin and Blake, two of the other Guards, who saw them from the cave and began sneaking into their formation. As even the Turtle-Wolves and Fuzzy Wuzzy started to move with creepy stealth, he began to feel like a commando on a night raid. Sure it was broad daylight, and they were just getting ready to kill a bunch of lowbies who were talking amongst themselves, but that didn’t take away from the feeling.

Once they were almost directly on top of the enemies, Darwin raised his hands and gestured the Guards to sweep left, and the Turtle-Wolves to sweep right and create a circle around the enemies.

“Ummm, Captain, what are you doing?” Alex whispered.

“I’m trying to signal you all to go that way and make a circle around the enemy,” Darwin whispered back, as if anyone should have known.

“Then, why didn’t you just say so? It kind of looked like you were having hand seizures.”

Darwin frowned. Hand seizures? he thought, upset that his commando act had gone from emboldened to embarrassing so quickly. “Just do it, okay? We don’t want them to be able to escape once we start the killing. We don’t know if they will go for the fight or the flight option once the battle begins.”

“Got it. Justin, Blake, with me,” Alex said, disappearing in the brush to Darwin’s left.

“Now, you guys as well, go and stay hidden until I make the first move.”

Fuzzy Wuzzy and the Turtle-Wolves nodded and then disappeared into the woods to his right.

Now it was just Darwin, the leader, and the moment of truth that they had all been waiting for. Even though he knew this would be a slaughter, especially with two more of the Guards having joined the group, he was still nervous. He had gotten used to killing monsters and program-generated enemies, but they were predictable. With players there was no telling what would happen. One might suicide with a good spell and take Darwin with him.

You can do this, Darwin. No time to get nervous now, he thought, grabbing his two blades and taking one last deep breath. Let’s go!

He ran at them and then lunged as soon as he got close, killing two players before his party could react to the signal and join the fight. There were only twelve of them, but his blade moved like a tornado. He parried, dodged, and danced between Arrows, Axes and blades as if the battlefield was not just his home, but the place he had been born and his reason for living. Alex, Justin and Fuzzy Wuzzy were the only ones who made it in time to even get in on the action and take a life for themselves. By the time Blake and the four Turtle-Wolves had arrived, the fight was over.

“Wow! Captain, that was incredible. The way you spun a full 360 when that Arrow was inches away from you, dodging it completely and landing your blade in the archer’s gut? That’s crazy!” Blake said. Never having actually seen Darwin fight before, he was clearly impressed.

He doesn’t know I’m just a higher level than them, Darwin thought.

“Yeah, well, they’re dead and we have work to do. Strip them of any gear that doesn’t disappear with the bodies and let’s regroup in the town.”

“Yes, Captain,” Alex said with a broad smile.

“And Alex, one more thing.”

“Captain?”

“Bring everyone to the kitchen chamber,” he said, thinking to make sure he wasn’t forgetting something. “Clear it out of all the tables. There is a big decision awaiting us that will decide the fate of the town.”

“Thanks again for coming to kill them, sir,” Alex said, doing a mock salute and disappearing. The way he faded in and out of stealth was downright baffling to Darwin.

Is there a stealth function I don’t know about? I wonder what all the classes are in the game. Too bad there isn’t a way to ask Kass about that without just saying outright, “Hey, I’m not a regular player. I was magically warped here after dealing with a break-in homicide in the real world.” I don’t know why I’m here, and oh yeah! This isn’t an in-game Race. It’s something I have mysteriously been since birth, and I still haven’t figured that one out yet.

Darwin sighed and headed into the chamber. The decision was already made. The people just didn’t have the luxury of knowing that.

Darwin stood in the old Boss room on a raised platform with the double doors leading into the kitchen behind him. What had once been a poker room and then a makeshift dining room was now the best they could do for an auditorium, but it was still too small to fit all of the Valcrest refugees inside. As a result, no children were in attendance and there were still a great number of people in the halls and the kitchen behind him doing their best to listen to what he was about to say.

Darwin, who had never given a public speech before, expected to have sweaty hands, sore throat and a red face. He had even anticipated that he might feel dizzy and nauseous. The one thing he hadn’t planned for was feeling comfortable, at home, and in control. The second the crowds gathered his eyes sharpened and the room went from being a mass of people to an extension of himself. He felt the words flowing out of his mouth and into the crowds as if it were as natural as running water rushing through a river. He knew it didn’t matter what his message was. It didn’t even matter what words he used to convey it. What was important wasn’t that; it was the confidence. It was the demand that mattered, the command that he be trusted no matter how insane his words may sound.

“Valcrest, I came to you a stranger. I came to you a man stripped of home, people and any belongings that weren’t on my person when I found myself in this exile from my own lands. But, you people told me not worry. You gave me food, shelter, a place to rest my head and a job. You gave purpose back to my life when I was lost. Most importantly above all of those gifts though, you gave me your trust.

“And don’t think I didn’t notice. It couldn’t have been easy, but you did it. You followed me when almost every one of you is a capable leader, strong enough in spirit to stand against any challenge, yet you chose to honor Elmont and follow a stranger you barely knew. I asked that you leave your homes behind--where you had spent generations building families, memories, and friendships--to follow me into a dark and musty cave barely fit for life, yet you did so in an instant and without complaint.”

As he spoke, the crowd became more and more responsive. They had gone from passive listeners to actively nodding and mouthing their agreement as he spoke.

“That’s why it pains me to tell you the trials are not over. That the changes we started when we decided not to merely repair scraps, but create a future, still have a great way to go. But, I cannot do this without your continued faith that we are doing the right thing and we are on the right path--that at the end of the day, you believe the sacrifices I am asking you to make are worth the rewards we will gain when they are made.”

Darwin paused. Everyone had been murmuring and talking amongst themselves when he first decided to start talking, but now they were all as silent as a church mouse, and their eyes were fixed on him with unwavering focus. So this is what public speaking is like? he thought, giving the room a moment to take a breath. Then he opened his inventory and pulled out the Golden Creation Stone and held it up on a flat palm for everyone to see.

“Do you all know what this is?” he asked, waiting for their nods to show him his assumptions were not wrong. “Do you know what will happen if you agree to follow me when I activate this Stone?” he pressed. They nodded again, many doing so excitedly and others even mouthing yes as they did.

“This is where our path lies,” he said, closing his fingers around the smooth Stone and gripping it as tightly as he could within a fist. “This is the tool we will use to create a future where we are more than the pawns of Kings and the food of evil men. It is the item that will give us the power to manifest our destiny.”

He stopped again for a moment, letting it sink in with the crowd. There were no questions, but the people were still nodding. They were hanging on his movements, their eyes following his every gesture.

“I am going to use this Stone here and now before you. By a higher providence I have been set upon this path and I cannot stray, but you can. That’s why I am here to ask you, do I still have your faith? Will you, knowing the dangers and hardships you will have to endure, cast aside your comfort yet again and come with me?”

Before the pause could take root the people answered his question: “Yes!” they shouted at him. There was no disagreement, no uncertainty or lack of answer from anyone in the group. Even those in the hallway who could not hear the speech were shouting yes to not be left out of the fervor of the crowd.

They do not know that in following me, they are casting aside their Humanity, he thought without a single pang of guilt. He needed them to agree because if he was going to keep them alive, then there wasn’t any room for indecision or second guessing. There was no turning back from the path that he had laid out for them.

Activate Tiqpa Creation Stone, he thought, squeezing the Stone even harder than before.

- You are attempting to activate a Creation Stone. Your Race, Demon, will be set as the Faction’s primary Race. All NPCs preexisting within the Faction will be converted to Demons and all NPCs generated by the Creation Stone will be Demons until new Races are added to the Faction by procuring additional Creation Stones or alliances. Do you wish to Accept or Reject?

Accept. Darwin had already been warned by Eve about what would happen when he chose to use the golden rock.

- You have activated a Creation Stone. Please select a name for your new Faction.

The StormGuard Alliance, he thought, deciding to name his Faction after his old gamer’s guild. The StormGuard Alliance had managed to claim first in several raid bosses and was more than just a guild: it was his prized creation. He might not have socialized, recruited, or even done much in terms of boosting morale after his raid group had wiped, but he had spent hours farming gold for the guild bank, buying upgrades for the guild raid gear and working tirelessly to research and come up with the best strategies for each one of the raids. It was something he had spent years pouring his heart and soul into, and while he couldn’t go back to it on Emerald Gardens, he could at least recreate it here.

- Congratulations! You are now leader of the StormGuard Alliance Faction. You may now build and assign privileges and Ranks for your Alliance through the Tiqpa Faction menu.

Everyone was still cheering and the rabble of their excitement had only grown since their agreement. The Stone had been activated, and now that the Faction had been named, and the conditions had been agreed upon, its magic finally kicked in. Its golden hue grew so bright within his hands that the light merely escaping the cracks between his fingers crushed every bit of darkness in the room, eliminating shapes and details and leaving only white light visible to anyone with open eyes. Then it faded, leaving Darwin and the people of Valcrest to struggle as their eyes adjusted back. When he could finally see again, Darwin smiled. Where once stood a crowd of people with blue, green, and brown eyes; with red, blonde, and brunette hair colors; now stood a room full of dark-haired people whose red eyes shined throughout the crowd. His speech was not a lie. He really had come to them a stranger, but now he had a Race, he had a people, and he had a destiny.

Valerie:

It’s actually kind of pretty, considering what it is, Valerie thought to herself as she stared at the glass walls of her prison. She had known ahead of time that she would log in here.  Mclean and Daniel had both gotten on early and then sent her forum messages warning what would happen, but it still didn’t prepare her for the feeling that came with it: helplessness. They probably didn’t understand what it was like to be in prison, but Valerie had been stuck in a chair that felt like a prison for years.

11 hours and 32 minutes left, she counted as a minute passed on her timer. Each jailable offense in a starting land wasn’t worth more than two or three minutes in the glass prison, but the number of offenses they were being charged with had pushed a simple game creator’s concept of “a few minutes of time out for bad behavior” to her and her friends being forced to wait an entire day in their solitary confinement cells. She wanted to send them messages, but even that function was disabled for the duration of the punishment.

She was alone, trapped and helpless. It was a far too familiar feeling. And now I get to spend an entire day not walking around again, she thought bitterly. The worst part about it was that she was being punished by the people she had worked so hard to protect last night. They had spent hours upon hours helping save the White-Wings, and now she was in a White-Wing prison with her new friends.

The Guards changed for the first time since she got to the cell. It had been over an hour and a half since she first arrived, and she was already used to the quiet terror of being able to see a world around her that she couldn’t interact with. She could see their lips moving but no sound came out.

Tim, she thought, suddenly. The new Guard wasn’t a Guard . . . it was Tim. What’s he doing here? He’s supposed to be leading missions and helping starting players level up. Why is he here? Did he get demoted to guard duty because of me? Crap, I got the only cute guy who has ever asked me out demoted to guard duty.

Tim looked at her for less than half a second, then frowned and turned his back, facing the hall like every other Guard. Great, he’s not just mad at me, he’s giving me the cold shoulder, she thought, letting her back slide down the cell wall until her butt hit the floor and her knees pressed against her chest. She didn’t just feel helpless. She felt small.

Just as she was about to cry, she heard the door open. She looked up to see Tim with his stupid grin staring at her.

“I leave you alone for less than two days, and you end up in a cell waiting to be exiled?” he asked, laughing a bit as he did.

“I . . . I’m going to be exiled?” she said, not sure what part of the news was more shocking, the fact he was here or the fact she was going to be exiled.

“Yeah, the order hasn’t gone out yet and won’t even come with a trial, but I heard a few higher ups talking about it earlier today when you first came in,” he said. “You’re apparently the talk of the ranks.”

“I thought the Sun God Empire didn’t exile people?” she asked, confused. This was never part of the game’s starter manual.

“It doesn’t generally, but you and your two friends are the exception,” he explained. “I know, from what the other two said, you were doing what you did to save the White-Wings, but without evidence it just looks like you carelessly murdered hundreds of citizens of the Sun God Empire.”

“This is our thanks then . . .” she muttered, having already known what would happen without evidence. Hopefully, what they had done, killing off the non-boss-level enemies, would be enough, but somehow she knew better. That last Fire-Walker wasn’t in the Level 20 to 30 range of the others. He was in an entirely different field of power. If this was her favorite anime, his power reading would have broken the scouter. “Well, what do we do now?”

“That’s easy, we need to beat the word of mouth to the harbor and take the first ship to wherever,” he said, looking both ways as he signaled her out of the prison cell. “Otherwise, once news reaches the harbor about what you three look like, you won’t be able to get off the island and no city will give you safe haven.”

Valerie got up and started to the door. So we’ll have to sneak out on a boat just as a war starts. Sounds exciting, she thought.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention one more important detail absolutely essential to your escape,” he said, smiling brighter than he ever had before.

“What’s that?” she asked. How is he so happy during a crisis?

“This,” he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him where he had a firm kiss waiting. “If I’m going to play Prince Charming and save the damsel from the tower, I figured I might as well get paid in advance,” he joked.

Valerie wanted to say something back, but the kiss had done nothing but leave her cheeks so red she could have played the body double of a tomato. I’m over 20 years old, and I’m just now getting my first kiss . . . from an NPC? Granted, he’s definitely a handsome NPC, and the kiss definitely was breathtaking . . .

“Now, let’s go. Your friends are waiting,” he said, breaking the awkward silence, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the hall before she could even react.

The entire trip to her friends, Valerie’s head was spinning from what had just happened. Maybe it was the sudden excitement of the heroic rescue, or maybe it was the kiss, but Valerie couldn’t stop smiling.

Unfortunately, this excited daze stopped her from paying attention to what was going on around her. When they reached her friends, she darted in front and opened their cell door--the two had been kept together unlike her--only to hear them shouting.

“Behind you!” Mclean shouted, pointing as she turned the handle on her door.

Then Tim, standing behind her, said something she couldn’t make out at all.

Valerie turned around to look at what was going on only to be stopped still. Time seemed to her as if frozen, and nothing seemed to move except for her and Tim as Tim’s mouth opened and gurgles of blood came out in place of words. Her heart cried. She gulped, and she told herself to breathe, but nothing started the world back up again.

“Ha!” the White-Wing behind Tim shouted to himself arrogantly. “I bet this stupid heretic’s death will earn me a promotion.”

That-- That-- That damn bas-- HE KILLED TIM! Her mind raged. And then, something inside of her felt like it broke. She clinched her teeth together so hard her jaw started to get sore, and her grip closed so tight, her fingers felt like they might come off. Then her wings snapped out and everything in her rushed forward as if the second hand on a clock had skipped a few notches. She had gone from standing still to kneeling over Tim’s murderer, stabbing him again and again with his own Knife.

“Val . . . I think that’s enough,” Daniel said, watching the scene unfold in front of him. “We need to go.”

“Yeah, we need to have been gone yesterday,” Mclean said.

Valerie looked at Tim’s still warm body lying out on the floor less than ten feet away. She wanted to do something for him, but she couldn’t think of anything. The others were right: they needed to leave quickly.

“Come on, Valerie! Let’s go!” Daniel urged again.

“Okay, okay, we need to get to the harbor. This wasn’t just jail time, they’re going to exile us, and at this point we either have to summon our own boat or pray one comes and misses the harbor,” Valerie informed the other two.

“Right, let’s get moving then. We’re on a clock. You guys don’t have to log off any time soon, do you?” Mclean asked.

“Nope. I guess we’re going to have quality flying time together,” Daniel answered. “Anyone know how to play cards in the air?”

Now I get to run just like the heretics I spent days hunting down and killing, Valerie thought, taking to the air with her two friends. Let them hunt . . . we’re not going down without a fight.

Kass:

When Kass loaded up the game, she figured it would be best to log into Valcrest instead of the dungeon where she had signed off for the night. It wasn’t that she wasn’t absolutely confident she could probably take the bunny Rabbit on her own--it didn’t seem like a hard Boss--but the extra hour plus needed to respawn the option to be in Valcrest didn’t seem like it would be worth the possibility of a decent item. After all, someone else might have popped it while she was gone.

She wasn’t surprised to find that the first thing she heard when her avatar loaded was players complaining. Players were always complaining these days. Ever since the attack, the forums had become full of people who couldn’t be bothered to learn to play griping about the how the game was to blame for their ineptitude.

“Valcrest was supposed to be one of the top leveling zones for Humans, right next to the mobs, and now it’s just a pile of rocks,” the tallest of four gamers near her whined. “This isn’t even fun anymore. There aren’t any NPCs at all.”

“Aren’t the NPCs supposed to respawn over time? I wish the game makers would repopulate the town and repair some of the damage,” the youngest one of them complained. “It’s kind of ridiculous that they have a hands off policy with the world when we are paying this much money for the experience,” another one said.

“Yeah, I get it if this was part of the main continent, but it’s the noob island,” a third, and the only armored one, joined in. “They should really fix this.”

“Relax, man. We can always move south or just hit the dungeons to the east until we hit 40 and rebind on the mainland,” the oldest of the group, a fellow Mage, responded. “We don’t have to go to town and sell gear It’s not really that important.”

“I guess,” the youngest grumbled disappointingly.

“You’re right. If the town experience was a required part of the game, I’d probably be madder, but it’s just for coin and better items, and we should be getting items off of mobs anyways, like that Bathrobe guy,” the tall one said. “There is no way that Sword he was killing people with was bought in a town.”

Kass’s ears perked up instantly. Bathrobe guy? Killing people? Did they mean players? Is Darwin a PK? She looked at the four gamers. It was against her better instincts as a woman to talk to other gamers in game, given half of the time they tried to hit on her or say something gross, but she had to know. She stood straight, fixed her posture, and marched right over to the group.

“Excuse me, can you repeat that part about the guy in a Bathrobe?” she asked, crossing her fingers and praying the dreaded ‘Are you really a girl?’ line didn’t shoot out of one of their mouths.

“Well, like, someone posted a vid on the forums earlier from a fight with some players and a guy in a Bathrobe,” the guy repeated back. “Apparently they were out in the forest east of here, and they got jumped by this dude in a white Bathrobe. He straight up, like, butchered the whole group of them.”

“A guy in a Bathrobe butchered a whole group of players?” she asked, still shocked to hear this. Darwin was such a nice guy; it couldn’t have been him.

“Well, that’s what people are saying. A few are saying he had pets as well as some others with him. But when the guy taking the video died there weren’t any others visible. Prolly just trying to cover up that the whole group of them got rolled by one dude. Noobs,” the youngest one said, looking to his friends for agreement.

“So, you watched the video?” she asked, making sure of the details.

“Course,” he laughed. “Who wouldn’t? Whole party got wrecked. It was hilarious.”

“Yeah, remember that one guy crying like a little girl with a skinned knee before he even got hit?” a third one chimed in, laughing and nudging the first guy as he did.

“Don’t front, bro. You’d scream too if that devil was about to turn you into Human shish kabob,” the first one laughed back. “I’ve heard of some martial artists being really good at the game even when they’re low levels, but that guy was crazy.”

“Wait, wait, one question,” Kass interrupted them. “This guy, with the Bathrobe, did he have red eyes?”

“Yeah, actually he did,” the tall guy answered.

“Now that you mention it, how did he?” the young one asked. “I don’t remember red eyes being in the early cosmetic options.”

“Was he using just one Sword, or two?” Kass asked.

“He was using two, I think?” the old man answered this time.

“Yeah, it was two,” the armored one replied.

“It’s Darwin alright,” Kass sighed. She didn’t need any more confirmation. There was no one else who wore a bathrobe in the game. Even if there was, for them to be on this island with two Swords and red eyes couldn’t happen. It had to be him.

“What? You know him?”

“Not as well as I thought I did,” she muttered, turning around and leaving the four players in shock as she started walking away.

“Hey, wait, where are you going?” one of them asked after her. She didn’t bother to see which one.

“I’m going to teach an old man some much needed manners! And no! You may not follow me!” she yelled back at them without even looking as she rushed out of the town.

Kass didn’t just walk to the lair, she stormed. Her foot steps were stomping attacks against the ground more than movements to get from point A to point B. When did Darwin become a PK? He better have a good explanation for this. I don’t like being killed, and I sure as heck won’t tolerate my friends killing other people for no reason at all, she thought, trying to come up with a dozen ways to call Darwin a jerk and set him straight if he was actually going about randomly killing players.

But when she walked into the cave where the Valcrest people had established a makeshift home, she momentarily forgot all about the PK issue. She knew the ZombOgres would have red eyes, but she hadn’t anticipated every person in town having them too. One by one, the villagers stopped what they were doing and looked at her as she walked through the tunnels. Being stared at by quiet people with red eyes in a dimly lit cave isn’t scary at all, she thought, not entirely sure though if she could call it a cave anymore.

They had only been at it a day or two at most, but they had managed to transform everything but the first hundred foot length of cave at the entrance into something entirely different. The walls were flattened, and there was an indented path in the middle of each floor where one was meant to walk, with several stone chairs and benches on the sides if one wanted to take a rest. Sometimes there were even drawings on the walls.

“The Lord is busy,” one of the red-eyed said, popping out of the shadows.

Kass nearly had a heart attack as he did. When did he get here? Holy crap, is it always going to be like that when I try to visit? she thought, trying to regain her composure.

“He won’t be free for a while, but if you like I can bring you to him?” the man continued.

Kass looked at him for a second, is he . . is he Justin? she thought, not entirely sure. The face looked familiar, but the red eyes and black hair made his appearance distinctly different. “Justin?” she guessed, “Justin, what is going on here?” she asked, hoping she didn’t offend him with a bad guess.

“What do you mean?”

“Why is everyone . . . more . . . Darwin-like?” she asked. As soon as she asked though, she knew the answer.

He had activated the Creation Stone, and the entire village had agreed to join his Faction. It meant they would switch from their original Race to his.

“Because we’re no longer Human,” he answered, as if that type of change was so happenstance it didn’t even merit a shift in voice when talking about it. “It was a side effect of the golden Stone, and a necessary sacrifice for the plans ahead.”

Of course! When a non-Human player activates a Creation Stone, if the NPCs in the town he is in charge of agree to join his Faction, then they’ll be slotted into his Race. Wait, his Race? The question struck Kass as something familiar. The paper! He had mentioned his Race was unknown on the paper. Kass suddenly felt as if she had forgotten a key detail to solving a puzzle.

“If you’re not Human, what Race are you?” she asked, hoping to finally solve one of the many mysteries surrounding the Bathrobe Knight who had rescued her from the Minotaurs.

“Demon, ma’am,” he again answered matter-of-factly. “We’re Demons now.”

Demons. That can’t be right. There isn’t a Demon Race in the game, she thought, still trying to wrap her head around everything. Sure, Black-Wings and some of the other playable races have demonic subspecies, like an Incubus or a Shade, but there aren’t any Races that are just called Demons.

“What type of Demons?” she pressed, double-checking to see if he was a subspecies.

“Just Demons ma’am. Not sure if there are types of what we are,” he said, looking around. “Anyways, did you want me to bring you to the Lord, ma’am?”

First he was Captain, and then he was Boss. Now he’s Lord? Should I expect there to be a church of the Bathrobe Knight soon? she grumbled. She didn’t want to admit she was mostly upset that these added titles likely meant less time Darwin would spend farming with her and more time he’d be trying to drag her on some town-related quest where the Boss might not even fight back.

“Yeah, might as well,” she finally said after a moment. She had just spent a good bit of time merely getting here. There was no reason at all not to go find Darwin now that she had arrived. Especially not just because he had become Lord Onion Knight, slayer of bunnies and Bears.

“Alright. This way,” he said, leading the way to Darwin.

When they finally got to Darwin, he was in a large room almost half the size of the kitchen, with a map of their island, albeit slightly incomplete and missing many key details, sprawling the full length of the wall to her right when she walked in the room. Darwin was sitting in the center spot at a long stone table to her left with six others while only one person was on her right with the map.

Wow, this is way more professional than I had expected, she thought, admiring the scene as she walked into the room with Justin.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her as she walked in. Ugh, this reaction is like when you have something in your teeth and no one wants to tell you.

Darwin was the first one to break the silence, “Gentlemen, no need to be shy. This is Kass.”

Huh, gentlemen, not ladies and gentlemen? Oh! I see! Kass thought, just noticing that no one in the room was a woman besides her. This was two sexist remarks and fifth of scotch away from being a Mad Men set. He started a new Faction, and he’s already installed the glass ceiling.

“I owe much of my success to her, so please treat her with respect,” Darwin continued. “And Ren, could you get Kass a chair before you continue?”

“Yes, Lord Darwin,” he said, setting a colored paint brush down and rushing off into another room to get her a chair.

She was about to stop him and say she would get her own, but they were all stone and she wasn’t exactly sure how heavy they were. Is lifting giant stone chairs easy for Demons? Or is it just easy for people who aren’t specced fully into the Mage stats.

“Darwin, want to catch me up to speed? What’s going on?” Kass asked, deciding not to wait for the chair to arrive before asking all the questions she had for Darwin.

“We’re planning out a strategy to keep the people safe during the expedition we’re about to launch,” he said, looking at the door behind her to see if the man was back with the chair.

“You’re about to launch an expedition?”

“As soon as the preparations are made. Hopefully within the hour, but I won’t hold my breath. We’ve hit a rather big snafu I’d like some help with if you don’t mind. I can’t have any of my people getting killed in the journey. It wouldn’t be right after all they’ve been through.”

“Your people? Is it because of the Creation Stone? If that’s why you’re the Lord, and I helped get the Creation Stone, does that make me the Queen?”

“Queen? You mean Lady, right?” he corrected her. “If you want to be the Lady we’ll probably need to get around to a first date, don’t you think?”

“Still dreaming there, aren’t you? If you want a date, you’ll have to learn how to ask properly one of these days, Darwin,” Kass sassed back.

“Oh, us old men can’t get caught asking children out on dates,” he said, smiling wryly.

“I am not a child!” she burst out, momentarily forgetting that everyone in the room was paying attention to their banter. She sniffed, her nose high in the air. “I am the Lady here even if you won’t recognize my rightful title.”

“If you say so . . . anyways, we have business to do here,” Darwin said, wearing a half grin. “Are you going to join us, or will you need a few new names first?”

“I’m in--that is if you actually have seats open for women.”

“Don’t blame me. I didn’t make a game where women don’t like politics or join the military,” Darwin divested himself of the guilt. “That’s all on the game makers. These are just the closest we have to the people who were in charge of Valcrest.”

“Sure, sure, so what’s the thing you need help with?” Kass asked just as Ren returned with her chair. Wow, he really is carrying that stone chair like it’s a feather. “Protecting people from dying, you said?”

“Yes. That’s right. This map,” Darwin began, pointing at the map on the wall, “is the limited knowledge we have about the island. The problem is, that on this map there is only one port, and it’s in the center of the White-Horn territory.”

“Why is that a problem?” Kass asked as she sat down and folded her legs, obviously not catching on to why this was such a dire issue. “The ports are usable by all Races, aren’t they?”

“Kass, the Humans are at war with the White-Horns still,” Darwin said, leaning back with one arm folded across his chest and the other covering his mouth with a pensive frown. “Even if the port is usable by everyone, getting to the port will still force us to march through the White-Horn territory. There is a good chance we’ll be forced into a skirmish. Even if we win the skirmish easily, there is still the probability of someone dying.”

“Well, there is another option,” the man on Darwin’s right, whom Kass could only assume was Alex, said, “We could always ignore the harbor completely and build our own ship.”

“No, that won’t work, Alex. It would take too long to finish the boats, and that would set us back farther than I’m comfortable with.”

“But it could save lives if it means avoiding any fights altogether,” he made one final attempt.

“It could cause entirely new problems that might end lives,” Darwin frowned, then waving Ren back up to the map, said, “Anyways, Ren, you were telling us of your plan before you were interrupted.”

“Yes. My plan is simple, if we’re going to lose lives, let them be seasoned fighters who volunteer. If we cut this path through the dungeons and defeat the crossing bosses then we can shave a day off of our time and bypass the White-Horn’s front cities and forts. From what I remember of the scouting reports we’ve collected over the years on the White-Horn army, they like to keep their armies in well-defended forts around this line.” Ren paused to draw a line across the map. “This means they can respond to threats quickly from the outside, but it also means that if we pop out of the mountain here, there won’t be any large scale forces capable of catching us before we reach the harbor. They’ll be counting on the crossing Bosses being too difficult to clear, and I don’t think we’ll lose more than one or two soldiers to those.”

We wouldn’t lose any if it was just me, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Darwin and a few of the Turtle-Wolves. Kass thought, scrunching up her face. Why risk a soldier when we’ve got all these red-eyed Zombie thingies to soak up damage and die in their place? Darwin could probably build an entire army of them before we reach these mysterious crossing guards, and then even Fuzzy Wuzzy wouldn’t have to risk his life.

“What?” Darwin asked, noticing Kass’ face.

“Huh?” Kass responded, not used to being called out for thinking. It took her a second to realize why he had asked her what. “Oh, just I think Ren’s plan is good, but you’re making this way more complicated than you have to, Oh Great Spoon Lord.”

“Hmmm . . .“ he started for a second, returning to his thinking pose. “I don’t think I am. I think I know what you’re suggesting, but there is one problem.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“You won’t be able to stop Blake, Alex and some of the other Guards from volunteering. Even if the Zombies could die for them, they’ll still demand to be on the front lines. They want to fight for their future, not just be given it,” he said, turning to the Guards. “Am I wrong?”

“Not at all, your Lordship. We’re with you whether you like it or not.”

“My blade hasn’t tasted blood yet,” the one on the other side of Alex responded. She couldn’t remember all of their names from one meeting.

The mention of blood, however, triggered Kass’ memory and reminded her of why she had stormed all the way here.

“Oh yeah! DARWIN! What in the heck?! I heard you killed a bunch of people near here? How could you?” She stood up and began gesturing angrily with an open hand. “What on earth could possess you to turn yourself into a murderer! I thought you would know better than that!”

“That wasn’t his fault. It was mine, Lady Kass,” Alex answered, standing as well and giving her a stern face that could make a rock look soft. “That group was responsible for killing friends and family of mine as well as other people in this town during the confusion of the raid. Justice demanded they die and die quickly.”

Kass’ anger faded instantly, and she was only left with regret for not asking his reason first. The group that died would at most be inconvenienced an hour or two. The NPCs would forever be short their loved ones. Kass was stuck with a weak frown across her face trying to find the words to say she was sorry for jumping to a bad conclusion when Darwin stood up this time, and everyone else stood as soon as he did.

“I think Ren’s plan is good, but Kass is also right,” he began saying as he walked to Kass’ chair over by the door. “We should bring some of the fodder up front and build a force to take damage off of us during the fights with these crossing Guards. If anyone has an issue with that, say so now.”

No one said a word.

“Good, now everyone, you have one hour to organize your groups at the entrance of the mine,” he continued. “Once you’ve done roll call and double checked your lists, do it again; we’re not coming back, so we better not leave anyone behind.”

“Yes, Lord Darwin,” Ren said, and the group of them shuffled past Kass and Darwin at the door.

“So, I’ve asked everyone else, but are you still with me?” Darwin said when everyone had left. “Do you want to join my new Faction, the StormGuard Alliance, and travel across the world with me?”

Her instinct told her to answer yes immediately, but it also told her to be careful. There were still a lot reasons to join though and very few not to. If she didn’t join, she’d be stuck looking for a party and having to take the long way off the island.

“Do I get to be an officer?” she questioned, pretending to mull over the decision longer than it actually took her.

“I don’t know. Haven’t even picked out Rank titles or people for the ranks yet,” he admitted, obviously dragging his feet on any of these type of commitments.

Can’t make any promises? That’s sure different than the politicians who lie and promise anything you want to hear. She thought, happy that he was better than most people she knew in power. I guess it won’t be so bad joining up.

“Alright, well, no promises on staying, but I’ll join for now,” Kass said, reasoning that the closer she was to Darwin, the more EXP she would get and the more she’d find out about this mystery. “Also, I better see that Lady Rank eventually,” she added, still intent on becoming the Lady of Frost for as long as she was with the group.

- You are being invited to join the StormGuard Alliance, would you like to Accept or Reject?

Accept, she answered, sure of her choice.

- You are now a member of the StormGuard Alliance.

“Welcome aboard, Kass. Now let’s get prepping,” he said, giving his first full smile since she had entered the room. “I wasn’t kidding about wanting to leave in an hour.”

“Yes, milord,” she answered, giving him an overly exaggerated and sarcastic curtsy. “Right away.”

Chapter 8: Mountains out of Molehills

Kass:

Kass rushed the login process as fast as she could. She knew Darwin had said they weren’t going to leave for an hour and she had plenty of time to get a good nap in, but she didn’t want to be late. Regardless of the fact that Darwin had never left her behind, she still had a sinking feeling that he would leave on schedule with or without her. To prevent this EXP bot loss tragedy, she had even set her alarm so early she would have at least ten minutes to spare. She was almost tempted to do away with the nap altogether, but she knew she would need sleep, and everyone but her seemed to be fully rested and ready to do it in one push.

When she finished logging in, she started running towards the meeting spot. Why does running feel like a more natural thing than walking in a video game? she thought, remembering that other than in this VRMMO, she had never bothered even hitting the walk button in any other video game. In fact, she often found herself jumping around in circles like she was allergic to the ground and a dog was chasing her when she had to wait even a few seconds for a friend or raid group to finish getting ready.

“Lady Kass,” a Guard yelled out to her from up ahead. “You’ve made it early! Great! Darwin said we were leaving as soon as you appeared.”

“Everyone’s ready?” she asked, happy that running didn’t wind her in the game like it did in real life.

“Yes, Lady Kass,” he said, joining her as soon as she reached him in the run towards the entrance. “Lord Darwin and the Guards were able to get the whole population packed and into formation in less than half an hour. Darwin’s blessing is truly a great thing.”

“Darwin’s blessing?” she asked, her brows wrinkling.

“Yes,” he answered without even looking at her. “When the great Lord Darwin blessed us with the blood of his people. What would have given two men a struggle to carry, one man can now carry while running.”

“The great Lord Darwin, ey?” she thought aloud.

“Indeed,” the Guard responded as he ran slightly in front of her.

I wonder what he’s like in real life, she couldn’t help but wonder. In most games, she found herself a rogue opportunistic player, always leaving groups because they couldn’t keep up with her growth. On more than one occasion, the group she started playing with at level one wouldn’t even be at the halfway mark when she was finishing up the end game raid content. But now, now I’m always running just to keep up. She frowned.

She ran with the Guard in silence until she exited the cave, at which point she was greeted with something that looked as if it was straight off of the History Channel. Darwin had organized two three-by-ten Turtle-Wolf formations that closely resembled Roman soldiers in marching formation. Each of the two groups was flanking the people of the town, who stood in formations of five people wide with a few wooden carts that appeared to hold the sum of their possessions splitting them in half.  Behind them there was a string of five Turtle-Wolves with the two ZombOgres, and in front, a dozen Guards stood with Darwin and Fuzzy Wuzzy five paces ahead of everyone else.

“Wow, you got all of them together this quick?” Kass did her best not to gawk. When she had first heard about the development of the game, she knew that there would be massive fights and large organized raids. It had even been one of the most exciting points of the game to imagine the epic clashes that would occur as thousands of players crashed into each other with hundreds of unique spells and weapons as they battled it out for territories, cities and items, but this was the first time, even considering the thousand soldiers that had gone out to fight the White-Horn Minotaurs, that she had seen such an intimidating organized force. Other than the villagers pulling the six carts, every single child and adult was in perfect formation holding a Turtle-Wolf Spear as if they had years of military training.

Kass did her best to collect herself and looked over at the Guard. “Lord Darwin says you are to join him at the front,” the Guard said to her, breaking into a run again to join the other Guards behind Darwin.

I know he is supposed to be the great Lord Darwin, but how is it that everyone can take a guy wandering around in his Bathrobe with insufficient flap protection seriously? Kass thought as she ran behind the Guard, deciding to herself that she was never going to call him Lord Darwin. I mean, he plays video games all day and somehow thought Fuzzy Wuzzy was an appropriate Bear name, so why do the NPCs take him so seriously?

“Good, you’ve made it,” Darwin said when Kass finally reached him. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. I even managed to scarf some ramen down right before I logged in,” she said.

“Actually, how come there isn’t any ramen-ish snack served in the game?” he said, raising his Sword before she could answer him. “MOVE OUT!” he yelled, dropping his Sword to point it in front of him in the direction of the dungeons that would lead them to the White-Horn territory.

The little Valcrest Demon army moved out at once. While their formations looked perfect, their marching was still lacking, and it took away from the effect a little. It was much more like very fast walking than actual marching, but the speed they were moving at was definitely commendable.

“Well, not sure if you’ll ever get to try it, but in the Beast-Race kingdom there are a lot of good ramen-cooking Were-Pandas,” she resumed the conversation as soon as the group was moving and the pace had steadied. “I’m generally a bigger fan of udon than ramen; it’s just that my dad prefers ramen, and he’s the one who always does the shopping.”

“If someone else took the time to buy groceries for me, I might even put up with eating pizza rolls,” he laughed, looking at her with a big smile. “Maybe you’ll buy me udon sometime, and I’ll try it to see if it’s better than ramen.”

“Nuh uh, if I’m buying, you’ll be trying air with a side of water,” she said indignantly.

“What? Can’t afford to even add bread to the menu?” he shook his head at her.

“I can afford bread just fine, thank you very much,” she said, doing her best to hide a smile. “I’m just not going to waste money on a man who doesn’t even know that the gentleman is supposed to foot the bill for the Lady, and I am a Lady now, don’t you know?”

“So I’m a gentleman now? I didn’t know you thought so highly of me,” he joked back, pulling his lower lip up in an exaggeratedly pompous face that broke loose the giggle she was suppressing.

“If you treat me to a nice enough dinner, I’ll be happy to call you whatever you want,” she said, still giggling.

“Whatever I want? Perhaps I’ll have you call me the same as that doctor,” Darwin thought aloud as they marched.

“Doctor who?” she asked.

“Exactly,” Darwin chuckled.

Kass wanted to facepalm when she realized she had walked right into that corny line. When will I ever be free of Doctor Who jokes? she grumbled to herself.

Kass turned to look back and admire the marching villager army behind her. “I still can’t believe how far you’ve come in such a short time. You built an underground city in days and took a helpless dying town and turned it into a force to be reckoned with.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m going to do anything else with my free time,” he said, twirling the still drawn Sword in his hand.

“Just saying, I wish I could get you to run our country for a month,” she said, twirling her Staff just like Darwin was twirling his sword. “Our congress is about as productive as a jittery 56k modem trying to load a movie on Netflix in HD.”

“I don’t think I’d actually be that good if it was in the real world. In the game, I’m focused on the game. I have to protect those close to me, do the right thing, and work towards a greater goal. In real life, I’d probably just be playing a game,” he mused, putting his Sword up finally. “If it was an option, I’d probably be playing a game in Tipqa.”

“So you’d log into a state of the art video game that programmers and researchers spent thousands of hours of their lives to build just to play a different video game inside it?” she asked, trying to keep her jaw from popping open in shock.

“Well, maybe not any video game, but definitely Emerald Gardens. I really miss that game,” he thought, smiling when he saw Kass’s shocked face.

“What? Why don’t you just log out and play it in real life then?” She still couldn’t understand.

“I have my reasons,” he said frowning.

“You mean, reasons like Tipqa is a way better MMO?” she nudged him.

“You could say it’s so addicting I couldn’t bring myself to log off even if I tried,” he replied. This time his smile was back, but it was the creepy one that let her know he was hiding something.

“Anyways, what are they doing?” Kass asked, pointing to Blake and Alex as they pulled ahead of Darwin and Kass in two separate groups with three Guards each.

“Oh, them. I figured we could let them clear out the forest monsters and make sure the lower level Guards were closer to forty before we hit the caves,” he answered.

“And why aren’t we helping?” he asked.

“Do you really think any of these will be worth EXP at all?” he replied with a lopsided grin.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Better let them get some since we don’t need it. I was just worried about the loss of gear.”

“Kass, we have thousands of Spears from the Turtle-Wolf farms running twenty four hours a day while we were clearing dungeons,” he said. “We’ll be fine if we can ever find someone to buy them off us.”

“Okay,” she said, frowning. “Well, can we at least kill a few here and there for fun, or is this going to just be a long boring walk in a video game?”

“Long and boring stroll?” he mused. “Here I thought girls were supposed to like long walks or something.”

“That’s just what people put on their eHarmony profiles,” she said, doing an exaggerated long step walk. “It’s not actually what they mean. Also, you’re missing some moonlight, a beach, and fireflies or something before it even becomes a proper romantic stroll cliché.”

“I see. Am I also missing strawberries covered in dark chocolate before it turns into a real date?”

“Careful with that date word. A lady might think you were asking her out,” she put her hands over her face in a fake attempt to cover up a non-existent blush.

“I would never deign to,” he said. “Us old men are far trickier than that. We just talk the girl into multiple day adventures where it’s just the two of us.”

“Ah. So that’s your scheme,” she asked.

“Indeed,” he signaled to Justin behind them. “Now, if you want some action, I suppose we could get Justin to lead the march, and you and I can sneak off and kill a few things to pass the time. All we’ll have to do is make sure to be back before they get close to the dungeon entrance.”

“Hmmm, and it’s not a date?”

“Nope, just the two of us slaughtering some innocent forest creatures while Bambi looks for a Mother’s Day card.” While he said it, Kass couldn’t help but frown.

Poor Bambi. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. Let’s go,” she said, happy to get away from just walking in a formation.

They pulled into the forest a few minutes south of the group marching east and started clearing the mobs. She found herself more often than not wishing Darwin was a little slower at clearing the enemies so she could use a fancier spell, but with how low the enemies were compared to them, it was very unlikely that he was going to slow down.

While Darwin was an expert at killing while moving, she was just now getting the hang of running and casting. She hadn’t even figured out how to properly run and channel spells that lasted longer than half a second. No matter how much she practiced it, it didn’t feel like she was  getting any better at casting. In the game, spells were something you intuitively knew how to cast, but no one on the forums had really been able to pull off running and channeling a spell for even a second except for one person. To make matters more difficult for other players, since the magic system was so intuitive for the user, it was almost impossible for the one player who had done it once to explain what happened to the others.

That’s why it was so frustrating. It made Kass want to pull her hair out. She had the strongest desire to use her amazing spells, but she couldn’t channel and keep up. She was only left with two options: either ask Darwin to slow down or figure out how to channel while running without breaking her concentration. Both options were impossible though since her pride wouldn’t let her do one, and sheer lack of ability wouldn’t let her do the other. Another day of spamming Snowball’s Chance, she sighed.

As the hours rolled by and the snowballs kept flying, she became sharply aware of the lack of conversation. While they were walking, the two had talked and goofed off, and she was getting to know him, but the second Darwin got near a mob it was all business no pleasure--or was it all “business is pleasure”? He didn’t say anything. He just darted from monster to monster in a gory mess. One second he was stabbing a bumble-bee-colored four-foot-tall Ant with goat horns in the head, and the next, he was slicing a pair of Deer-Frog’s heads off in one clean sweep. He could even be seen upper-cutting the occasional Goldfish-Butterfly-Squirrel into the air before throwing a Spoon right through its head.

The only thing he couldn’t be seen doing was talking about how his day was or what he was up to or what he and his friends did when they weren’t gaming. As she stared at him, his back began to feel more and more like an impassable wall separating the two. What goes through his head while he is fighting that stops him from talking? How can he be that in the zone for hours at a time? she wondered as she unleashed another snowball at two giant Beetle-Bees approaching from her right flank.

While she was watching his back, she saw the forest open up, and a mountain became visible. On the side of the mountain, there was an imposing entrance. It was plain, but not as plain as the entrance to the silver-ore mine. It had a series of head-sized square stones lining its outer edge as they led up to a single archstone on top. The archstone wasn’t a normal one though: it was the size of a massive watermelon and stuck out a good foot. There were even words carved on it, but Kass wasn’t close enough to read them yet.

“So, how long do we have to wait before the rest of them catch up?” She asked, not even bothering to humor the idea that they had been late with how fast Darwin butchered his way through the forest.

“Given what time it is now, and the distance they had to travel with the . . .” he started to answer, but Kass interrupted him right away.

“Nope! Stop that math right there and just tell me how long we have to wait,” she said sternly. She had sat through one too many half hour explanations to yes or no questions because of her dad’s love for long-winded math answers to let Darwin trail off.

“About an hour and a half, give or take five minutes,” he said.

“Might as well make ourselves comfortable then,” she said, still walking towards the entrance to read what was written on the archstone.

She knew it was part of the game, but when she finally managed to read the archstone, it sent a chill down her spine:  The mountain has grown tall on the graves of trespassers; enter not lest you would have it grown taller.

Qasin:

The primitive nature of the White-Horn capital left Qasin feeling somewhat disappointed. The people that had hunted, murdered, and killed his fellow men were living in a city that lacked even the basic marks of an advanced civilization. Sure, there were homes, but they weren’t even as sophisticated as the simple thatch houses that were commonplace throughout the Human lands. The White-Horns idea of a passable shelter was nothing more than two boulders stacked with a third over top as a covering to block the rain; or, even more remarkably, holes in the ground. This . . . This is what almost toppled my Kingdom? he seethed, suppressing an urge to put his Sword through the nearest Minotaur. These foul things buried my good men?

“It’s hard not to,” Eve almost whispered in his ear. “All arrogance, no defense, a blade could slide in and out before anyone was the wiser,” she said, her observations resonating with his thoughts.

“I can’t,” Qasin responded quietly, almost as if he were thinking out loud. “I need them for the good of my people.”

“Diplomacy. Don’t you hate it?” she asked. She knew he did. “You have to make nice with the people who tried to kill you, all for a stupid Crown.”

Qasin didn’t respond this time. Every word she said was truth. Just a few days ago on the field of battle, he had felt alive and free for the first time in centuries; and yet, here he was again, shackled by the Crown.

“If it makes you feel any better, you’ll get to kill at least one of them,” she whispered, chuckling a little as she did. “Barbarians such as these have to lose their alpha before they’ll accept a new one.”

“Do you think it is still him? The Axe King?” Qasin wondered aloud. “I had received word they deposed him, but I never found any confirmation on the subject.”

“I believe they tried, but failed. This philistine place bears none of the political conventions that other nations use to depose tyrants, so the only option left is the oldest and crudest method. A method the Axe-King, for lack of a decent foe, finds himself immune to,” Eve said, drawing a smile from Qasin’s face for the first time since they arrived in the capital.

“So someone of worth still draws breath on this wretched island?” He beamed.

The empty dullness that persistently encroached upon his thoughts ever since he discovered that he would never meet the Black Dragon in combat vanished. The Axe King, said to be peerless on the field, was waiting for him. He would not only get to use his Sword, he would get to do so against the warrior who had withstood a thousand challenges, the legendary Axe King.

“Qasin, you should try exploring. You might find that there are even some on this island who are far above you and your peers,” Eve laughed, smiling as she clung harder to Qasin’s arm.

“Exploring?” he sighed. “That is a luxury that a leading member of royalty should know he cannot afford.”

“Indeed, I suppose a member of the Human royalty might not be able to,” she agreed, still smiling. “Anyway, it seems as if you’ve successfully completed your mission to escort a beautiful young lady to the Axe-King.”

“It does appear to look that way,” he said as he came to a dead stop. In front of the two stood their destination.

A large marble throne sat in the center of a roughly spaced group of rock pillars. It was immediately obvious to even the most casual observer that the throne had been a laborious effort. Indeed, it stood out in stark contrast as an oddity when compared to primitive designs and craftwork that persisted throughout the White-Horn capital. The base of the throne was encircled with a carefully carved tablature depicting the conquest of an otherwise long-forgotten White-Horn leader. The arms and back of the throne were rounded smooth, presumably as much from use as from having been carefully tailored. Each of the pillars differed in height somewhere between five and twenty feet tall and were covered by roughly hewn spikes, giving off the illusion of large, barbed clubs.

All around the circle Satyrs and Minotaurs were standing, watching the throne. On it sat a giant nine-foot-tall Minotaur with an Axe lying across his lap. The Minotaur, with green eyes, tan hide, and muscles bulging like they were drawn in by Marvel or DC, stood as soon as he saw Qasin.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Brother,” he said, grabbing the Axe that was lying next to his throne. “I knew you’d come for me.”

Eve dropped Qasin’s arm and backed up a bit as Qasin started walking down the dirt path again towards the center of the circle.

“You knew I’d come?” Qasin asked.

“The stars foretold of our fates colliding long before first breath was drawn,” the Axe-King said, walking towards Qasin.

“That is interesting. Did these fates have anything specific to say about this collision?” Qasin asked, his hand gripping the coiled hilt of his blade.

“Only that we were made by the gods as brothers. That we were bound by the same pain and destined to suffer the same curse. The mystics have foretold our fate, that upon meeting, one of us would be given freedom at last.”

“Freedom . . . that would be nice, Brother,” Qasin said, deciding to humor the Axe-King out of courtesy. He wasn’t sure if he thought of them as brothers, but as leaders they would most assuredly suffer the same curse.

Qasin closed his eyes, leaned his head back and let his lungs empty. This moment, the calm mixed with a tingling anticipation that electrified his nerves, was a moment he wished would drag on forever. The goosebumps traveling down his arm let him feel every breeze and breath of wind that stirred around him. Eve was right: this is what life is meant to feel like, he thought, opening his eyes and lunging instantly at the Axe-King. This is where I belong.

The Axe-King barely moved in time to save his kidney, the blade still nicking his hide as it tore past him. He quickly pulled the back end of his giant Axe’s shaft at Qasin as he dodged. Qasin, seeing the incoming shaft extended one hand to block it, lifting his feet up and letting the force of the Axe’s handle throw him into the air and over the Minotaur. He couldn’t get a clear cut, and the Axe-King was able to turn and slam his Axe into Qasin, throwing him back, before Qasin’s feet had even touched the ground again.

Qasin resumed his combat posture, extending his Sword forward like a fencer and throwing his left arm out for balance. Qasin knew the fight would not be won by quick lunges or sharp thrusts, it would be won by patience and counters. The Axe-King came at him again, throwing his Axe in a low sweeping arc in an attempt to catch Qasin in the chest, and Qasin ducked under it, using his comparatively small size to his advantage. He couldn’t even reach the Minotaur’s arms as the sweeping charge progressed, but his blade could and did reach the fingers, cutting up and pulling off two digits before another swing forced him to jump back.

The Axe-King didn’t even seem to notice the injury, throwing out countless more, but lower, swinging arcs as he drove Qasin backwards. Qasin jumped back almost four times before picking up the rhythm, and then on the fifth time he stabbed the double-sided blade at a downward angle, hitting it dead center. It busted the tip of his own Sword but sent the Axe into the ground to draw up dirt instead of blood. Before the Axe-King could get his weapon out of the dirt on his left, Qasin lunged at his right and drove the broken tip of his blade through the Minotaur’s lung.

The Axe-King stared at the blade protruding from his chest, pulled it out and tossed it to the ground. “Brother,” he said, blood coming out his mouth as he spoke, “forgive me that I could not set you free.” He took two more labored steps and collapsed.

“I forgive you, Brother,” Qasin said before cutting off the fallen Minotaur’s head. “I forgive you.”

He walked over to the throne the Axe-King had been sitting on and sat down. Everyone who had borne witness to the event lowered their head as he lowered himself into the chair. He was now the undisputed ruler of three peoples.

“Bravo,” Eve said, her soft clap the only sound in the arena. “Bravo, miLord. I suppose now I’ll have to do business with you instead of him.”

“That you will,” Qasin said, pulling out his Crown and putting it back on top of his head. “So, what does the Queen wish to discuss with me?”

Darwin:

Kass had been staring at the archstone message since the two of them arrived. Darwin thought it was funny, but for some reason Kass took it way more seriously than he thought was necessary. So what if it’s an ominous message?  It’s not like those type of shock warnings ever actually amounted to anything, he thought, remembering all the video games that had tried to frighten him with these type of signs in the past. Each one had only ever amounted to him fighting the same boss he did in the last level, just with more hit points and a different avatar. Some games couldn’t even be bothered to switch the elements up each round.

Darwin tried to break Kass’s concentration with a question. “Do you think it’s actually going to be that tough?” he asked.

“Normally, I would say no, but in this game . . .” she trailed off for a moment, still not taking her eyes off the text. “In this game, it’s entirely different.”

“Why is that?” he wondered, still not getting an answer from her.

“It’s just that between the game designers and the AI system, there is a very real struggle to make the game realistic,” she said.

“So, when you say ‘realism’ you mean that these things are meant to actually forewarn users about a significant danger?”

“Yeah, something like that. My Dad said that if I ever saw a sign like this to make sure I was in a full party and comfortable with dying,” she said. “We may have a full party, but are you comfortable with some, if not all, of the villagers dying?”

Darwin sighed. Some dying? I’m not comfortable with one of them dying, and now there is the possibility of them all dying? I’m supposed to be taking these people away from danger, not leading them right into it.

“Darwin, we don’t have to do this,” Kass said, seeing his troubled face. “We can always turn back and take the long route around the mountain. It’d probably be a day or two longer at most, and an army of White-Horns might be a lot easier for you to dispatch than whatever’s in this dungeon.”

“No, we have to go through. We may have to change up the formations a bit, but we can’t lose time,” he said, his words filled with more confidence than he actually had.

“Well, if you don’t mind taking a death, we could stagger them out a bit and go in with just the two of us. You could do your army building thing and we could go with the original plan, let them and us die instead of the villagers.”

If I’m comfortable with taking a death? How could anyone uncertain of what happens after they die be comfortable with taking a death? Death for me in this game is as much a step into the unknown as it is in real life--but she doesn’t know that, does she? Darwin suddenly realized that if it was as dangerous and life threatening as she imagined, there was a very real possibility that he might die too. He had considered that one of the others might die, but he hadn’t once humored the possibility in his quick planning sessions that he himself might become a victim. He didn’t even know what could or would happen to the village should he pass away.

“Well? It’s at least worth considering, and we still have at least fifteen minutes until anyone shows up. Want to just leave them a note and take a head start?” she asked, eyeing him impatiently. “Come on, I really want to kill something.”

“Didn’t we spend the entire trip here killing stuff?”

“Yeah, but time is gear, EXP and fun. Don’t even try to pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she said, nudging him. “With how much you play, there is no way you aren’t a hardcore gamer.”

He wished he still was. When it came to slaying mobs in video games there was no greater feeling, and it definitely catalogued him as a hardcore gamer. He remembered people at the office would always invite him out to clubs and parties, but every party just seemed like 20 bucks and a headache so that he could talk to people.

“I guess you could say I am hardcore gamer, but aren’t you?” he countered, as if it was a charge or accusation against him.

“Of course! Though I’m not a fan of the gamers who go around calling everyone a bunch of noobs or garbage. I just love games,” she said, her eyes lighting up while she talked. “I remember when my Dad started me on my first video game, and I wasn’t just a little girl who was constantly talked down to. I was a princess saving the kingdom through magic and guile.”

Darwin wanted to roll his eyes, it sounded so corny. But he couldn’t--that had been his exact same experience when he first played. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I loved the Command and Conquer style RTS games at first, leading armies into battle and knowing that the strategies I devised would be responsible for crushing nations. I just grew out of it because they weren’t that fun to play alone.”

“But, back to point. Do you want to leave a note and go ahead without them? I think we could do it. Then none of the NPCs would die,” she said, awkwardly pointing her hand in the air. To a random passerby it might have seemed like she had gone crazy and was just poking imaginary butterflies, but Darwin knew she was accessing her Tipqa Menu. He had noticed that some users still used their hands even though thought alone would suffice.

“Don’t bother looking for something to write on, we’re not going without them. They have the right to decide how they want to live and where they want to risk dying,” he said, once again mustering up false bravado.

“Fine, fine,” she answered, putting her finger down, “but if they were my friends and loved ones, I wouldn’t give them the choice at all. It’s a friend’s job to stop their friends from doing stupid things.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Darwin admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a very close friend before.”

“What? Are you kidding me? How can you not have had a best friend before? You’re . . .” her fumbling questions were cut short by the arrival of more people.

“Lord Darwin!” Alex called out to them as he came out of the woods. “Everyone is safe and accounted for.”

“And you’re early,” Darwin complimented him, looking instinctively at a watch that didn’t exist on his wrist. He didn’t need the watch to know what time it was. Tipqa always kept him informed on the ‘in game time,’ but habits couldn’t be broken too easily. “I have to say we’re off to a great start.”

“I thought this is exactly when you predicted they’d be here,” Kass whispered, her face wearing the same wrinkled brow it always did when she was confused about something.

“It’s when I expected them to be here, not when they were supposed to have arrived. I just knew from their pace that they would get here early,” Darwin answered. “Kind of like the lines for rides at an amusement park. They say it’ll take you thirty minutes, but you always end up getting on the ride in twenty and feeling like a winner.”

“What? They really do that? That’s so manipulative!” she exclaimed as best she could in a whisper. “And you are too! If you knew it wasn’t going to take them that long to get here, then you shouldn’t have told them it would.”

“Let people have their wins, Kass. It’s good for morale,” he whispered back to Kass one last time before turning to Alex who was now almost in earshot of them. “Since we’re early, did you and your group want to take a break? I think we still have plenty of Turtle-Wolf meat available if you want to camp for a minute.”

“No, sir. Blake and Justin made everyone eat while marching They even said if anyone wanted to take a bathroom break he needed to rush ahead beforehand and catch up quick when finished,” Alex reported, standing as straight as a Marine fresh out of boot camp.

I always forget to factor in bathroom breaks when I plan trips! Darwin kicked himself mentally. If it wasn’t for their determination, his timing would have been off significantly. On the rare occasion that he had to travel out of town for work, he always forgot to add in time for bathroom breaks and gas stops.

“Wow, I’m very impressed,” Darwin said, putting an arm on Alex’s shoulder. “Your determination to reach the destination ahead of schedule is admirable.”

“Thank you, milord,” he said, still standing at attention.

“Since you all are doing such a great job, I’m going to leave you in charge of troop organization. Kass and I are going to  have the rest of them file in proper. Make sure their formations can fit in the tunnel without any issues.

“Excuse you,” Kass said indignantly.

Darwin looked at her, wondering what he said wrong. Did I forget something again?

“It’s Lady Kass to you, Lord Darwin,” she said, throwing her nose in the air with the type of over-exaggerated flair only adopted by bad actors and walked into the entrance of the cave. “Come along when you’re ready, boys.”

For some reason, right when she did that, Darwin couldn’t help but think of the girl who called herself his sister.

“Also, make sure the best-of-the-best group you bring with you is a small one, and make sure Fuzzy Wuzzy is in it,” Darwin said.

“Yes, milord, it will be done,” Alex responded, before moving so fast he practically vanished in front of Darwin.

Darwin turned around and chased after Kass. “Hey, where do you think you’re going without me,” he shouted at her back.

“You were taking too long being all lordly, so I just thought I’d go kill some stuff without you,” she replied without even turning around.

“Uh oh, has Lady Kass not gotten her due respect?” he said, finally getting a reaction out of her significant enough to make her turn around.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just we’ve been waiting an hour and a half that we could have spent grinding,” she said as she pulled out her staff.

“Kass, we haven’t even had a first date yet,” he mocked. “What type of guy do you take me for?”

Kass’s face turned red. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Sure sure, that’s what you say now. But we both know that it’s all about the action with you. Anytime we are talking it’s just a waste of time to you, isn’t it?” Darwin decided to try and make her even more flustered.

Kass stopped walking. She stared at Darwin, blushing even more than before for a minute before finally letting out a few words. “Ugh! You know darn well what I meant.”

He laughed to himself. He had known since he first introduced her to Elmont that anything referencing the two of them as a couple was a hot button with her. For some reason though, she had run out of ways to call him an old man today. Maybe she is just tired?’

“Of course it’s not.” He did his best to stifle a laugh but couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. “Kass would never spend the entire day grinding with an old man like me.”

“Now you’re just twisting words on purpose,” she snapped back.

“Anyways, I have some good news and some bad,” Darwin said, his face turning instantly from smiling to serious.

“Oh?” she asked, still turned around and looking at Darwin who had come to a stop too.

“The good news is we won’t have a lot of dangerous fights,” Darwin said, scratching his chin.

“What’s the bad news?” she asked.

“Well, the bad news is I don’t think that sign was lying. I think we’re in for some mortal peril.”

Kass didn’t even bother asking what he meant; she knew he could see the reason. She turned around and saw what Darwin was staring at. Off in the distance, barely noticeable from where they were, was a giant twenty-five- to thirty-foot tall hydra-like serpent thing. Each step they took closer revealed more and more details about the dreadful beast. It had solid black scales the size of a normal man’s chest, and by the looks of them, they were almost a foot thick.

It stood tall in the center of a massive chamber on six elephant-sized legs with a tail that shot out like a scorpion’s and hung in the air above its seven heads. Each head had ram’s horns, dark green eyes that shone like lit jades and tell-tale twisting, snake-like tongues that hung almost a foot outside of each long, dragonesque snout, occasionally twisting between its sharp teeth like floss.

“Darwin, are you sure you don’t want to go take the long route? We might even be able to sneak through that open area unnoticed,” Kass asked, clearly misreading an expression she had likely never seen before as something akin to dread or fear. But it wasn’t either. It was hunger.

The closer he got to the beast, the worse it grew. By the time Kass had asked him the question, he was far too mesmerized to respond. His heart was thumping in his chest louder than the bass drum in a marching band. He knew he should have responded to Kass. He should have told her, ‘Hey! We need to put a plan together. We need to think this through.’ But, even as the ‘right thing to do’ entered his mind, the wrong thing to do took hold of his body. It pulled his feet forward. A walk became a jog. A jog became a run, and he found himself with both blades out rapidly closing the distance between him and the Hydra.

“Darwin! What are you doing!” Kass yelled, now at his back this time. Darwin couldn’t tell if she was following after him or not. “Darwin, don’t go by yourself! Darwin! Darwin, wait!”

He clinched his eyes closed and tried to wrest control of his thoughts, but they had all faded, and he was left with an empty hunger that drove him towards the Hydra as it would a starving infant towards its mother’s breast. The Hydra, regarding him as a fly, swatted its tail at him. He dodged right without missing a beat, but the Hydra, seeing him dodge, pulled its tail back and swiped at him in a long wide sweep. Just like a Minotaur he thought, remembering how much they loved their long Axe sweeps as he jumped up and landed on the passing tail. Its width wasn’t more than a two or three feet wide, but it was flat enough for him to run on. The most troubling part was that the speed it was moving at forced him to use the Swords to keep his balance, stabbing into the Hydra with each step.

Three of the Hydra heads watched his climb for a moment, then one of the three watching shot out at its own tail with an open mouth. Darwin jumped and pushed both his blades out, catching the incoming Hydra head right in the nose. He almost lost his grip as the impact with the head threatened to throw him back several feet if he didn’t hold on tight, but he managed to keep his footing. The impacting head was now caught with its teeth sinking into its own tail and its nose skewered by two blades.

Darwin grunted, pulling himself on top of the snout and ripping his Swords out of the nostril. His heart was beating even faster, and the thumping had gone from just being in his chest to pounding through his head as he dragged his blades across the thick scales covering its snout and pulled back just long enough to stab one in each of the beast’s eyes. He then pulled another Sword out of his inventory, a common iron one, and put it in the right eye’s open wound before using his foot to jam it all the way through.

The other Hydra heads did nothing, just watching the spectacle. Then, the closest head to him opened its mouth and did the exact same thing. Rinse and repeat. Darwin thought, following through the motions again. Everything went the same, except instead of the head being stuck chewing on a tail, it was stuck mid-bite on another head, its teeth sinking into the dead head’s face.

As Darwin kicked the Sword through the right eye of the second head, not even having to switch up the strategy at all, he noticed the others weren’t brave enough to try to chomp him like their two predecessors. They watched wide-eyed for a moment, and then lunged full speed at one of the cave’s walls. Darwin pulled out his two original Swords and used them to carve a way down the eight feet of Hydra neck without falling off. When he landed on the beast’s back he crawled towards the middle, doing his best not to fall off as the beast’s charge smashed into the wall. The Hydra, struggling to free its tail with the other heads not brave enough to go for a bite, started throwing its weight side to side.

Darwin saw what they were doing. They were trying to roll over but the elephant legs were spread too wide to do it normally. As the body finally tipped he scurried to climb around the beast in time, barely avoiding being flattened. The problem for the Hydra now was that it couldn’t turn back over. He then walked over to the center of its chest, where he knelt down and ripped off a scale.

He took his Swords and began hacking at it over and over again. At first it was bone, but bone gave way and flesh became visible. The five remaining heads did their best to try to roll back over, screaming and howling as he tore through their sternum and into the chest. It was more butchery than battle at that point. One of the remaining heads grabbed rocks with its teeth and tried to throw them at him, but he dodged them easily enough and went back to his hack-and-slash work.

“Darwin . . .” he barely heard Kass say from a distance over the sounds of the five heads screaming in agony, but he couldn’t see her face.

This is it, he thought, finally having dug far enough into the chest to reach the heart. He took three Turtle-Wolf spears and shoved them into the massive beating thing, silencing the tormented cries of the remaining heads. When it was finally dead, he fell back onto his butt and hands, catching his breath atop the stomach of the fallen Hydra.

“Darwin . . .” Kass said again, standing at the door. “What was that?”

“It was a Hydra,” he answered, not understanding how she could ask such an obvious question.

“That’s not what I meant . . . Actually, you know what, nevermind. We did it! The crossing guard is dead and the rest of the trip should be easy, right?” she said, wearing a smile that Darwin could tell was fake from ten feet away.

“Yeah, we did,” he agreed, not caring to dig out whatever was bothering her. She was right: it was a reason to celebrate. “And no one died.”

“You could have . . .” she mumbled under her breath so quietly Darwin was surprised he could even hear it.

“Lord Darwin,” Alex said, standing with Fuzzy Wuzzy and a few Guards. “We only made it in time to watch.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to kill it without you,” Darwin remembered his promise to the Guards to let them take part in the struggle.

“Apology accepted, milord. I understand the glory fighting such a fiend alone would bring a man. It would be rude to deny you that,” Alex answered, Blake and the others nodding.

Glory? Had I done it for glory? No, it wasn’t glory, Darwin thought, remembering the feeling that pulled him into the battle against his own sanity. “Thank you for understanding,” he said, deciding not to correct them.

“Darwin . . .” Kass said yet again, frowning.

“Yes?” Darwin answered, trying to figure out what was bothering her, why her eyes somehow managed to look sad.

“Let’s fight with the group for the rest of the trip,” she said.

So first she complains about there not being enough grinding, and now she wants to stick with the group? What’s with her? Darwin thought, a lopsided frown splitting across his face. “Sure, we can do that,” he said, deciding not to question her intentions further.

“Good, now let’s get to that harbor safely,” Kass said as the group walked further through the mountain. They had beaten the crossing guard, so the only thing left for them to do was sneak into the White-Horn harbor unnoticed with a ton of red-eyed Demons and somehow procure enough transportation to get to the mainland. That shouldn’t be too hard, right? Darwin thought, knowing better than to truly believe  there actually wouldn’t be any complications.

Maddock:

Maddock strode purposefully through the canopy of trees no longer bothering to feign any ignorance about the direction he was heading. The direction of the harbor and the ocean was unmistakable--a great thundering cacophony of noise in the distance that grew louder with every passing step. The sun had finally won out the fight over the fog that seemed to have permeated the region over the last day and quickly wrested control over the skies, searing away the last remnants of the white vapor that clung to life now only in the darkest parts of the forest he and his band were now leaving behind them.

After interrogating the White-Wing scout, it had taken only seconds for his mind to capitalize upon the direction he and his guild were going to take. He had never really been wrestling with the decision before, but he also knew that in order to lead, one must be willing to find out all available information before making any decision. That was why it had been so imperative for Maddock to find out why the White-Wing scouts had been moving throughout the region for the last few days. He had surmised that there was no logical reason other than war for the White-Wings to be there--and he had been right. Maddock was wise enough to spot an opportunity when it presented itself to him; and, if nothing else, he favored himself as being bold enough to take advantage of it. If he was right, the White-Wings would be moving en masse with a massive army towards the coast he and his men were now moving towards themselves.

The logistics of such a campaign were slightly boggling. The amount of bodies, supplies, and resources that were necessary was already fairly staggering.  Moving them across the ocean in order to wage any significant form of war further compounded the situation. Sure, the White-Wings were more than capable of making the flight alone. If they did that, however, there was no guarantee that they would arrive at any preset rendezvous point together. If they were spread out or became lost, it would provide more than ample warning to any of the White-Horns or Black-Wing scouts that would have surely been patrolling the coast. If Maddock and his men had been fortunate enough to notice the presence of  White-Wing scouts on a starter island other than their own, he was more than sure that someone else would have as well.

A few random players were easy enough to explain away and likely wouldn't be noticed or questioned. A mere group or squadron of NPCs, however, was something else entirely:   inevitably, the White-Wings would raise the same suspicions that had been set off within Maddock's own mind. No, if they were going to set up any form of extended campaign within these lands, they would have to move their entire army as a cohesive unit. Doing so would allow them to set up a base camp, most likely somewhere along the coast, and then push out and attack from there once the position was solidified. That left the White-Wings with only a single option: moving the legions by sea, and that meant boats--much like the one that Maddock was now more than ever eagerly awaiting.

The edge of the forest broke suddenly. Whether it was by design or a stroke of randomly-generated happenstance, the trees thinned out over the course of several dozen yards, their large trunks spread further and further apart, until they abruptly stopped all together.  Emerging from the forest was like walking from a softly-lit room into a bright dance studio. The glare from the sun bounced off the ocean in the distance, and Maddock was forced to momentarily look down towards the ground as his vision adjusted. The ground, he noticed, had changed as abruptly as the forest had ended. Whereas before the forest floor had been covered with a soft carpet of needles, it was now quickly becoming bare rock. As his eyes became used to the light, he momentarily lapsed into thinking about  how realistic the world of Tipqa really was. It appeared as if the coastline had been there forever, weather beaten and worn away by the constant pounding of the waves breaking against the coast. He could even imagine he felt the sun beating down on him, quickly heating up the metal Armor he wore.

Maddock quickly broke himself out of his reverie as his vision finished adjusting, and he could clearly see where he was heading. About a hundred yards ahead of him, the rocky coast ended in a stone pathway that lead down to a small wooden dock and boat house. By anyone's standards it was a pathetic excuse for a harbor. Indeed, it was really only a harbor in name and not in effect. It offered none of the usual protections from weather or storms that a harbor would have provided in the real world. t more closely resembled an abandoned fisherman's hut on some forlorn coast; but, like so many other things within the gaming world, it wasn't how it looked, only what it would do. In this case, it would do exactly what Maddock wanted--summon the boat that he and the others had been waiting on.

His purposeful stride quickly closed the distance to the narrow pathway that lead down to the wooden dock and the others fell in behind him, trailing down single file and filling up the dock behind him. As he passed along the dock towards the small shack, he once again took a mental note of how realistic the world around him was. He could actually feel the tremor of the waves as they broke against the wooden dock and the resulting spray of water that spattered up into the air. The constant ebbing of the waves occasionally pushed water up and over the edge of the planks, and he could imagine that if he were wearing anything other than boots, he would also feel the wet chill of the water as well. Standing at the end of the dock, outside the shack, was a solitary figure facing towards the ocean with its back towards Maddock. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her head was tilted slightly back as if she were basking in the warmth from the sun.

"How long do we have?" Maddock raised his voice above the sound of the waves.

The woman tilted her head back towards Maddock and answered in turn without ever opening her eyes, "Oh, about now I would say. I've really just been waiting on you guys to show up. I didn't want to risk finishing the process and then not having enough people around to protect the boat. You would skin me alive if I actually managed to summon the stupid thing and then had some random group of kids show up just in time to steal it away from us."

"Likely chance of that, Ku. You and I both know you can actually use a hammer for more than just crafting if you would ever bother to do it anymore. Remember the campaign in Kaldra?  Those were some good days back then." Maddock was referring to another time they had run together a few years back in a different game.

Ku had actually been more active as a fighter back then, often taking part in the raids and battles. For the last year or so, however, she had chosen to take on the responsibility of being the Guild's primary crafter. The two of them, along with several others in the Guild, had been gaming together for years across a plethora of different games. That was part of the reason they were able to be so successful even though they remained much smaller than most of the other Guilds they often found themselves up against. They had played together so long that they were often able to anticipate the others’ moves without ever having to be given an actual order.

Ku smiled and shrugged in response, turning back towards the ocean, "We'll see."

She raised her arms above her head in a large circle and then abruptly dropped them to her sides before crossing them back over her chest. The water immediately before her in a large radius grew incredibly still. It was as if an unseen force were stopping the movement of the waves by creating an invisible barrier that they were unable to cross over. At the center of the circle, a small point of yellow light blossomed, quickly growing larger and larger. As it did so, the water around it was pushed outwards and beyond the radius of the invisible barrier, creating a crater within the water that was quickly filled by the growing light. The sound of wooden timbers groaning as if they were under a heavy weight filled the air followed by a thundering ripple which Maddock imagined a giant canvas sheet would sound like if a thousand hands were to grab its edges and give it a heavy wave. Then, quite suddenly, the light collapsed in upon itself with a vacuum of wind accompanying it. Occupying the space instead was the pinnace resting in the water at the end of the dock, rocking back and forth upon the waves.

A cheer went up from the members of the guild assembled on the dock as they rushed forward towards the newly summoned vessel.

"About time!" Maddock laughed. "That was certainly quite the wait for only a little show.  You women, always the tease."

"I think you have it backwards, honey. It's always you men rushing into things and finishing too quickly," she jabbed back. "You really should try and savor the build up."

Maddock just smiled and rolled his eyes in response.

Chapter 9: Cry Havoc – Let Slip the Turtle-Wolves of War

Qasin:

Qasin waded slowly into the ocean until the gentle tide rolled over his knees and pulled at his feet. He looked at the water surging toward and then away from him and grinned. A fitting place for men to die that the currents will pull them out and bury them before they have time to even be forgotten.

“Smiling before a battle, dear? How unbecoming of a King,” Eve said from behind him. “You should be giving a rousing speech or something of that sort. Inspiring the men, letting them know of the glory they will earn at the battle today.”

“Let the monsters in their minds and the beer in their guts tell them the words they need to find courage,” the King said, not bothering to turn around. “I don’t have what they are looking for.”

“Aren’t you supposed to though? You’re their King. You’re their leader,” Eve said, resting her arm on his shoulder.

“That is why I am here; that is why I will deliver them victory.”

“It isn’t just about giving them victory. You have to give them hope.”

“You have made it abundantly clear since we started traveling together that I am not cut out to be a King,” Qasin said, frowning as he looked behind him at Eve. “Now is not the time to try and affect imaginary regal properties when the tangible and real properties I do have will keep many of these people from dying.”

“Qasin, look behind you,” she said, using his shoulders to turn him around. “What do you see?”

He looked at the sight before him. Behind him were thousands and thousands of men lined up across the beaches. The sand on the flat shores crept inland from the water for almost a hundred feet, but none of it could be seen. Instead, the only thing visible on the beach were the feet and bodies of the densely packed soldiers who blocked his view of the shore completely. The soldiers, a mix of White-Horns and Humans were all armed and armored in their native battle attire. Above them the Black-Wings soared through the sky with Bows, Arrows and Knives. They moved in the sky like it was their home, causing sporadic shadows to dance over the Minotaurs, Satyrs and Humans below them.

What am I supposed to be seeing? he thought, not sure which detail stood out. All he saw was troops. All he saw was men waiting to die and praying to live. What does she want me to see this time?

“Qasin, this isn’t exactly arithmetic. What do you see?” she said softly, pressing again. Her voice, like always, crawled through his ears and wrapped around his mind.

“I . . . I see fear,” he said, not sure if it was the right answer.

“And what do you think will kill the most men on the battlefield today?” she whispered again.

“Fear,” he responded. “Fear kills the weak and thins the cowards from the fight. It keeps a man alive before the battle, but it is the first thing to kill them once the blade is drawn.”

“That’s right. There are thousands of these men, serving you, the King, who are afraid. My brother will come, as I promised he would, and he will protect your people from death . . . but until he does, you must protect them from fear,” she said. He was half focused on her words and half focused on the feel of her hands on his shoulder and the hint that her cheek my brush against him. “You must keep them from dying of cowardice before the fight has a chance to turn in their favor.”

“What do I say though?” he asked, turning around to face her again.

“Qasin, they are scores deep. You only need to tell the front few the obvious then assure them that they will be safe,” she said, taking his arm like she had so many times before in order for him to escort her to within earshot of the men. “They will cheer, and then the ones behind will cheer, and then the ones behind them will cheer. None will know what you said, but they will all be filled with borrowed bravery.”

Why do I trust her so much? Qasin asked himself as he walked to the front of the line of soldiers on the beach. Why do I get the feeling when I am around her that I am more of a puppet than a man.

“First, you will tell them that they might die. It’s a rather terrible fate, but it’s unavoidable for some of them,” she continued to doll out instructions as they walked. “Then, you will tell them that they will live forever in the things they fight here today to protect.”

“I see,” he said, mentally taking notes. Whether he wanted to believe he was a puppet or just a King listening to an adviser, he could feel that what she was saying was the best counsel for him at this moment.

“After that, it’s important to make the opponent seem like the devil himself, my dear, which isn’t hard at all given how no one here knows anything about them. So all you have to do is explain that they won’t just convert people; they will burn their homes, rape their wives and enslave their children. The more wicked and intolerable the outcome of a loss, the more vigorously a loser will fight to prevent it.”

“What do I say after that?” Qasin said, turning to her. He had spent years listening to Councilmen and Chancellors give him advice, but none had been so insightful about how to manipulate people. None of their wisdom on how to conduct himself had felt so right.

“Then, my dear, you just tell them the truth: that they can win,” she said, standing still and motioning with an arm for him to go ahead of her.

Why does everything in life as a King always go back to speeches and talking, he thought to himself as he walked up to the line. Why must I give yet another public speech? When have I ever been good at this? A few years of public speeches made men want to kill me, and now I have to give another? he bemoaned himself, but his feet carried him to position, paces away from the giant Minotaurs and armored Humans who stood in front of him.

Then he saw him, a true coward sitting on the front line. It was a Minotaur, so his face was hard to read, but the eyes were a giveaway. He was shaking as he held his Axe, and his erratic breathing did nothing to hide his wavering nerves.

“Are you scared?” Qasin asked.

“No, Sir,” the White-Horn denied. As a Human it was odd for Qasin to imagine that these bull-like beasts could feel fear, and he might have believed the foul beast had he not seen the quivering creature himself.

“Really? Because you should be,” he said, sticking to Eve’s script and fighting his instincts to tell the soldier everything was going to be okay. “I mean, just over the water there are far more men than even we have here that want nothing more than to kill you, and they are moments away from being in range to make that deSire a reality, so you should be afraid because you very well might die here today.”

The other White-Horns and Humans turned their head to follow his movements as he started to pace a little in front of the Minotaur. It wasn’t so far for the Minotaur to ever be out of earshot of him, but he decided he didn’t want to just stand still. Many of the Black-Wings had even come out of the air to hover close enough to listen in.

“In fact, no matter how well you fight today, there is a real chance that a stray Arrow or bad footing will get you killed, and there simply isn’t anything I can do to stop that from happening,” he said, seeing the faces before him flatten and frown.

I’m doing what you said, woman, and it isn’t working, he wanted to say to Eve as he saw their despair. This was not the rousing burst of enthusiasm he had expected from following Eve’s formula.

“However, it’s okay,” he said, stopping his pacing a moment.

“It is?” The Minotaur asked, his face wide-eyed to show he was a little unsure of why.

“It is okay because it’s something we have to do if we want to live,” he began, trying to find the words he needed. “Even if we die here today, we won’t be gone. Our families will carry our name, our friends and lovers will carry our memory, and our people will carry our culture. Every aspect of who you are will live on for generations by those telling stories of the sacrifices we make here today. You, my tall friend, will live in the hearts and minds of the people you save here today long after you fall in battle.”

The Minotaur’s hands stopped shaking a little bit. His eyes were still wide, but, like the Humans, Satyrs and other Minotaurs around him, he looked like he was actually listening intently to what Qasin had to say, a response Qasin wasn’t used to when giving a speech, although this didn’t even feel like a speech.

“On the other hand . . . if you run, all that you are will be gone tomorrow. These foul fowl beasts--they don’t just want to kill you. They want to kill everything that made you who you are. If you turn around today and try to live your life free from danger, their wings will carry them across the sky faster than you can run, and they will have no mercy upon everything you love. They will murder your fathers and mothers. They will use and discard your women, sisters and daughters like worn out clothes. They will even butcher your sons and infants, and do you know why they will do it?”

“No, Sir,” the Minotaur said, his snout having turned red as Qasin talked. “Why?”

“Because a giant ball of fire in the sky told them it was okay,” Qasin answered. The rattled words hadn’t flowed out like he had planned, but he could feel animosity towards the birds growing. “Because they wanted to, and their imaginary friend said it was fine.”

“What?” A Human next to the Minotaur originally addressed yelled angrily.

“I kid you not: they come here to kill you in the name of a false god, and they will slay and torture everything you love because their Priests tell them to do it.”

“No!” a Black-Wing who was listening closely called down at him from the sky. “No they won’t. I’ll kill them first!”

“Will you? You know every person here will have to kill at least two of them to stop them from taking what they want?” Qasin asked the flying Incubus.

“Forget two! I’ll kill ten of the bird brains!” the Incubus yelled back.

“You can stick with ten! I’m going to kill twenty of those feathered fools!” a Vampire near the Incubus shouted over him.

“I’ll kill thirty of those things before they take me down,” a Satyr two rows behind the first Minotaur yelled at the flying pair, slamming his Staff into the ground. “If they worship fire, I’ll teach them what ice is like.”

Soldier by soldier, the fear faded, and the bragging began. The fight hadn’t even started yet, and the soldiers were already boasting of how many they would kill. For Qasin, who had killed thousands in his life, it was amusing. They thought five, ten, or even thirty was a large number to slay in a single fight.

He was about to say something to interrupt their mirth, but Eve was again beside him, stopping him by putting her hand on his shoulder. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” she said.

His heart felt light for the first time ever after giving a speech. It wasn’t hard; it had worked. They weren’t chanting his name, they weren’t inspired unto glorious victory, but they weren’t afraid anymore. They were boasting, yelling, and bragging over one another. Across the shore and the skies, one soldier after another was telling his comrades how many of the enemy he would leave dead, and how he would do it.

“No, no, it wasn’t,” he agreed, turning around. He wanted to relax, enjoy the feel of the water rushing back and forth across his feet with the waves before the fight, but the sudden shade let him know he’d lost his chance. The men’s valor and vigor were about to be tested, the enemy had arrived, and in such great numbers that their naturally white wings were mostly dark from the shade cast by fliers not even visible. The King had expected ten or twenty thousand avians to match the five thousand men he had managed to assemble, but it looked instead like fifty thousand birds were split between flying and resting on the boats that sailed towards him.

You’ll kill ten? Twenty? Thirty? You better, or else there won’t be a tomorrow for your people, he thought, pulling out and raising his sword to signal the casters hidden inside the army behind the biggest of the Minotaurs. War had come and given the enemy’s number, and it had come on a scale even he had never known before. Thousands upon thousands of men on both sides would die today. Good men would die, good men on both sides, and he was stuck with a smile he couldn’t wipe off his face.

“It’s okay to smile,” Eve said before he could muster up the will to feel guilty about his joy in the face of so much destruction. She lifted her hands from his shoulders. “It’s okay to be happy right now. It’s just who you are,” she said, blowing him a kiss before she and her black Dress simply vanished into the air.

Darwin:

“How much longer till we get there?” Kass asked for the fourth time since they had exited the cave. Darwin wasn’t even sure why she was asking. Both of them could bring up a Tipqa map and see that they were moments away from being in view of a shoreline.

Darwin rolled his eyes before finally answering. “We’re almost there, and if you ask one more time we’re not going to stop at McDonalds.”

It was the answer he had always heard on television shows. He didn’t exactly know what was so good about McDonalds that it would make a kid not want to annoy his parents, but he did know it was the appropriate cliché for the moment.

“Ewww, McDonalds? Really? That’s where you went with that?” Kass said, apparently sharing his sentiment about the fast food chain. “That would actually be a threat if it meant no Chipotle, but if it’s McDonalds I think I’m better off bugging you until you hold good on that promise of not taking me.”

“Oh, so you’re saying you want me to take you to Chipotle,” he joked again.

“Are you going to buy?” Kass asked with a smile that was a little more coy than her usual one.

“Wouldn’t that make it a date?” Darwin pressed, knowing how the subject of dating generally got a rise out of her.

“No, it’d just be you paying me back for all those times I’ve helped you. I figure by now you owe me at least twenty dinners.” She did her trademark twirl. Darwin had actually grown to quite like it when she spun around in her white Dress.

“Twenty dinners? I’m pretty sure I saved you when we first met,” he said, remembering the time she barreled out of the woods with three Minotaurs chasing her. “Shouldn’t that mean you owe me a few meals?”

“Save me?” she scoffed. “I had it completely under control! I was just doing you a favor by bringing some mobs to help you level, considering you were clearly a new player,” she said with a completely straight face that made Darwin wonder if she actually believed the lie.

“Oh, I get it. So this whole time you’ve just been helping me along and helping me level, and that’s why I owe you,” Darwin said, nodding his head.

“Mmmhmm. So you know,” she said, smiling now.

“Well, I need to take care of that as quick as possible. I can’t have the number of meals I owe get any larger,” Darwin responded.

“You should take care of it, and the sooner the better.” She nudged Darwin’s shoulder. “You don’t want to set a bad example as the Faction Leader, now do you?”

“Right. Alex, what powers does the ruler of a Faction have?” Darwin asked the soldier, who had been silently trailing behind the two of them.

“Milord, it’d be easier to list the powers a ruler doesn’t have,” Alex said, briskly stepping up to the left side of Darwin.

“So, can the Lord of a Faction order a member to do something like . . . buy lunch for someone else in the Faction?”

“Yes, Milord,” Alex said, his back straight like always. “In fact,” he continued unprompted, “as the acting Lord of the Faction, you wouldn’t be expected to reimburse the individual commanded to accomplish the task.”

“I see . . .” Darwin said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Well, it’s just as I expected then.”

“What? You’re not planning on ordering Alex to buy me the meals in your place, are you?” Kass said, her smile quickly turning into a frown.

“Oh no, I plan on having you buy the meals for yourself in my stead,” Darwin said, unable to stop a laugh from coming out with the words.

“What? You can’t do that! That’s cheating!” Kass said in shock.

“Oh, sure I can. You joined the Faction of your own accord,” Darwin chuckled, “and, according to the rules, that means I can order you to buy yourself lunches.”

“That is not how it works!” Kass protested. “You are not getting out of treating me to a lunch sometime.”

“Well, if you’re that insistent that I take you on a date, I suppose I could try to make it happen,” Darwin said, expecting her usual flustered reaction.

Instead of denying it and getting mad at him for insisting that an old man like him could ever date her, she just paused for a while. Then finally she said, “It better not be McDonald’s.”

“Oh, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to take anyone to McDonald’s,” he said, not sure how he was going to take her anywhere anyways given that he was trapped in a virtual reality game, and she probably wanted him to take her somewhere in real life.

“Good, but I still have something I need to ask you, Darwin,” she said, her grin back again.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Darwin asked.

“Are we there yet?” Kass said, her mischevious smile managing to grow even more.

Oh for the love of-- Darwin thought, She has a dang map too! “Why do you keep asking? You know how far away it is. Don’t you know?”

“Oh. Well, the truth is that when I first asked, I was just messing with you, but now I am just really hoping that my map is wrong and the White-Horn capital with the harbor isn’t that giant shore over there,” she said, pointing ahead of them.

It was hard to make out, but it was unmistakably the right city. In fact, even though the architecture didn’t give it away, the number of people gathered on the shore did. From the distance at which Darwin and the Stormguard Alliance stood, the people gathered looked less like people and more like the ocean to them. Their heads, bodies and weapons were tightly packed and pressed against each other tighter than sardines. The ever so slight swaying of their bodies as they waited in anticipation for an enemy Darwin could barely see created the illusion of a living wave ebbing back and forth across the sands. To top it all off, over a thousand black-winged creatures danced across the sky, casting images of shadows on the men below.

“Alex, do you recognize the army below?” Darwin asked, thinking that only the Minotaurs and their lack of Armor looked familiar.

“Yes, Milord, but I don’t like it,” he said, squinting his eyes at the force as he tried to make out details more clearly. “It appears to be the Human, Black-Wing and White-Horn capital armies all gathered together.”

“It’s a bad thing for them to be working together?” Kass asked, not catching on to the context.

“If the only three Factions on the island--that all hated each other until a month ago--are cooperating with each other to defend the beach against invaders . . . then who are the invaders?” Alex asked.

“Kass, what other islands are near here?” Darwin asked, knowing Alex and the rest of the NPCs likely wouldn’t have information extending beyond the continent they lived on. It would be the same as trying to get information about France out of a Japanese farmer before the advent of modern transportation.

Kass took a moment to think about it before answering. “The closest one I can think of would be the island with Fire-Walkers and White-Wings. It’s really the only one that would be easily reached from this coast.”

“Hmmm, well at least that solves one problem,” Darwin thought for a minute. Kass and Alex both looked at him confused.

“What?” Kass asked, voicing her confusion. “How does the fact that the harbor is covered in armies about to fight each other to the death possibly solving one of our problems?”

“There will be a lot of unoccupied boats soon,” Darwin said, his red eyes shining as he laughed. “We might be able to each take our own personal boat, and we won’t have to pay a dime for any of them.”

“Wait, are you suggesting we hijack the boats?” Kass asked.

“Lord Darwin, I’m not sure those water vessels are safe for the journey. I can’t make them out well, but they appear to be made of glass,” Alex said.

“Wait, you can see the boats from here? All I can make out is a giant blob of things approaching,” Kass complained.

“Alex, where I’m from we have an expression, ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,’” Darwin replied, ignoring Kass’s complaint and moving right past to Alex’s. “If they made it this far in those glass boats, then there must be something to the craftsmanship, something I’m not willing to dismiss when it might be our only way off this rock.”

“Yes, Lord Darwin. Then we’ll need orders on how you wish us to procure their use,” Alex said. “They all seem to be currently occupied, so how would you like us to proceed in properly liberating them, Milord?”

Darwin looked at the armies about to clash. If the boats sank, it would be bad news, but just at a glance he could tell already there was another concern.

“I wish that was the only bad news to focus on,” Darwin said, catching an unfortunate detail that the people on the ground likely would never notice. “The approaching army is stacked on the north side of the beach.”

“So?” Kass asked.

“So, when that fight starts, the Human alliance will naturally spread out a bit to make the lines match up evenly,” Darwin explained, reaching down with his Sword to draw lines in the sand before being stopped by Alex.

“Allow me to, Lord Darwin,” he said, pulling out his own Spear and masterfully tearing up the dirt to draw a perfect picture of the enemy formations that would make even the History Channel proud. It captured the block that made up the native continent drawn on one side, and the enemy birds drawn on the other. It also showed how the line for the bird men was rather thin, except on the north where it was heavily reinforced.

“That’s good artwork there, Alex,” Darwin commented, rather impressed with how perfect his lines were and how well he had grasped the dimensions of the armies.

“Thank you, Milord. I took my job as a forward Scout very seriously before joining the StormGuard Alliance,” Alex said with an inflated chest.

“It shows,” Darwin remarked, kneeling by the map. “Great job.”

“Okay, Darwin,” Kass said with a huff. “Will you explain already what this all means?”

“Of course. Sorry for dragging it out,” Darwin lied. He liked to tease Kass by building up the suspense. “You see they’ve made the middle part here,” Darwin said as he pointed to the center of the enemy’s thin line, “extra dense right here to create the illusion from a front view that it’s the thickest part of their line. The native army will spread out and try to match the enemy. It’s just how battles play out when they aren’t planned and there isn’t a solidly trained formation.”

“How do you know they aren’t trained?”

“Because the alliance, for whatever reason it began, is too new. In Emerald Gardens, it took us a month to get forty people to act properly under pressure,” Darwin explained. “There are at least five thousand down there. Can you imagine how long it would take to get them to act as a single unit?”

“Emerald Gardens?” Alex began to ask.

“A year at least,” Kass answered Darwin’s rhetorical question, brushing Alex’s question aside. While Stephanie, the Gorgon, had known well about the outside world, it was more likely that she was an exception than the rule. “So basically we have five thousand untrained soldiers pushing against ten to fifteen thousand enemies that look like more?”

“Yeah, specifically like fifty to sixty thousand. It’s why they will spread even. Then the north flank will cave in instantly from the pressure of all the troops, and the line will crumble into a constant open flank on the north side that will leave the native side to be slaughtered,” Darwin said, watching as Alex drew out his words with his Spear on the dirt map.

“So that means that the enemy’s line is a feint, and they are betting everything on the north part crushing its opposition fast and quick?” Kass clarified, doing her best to crouch down by the map without letting her Dress reveal too much. It was a struggle that bemused Darwin very much.

“Yes. They could win a head to head collision, but if they make this move, it will likely prevent them from suffering any significant casualties and leave them with a large enough standing force on the continent to roll over any rebellions,” Darwin finished his explanation and stood up.

“I hate being the one to ask, but what does this have to do with us?” Kass asked.

“Little to nothing except those boats,” Darwin said, pointing at the approaching opposition. “The battle is likely to decimate the only harbor where we can acquire friendly boats, and if they aren’t defeated we won’t have any vessels capable of ferrying us to the mainland. As ignoble as it may be, we may have to consider violence as the only leverage we have in obtaining the sea craft we desire.”

“So, we have to make sure the Human White-Horn Black-Wing alliance wins? Darwin, at this point, wouldn’t it just be safer to let the fight happen and try to make our own boats? We can easily farm the material we need. It won’t set us back more than a week. Why are we rushing to get to the mainland this fast?” Kass asked.

“Do you want to spend your days farming lowbie trash here?” Darwin asked her.

“I don’t, but I definitely don’t like the idea of our Faction members dying,” Kass said, surprising Darwin. “I can wait a week if it means we don’t lose anyone here.”

“Thank you, Lady,” Alex spoke before Darwin could respond. “The sentiment behind your concern for us is noted, but I cannot accept the course of action you suggest.”

“Why not?” Kass asked, her flustered red face betraying her frustration with Alex’s stubbornness on the topic. “Is bravery really worth dying for?”

Darwin looked at Alex, who was hesitant to answer the question. His facial expression was sterner than Kass’s was red, and the subject was obviously very close to home for him. He wanted to answer for Alex, but Alex’s face told him that even if he was taking a moment to answer, he wanted to answer himself.

“Lady Kass, what do you think will happen to the people of this land if those White-Wings and Fire-Walkers, as you called them, win? If they defeat that army, what do you think will happen to the people of every village that army comes across?”

Kass didn’t answer, but her face lost a bit of its color.

“How long do you think it will take them to fly out over the continent and enact their desires on every person in every village across all the nations here?”

Kass still remained silent, the red having completely vanished from her cheeks. Darwin knew it was an awful feeling to lose an argument. He had lost several in his day. Kass wasn’t just losing an argument though; she was losing an argument about keeping the people of her Faction safe. Darwin hadn’t thought they had grown on her, but they must have if she was willing to give up a week of her time to make sure none of them perished in the coming fight.

“I remember what it was like, coming home to bury someone I cared about and being told that I had to run and hide and that I wouldn’t even get the time to give the dead a proper funeral. I don’t want to die anymore than you do, but if we don’t stop those things here, then we may as well be hand delivering that fate to mothers, daughters and sons across the island.”

Kass stared at Alex for a moment that seemed to drag on for a day. Darwin hated to interrupt this type of awkward silence--it always made him uncomfortable--but he knew someone had to. He also knew that there was a middle ground for the two.

“Kass, the level restriction, it’s the same for every island, right?”

“Yeah, there shouldn’t be anything over 40, and the NPCs should average around Level 20,” she answered, sighing as she did. “Why?”

“Alex, if I can guarantee that the invading force will be broken here, that they won’t succeed, will the men be okay with sitting one fight out?” Darwin asked Alex, putting one hand on his shoulder.

“No, Sir, they’d rather be there, but they will if you think it’s for the best,” he said, pausing for a moment before adding. “We will if you command it, Lord Darwin.”

“That’s great because I think I have a way to break the army and have everyone walk out of here alive. I just need you,” Darwin said pointing to Kass, “you,” then pointing to Alex, “the re-risen and five Guards. If I can get y’all’s cooperation--and there aren’t any surprises--we should be able to all come out of this alive. We’ll even come out of it with all the boats we are going to need to sail out of here. If I’m wrong, if we all die, at least the Stormguard Alliance will live on. Is that okay with you both?”

They looked at each other for a moment, then both said, “I’m in,” at the same time.

“Good. Then I hope you don’t mind getting wet because here is where we start,” he said, using the edge of his Sword to draw a small box far north of where the conflict was, and clearly in the water. “And we have to make sure not to start until the clash happens.”

“Why that far out in the water?” Alex asked this time.

“Because we can’t let anyone see us--any of us,” Darwin said, looking over at one of the especially tall zombies he had made. “If we make a stir too early, we’ll be fighting them head on and not flanking them smoothly.”

“So the plan is just to wait in the water until the fighting starts, and then flank them?” Kass asked for clarification, not sure that it would be simple enough.

“No, it’s not just that. That’s just the timing and where we hit. This strategy is going to be heavily dependent on our own unique abilities and how we combine them,” Darwin said, walking away from the first map and to another clear patch.

“Ok, so what do you have planned?” she asked.

“Well, first, we’re going to need to run the front line like this,” Darwin said, drawing out the formation. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but years planning the raids on Emerald Gardens had definitely taught him that confidence and clearly articulated orders were just as, if not more, important than a good strategy.

Kass watched intently as he finished drawing out the plan. “This will really work . . .” she said, the words half question and half statement.

“Do you doubt the great Lord Darwin?” Darwin said, standing up from the etched out formation, proud of his work.

“Not at all, Lord Darwin,” Alex said as he stood, not understanding the rhetorical question was a half joke. “I have no doubt you will dye the waters red before the sun sets.”

Valerie:

“So what are we going to do when the fight starts?” Daniel whispered to Mclean.

“Grab the first boat we can, pop on some flip flops and sail to the mainland,” Mclean answered.

No, they’re not getting away with what they did to Tim, Valerie wanted to say, but was doing her best to not let them know exactly how personal this had become. They killed Tim, and they threw me in jail for trying to do the right thing. “This cult of madness can’t spread.”

“Valerie?” Daniel asked, his eyebrow raised.

“We can’t just walk away from this war,” she said, looking at Daniel and Mclean. “Would you be happy with yourself if you knew these jerks took over another starter island, if they put someone else through the same ordeal they put us through? Just for doing the right thing? Fire-Walker or White-Wing, we have to make sure others don’t go through what we did.”

We have to make sure another Tim doesn’t die needlessly. She gripped her Dagger.

“Damn straight,” Daniel agreed, Mclean nodding. “You had me at ‘cult of madness.’”

“So what’s the plan?” Mclean asked, still chuckling at Daniel’s response.

“I’d say we murder them all until there is only a small enough number left for the natives of the island to finish off, but I think there may be too many for the three of us to kill by ourselves,” she admitted, knowing that there were probably even other players close to Level 40 that she would have trouble fighting one at a time.

“So we’re just going to give up like that?” Daniel asked, confused. He seemed pretty happy when Valerie had told them they needed to stop the Sun God’s spread.

“Not on your life,” Valerie reaffirmed. “I’m just saying we need to get in the air when the fight starts and look for an opportunity. This is going to be like playing chess: we might be pawns, but if we wait for the right moment we can take the queen and corner the king.”

“Chess, really? You really are a dork,” Mclean said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “but if we have to talk strategy, a dork is exactly what we need.”

“So do we fly up now?” Daniel asked. “Get a good bird’s eye view?”

Valerie liked the feeling of the two of them looking to her for directions. Even before, when she was leading the group, she had just been part of the planning, not really in charge of it.

“No, not yet,” Valerie answered. “We need to wait for that clash to hit. Once it does, we can go airborne without any issues.”

“Issues?” Mclean asked.

“Yeah, we need to make sure that when we take to the air for a good vantage point, we’re not stopped along the way. If we start the fight too soon, we’ll give away our cards, and it’ll be a uphill fight from there,” Valerie explained. There were some cases where a quick trigger finger could really cause issues, and this was definitely one of them.

“Well, Boss,” Daniel joked at Valerie’s new attitude, “the good news is I think the fight’s about to start, so the wait won’t be long if that’s when we’re going.”

“Alright, wait for the sound of clashing then, and let’s get into the air,” Valerie said, still holding onto her Daggers tight enough that it was hurting her knuckles. Tim, I won’t let them get away with this. Just you wait. One knife in the back deserves another.

They waited in silence for moments that dragged on forever. At one point, Valerie even wondered if they would be able to hear the initial clashing, that the shouting of the men would deafen it out. Then it happened. A sound like a gushing torrent of thumbtacks and paperclips striking a metal surface started to sound off in the distance.

They looked at each other one last time, planted their feet into the ground and shot into the air just like everyone else on the boat. The only difference was that when they took off into the sky, they just went up, not west towards the enemy. They went higher and higher until they could see almost the entire battle in a single glance. At that point, Valerie signaled to the others to hold the position.

“We may be about to try and stop them, but by the looks of it, it’s going to be really hard to get the other side to win,” Daniel said with a frown as he looked at the scene below. “If the opposing side doesn’t put up a fight like it’s the Alamo or they’re Spartans at Thermopylae, this is going to quickly turn into a fight more one sided than a chocolate chip double doozie going up against the cookie monster.”

“We’re lucky then,” Valerie declared without hesitation, “. . . the cookie monster is a vegetarian now.”

“Really?” Mclean said surprised. “How can anyone give up chocolate chip cookies?”

Daniel frowned, “Probably the same way I did. Gotta make sure I don’t gain any weight.”

Valerie ignored the rest of the banter between the two: chocolate chip cookies weren’t important right now. There would be plenty of time to discuss them in the future, but right now the battle unfolding below didn’t look to be in their favor, and the right opportunity to strike likely wouldn’t last more than a moment.

She watched to the west of her as White-Wings were running into and clashing with Black-Wings. They hit each other hard, using Knives and Daggers to cut off wings and Arrows to shoot each other in the chest. As fast as they were hitting each other, they were dying one after another as blades and arrowheads dug through their flimsy Armor. Below them, White-Wings were diving by the scores in a near suicidal effort to land on and crush the opposition. Some were successful, instantly killing their targets, while others were unlucky, finding that the Axes, Shields and Swords of the Humans and Minotaurs proved far sturdier than the glass blades of the Fire-Walker heretics.

“Ummm . . .” Daniel said pointing to something Valerie had failed to notice. “What’s that?”

Mclean and Valerie looked to where Daniel was pointing. Below the glass ships on the north-most flank of the army was something definitely out of the ordinary.

“Is that a wave?” Valerie asked, not being able to make out what it was. It definitely looked like a wave, but waves were supposed to move to and from the shore, not to and from the players.

“No, I think that’s what we were hoping for. I think it’s our ‘surprise,’”  Mclean said. “It’s not a wave--it’s a small army!”

“That’s . . . that’s not a player army . . . that’s a monster army! Look!” Daniel said, loud enough to make other White-Wings passing them from below take notice too.

Whatever was moving under the waters to make the effect of a wave broke the surface to reveal a small forty- or fifty-man force of wolves with red eyes, turtle shells and Spears popping out of the water. Each one was equipped with a small helmet made of ice that they shattered themselves as they broke the surface. Were those air bubbles to keep them breathing under water? Valerie thought as she watched the spectacle of rising, shell-wearing werewolves, who seemed to be commanded by a very small group of regular Humans directly behind them. That wasn’t the scariest part though: that was the creature in the middle. As it rose in the water and its top broke the surface, it sent a wave strong enough to almost knock the shell-armored wolves around it off their feet. It was a giant, seven-headed Hydra with black armor and red eyes, and on it’s back was a beautiful, brown-haired woman in a white Dress holding a blue Staff.

For a moment she was awestruck. She couldn’t take her eyes off the scene. The woman, as soon as she got above the surface and broke her ice bubble, slammed her Staff with both hands onto the back of the black-scaled Hydra, and white snowball-looking things began to shoot out in a stream at every nearby White-Wing. It was a fatal spray of snowballs that made it look like Olaf finally got his summer holiday on the beach. Each snowball was fast and precise, ripping a White-Wing out of the sky as they instantly froze the wings of their victims. The Hydra wasn’t for play either. It was ripping apart every White-Wing that tried to dive at the girl using its seven massive jaws.

Is that a player? Is that a Boss? Is this an event that no one knew about that the game masters planned to stop a noob island from being conquered? Valerie began to ask herself as she watched in wonder. She couldn’t take her eyes off the Turtle-Wolves that lunged and cleared the way for the Hydra, pressing and pushing the White-Wings on the ground into a slanted line with the north-most part the furthest east. They are breaking the push. There aren’t more than forty of them and they are breaking the push! If we help them out, then we can definitely win!

“What the . . .” Daniel started to say before Mclean interrupted him.

“Is that guy wearing a bathrobe?!” she yelled, pointing to a man that Valerie had somehow failed to notice.

Valerie rubbed her eyes. Sure enough, at the furthest part penetrating the White-Wing line was a man in a Bathrobe wielding two Swords. He was moving like a miniature tornado as he ripped his Swords in and out of everything in arm’s reach.

Umm, guys, I don’t think the Bathrobe he is wearing is our problem. I think we have much bigger issues,” Daniel said, managing to finish his sentence. “Do you see what I am seeing?”

“No, what is . . . oh,” Valerie was about to ask what he saw, but she noticed it as soon as she knew to look for something.

Everything he stabbed either vanished like a player normally does or got up, howled and took off in the air to kill other White-Wings. It was a White-Wing on White-Wing fight going on just above his head as the number of converted White-Wings kept growing. First there were ten, then twenty, then thirty and forty. At this rate, the small group of forty or fifty turtle-armored wolf men would be the least of the White-Wings’ problems--it would be the rapidly growing army of undead traitors, Zombie White-Wings that seemed to be far better at fighting in their second life than they were in their first.

“That’s just not fair,” Daniel muttered, watching the carnage. “Forget that cool Bathrobe, how the Hell did she get a hydra to ride? Hell, I’d settle for a pink version of the mount if it was that cool.”

“Guys, that force, that force is our key to victory,” Valerie announced. “That force is how we’re going to stop these lunatics.”

“You’re right, but how do we make sure they don’t kill us in the process though? How do the reanimated ones tell the difference between friend and foe?” Daniel asked.

“It’s the eyes. The risen ones all have glowing red eyes!” Valerie said, her face turning as red from the excitement as the eyes she was talking about. “If we can just start taking out the ones without red eyes, they red-eyed ones might see us as friendly or at the very least not attack us while we help them.”

“That’s an awfully big maybe,” Mclean said, pulling out her Daggers again. She might have said one thing, but her actions let Valerie know she was already onboard.

“Yeah, we might not make it out of this one alive,” Daniel said, also pulling out his blades. “Shall we play this just like the Fire-Walker dungeon?”

“No one won a war without taking chances,” Valerie said. “It may be mostly like the Fire-Walker dungeon, but the big difference is this time we’re going to win the war, save the people and come out alive,” she said as she closed her wings and leaned in to dive ahead and join the fray where the Bathrobe Knight was fighting. She didn’t care if he took her on his team. Tim was going to get his vengeance and no one else was going to go through what they did. That was enough.

It’s all or nothing, again, and I’ll be damned if I die twice! she thought, cutting the wings off the first White-Wing she came across in her dive.

“What are you do--” the White-Wing next to her victim started to ask before Valerie’s Dagger found it’s way right into his throat. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, reaching him, ripping out the weapon and quickly landing on another unsuspecting victim’s back, both her Dagger’s firmly driven into the base of his wings.

“Don’t die too quickly," she whispered into his ear before dragging the blades downward and pulling his wings off. Valerie propelled herself up off of his back, leaving him screaming in both terror and pain as he plummeted through the sky towards his inevitable death.

Two White-Wings who saw the whole thing started to dive at Valerie, but she was ready. She flew upwards to meet them, and right before the impact, she used her wings to force herself to the side. As they shot past her, Valerie thrust out her daggers and used her enemies’ momentum to split open their ribs. Her next victim, just like the last one whose back she landed on, didn’t even see her coming as she put her Dagger right into his spine. Don’t be upset. This is what you blind zealots did to Tim. A Dagger in the back from the people he trusted . . . it should be old hat for you by now.

Kass:

Kass did her best to channel her spells, firing more snowballs per minute than she had ever managed to before. It was probably because, for once, she didn’t have to constantly run after Darwin. She got to sit still happily on a giant Hydra that stopped her from even worrying about having to walk. The snowballs are fast, the enemies are weak and the mount is awesome, she thought, watching as her spells carved destruction into the feathery foes’ wings. Video game life just doesn’t get better than this.

It was mostly Darwin’s idea. He said that he often used roots and the terrain to kite and beat bosses that couldn’t be straight tanked back on his old video games. He learned quickly that for melee classes, which he is now, range and terrain are a significant disadvantage that flying-type mobs can easily leverage. Unfortunately, fliers who would try to leverage it against him would find out that root and stun Classes were their worst nightmare. While in the old MMO, it wouldn’t cause them to fall to their death, it would stamina leech them. He guessed that the same principle could be easily applied again.

Unfortunately, since Kass was the only one who could cast a spell with any significant range, it meant that the second the fight started, she wouldn’t only need to pick up the slack for everyone, she’d be the center of attention for any non-friendly party in a fifty-meter radius. That’s why Darwin had given her the Hydra for the battle--because even if she was the center of attention, the Hydra had seven heads, Frost Step for faster movement, Frost Edge for more Damage, and the boosts from her items and Darwin’s red eyes. It was, by itself, a fully buffed Boss mob guarding her, and all she had to do was stop one of the other high level players from taking it out while she rode comfortably.

In front of her, Darwin was leading the charge and zombifying everything he could. The plan was simple--flank them--but the complicated part was how to build a wall that would grow perpetually bigger. So long as everything was focused on her and her Hydra, Darwin would be able to start amassing an army before anyone noticed what he was doing. The plan was simple, and it was working.

Kass looked at Darwin, dancing through the enemies with a bloodthirst that made her grimace. Darwin, you don’t have to do this, she thought as she watched his back. I know you’re not a normal player. I can’t get it out of my head that there is a good chance if you die here, you die for good. Why do you risk so much for these people? We could have just taken our time, she thought. It hadn’t been until the Hydra fight that she ever worried about him dying, but when she did, she couldn’t help but remember the paper she found him writing in the bar. It all added up, and it was impossible to ignore no matter how much she tried. He was always on; he never slept. He didn’t log in or out like other players: he was always in the game, twenty-four/seven. The only creatures that could maintain that kind of schedule are NPCs, but he wasn’t one of those either. Something was off about him, and she would need to talk to her dad to figure it out. The only problem was, she wasn’t sure if her dad would help Darwin or help ‘solve’ Darwin. Stop it, Kass, get your head back in the fight, she had to tell herself as her thoughts wondered to Darwin. Granted, that’s where they were more often than not lately--on Darwin.

“Lady Kass, your buffer zone is big enough, and Darwin reports that he has enough White-Wing red eyes to hold the line temporarily. It’s time for us to enact phase two. Bring them down,” Alex said as he appeared on the Hydra next to her. After finishing his message he threw the Spear he was holding into a White-Wing twenty meters away from them and vanished. Only a moment later did Kass see him standing atop the dead White-Wing pulling his Spear out.

I swear, that boy is more of a magician than I am, Kass thought, always annoyed that Alex could sneak up on her so well. If the Stormguard Alliance ever gets rich, it’s going to lose all of its money treating heart attacks that he will cause startling people.

Kass calmed her nerves, stopped the snowball shooting gallery, closed her eyes and began channeling something new. It was her first time casting the spell in what felt like forever, but it felt like the spell was programed for just this moment. ‘Winter is Coming,’ don’t fail me now! she thought as she started summoning the ice chains from the ground beneath the waters. One after another they started shooting out of the water and into the air, shackling the flying White-Wings. As she kept channeling the spell, more and more chains began shooting up at a time. After only holding the channeling process open for two minutes, the chains were already starting to shoot up over a dozen at a time.

The White-Wings, struggling as they were pulled to the ground by the ice chains, seemed to almost scream in horror. The sky was their advantage, it was their Racial right to live in the skies, and now they were being grounded in knee-high water. And if they weren’t screaming in horror from the chains pulling them to the ground, they were definitely shouting in pain as the eager, hungry Turtle-Wolves and Spear-wielding Scouts began preying on them the second they touched the ground. Without a dive, without any mobility, they were sitting ducks for their enemies wading in the blood-red water below.

Even though none of them were worth a terrible amount of EXP, Kass couldn’t help but notice her bar was slowly shooting up from the sheer volume of the kills. It might not be enough to hit another level, but it was still better than nothing, and EXP was the reason she had stuck with Darwin to begin with. It was the reason she had been okay with ignoring the very real struggle Darwin was probably going through. Stop it Kass, you’re thinking about Darwin again. You’re in the middle of committing good, old-fashioned, home-grown avian genocide on a level that would make Colonel Sanders proud, so stay focused and turn these White-Wings into dodo birds.

Everything was going down smoother than a well-aged wine, especially with the spell ‘Winter is Coming’ shackling more people than the interest on student loans, when all of a sudden Kass noticed something terrifying. While all the other White-Wings that Darwin was killing only had the standard two wings and angel-like appearance, this particular one was different. He had four massive wings sprouting out of his back that dwarfed his allies’ wings. He was well over two meters tall and wore Steel, not Leather, Armor. Instead of the two Daggers or Bow and Arrow that she saw being used by all the other White-Wings, he was wielding a Sword and a Shield, and he was coming right at Darwin.

“What the heck is that?” she mumbled to herself out loud, almost losing her concentration on the ‘Winter is Coming’ spell. “Fuzzy Wuzzy! Get to Darwin! I got a bad feeling about this!” she yelled as soon as she was able to get her concentration back on the spell.

Fuzzy Wuzzy, who was behind the Hydra, rolling on its back and swatting its giant, ice breathing-bubble with its paws, stood up and looked at Kass while poking the bubble with a claw. I did not make that bubble that thick. Stop being lazy! Kass wanted to shout, but instead decided not to waste time. “Blake! Bust that bubble for Fuzzy Wuzzy so he can go help Darwin. And go with him too!”

Blake didn’t question her at all, but rather just appeared behind Fuzzy Wuzzy with the same creepy trick Alex always used and broke the bubble with his Spear before the two of them started running towards Darwin. You two better keep him safe, Kass wished after them, but she herself knew that she needed to maintain the spell or the battle would be lost.

Kass kept up the spell, but she felt like she was watching in horror as the armored, four-winged Commander got closer to Darwin. It was just about to ready itself and make a dive when three White-Wings, not red-eyes like Darwin’s Zombies, struck it in the back one after the other. They didn’t manage to do more than hurt one of its wings before the Commander sped up so fast in the air he almost disappeared like Alex, charging them with his shield and knocking them forward into the area a dozen meters ahead of Kass.

Kass, looked at them. “Are you three okay? Why are you attacking one of your own?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“We haven’t been on the White-Wing side since they tried to kill us,” the only male of the three said, standing up and brushing off his shoulders then his wings. As the other two stood up, Alex, Justin and two other scouts materialized behind them.

“Do we kill them, Lady Kass?” Alex asked as he trained his Spear on them.

“No, they’ve got a story they can tell us after the fight is over. Until then, I need you all to make sure that thing doesn’t kill Darwin,” Kass said, pointing at the four-winged beast who was once again readying his dive for Darwin.

“I wish I could, Lady Kass,” Justin said, staring at the armored angel, “unfortunately the great Lord Darwin’s orders are final. He saw it when the fight started and commanded us to protect you should it engage us directly.”

Blake came back with Fuzzy Wuzzy too. “I was sent back as well, Lady Kass.”

What? Protect me? I can die, you idiot! You can’t! her voice yelled inside her head. You made me ask you out, and now you’re going to die before I ever even get that date! she thought, protesting fiercely in her mind.

“Well, do you mind removing the Spears so we go after it again? I don’t think the ‘Great Lord Darwin’ ordered us to do anything,” the male White-Wing spoke again, his hands over his head in the traditional surrender pose. “I mean, do you really want the ‘Great Lord Darwin’ to fight on his own? Against a Faction Leader, Lady Kass, was it?”

Kass wanted to tell him to go, but she needed to know first what type of threat Darwin faced, if she was over-reacting or if he was in real danger. “Faction Leader? What level are they generally?”

“This one, he’s about Level 65 to 70 like all of the other Faction Leaders. He’s the unrivalled leader of the White-Wings,” one of the two girl White-Wings answered this time. “He also has all the standard NPC Boss buffs.”

“Move you lumbering beast!” she yelled at the Hydra, ignoring the three White-Wing prisoners. It may not be enough, but I still have to try, she thought as the Hydra started rushing towards Darwin. She watched as the Angel flew upwards higher into the sky again, preparing for its dive. Once it took head, she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. She closed her eyes and gulped, she couldn’t watch. She could only pray that when he died, he’d respawn like she would.

*CLANG!* a loud metallic sound, louder than any of the clashing Spears, Knives, Armor and Axes across the battlefield, wrung out from where Darwin was. Kass shut her eyes even tighter for a second, afraid to look as the Hydra barrelled towards Darwin’s position.

*Clang!* the metallic sound shot out again. Is Darwin fighting? she thought, opening her eyes to find Darwin was momentarily nowhere in sight. Darwin? Did you live? Are you okay? she panicked. Where did you go? she worried, scanning the battlefield until she saw him, flat on his butt behind a man who had taken his spot on the field: the King. Kass would recognize his face anywhere. It was still the first one you saw during the intro sequence when picking a Human, and he was the only Human who wore a Crown to battle.

“I see your Bathrobe has gotten a little fancier since we last met,” the King said to Darwin behind him as he held his Sword out towards the four-winged Commander, now grounded with his Sword and Shield in a defensive position.

Wait, Darwin knows the King? When did he meet the King? she thought, the shock of the King’s appearance causing her to forget the Boss-level mob threatening their life in front of them.

“Yeah, what can I say? Came with the new job title.” Darwin stood up, leveling his Sword into his own combat stance. “By the way, thanks for the help.”

“I had to help you out when I saw that you were stuck with a Sword and not your weapon of preference, silverware,” the King laughed. It was like the two were long-lost friends. “To be fair, your sister was the one who sent me though. She said I would need to assist you here. She said you would strike the enemy from the north, and this Commander would try to kill you, and I needed to interfere before you were saved.”

“Before I was saved?” Darwin asked, almost dropping his stance.

“You are Eve’s brother, no?” the King said, the two standing there chatting right in front of the enemy.

“Yes, I am Eve’s brother, but you came to help me before I was saved?” Darwin said, not turning his head to look at him while he was talking. “Don’t you mean before I am killed?”

“No, he, like, totes means saved,” a voice Kass immediately recognized said from behind her. She was about to turn around and look when two hands shot over her eyes casting her vision into darkness. “No peeking, girlfriend.”

“Stephanie!” Darwin called out to the person behind her.

Medusa . . . no wonder she covered my eyes.

“Sorry, Darwin, I, like, totes had an awesome entrance planned when I saw the lead female from Touched by an Angel’s first kid get all grumpus in metal at you, but the Burger King boy wouldn’t let me have it my way,” she apologized, as she pulled her hands away from Kass’s eyes.

Kass, eyes now firmly closed again, was afraid to look. She knew what happened to those who gazed on the Medusa, but the need to see what was going on was slowly almost killing her. What are they doing?

“It seems I’m too late to fulfill Eve’s request,” the King said in a disappointed voice that made Kass think she could almost hear his frown. “In that case, I am told to pass on a message. Stephanie, you were supposed to only deliver the Stone to Darwin, not meddle further.”

“Message, like, recieved grandpa grumps,” Stephanie said with her usual high-pitched bubble gum voice, but then it switched to a darker tone that chilled Kass more than any of her frost spells. “But if you come between us again, I will end you.”

“I’m just delivering the message. Take it up with Eve if you have further concerns. I don’t want to get between you two,” the King said, his voice lacking the same bold bass it had before Stephanie had showed up.

“Like, whatevs. Anyways, honey! Did you miss me?” Stephanie was back to her high pitch.

Honey? Why is she calling Darwin honey? Why should he be missing her? What did they do in that room when I wasn’t there? Kass started to feel a little jealous.

“Been a little busy to miss anyone,” Darwin dodged the question.

Kass could hear stone crumbling in the background. For some reason Darwin and the King weren’t affected, but from the sound of breaking rocks, it was clear that many of the White-Wings around them weren’t so fortunate.

“Well, like, missing me or not, I think you like totes promised me some ice cream, and I thought I’d come here and collect,” Stephanie said.

“I’d love to sit down and get some ice cream, but I kind of have to stop these bird men from making it far enough into the Human lands to turn into lawyers,” Darwin said, laughing a bit.

How can you be so light-hearted right now? Getting ice cream with her? You’re supposed to be taking me out to a nice lunch. Kass’s jealousy flared up more. She started telling herself that Stephanie’s strength was the only reason Darwin was playing along with her. There was no way he would be into a girl who talked like that. Why do I even care? It’s not like we’re an item anyways.

“Oh, that uncooked serving of chicken pot pie and his rotisserie club? Don’t get your panties in a bunch over them. I can, like, totes take care of it right now if you want,” Stephanie said. “It’s like no problem at all, but you’ll like owe me more than ice cream. Maybe dinner and a movie?”

“If you don’t mind a boat ride: I don’t think I plan on hanging around these lands,” Darwin said.

Wait, he’s not planning on bringing her with us? Kass found herself hoping her face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“Deal,” Stephanie said. The agreement was followed by an awful bone-wrenching sound.

“Did you just Mola Ram Temple of Doom him?” Darwin asked immediately after.

“I know when I’m not needed,” the King said.

“Yeah, I like told you I love me some Indiana Jones.” Stephanie sounded very happy with herself. “Like, off for a moment, Dear. Be back with the bacon. Kassy girl, you can open your eyes.”

Kass waited a second just to be sure, then opened her eyes to see the carnage. The King was gone, and Darwin was standing over the four-winged commander, who lay dead on the ground with his chest ripped open. Everywhere she could see the White-Wings were either statues, decapitated or gorily missing limbs. Only the Turtle-Wolves and a dozen White-Wings that Darwin had converted into red-eyes were still standing and not simply torn-up pieces scattered about like red leaves in fall.

“Darwin, why are you taking her out to dinner and a movie?” Kass asked, still grumpy about the developments. “And ice cream?”

“Of course, I had to. Your logic, not mine.” He shrugged.

“How do you figure that? I don’t think I said anywhere that you need to have dinner with a mass murderer,” she complained.

“Well, we both know that we’re both mass murderers. But if you bringing me three Minotaurs and helping me kill a few Turtle-Wolves equals twenty meals, how many do you think I owe her for killing a whole army?” Darwin said, his eyes still looking at the dead Commander before him.

Kass wanted to argue, but his logic was right. They both owed her, and they owed her big. The King might have helped, but Darwin still might have died if the Commander had overpowered the King. Darwin might be dead, and from his point of view that was probably easily worth a hundred dinners and thousand movies, depending on what the movies were of course.

“Lord Darwin, I don’t mean to disturb you,” a voice shot out from behind Kass. “But we still need to know what to do with the three prisoners.”

Kass jumped. Why must everyone appear behind me! Am I that easy to sneak up on? This is starting to be bothersome.

“Prisoners? What are you talking about?”

“Three White-Wings who fell fighting . . .” Blake’s eyes paused to look at the Commander, “. . . their Commander. Lady Kass told us not to kill them, Milord.”

“I see. The White-Wings were on our side?” Darwin asked for clarification. “Can you bring them to me?”

“Yes, Milord. Right away.” He disappeared for a moment only to appear almost instantly later with the four other Scouts and their three White-Wing prisoners.

They were looking around in as much shock and horror as Kass was. It was hard to take in the slaughter that had occurred. It’s one thing to see people dead in a virtual reality game; it’s another to see them carved up like fine cuts of meat put to a fat man’s knife.

“I am told you three were captured after you failed to kill . . . this guy,” Darwin said, kicking the Commander’s dead body. “Any reason you were trying to stab your Commander in the back?”

“Tim, Sir, I mean, O, Great Lord Darwin,” one of the two female White-Wings, the frailest yet most blood-spattered of the three, said as she stepped forward and lowered herself into a bow. Hearing the title and seeing the bow caused Darwin to look at Kass confused, but the mystified look didn’t stop the other two from following suit and bowing as well.

Kass shrugged. “Don’t look at me,” she mouthed from atop her Hydra. Darwin then looked at Fuzzy Wuzzy, who just roared in confusion too while Blake and Justin looked just as puzzled as Darwin. They clearly didn’t understand what was awkward or perplexing about a player calling him by the title ‘Great Lord Darwin.’

“That’s enough,” Darwin finally said impatiently, waving his hand. “Just tell me who you are and why a Tim somehow caused you to turn your back on your Faction Leader.”

“Great Lord Darwin, my name is Valerie,” the one who bowed first spoke.

“My name is Daniel, Your Majesty,” the only male said next, and was immediately followed by the other female White-Wing.

“My name is Mclean,” she said before Valerie nudged her with her shoulder and she tacked on, “O, Great Lord.”

“Okay, we can skip the titles and pleasantries for now,” Darwin said, walking over to the Hydra Kass was riding as he spoke. “What does a Tim have to do with why you were attacking your own kind?”

“If I may, Great Lord Darwin, my humble story is one that may take some time,” Valerie said, bowing her head only this time. “Perhaps we should wait until after the battle to begin the tale.”

Darwin looked around for a moment. “I don’t see any battle still going on, so go ahead and start your story before Stephanie gets back.”

“St . . . I mean, yes, Great Lord. Let me begin with the Fire-Walkers,” she started her story, but Kass was too worn out from all the heart-pounding moments to pay close attention. All she could do was sigh. Why do I get the feeling that Darwin’s ego is going to grow even bigger?

Chapter 10: Lines in the Sand

Darwin:

“That is why we were helping you, Great Lord Darwin, during the battle,” Valerie finished her story, stepping back to join ranks with her two friends.

“So, you were one of them, but then you were betrayed, and you’re angry because they killed an NPC?” Darwin asked for clarification as he continue to pet Fuzzy Wuzzy. Halfway through her story Fuzzy Wuzzy had nudged his head under Darwin’s hand and growled at Darwin when Darwin tried to stop petting the giant Bear.

“Yes, I guess you could sum it up like that,” the male White-Wing, Daniel, said. “I mean, it feels a wee bit more complicated when it’s happening to you, but I don’t see any reason that doesn’t add it all up fine.” He had stopped talking for a minute, until Valerie nudged him again. “O, Great Lord Darwin.”

Darwin wanted to say something, but Kass’s face had turned absolutely red from them saying ‘Great Lord Darwin’ after everything. Darwin could tell from her bursting eyes and puffed cheeks she was doing everything in her power not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole affair.

“Lady Kass, is something wrong?” Justin asked, noticing her face. “Perhaps it is an after effect from a poison or spell you suffered during battle?”

“No, no, I’m quite alright. Didn’t really take any Damage at all during the fight,” Kass said, her face growing more crimson by the minute as she struggled to contain the chuckle.

“Well, what do you think of these three? Do we trust them?” Darwin asked Kass. His inclination was to give them the benefit of the doubt, but he knew better than to not take advantage of a woman’s intuition. “Do we believe their story and let them join our alliance?”

“Wait, um . . . Great Lord Darwin, we didn’t ask to join your alliance. We just were explaining why we aren’t the bad guy,” the third White-Wing, Mclean, quickly corrected Darwin.

“Wait, is that not what you were about to ask us?” Darwin said, raising an eyebrow.

“Well . . .” Mclean started to respond, but Darwin immediately interrupted her before she could get more than one word out.

“Don’t think about telling me different. You lack funds, you have no connections in these lands, and, lastly, your group of three couldn’t operate a craft if it wanted to,” Darwin said, squinting at Mclean. “So, are you going to start off our soon-to-be-fabulous relationship with lies?”

“No. I just was saying we weren’t going to ask to join your alliance--only for a ride,” Mclean stated, finally failing to add Darwin’s title.

“Ah, that’s what you meant. Well, good. You’re not a liar at least. The problem is you’re not going to get a ride without joining up too. It’s going to cost resources to ferry you across that ocean to the mainland, resources and time that could be spent elsewhere,” Darwin said, noticing that Kass’s face had lost it’s chuckle. Did I say something wrong? he thought, not sure why her face was souring. “So, you either join up or go find someone on this island that will be sympathetic to three runaway White-Wings. I’m sure plenty of people will be willing to give you a ride.”

“Well, we might get one on our good looks alone.” Daniel made a ridiculously big smile while looking at his two friends, then frowned. “But given the recent invasion, probably not . . . I say we throw in our lot with the Great Lord Darwin.”

Mclean nodded at Daniel, frowning as well. “I can’t really argue with that logic. I guess I’ll throw my lot in with the Great Lord Darwin too.”

Well, you don’t have to be so sad about it, Darwin thought as he watched the two vote for joining him. It’s not like joining me is the end of the world.

“I’ll join, Great Lord Darwin, but only under one circumstance,” Valerie said confidently, stepping forward again while maintaining hard eye contact with him. The sincerity on her face reminded Darwin of Alex.

I haven’t even decided if I want to actually accept them on, and they’re already issuing demands if I do? Darwin thought as he watched the arrogant White-Wing step forward. “Well, let’s hear what the demand is at least,” he said, resisting the urge to shake his head.

“Your Lordship, I request that if we encounter the Sun God Empire again, you assist me with my vengeance,” she said, bowing her head one more time. “

Does she really think we’re going to run into more of them on the mainland, or is this just her way of saving face? Darwin thought for a minute, not sure why Valerie would make that request. Darwin looked over at Kass, who just stood on her Hydra and shrugged while giving a half-hearted nod. Well, I guess half the Faction officers are in agreement, and it’s just me left to make the call.

He looked Valerie up and down, and then glanced at her two friends. His gut told him that he could trust them. His brain reminded him that of all the stories she could have made up, the one she’d given wasn’t likely one of them. All in all, he was left with a feeling that they were good people, the type of people to get upset if even an NPC was killed for the wrong reasons. They were people worthy of being in the StormGuard Alliance. “I won’t give you terms that risk my people, but you’re welcome to pursue vengeance on your own terms if you join the Alliance,” he decided, sending out the Tipqa Faction requests.

“Thank you, Great Lord Darwin,” Valerie said as she joined the alliance with the other two.

“You’re welcome. Now that I’ve got three extra hands, I’ll need to make use of y’all to to save on the time we spent talking. Alex, what do we still need done for preparations?” Darwin said, turning to Alex, whom he knew he could count on to be behind him again in his usual shady fashion.

“All the preparations are complete, Lord Darwin. While Valerie was regaling us with the plight of her group, I had the men set up the ships for sail,” he answered, pointing to a series of glass ships prepped and manned. “You may give the order when ready, and we can begin departure immediately.”

“Great job as always, Alex. If all the preparations are made, have everyone begin looting the spoils of war, and make sure to save me the items dropped from the Commander. These three will be happy to help out,” Darwin said, waving his hand at his three new Faction members.

When everyone but Kass had left, the two locked eyes, Kass staring down at him from on top of the black Hydra. “When were you going to tell me?” she said. Darwin knew immediately what she was talking about, but Kass explained further. “When were you going to tell me that you weren’t one of us?”

“You mean a player?” he asked, buying time more than asking for clarification.

“Yes, I mean a player, you idiot!” She yelled down at him.

“I assumed you already knew, to be honest,” Darwin resisted the urge to shrug. He knew that even though he had grown incredibly comfortable with the situation, she wasn’t, and if he just tried to brush her reaction off, he’d only come across as a jerk. “I saw you read my notes, and since then the clues have piled up. I just thought, welp, she’s figured it out by now and just isn’t saying anything.”

“I didn’t. I mean, I did and I didn’t.” Kass broke eye contact and turned her head away from Darwin so he couldn’t make out her facial expression. “I pretty much had figured it out, but it wasn’t exactly information I wanted to believe.”

“Not something I’d like to believe either,” Darwin said while hopping up on top of the Hydra next to Kass in one swift movement. “Wasn’t exactly my idea of a dream come true when it happened.”

“How did it even happen? Why did it even make you like that with the red eyes and all?” she turned back around to face him, and Darwin could see from the wrinkles rippling across her face, this was more than just confusing to her. It was frustrating. “How could it trap you here?”

“I don’t know,” Darwin answered, his face flat. He didn’t have the answers she wanted.

“You don’t know? After all the time we spent together you’re just going to tell me you don’t know?” Kass’s voice kept getting louder and louder.

“I don’t know.” Darwin stayed stoic.

“Don’t give me that! Don’t tell me you don’t know! This is your life! You have to know!” Kass practically yelled as she balled up her fist as if she was going to strike Darwin’s chest with it before she finally opened her hand and sighed. “Just . . .  just tell me what happened from the beginning. Can you at least do that?”

“Well, for starters, it didn’t make me like this. It didn’t change anything about me. This is who I am. This is how I look,” Darwin said as he pointed to his own eye.

“You . . . look like that in real life?” Kass asked with slightly wider eyes before poking one of his biceps. “Even the muscles?”

“Even the muscles,” he flexed the best he could without trying to look like it was intentional.

“Well, I look like this in real life too,” she twirled for a moment.

“That’s kind of funny,” Darwin noted, causing Kass’s blush to return.

“What? Are you saying I look funny?” she covered what little cleavage was showing and backed up.

“No, no, no! I just meant that we’re probably the only two people on the entire server who didn’t alter their avatar at all, and we ended up meeting in a pretty weird way,” he explained, throwing both hands up like a robber trying to prove to a police officer he didn’t have a gun.

“Oh, yeah,” she lowered her arms and relaxed. “That is kind of odd. Then again, I figure with me actually being a girl avatar being played by a girl, it’s already odd.”

“Well, you still could be a trap. You say it’s what you look like, but you still might be a forty year old man behind that pretty face,” Darwin laughed. The Internet was known for having more gender benders than a drag race without cars. This wasn’t the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but there was always a good chance one of the girls was a guy.

“So you think I’m pretty?” Kass ignored the rest of his trap accusation.

“I’ve already said it, haven’t I?” Darwin bit his lower lip. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”

“Maybe? You seem pretty sure about that,” Kass chuckled. “Anyways, you were telling me about your predicament.”

“I was, but you’re going to be disappointed with how few details I have. You see, like I was saying, this is how I looked like when I got here, down to the fact I was wearing a bathrobe,” Darwin began his story, telling her everything from the moment the burglar broke into his home to the moment they met, leaving out no details. By the time he had finished, her face was flatter than untouched pancakes fresh off the frying pan. “What?” He asked in response to her look.

“Just, aren’t you freaking out? How are you so calm right now?” Kass asked, her expressionless face melting into a weak frown. “Why are you not doing everything in your power to figure out how to get back?”

“I don’t know,” Darwin scratched the back of his head. “To be honest, at first, as soon as I was safe and out of the Minotaur land, figuring out what happened was all I could think about. Then the feeling faded. I found myself acting without thinking, doing everything I could for people who followed without hesitation. Before I knew it, I had gone from investigating my situation to just embracing it and rolling with the punch.”

“So, you are just going to stop trying to find out?” she pressed on, her frown growing sterner by the minute. “You’re going to give up?”

“It’s not giving up, Kass,” Darwin started rubbing his forehead with the hand that was scratching the back of his head. “There aren’t any hints to chase. I reached a dead end long ago, and I was left with a choice: mope around about something that won’t change or do the right thing by the people who need you.”

“So you did the right thing . . .” Kass lowered her head and cast her face away from Darwin.

“Yeah, as far as I can tell I did the right thing to the best of my ability,” Darwin reached out and put one hand on each of Kass’s shoulders. “Kass, look at me.” She did. “This isn’t a punishment. Being stuck here isn’t a curse. That message was right. This is a home to me, regardless of how I got here. I have the chance to embrace who I am and be something more than just a pencil pusher in an office who waits for a day off to spend by myself.”

“But, but what if you die here? What if something kills you?” she mumbled, her voice as shaky as her eyes. “What if I lose you . . .”

“I’ll be fine. This is me you’re talking about,” he said with the best forced smile he could muster. “Nothing is going to happen, okay?”

As Darwin did his best to maintain eye contact, he found himself confused by the feelings that the whole ordeal was giving him. Does she really care about me this much? He was failing to process her reaction. This isn’t Sassy Kassy; this isn’t the joking girl that always teases me. Her quivering lip, her shaking eyes, her stiff body--this isn’t the confident Kass that I’ve spent so much time with.

An awkward silence persisted for a minute, and Darwin found himself even more baffled by what to do, so he finally gave up on thinking about it and went with his gut: he hugged her. He brought her in and wrapped both arms around her, patting her head as it lay against his chest. “I’m sorry I’ve worried you so much,” he said in the gentlest voice he could muster. “I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

“Okay,” Kass said into his chest after a minute, pushing herself free and rubbing her eyes for a second. “Just don’t think this changes anything.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Darwin smiled as he watched her become collected and composed again. “But, maybe you should take a moment, do what you will and all, and I’ll see you on the boat Alex picks for us. I have something to take care of first.”

“Are you always going to be this mysterious?” she said, grinning. “Will you ever leave us a note or something explaining what you’re up to before it’s happened?”

“Probably not, no,” Darwin mused, “it would take away all the fun.”

“You’re so weird.” Kass hopped off the Hydra and headed to the fields. Darwin suspected she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to get more loot than him.

“Well, that was, like, cool beans and all. Totes expected waterworks,” Stephanie said, appearing almost instantly where Kass had been.

“I probably shouldn’t agree with you, but I kind of did too.” Darwin’s hand found itself scratching the top of his head this time.

“Like, totes expected you two to kiss too,” she said, stepping right into the space where Kass had just been standing. “That woulda been, like, totes unfair, ya’know? Girl needs’ta learn I, like, already have dibs.”

Darwin looked her up and down for a quick second as she edged her way closer. She was stunning--Michelangelo couldn’t imagine a better figure--but it was a dangerous game he was playing with her, and he knew it. She wasn’t just a little stronger than him: her power was world’s above his current abilities, and she knew it. She may have saved his life, but at any point in time she might get angry and lay everything he had worked so hard for to waste.

“What'cha thinkin’ about? You’re, like, looking at me, like, all intense,” she said, tilting her head from one side to another as she looked at him, the missing bubblegum smacking becoming more noticeable to Darwin.

“Hmm . . . I suppose I was thinking about doing this,” he said, grabbing both sides of her head and pulling her in for his best attempt at a French kiss. It didn’t last long, a few seconds at best, but for Darwin it left a conflicting taste in his mouth. It felt both great because her lips were twice as soft and four times as sweet as he remembered and a little bad because he knew that he was kissing her to kill her jealousy over Kass, a girl he liked just as much as her, in order to keep Stephanie at his side.

“That was . . . that was a surprise,” Stephanie said, her accent completely gone as she touched her lips lightly with one finger. “That was a rather pleasant surprise.”

“I figured after earlier today, my luck’s been pretty good with things involving you,” Darwin slid his hands from the sides of her head to her hands. “Didn’t see any point in not taking a risk, wouldn’t you agree?”

The guilt Darwin had over possibly just using Stephanie and how Kass might react faded rather quickly as she pulled him in for a second round of French kissing, and they were completely gone by the time the two came up for air.

“I have to tell you something: I’ve never kissed a girl before you, so I’m not sure how much of a compliment it is to tell you that that was the best kiss I’ve ever had,” Darwin said, his breath a little short from not realizing he could breathe through his nose during the kiss until the very end.

“Don’t worry. You’re the best by default too,” she smirked, gripping his hands tightly as she leaned back a little.

“I hate asking this, but can we be seen in public without getting stone cold stares?” Darwin snickered a little.

“Well, like, at least you totes won’t have to worry about, like, other guys looking at me,” she said, her original cheerleader speech pattern returning.

“No, and I can say with confidence that you’re so gorgeous you’d leave a room full of men hard with just one look,” Darwin winked.

“Okay, like, that’s enough out of you,” she giggled. “I, like, have to book it anyways for, like, just that reason. Your crew is about to, like, show up, and I’m def thinking you don’t want a new art collection.”

“No, I don’t think I do, but when will I see you again?” Darwin asked, squeezing her hand one more time before letting it go.

“I’ll, like, sneak on your boat for that, like, boring trip to the mainland. When you’re, like, done with all that, like, boring bossing lordy-lord stuff, just head to your Captain’s quarters. I’ll, like, be waiting there,” she said, biting her bottom lip and raising both her eyebrows twice, “so we can, like, pick up where we left off, ya know?”

“Sounds great,” he said, leaning in and sneaking one final kiss before she disappeared. He was just about to feel pleased with himself when it hit him, what he had forgotten to ask her. Darwin’s face paled for a moment. Between the drama that Kass had stirred up and the excitement of his first real romance, the thoughts about why his sister didn’t want him to be saved by her had completely skipped his mind. He wanted to kick himself, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to accomplish that, so he just ended up sighing. It doesn’t matter, I’ll have several hours to bring the subject up with her on the ride to the mainland, he reassured himself before focusing on yet another realization: I’ll have several hours alone with her . . .

Qasin:

Qasin threw his Sword into the ground, leaving barely a foot and a handle sticking out. It was comforting to watch it slide into the ground just as easily as it had slid into so many bodies before. It was comforting, but painful. It tightened his chest to think that, whether it stood still within the ground or waved about in the scabbard at his side, it would remain unused.

After this war, there would be no coming battles. The Kingdoms were united, the foes were cast off and the peoples were safe to live in peace. His future wars would be wars with boredom, wars with the dullness and tedium waged over fruitless conversations about semantics and politics. The glorious battles that left his blood pumping like it was on fire would simply be a thing of the past.

“I wasn’t able to fulfill your request, Eve,” he glowered. He couldn’t see her, but he could still feel her eyes piercing his back.

“Now, now, don’t tell me that’s why you look so morose, dear King?” Eve said as she stepped out of the shadows. “You may have failed one of my idle requests, but my brother is safe, your battle has been won, and most of your men are still alive to go home to their families. Certainly you should be happy right now, no?”

I should be happy right now. She’s right. As a King, this was an overwhelming victory for me even if it did come with the help of Darwin and that woman, Qasin couldn’t take his eyes off the hilt of the blade he had cast into the sands. The longer he looked at it, the more he found himself thinking about how the hilt had felt against his hand as he had torn through one White-Wing after another. He had crushed the initial center of the enemy’s line, dancing through the sky on the stepping stone bodies of the White-Wings who had been unfortunate enough to be diving or flying in his vicinity as he carved crimson across the sky.

“Qasin, my dear King, you must learn to be a little happier. You don’t want your men to see you lugubrious on the day of their victory.” She slinked up beside him. “That’s rather poor form for a commander.”

“Then what? Should I lie a smile across my face?” he took off his Crown and twirled it in his hands. “Return to the camps, give another rousing speech, bolster their post-battle spirits?”

“Mmhmmm,” she agreed, resting her chin on his shoulder as she leaned against his back. “But what shall this rousing speech be about?”

Qasin stopped twirling the Crown for a moment, “The speech should be about reassuring the men of the importance of what we gained, not what we lost. I likely need mention the sacrifices some made, and the glory all gained.”

“That’s good, Qasin,” Eve whispered as she stood draped across his back. “You are becoming quite the leader. Now tell me what you’ll do after.”

Qasin glanced at the blade half buried in sand, “after that I’ll return to my throne where I will have to appoint new advisors. Then comes the annoying politics, judgements, and constant bickering of men who assume rights that aren’t theirs.”

“Ah!” Eve said, leaning her head against Qasin’s, “No wonder you are scowling.”

“What do you mean?” Qasin turned his head to face hers.

“Just that your plan is the wrong one,” she responded, “You are sulking because you know it’s a terrible future to pursue.”

“Well, what other choice do I have?” he stepped forward and turned around to face her.  “As King, it is the only path to take. It is a sacred duty that I am tasked by the Crown to complete.”

“You may be King, but you don’t have to be a slave to these people too,” Eve stepped back and pulled his Crown out of what seemed like thin air. “This is only a shackle if you keep thinking of it as one.”

“Then what do you suggest I do?” Qasin asked, his attention back on the Sword in the sand.

“Well . . . If you’re a good King, you’ll go out and conquer new lands for your people,” Eve said, motioning to the waters behind her. “You already have someone perfect for keeping them in line while you’re gone, someone who will never betray you again.”

“Again?” he wondered, not sure who she was referring to.

“Yes, the Messenger boy. He can keep the peace fine while you’re gone, and you can travel the world to conquer and expand your Kingdom,” her voice always had a way of creeping across his ears like a slithering snake, “to chase the greatest foes and fight the greatest battles.”

The more he listened to her, the more he wanted it. It was all he wanted, all he longed for, and she was giving him the excuse he needed. He didn’t have to stay. She was right. If he could just get someone trustworthy to handle things while he was gone, then all would be well with the world. He could travel, but was the Messenger trustworthy? Could the Messenger handle things while he was away?

“Oh, you are wondering if the man can actually manage the Kingdom while you’re gone? He’s just a Messenger after all, so what qualifications does he have?” she voiced his concerns. “How can you leave the fate of your people, the White-Horns and the Black-Wings in the hands of a glorified carrier pigeon?”

“Yes, yes, that was my concern,” Qasin admitted, “I don’t want to stay. You’re right, but I also don’t want to leave the people I fought so hard for in the hands of incompetent men or some delivery boy.”

“Well, what if I told you that I knew for certain he would do a better job than you? Would you let him try?” Eve asked, reaching out her hand for a handshake.

Qasin hesitated before answering, as much as he didn’t want the tedium of day to day activities, he also didn’t want his people to be in danger because of his apathy. How can she be sure of the boy’s credentials? He didn’t understand.

“Qasin, my dear King,” she turned around and started walking away, “I’m leaving on a boat at the first light in the morning. I must undo your failure to separate my brother from that woman before his destiny spirals out of my control. You will give your speech tonight, rouse your men, hand the keys to the Messenger to be warden over the Kingdom, and then you will join me on an adventure.”

“Do I not have a say in this?” he asked after her as she walked further away.

“It was not me that took away your choice and bound you to this path, Qasin. It was you,” she finished one last sentence before disappearing like a mirage fading into the distance.

Qasin stared for a moment at the place where Eve had once stood, and then back at the Sword he had thrust in the sand earlier. I’m bound to this path, am I? he thought, his eyes not leaving the blade for even a moment. Why do I wish so strongly that I could believe even for a moment that what she said might have been a lie.

He walked towards the Sword, knelt over and pulled it out of the beach. Come, my steel brother: our time together is apparently not over.

Kass:

Kass had to admit that the idea of a boat ride didn’t calm her stomach much. Her dad had taken her on the waters once or twice as a kid, and both times had resulted in the type of nausea one only gets from eating raw eggs, chugging spoiled milk and then spinning in place while listening to bad country music. She had only ever considered riding on a boat again if she needed to lose weight bulimic style, yet here she was standing in front of a giant glass ship.

It was a long galleon made entirely of transparent glass, save for the cabins and quarters, which were gray-tinted. Other than the fact that the deck was much larger and longer than she had anticipated, and the ship didn’t stand nearly as high in the water as she had expected of a galleon, it had all the standard boat properties that made one feel like they were on the set of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Even looking at the central mast with its hanging sails tempted her to plant a Jolly Roger. For all the horrible things the White-Wings had set out to do, they had done at least one good thing: they created masterpieces like this. Apparently, this was one of many boats Darwin was confiscating for the Stormguard Alliance.

As Kass stepped onto the boat, she found her eyes constantly drawn to Darwin no matter where he was on the ship. She had simply never been as confused about her feelings for a man as she was with Darwin. She liked him, and she couldn’t lie to herself about that no matter how much a part of her wanted to--and part of her did want to. After all, he was stuck here. No matter what relationship she pursued with him, it would always end with her logging off and him being stuck in Tiqpa. Nothing real could come of it.

“Lady Kass, is everything alright?” Justin had managed to sneak up on her yet again.

“Yeah, Justin, I’m okay. I’ve just had a rough day,” she said, shrugging off whatever look had concerned Justin and forcing herself to smile, “but it’s over now, and we have nothing but blue skies ahead of us for the moment.”

“Excellent. Lady Kass, Darwin is about to give some words of thanks to those who risked their lives on the beach today. I’m going to join them in a moment. Would you like to come as well?” he managed to ask without making eye contact with her once, only staring at the top of her head instead.

“No, I think I’m just going to catch some sleep.” Kass was somewhat curious about what Darwin would say, but she was also starting to reach the end of her rope.

“As you say so, Lady Kass. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to take my leave to join the others,” Justin said as he ran off to the group gathering around Darwin.

While the others excitedly went off to listen to Darwin likely give another speech--apparently he wasn’t half bad at them if people were this excited about the idea of him giving another--she found herself a cabin room below deck in which to log off unnoticed, satisfied she wouldn’t have to lose her lunch like the only kid with glasses in a highschool drama. She knew that a lot of people didn’t ever worry about an NPC seeing them log off, but for some reason it still bothered her, like she was being caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

When she finally finished logging off and walked downstairs, she was surprised to find that her dad wasn’t home from work yet. She was so tired from staying on as many consecutive hours as she had that the only reason she didn’t pass out right when she logged off was that she was also ridiculously hungry. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a yogurt pack to snack on.

Kass almost fell out of her chair as soon as she turned the gamer news station on. There, right in front of her eyes on the overhead screens surrounding the newscaster, were clips of the Stormguard Alliance cutting through the White-Wings from the conflict she had just finished.

“As you can see, Ryan, the events of the day really did take a surprising turn. Going into the battle, we had all taken it to be a guaranteed loss with the only variable card being King Qasin, a wild card as of late,” the newscaster, a short dark-haired girl in a white dress, said as she spoke to the camera and not her co-anchor, “That’s why even though a victory alone should have been surprising, it is the way the victory was achieved that really captured Tiqpa players’ attention.”

“You’ve said that before, Daria, but why don’t you go over why exactly this is important for gamers to pay attention to. What exactly does the average, causal Tiqpa gamer need to notice from the video uploads of the battle?” her co-anchor, a tall blonde-haired, blue-eyed man with an overly pronounced chin, responded.

“Well, for starters, Ryan, this girl here is indeed a player. We’ve managed to piece together a good, clear image of her from all the replays uploaded, which we won’t show for her privacy’s sake, and check them with sources that were able to confirm she is in fact a player. Now, while that in itself isn’t a big deal, it is when you look at the fact that she’s riding a Hydra and appears to be commanding these monsters on her front lines,” Daria said as she pointed to a circle that appeared around Kass’s image on the screen. “We can’t say for certain if she’s the one in charge, but given her back line position, the fact that we have clip of her interacting with them during the battle, and the fact that she is the only one mounted--it’s a pretty safe bet that she is leading the strike.”

What? That’s me! And they think I’m the one leading the Faction! Kass watched in wide-eyed bemusement as the newscasters talked about her, explaining why she was such a noteworthy anomaly in the game.

“Now, if I’m not mistaken, you mentioned there was another possible leader in this force that struck from the north and dispersed the White-Wing legions, didn’t you?” Ryan said, his face still ignoring his co-anchor and focused solely on the camera. “I believe you called him ‘that bathrobe dude’?”

“Yes, you’re right. I should also mention that, from the clips we have, the other possible leader is this man,” Daria pointed to a still of Darwin with a blurred-out face, “who is the other significant part of the fight we have to note. From what we gather, he’s likely one of the most unique and crucial characters to appear in Tiqpa. For starters, this our first time across every racial starting area to even see a bathrobe in the game. Next--and here is the real kicker--everything he kills seems to come back to life and fight for him.”

“It comes back to life and fights for him?” Ryan asked, not at all trying to look surprised as he clearly just read the line off the teleprompter.

“Well, as you can see from this clip, his blade clearly kills this diving White-Wing. However, just moments later, we see the same White-Wing reappear, the only difference being that it now has red eyes. It then takes off at the approaching White-Wings and fights the very force it was once on,” Daria, a much better actor than Ryan, managed to talk as much with her hands as she did with her mouth, pointing out every detail she mentioned on the video clip next to her as the events occurred. “Now, there is one final important detail to pay attention to with this one. At one point, he’s engaged by the Commander of the White-Wing forces, a level 70 raid boss.”

“What happened then?” Ryan asked, ignoring the camera and teleprompter as Daria told the story.

“Well, that’s the thing: we don’t know. What we do know is that the Commander failed to kill him in a dive. Then we know that he, King Qasin, and the White-Wing Commander faced off for a few moments, and then we don’t know anything else,” Daria put her hand down. There was nothing to point out on the last image they had of the three standing off.

“So we don’t know anything after that?” Ryan asked, looking at the image behind him.

“Well, we do have one final detail. It’s at this point that no one is able to capture any more images of the man or his group. Everyone who was managing to get close enough to capture him on their replay cameras turned to stone or died almost immediately after these three confronted each other,” Daria spoke into the camera as Ryan paid close attention to her. “It’s starting to be speculated that he was the cause of it, though other rumors are flying around all over about the game creators possibly breaking their vow to not interfere and saving the starter island from the full-scale White-Wing invasion. One way or another though, it’s all speculation.”

So no one has even seen enough to guess about Stephanie doing it . . . then again, none of them even know Stephanie, Kass thought as she ate more of her yogurt.

“Wow, that’s really fascinating Daria,” Ryan said excitedly. “In fact, I’d have to say I can’t wait to find out what the players uncover and send us. Also, is there any way we can get more information on this bathrobe-wearing man? He’s definitely a unique character, and the more information we can get on him for our Tipqa Wiki, the better.”

“That’s right folks: send in as many details and clips on this bathrobe-sporting warrior as well as this Hydra-riding player as you can. As soon as we find out how to get mounts or raise monster armies, we’ll be sure to patch the details straight to you, the viewer,” Daria gave her best fake smile as she spoke.

Ryan held his hand to his earpiece for a moment, then added one final note, “Viewers, this just in--we are actually prepared to offer a cash reward if either the man, if he is a player, or woman were to set up an interview with us next week. We’ll need to verify that the player is the player in question, but the network will in fact provide a cash settlement to secure an interview with one of these two key individuals from the White-Wing invasion. The number is at the bottom of the screen. Call any time.”

As the segment faded to a commercial break, Kass couldn’t help but start saying the number at the bottom of the screen over and over again in her head so she wouldn’t forget it. She hadn’t had a job in a while, and while she wasn’t certain that she’d take the network up on their offer, she was very certain it wasn’t something she wanted to dismiss.

Bonus Chapter 1: Maddock’s POV in the Beach Battle.

Maddock:

The boat rode high in the water, rocking back and forth on the waves as they made the final stretch of their journey to crash upon the rocky coastline. Even though the summoning process had taken away precious hours that could have been used for other purposes, the end result seemed to have been well worth the wait--at first glance, anyway. Although it was one of the smaller classes of boats that existed within the world of Tiqpa, it was far more than could normally have been expected to be found within the realm of the starter islands. It was only through a dint of good fortune that the rare ores necessary for crafting the vessel had been found when raiding Valcrest that ever allowed it to be created at all. The boat itself stretched almost a full fifteen meters long from head to rudder and reached a width of just over six meters amidships. The boat was equipped with a large heavy mainmast that sat just behind the center of the boat topped with a large triangular sail made of a heavy white canvas and a smaller foremast that was positioned forward closer to the bow. Also, much to the excitement of everyone present, the boat also carried three Cannons on board. Two were positioned at the bow and one on the small aft deck. All three were positioned on swivel mounts that allowed them to be aimed towards other boats and players alike; and, if Maddock had any say in the matter, they would all be seeing a great deal of use sometime very soon.

As soon as the ship had been summoned, the Guild members had rushed the boat in their excitement. They were now busying themselves running about on the deck and grabbing the Cannons, eagerly testing their range of movement. Some of them energetically jumped up and down on the ship’s decking, causing it to rock back and forth more vigorously in the already rocky water.

"Killers, all of them," Maddock thought to himself, "And yet they still act like children with a new toy on holiday."

Turning to Ku where they still stood on the dock, he pointed his hand in a sweeping gesture towards the pinnace and accompanied the gentlemanly flourish with slight bow. "Shall we?" he asked.

Ku made a mock curtsey in response, and Maddock followed her on board.

"Alright, kids, listen up!" he shouted over the sound of all the commotion. Everyone immediately came to a halt and stood facing him. "I think everyone has a general idea of what's going on at this point, but of those of you who may be lost, let me fill you in. As best we know, the White-Wings are launching a large-scale invasion on this island. More than likely this very spot will be crawling with the filthy fanatics within a few hours. Our first order of business is going to be getting the heck out of here."

He grabbed hold of the ship's wheel as he spoke and slowly began turning it towards the open ocean. "Our second order of business," he continued, "is to kill as many people as we can, destroy everything they own, and get even more filthy rich in the process."

A cheer went up from the men as they raised their fists in the air. The voices of Xane and Bear, the two Minotaurs that were present, could be heard above the rest, their deep bellows sounding out of place against those of the Humans. There was never anything like the promise of bloodshed and the spoils of war to get the men going.

Maddock turned the boat in a south-easterly direction, making for the open ocean. If he were to continue further eastward for a few hours, it would take him directly to the island populated by the White-Wings and Fire-Walkers. The thought had been sitting in the back of his mind for some time now. It was common knowledge at this point that most of the men had originally been expecting to head to the mainland in order to get a leg up on the competition before anyone else could make progress there. Ever since Maddock began suspecting that something was up with the White-Wings, however, he had begun forming the groundwork for another plan in the back of his mind. His raid on Valcrest in the early morning hours had been bold and daring. It had helped cement their position on the server as a force to be reckoned with; but, it had also alienated a large majority of the player base, especially those within the Human lands. From what he could tell by reading the forums, there were more than a few people after the fact that would have been happy to see his entire Guild burn for it--not that it was likely to ever happen.

For the past day, Maddock had been secretly planning on making a repeat of his attack on Valcrest. This time, however, he had full intention of attacking the White-Wing capital. To most, the thought would be unfathomable. Even at the worst of times, a Race's capital would remain heavily populated with Guards, players, and NPCs. Under normal circumstances, such a thing would be impossible. Maddock had a sneaking suspicion, however, that the White-Wings were going to over-commit to their attack on the other Races' starter island. If they were truly planning on subjugating the other Races in the name of their sun-god, there was no way they were going to pull any punches and risk losing. They would never risk besmirching the name of their precious deity and risk exposing it as a weak or foolish god. As a result, they would have to devote everything they had to the attack, leaving their city with what was likely a skeleton crew for defense.

The boat had moved swiftly away from the harbor and the rocky beach quickly faded into the distance. As they made progress towards the open ocean, the waves crashing over the bow of the boat grew fewer and farther between. The chop that had been present along the coastline quickly began to give way to the deep swelling waves that signaled they were moving further into deep water. Maddock turned the wheel to starboard taking them on a more southerly direction. He had no idea exactly how large the White-White army would be or what disposition it would take in crossing the ocean, but he had no intention of being caught in open water and having to risk attacking or running from a much more massive fleet.

Shane rose from the position he had taken up crouched near the bow of the boat and made his way back to where Maddock was at the helm. The wind generated by the boat's speed constantly tugged at the dark-black Cape he wore, threatening to pull it open. "So what's the plan?" he asked as he approached.

Maddock answered without ever taking his hands from the ship's wheel, "I kind of thought we might pay a little visit to the White-Wing capital and see what kind of fun we could have there. I seriously doubt those fanatics left enough of a force behind to stop a determined gopher, much less anyone like us, from having a little fun while they were away."

Shane was silent for a moment before answering, "You're seriously considering attacking another city? A Race's capital, even?"

"Why not? There's guaranteed to be a fight, and we should make out pretty well in loot.  You have to admit that the raid on Valcrest paid off in dividends."

Shane rested his Longbow in front of him, casually learning on it for support as the boat rocked back and forth from the swelling of the waves. "Seems to me like you'd be wanting to get involved in this attack that's about to happen."

Maddock looked over at his long-time friend and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What in the world makes you think I would want to stick my nose into someone else's business? It's no concern of mine whether the starter lands are all controlled by the White-Wings--or anyone else for that matter. Soon enough we'll be on the mainland doing our own thing. You know as well as I do there's no coming back. What's the point?"

"Uhh . . . massive armies attacking one another? Chaos on both sides? Strung out supply lines ripe for the picking? You're telling me you're going to pass up the opportunity to screw up someone's day and wreak havoc wherever possible?"

Maddock blinked. "So, what you're telling me is you think we should take a group of thirty-odd people and attack a much larger force that numbers well into the thousands of combined players and NPCs? On what is basically a suicide mission? Just on the off chance we might cause some damage and make off with a little loot? Just because we can? You have a compelling point, I have to admit."

Shane grinned broadly in response, breaking his normally stoic facade. "I thought you might see it my way."

Maddock began the process of turning the boat to port, redirecting his course in a more northeasterly direction. A rough framework quickly formed itself in his head. If they were going to do this, it would take the utmost level of teamwork from his Guild. It also meant that he was going to have to get everyone online--and quick. They were going to be vastly outnumbered, and the possibly of getting separated from one another in such a large melee and being picked off one by one was a real concern. Without having any clue what the disposition of the battlefield was and limited knowledge of what was actually going on, it was almost impossible to form anything but a rudimentary strategy. Quite literally, they were going in blind. Any real plans would have to be formed the moment they arrived, not sooner.

Below him on the desk, Maddock could see Shane approaching small groups of men staggered around the desk in various positions. Some sat chatting together, and others were fishing over the side of the ship hoping to make some progress leveling up their skill while they had the opportunity. As Shane went to each in turn, the reaction was the same. They exchanged questions and glanced back towards where Maddock stood at the helm as if gauging his sanity. In the end, however, each was left with a grim smile on his face. Knowing they were going into battle was one thing. Knowing that they were going into a battle in which they would all surely die was another--and they loved it. No one managed to get into this Guild without being a little bit crazy, and those who did never lasted long.

After Shane approached the last few men, his body grew very still and he stopped moving around. Maddock knew that this was the sign he was logging out. He would be in the real world making phone calls and sending messages via their private boards trying to rally the troops as fast as he could. They wouldn't have very long to get everyone together, but Maddock was also sure that no one would want to miss out on this either. It was going to be the largest battle the server had seen to date.

Time crept by slowly on the ocean without anything but the moving of the sun to count the passing of time. A few long and torturous hours had passed since Shane had originally suggested that they make this foray into the mouth of the waiting beast and Maddock had been repeatedly going over in his head every possible outcome he could think of. No matter how many times he went over it, there was no way to ever tell what was waiting for them. There was no way to make plans that far in advance; and, even then, every commander knew that even the best laid plans quickly went to the wayside as soon as the battle was engaged.

Slowly but surely his Guildmates were answering the call to arms. Almost every member of the Guild had logged in by this point. The small boat was packed with bodies pressed up against one another as they logged in and used the precious store Recall Stones from the Guild bank to teleport to the swiftly moving pinnace. The Stones were a rare drop from killing mobs, and Maddock had planned on saving them to use much later in case they needed to attack a hard-to-reach location, but this was as good an excuse as he could think of at the moment to dip into their precious supply. Despite the tedious nature of their trip, there was an energy level amongst them that was almost palpable. The first White-Wing sail had been spotted on the horizon to the northwest a half hour earlier and the buzz had grown since then. Despite the suicidal nature of their mission everyone was eagerly watching the skyline for enemy ships that would signal their approach to the larger fleet.

Maddock had spent much of the time making a lazy course to the northeast trolling with very little sail since he originally agreed to this crazy idea. If this were going to work, he figured his best guess would be to approach the White-Wing fleet from behind once they made contact with land and go from there. After that, it was guess work at best as for what would happen.

Beside him, the small form of Elaine slowly materialized, her strawberry blonde hair shimmering immediately under the glare of the sun.  As soon as she landed, she stretched her arms over her head, almost clubbing the person next to her with the massive Staff she carried.

"So, we're gonna get to play a little today, huh?" she asked.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to log in," Maddock answered, "You're usually the first in line to blow things up."

"Well, I thought about it earlier," she answered, "but I decided that taking a nap seemed more interesting than this long boat ride. Fire Mages and big oceans don't always make the best combination, ya know. Besides, who would want to spend all that time cramped up on a boat with all you smelly cows?" She wrinkled her nose as if the smell was unbearable.

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm full bull, thank you!" Xane shouted from amidships.

"Oh, you're full of bull, alright." Elaine shot back, smiling sweetly. Xane looked taken aback as much as a Minotaur was capable, but everyone else laughed heartily.

"Sail! West!" Shane shouted from the bow of the ship. He had resumed his former position there crouched against the railing as soon as he had relogged. For the most of the trip, he had remained silent, as per usual, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon for any sign of the enemy fleet. Collectively, everyone turned to where he pointed. There, silhouetted against the horizon, was a single enemy sail.

"Oooh, just in time, too," Elaine said happily.

Maddock turned the boat hard to port, bringing it in line directly in course to follow the other ship. "Any others visible out there?" he asked.

Shane was silent for a moment before answering, "None. It's alone."

"Ho ho, poor guy's in for it," Thorn said, cracking his knuckles in his large mailed fists.

"Hold tight!" Maddock shouted. Like magic, the boat rocked backward as it picked up speed and quickly began closing in on their target. Time that had suddenly seemed to have stopped before quickly flew by as the enemy ship grew closer and closer. Just as the enemy ship came within range, Shane stood up at the bow of the ship and fired a single Arrow into the air. The Arrow struck the single mast of the smaller enemy ship and a barrage of Arrows rained down in a storm on its members. Three more archers followed his lead and began training their volleys of AOEs on the vessel as well.

"Hey! No fair starting without me!" Elaine shouted angrily. "Stupid, short, Mage casting range," she grumbled. Pushing her way to the bow of the ship she elbowed the archers out of her way. "Make way, coming through, lady doing work!"  Elaine lifted her Staff above her head and lobbed a fireball towards the deck of the enemy ship. The fireball arced through the air and landed with a fiery explosion that sent gusts of flame curling over the decking.

"Hold!" Maddock shouted. "Take it intact if we can!" He quickly began slowing down the pinnace, pulling up just short of the much smaller boat. The sound of bodies hitting the water sounded out all around as everyone jumped overboard and quickly began swimming towards the boat.

Despite begin in Heavy Steel Armor, Thorn won the race. "Four bodies!" he shouted back. "All NPCs, not even worth looting." He kicked the charred remains of one of the dead White-Wings for emphasis.

"Sails!" Shane suddenly shouted.

Looking up, Maddock couldn't help stare a moment in shock. They had been so engrossed in chasing down the single enemy ship that he had forgotten to check their position on his map. Before them, the horizon was covered in ships of varying sizes. They were close enough that he could make out some of the larger ships of war. Without knowing it, they had almost sailed directly into the bulk of the White-Wing invasion force. "Actually . . . "

"Thorn, despawn that boat! Fast!  Everyone back on board!"  Maddock ordered.

It took only seconds for everyone to make it back onto the pinnace and Maddock to set sail again. He aimed the boat directly towards the rearmost vessels.

"Captain's lost it!" Thorn laughed as he hauled himself up over the railing of the moving ship, the newly captured ship figurine in his inventory. "Oh ho, I get it. Just like Xanthm!" The massive warrior pulled his two-handed Axe free from his back and readied himself.

When they were about a hundred yards out, Maddock let go of the helm with the boat still moving. "She's all yours, Ku," Maddock said and jumped overboard without waiting for her to respond. Even underwater he could hear the muffled sounds of bodies hitting the water around him. He quickly kicked himself to the surface and began swimming the remaining distance to the shore. Even a few hundred yards out, the swim was easy. They were a bit farther north than where they had originally set sail hours before from the small harbor, and the water here was much smoother. "Probably why they chose this as a staging point," he thought to himself.

As they approached the rearmost ships, Maddock turned and treaded water for a moment. He put a single finger to his lips signaling for everyone to remain as silent as possible, then quickly turned and resumed his swim at the head of pack. As they swam between ships, Maddock couldn't help but notice that they were all devoid of any White-Wing activity. "Did they seriously leave all these ships unattended? Are they really that confident?" he questioned himself, "Or . . ." Glancing up, it immediately became apparent what had happened to the White-Wings. The sky was literally filled with thousands of them.

Maddock rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. Turning in the water again, he motioned towards several members at the rear of the pack. They paused, confused at what he wanted at first, but quickly got the point. Breaking off from the others, they began climbing on board the closest ships and de-summoning them. Even if everyone else died in this attack, there was a good chance those guys would make it out with a fortune in pilfered ships.  "Thanks, White-Wings!" he laughed to himself.

Leaving behind those members to work on stealing the boats, the rest of the group quickly made the rest of the swim to shore, wading the rest of the way as soon as their feet found purchase on the sand underneath the waves. Maddock strode through the waves, pulling free his large Two-Handed Sword as soon as his waist was above water the water line. Behind him, he could hear the sound of weapons being drawn as the others finished their swim and came up behind him.

A group of White-Wings stood milling about on the edge of the waterline with their backs  turned towards the ocean, watching the battle in the distance. Several gestured with their hands when one particular spell or another caused an explosion of light.

"Looks like everything is going as planned," he could hear one of them saying, "If we keep pushing from the north, we will collapse the enemy line entirely." The White-Wing pointed with his hand gesturing towards where the bulk of the White-Wings could be seen clustered together in the air. "Those heathens will be cleansed in the light of the Almighty!"

Maddock's Sword swept out in an underhanded attack severing the White-Wing’s arm at the elbow, even as it pointed. Before any of the others could respond, he followed up by kicking the White-Wing in the back, toppling him over into several of the others clustered around him.  Shouts of alarm and confusion went up from the rest of the White-Wings, not yet aware that death was crawling out of the water behind them. Stepping forward, Maddock drove his Sword point down through the gut of the fallen White-Wing and punched another square in the face sending him over as well. He lunged forward, wrenching his Sword free from the fallen avian, and in the same motion brought the blade upward in a slicing motion, cutting open another from crotch to neck.

"Oh yeah!" Thorn shouted out in his deep voice. He stood above one of the White-Wings that had been knocked to the ground. Hefting his Two-Handed Axe above his head with both hands, he  brought it down on the White-Wing’s skull, splitting it open. "Now we're talking!"

Around him, the other members of his Guild made quick work of the small group of White-Wings that remained. Several had either tried to run or take to the air in flight, but they were all quickly dispatched by Shane and the other archers.

Maddock made a quick survey of the scene around them. Other small groups of White-Wings that had been milling about had quickly taken flight to join the safety of their brethren in the skies. A few of these were gunned down by the archers, and a variety of spells laced through the air, but only a few actually connected. For the moment, they were left alone on the beach.

"There," Maddock pointed towards a small rise out above the beach, "We need to get vision on what's actually going on." He started off in a trot with the others following closely behind. As they crested the rise, Maddock scanned the scene in front of him trying to take it all in as quickly as possible. The two armies were spread out before him engaged in combat. One, much smaller than the other, looked as if it were attempting to defend the beach from the much larger White-Wing force. Just as the White-Wing on the beach had described before Maddock had unceremoniously ended his conversation, the White-Wing army was spread out across the skies. It looked like they had loaded up the northern flank in an attempt to pressure the smaller force into collapsing in on itself.

"Is that . . ." Shane began and trailed off. "Is that an army of White-Horns, Black-Wings, and Humans? Fighting together?"

Maddock paid closer attention to the much smaller force, scrutinizing it for its composition for the first time. "Looks like it."

"Hah! I knew it was only a matter of time you Humans wised up and fell in line with us Minotaurs!" Xane exclaimed.

"Why in the world would any Human ever follow a stupid Minotaur? You dumb cows couldn't even fight your way out of a cattle pen. All you need is a branding iron and a cattle prod, and you could conquer the entire Race!" Elaine exclaimed.

"Hey, now," Bear exclaimed, "watch yourself, little girl."

"No. Seriously. Just say the words, 'All you can eat steak buffet' and it’s over!" she said, her face a mask of fake surprise and innocence.

Maddock shook his head. "No idea what's going on, but those questions are going to have to wait till later. There!" He pointed towards the junction closest to them where the two lines were enjoined in combat, the White-Wings diving towards the forces on the ground. "That's our spot. Form up, stay close, and don't get separated once we're engaged. If you start taking Damage, fall back and let the healers do their work."

The Guild formed up close ranks, warriors surrounding the softer targets of archers, mages, and healers placing them in the center of their forces. They quickly edged their way to the base of the hill, as of yet unnoticed by the combatants stretched out below them. "Alright kids, time to go to work. Archers!"

At the center of the phalanx, archers drew back their bows, taking aim on the unsuspecting forces below them. Their first volley of Arrows rained out, splitting in the air above the heads of both armies, raining a barrage of Arrows down onto the combatants. As soon as the attack was finished channeling, they followed up by launching a round of Explosive Arrows.  Everywhere the shots landed was marked by a small explosion of light.

Both armies, caught unaware, suddenly found themselves being peppered with a hailstorm of Arrows. Even at max range, Maddock could tell the effect it had. Bodies quickly began falling on both sides where the fire was concentrated the heaviest, and their attacks overlapped. The Minotaurs, who were heartier than many others on the field, quickly turned into walking pincushions with arrows sticking from their armor. They spun about in confusion, trying to figure out where the attack had come from. Those who didn't fall in the first barrage, however, were quickly rocked by the second round of Explosive Arrows that sent bodies flying.

"Move up!" Maddock shouted, and the group edged forward. The archers, at the center of the stack, continued plucking their shots as they moved. Having used most of the tricks from their small arsenal of attacks, they were limited to normal Arrow attacks. The Barrage would naturally take more time to channel, being a more powerful AoE, but their explosive shot was much quicker, and they fired it off at targets as it recycled.

Their first round of attacks had left a small arc of dead warriors in the enemy lines. Around the edges of the attack, fighters who hadn't been killed immediately began pushing backwards into their own lines, fighting to get through their comrades and out of the line of fire. A few of the braver warriors, however, made the mistake of charging directly at Maddock’s position. Those that weren't killed by the archers as they rushed them were quickly dispatched by Maddock and the other warriors who held strong around the outside of the phalanx.

The lull didn't last long, however, as more and more members of the two groups took notice of Maddock's small force on the edge of their larger conflict. Arrows soon began raining down on them from enemy archers, and warriors from each side decided to join their fellows in rushing Maddock's position.

Maddock swept his Sword up, blocking a White-Wings attack as it dove in on him from above. He answered the attack with an overhead slice that sank into the White-Wing's neck where it met the shoulder, quickly sending it to the ground. Beside him, Thorn had similar luck with one of the White-Wings that had dive bombed him. His massive Axe slit the bird's stomach open, dropping him to the ground before being dispatched back to his sun-god with its head split open.

Balls of fire and ice arced through the air sending alternative waves of hot and cold whizzing past as the Frost and Fire Mages began opening fire on the White-Wings as they tried to attack from above. White-Wings burst into flaming balls in the air, flying about madly, hopelessly doomed to burn out before they ever finished their attack or made it to the ground. Others froze solid and dropped from the air uselessly to land on others on the field, crushing them beneath their weight.

Faster and faster fighters from both sides stopped attacking one another and instead chose to attack the new Guild that had taken to the field. Tendrils of fire and ice snaked out from the Mages across the ground, rooting warriors as they rushed the stack, holding them in place where they were quickly hacked to pieces by the melee fighters. As this happened more and more, the warriors rotated from their protective positions on the sides of the phalanx and formed a stronger front line protecting the others in the rear. Before long, they were engaged in a solid line of combat all across their small front that, if left unchecked, would force their position to become untenable.

Maddock found himself faced up against another Human wielding a smaller version of his own Two-Handed Sword. The two fought back and forth, each parrying the other's attacks.  Maddock thrust forward, attempting to skewer the other fighter, only to have his Sword deflected as the warrior dodged to the side and blocked Maddock's blade with his own. Regaining his balance, Maddock quickly countered with a series of quick overhead attacks. As the fighter brought his Sword up to parry, Thorn swept his Axe in from the side, sinking his Axe into the warrior’s gut. The warrior quickly dropped to his knees, and Maddock finished him off with a swipe of his blade.

As soon as the Human fell, his place in the line was filled by a towering Minotaur carrying a large Two-Handed Axe. Maddock was forced to dodge to the side in order to avoid the swing of his Axe as it came down in the place he had just occupied mere moments before. Maddock carried himself around in a circle with his momentum and brought his Sword around in a wide arc, aiming for the bull's exposed back. He was rewarded for his efforts by the sound of the Minotaur crying out in shock at the sudden pain. Before the Minotaur could collect himself, Maddock swept his Sword low, severing the tendons at the back of the bull’s knee, sending it toppling backwards off balance. As the Minotaur fell, a small space opened up in the line giving him time to shout orders to the others.

"Hold the line! Hold the line! Elaine! Make space! Make. Space!"

In the rear of his small group of forces he could make out the lithe form of the Fire Mage as she danced away from a White-Wing's diving attack. Rather than blasting it with a spell, she instead hefted her Staff in both hands and wielded it as a club, striking the avian in the back of its head as it flew past. The feeble attack did little to the White-Wing other than momentarily slow its attack, but it was enough for Shane to sink an Arrow into the back of its head. As the bird fell to the ground, Elaine caught sight of Maddock shouting below. Her Robes had come open during the fighting and the hood had fallen back. Her hair had begun coming loose from where she kept it tied back in a tight ponytail and was beginning to frizz out in loose strands.

"About time," she shouted back with a smile, obviously enjoying this a little too much. "I was starting to get bored back here!"  She scanned the air for any more immediate threats and, not finding any, began quickly directing the other mages.

Several of the healers scattered throughout the group caught on immediately and stopped directing their spells of mending towards the warriors on the front line. Almost in unison, they brought their shields up in front of them and raised their hammers into the air. The air above the group shimmered with a translucent yellow light that seemed to faintly radiate the hues of the rainbow before snapping into place forming protective bubbles that overlapped to create a barrier from ranged attacks. Any spells cast by an enemy mage would fizzle out uselessly as long as the barrier was being channeled, and arrows that pierced through would only do a fraction of their original damage. The spell could be cast immediately, but it also made them relatively useless as a healer for a time afterwards. Further, as long as the spell was being cast, it also prevented the group from moving in any direction. Barrier of Light was one of the few spells in the game that made it impossible to move while the spell was being channeled.

Maddock was forced to take a step backwards as a series of blows rang out against the Armor on his side. If the protective heavy plate hadn't been there he would have taken serious Damage for his carelessness. He had thought he had more time, but an enemy Assassin had slipped up in stealth, attacking him as he was turned shouting orders. The small Daggers were fast, but the Class normally relied on stealth and surprise to do Damage. In truth, the would-be assailant would have been much better off moving around to the back of the stack and attacking one of the weaker, less heavily-armored targets. Annoyed more than injured, Maddock jerked around, catching the much smaller figure in the jaw with his elbow. Not allowing the Assassin to regain his balance, Maddock kicked forward catching him in the stomach, toppling him over and leaving him gasping for air. A quick blow to the back of the head with the hilt of his Sword ended the man’s life.

Now he was forced to rejoin the attack in earnest. Bodies had quickly began piling up faster than they were disappearing along their front line, and he was forced to step over the mounting corpses and carefully choose his footing. Bringing his Sword about in a quick thrust to his left, he caught a warrior in the side of his neck as he moved in to attack Thorn. Blood spewed forth, briefly streaming down the warrior’s breastplate before he toppled over dead.  Maddock turned back to his own front just in time to block the attack from a Minotaur's Axe and turn it to the side. A series of savage overhead attacks forced the enemy warrior to stumble backwards. As it did so, its hooves became tangled in the bodies of the dead, and it lost its balance, toppling over. A quick thrust down into the Minotaur's stomach ensured the beast wouldn't rise to fight again.

Behind him, the air crackled with energies as the Fire Mages finished channeling their spells. Maddock didn't have to turn and watch but knew just as well exactly what was happening, having seen it before. All along the front line, his fighters quickly fought to make room from their opponents and brace themselves for the blowback that they knew was coming. A thunderous boom rocked out from where the Mages stood gathered, accompanied by a shockwave of superheated air that gushed over everyone, leaving them gasping for breath and staggering to regain their balance. Massive pillars of fire bloomed from the Mages Staves growing in size as they rocketed skyward.

The flames twisted upon themselves, writhing, taking on lives of their own. As they began their descent, the flames coalesced into the forms of massive winged serpents, Dragons of fiery death falling on their prey below. White-Wings all across the skies caught in the initial upsurge began dropping to the beach, their bodies burnt and charred beyond all recognition.  Others not caught directly were pushed back by the heat wave and forced to fight furiously to remain in the air. Any that were unfortunate enough to be caught by the falling serpent were instantly incinerated, turned to ash, and left to be blown away on the wind. As the spells made contact with the ground, massive pillars of flame rolled out from where the Dragons landed, burning everything they touched and leaving behind blackened, soot-coated corpses. Even over the din of noise from the battle that continued to rage on, Maddock could hear the screams of pain from those caught by the blast that weren't fortunate enough to have been killed immediately.

The Mages’ aim had been true. They had effectively spaced out their spells, opening a wide swath in the lines of both the White-Wings and the combined forces of the Humans, White-Horns, and Black-Wings. Fighters on the front line quickly dispatched anyone that remained in front of them, most of whom were still staggering from the force of the initial blast.  The result was exactly what Maddock had been hoping for. His Guild was left standing alone at the base of their hill, the area surrounding them devoid of any enemy combatants. The Barriers fizzled out overhead, the healers grateful for the respite in channeling the difficult spell.

"I think we made our point here," Maddock said, allowing his Sword to droop down and rest point first on the ground.

"I think we made a mess here," Thorn responded, resting his blood-covered Two-Handed Steel Battle Axe on his shoulder.

"Juice and cookies on the boat?"

"Oh, I like cookies," Xane exclaimed, and Bear asked at the same time, "What kind of cookies? None of those healthy oatmeal ones!"

"Minotaurs eat cookies?" Elaine asked, feigning mock astonishment again. "Don't you guys just drink milk and eat grass? Chew your cud and stuff?"

Before either could answer, Shane held up a hand silencing them. "It's not worth it, guys.  Let's just get out of here before that thing decides to make us dinner." He pointed into the distance where a giant black Hydra could be seen making its way out of the ocean and onto the shore.

"Is that . . ." Thorn began, then stopped. "Nope. I don't want to know. I'm done asking questions for the day. Back to the boat. I'm cashing in."

Making his way back to the ship, Maddock could feel the good mood growing among his Guildmates. They had not only taken part in the biggest battle the game had seen to date, but they had completely screwed over enough players to ensure that their Guild would be all over forums just like it had been after Valcrest, and that wasn’t to mention the fortune they had made off with in ships and other spoils of combat. However, while Thorn, Shane, and the rest of the Guild had notoriety and wealth to put them in high spirits, Maddock had something else to put a devilishly-satisfied grin on his face: short of that Hydra, which might have been a threat--maybe--they hadn’t seen anything on the battlefield that hadn’t been a breeze to kill, and now that they had tested their grit against the cream of the White-Wing army, Maddock had a feeling that there would be a healthy enthusiasm for frying more chicken. He had already overheard a few cracks about KFC and the White-Wings as some of the Fire Mages reminisced about that last spell they had cast. The next stop for his Guild would definitely be a raid on the White-Wing capital that would stuff their coffers and boost their levels in preparation for the mainland. A town, a capital, and then a continent, he thought to himself, his imagination starting to drift off into visions of future mayhem. This was another one of those choices that would change things, but recently the consequences of his choices had been decidedly in his favor. Why not? At this rate, we’re going to run out of challenges pretty soon, and no-one in this Guild wants to spend their time grinding off lowbies and trash mobs.

“Hey, look at that guy,” Thorn said, pointing his thick forefinger and directing Maddock’s thoughts toward a flamboyantly-dressed man wearing a Crown who was standing on the beach right between them and their pinnace, which was anchored a ways off shore.

“I think I’ve seen that guy before. On a commercial, maybe?” Xane grunted, bewildered at the lone figure bold enough to both wear a purple Suit and Crown in public and stand in their way.

“I think I recognize that guy . . . the King, Qasin. It’s King Qasin, the guy from the Human setup screen,” Shane chimed in as he unconsciously reached for an Arrow.

“You and Bear better watch out. You’ll be in for a whopper if you get on his bad side,” Elaine couldn’t help saying with a feigned look of concern to the Minotaurs stood as they both began twirling their Axes in their hands like batters playing with a bat before stepping up to the plate.

“You wanna bet, blondie?” Bear snorted, looking over his shoulder at Elaine and then back at Qasin with an angry glare as if the King had offended him personally.

Maddock called for the Guild to stand down. Faction Leaders were generally between level 60 and 70, and with the whole Guild at his back, this would be an interesting fight, but one he still thought they had a good chance of winning. The King of the Humans? There’s a good chance a lot of these guys will get slaughtered, he thought glancing around at his Guildmates, but this is a fight I’m not passing up.

Qasin still stood motionless about fifty paces from the group, and it was more than far enough away for almost no-one to notice that his blade was shaking, his face red with anger, and his Crown sitting tenuously askew atop his head. Shane, however, whose Class boosted his ability to see in-game, could make out these signs of a man out for blood.

“I think he’s pissed. Do you think he knows about what we did to Valcrest?” Shane said to Maddock as he moved alongside the Guild Leader.

“I don’t know, but he’s in our way nonetheless. We take him out.”

As soon as the words left Maddock’s mouth, Shane drew the string on his Bow and sent an Arrow arcing straight for the King’s head. As the other archers followed suit, a hailstorm of black Arrows shot into the sky toward the Human Faction Leader. The first Arrow simply ricocheted off the King’s blade, and the rest simply missed their mark as the lone monarch shot forward with his Sword drawn, charging right at the thickest part of the Guild’s front line.

“Crap, this isn’t good,” Bear managed to let out in a panic before having his head taken clean off with a blindingly-fast slash.

The Guild members all unconsciously took a step away from the headless Minotaur as Qasin helped the teetering corpse along with his foot as it fell backwards to the ground.

“Dammit! Give him everything you’ve got!” Maddock shouted. This is insane. I must have made a bad guess at his level. It’s too the Hell late now though.

At that moment, as the mages began casting, the archers drew their bows, and the warriors charged forward, Qasin shot an icy glance over in Maddock’s direction. “You lead them?” he said. “Eve told me you seemed to enjoy bloodshed.”

“Eve?” was Maddock’s only reply before a mass of bodies and flashes of magic hid the King from his sight. The screams began shortly thereafter. With each passing moment, more blood could be seen flying into the air as it was flung clean off of Qasin’s blade by the terrible force of each swing. Maddock looked on in awe at the sight. This was awful for his Guild, but on some level it was also beautiful. This is what a high-leveled character could do in the game. It was what Maddock and his Guild could do given enough time. It was obvious they were over-matched today, but Maddock didn’t care much. He simply felt his boots dig into the ground and his fists tighten on the hilt of his Two-Handed Sword, and he gave himself over to the moment. He might die today, but it wouldn’t be the end by a longshot. This game had much, much more than he had originally imagined in store for him, and as his opponent emerged from the half-burning, half-frozen heap of his dismembered Guild, he looked dead into the eyes of the single NPC who had just taken out his entire team.

“As I was saying,” Qasin said between heavy breaths, “Eve . . . she said you liked bloodshed. That’s why you killed my people . . . murdered everyone in one of my towns . . . Valcrest. You just killed them all.”

This guy sure takes things personally for an NPC, Maddock noted mentally, and decided he might as well play along for the fun of it, “I’d get bored otherwise. A guy’s gotta have something to do, right?”

“You killed them all for pleasure?” Qasin growled through his teeth, the color of his face almost matching the color of his suit.

“Looks like you enjoy a good fight yourself. Now, if you don’t mind, I want to see what kind of potential a Faction Leader really has.”

“Really? Well then . . . have it your way,” Qasin said with nothing but dead calm in his voice and a stony expression on his blood-smeared face. By the time Maddock had lifted his Sword to launch an attack at the King, his enemy was already upon him. Qasin grabbed Maddock’s hands, which were wrapped tightly around the hilt of his upraised blade, and simply squeezed. The pain that shot through Maddock’s hands caused him to let out an involuntary gasp. As the King lowered Maddock to his knees, he sheathed the Sword he held in his other hand and shoved his hand into Maddock’s face. The King’s fingers sank into Maddock’s eyes as his thumb dug into the soft flesh behind his chin. Even though the interface system in the game dulled the pain, Maddock could still feel enough to force him to scream. However, the next moment, he was back in his home.

- You have died. You will have the option to respawn at your bind point when your death counter expires.

He’d never felt anything like what he had just experienced in any game he had ever played before. He had to wait out the respawn timer before logging in again, but he had plenty to think about in the meantime. As the timer ticked away, he flopped down on his bed. Suddenly, he shot out his hand up in front of him as if tearing into someone just as the King had done to him. He tensed his fingers as if slowly crushing his imaginary foe, and he mimicked the fierce, merciless look in the Faction Leader’s eyes that was the last thing he had seen in-game. Then he just laughed, folded his hands behind his head and smiled.

Bonus Chapter 2: Dawn of Eve

“Is it just me, or does it seem like they never have to reload?” Eve griped to her friend Stephanie as she threw another clip into her gun. “I mean, I count the bullets, but they just keep coming.”

“Forget the bullets! How do they have so many bodies?” Stephanie said, ducking behind the torn up concrete medium they were using for cover after firing two bursts that Eve could only assume were kill shots.

“You got me there. The way they keep coming back it’s like 16 and Pregnant had a thousand spin offs with a few hundred girls trying out for each set every year.” Eve finished loading her clip, threw a few rocks into the air above her and popped out the side to pick off the four amateurs who took her bait.

“Don’t lie. You’re just jealous,” Stephanie grinned before popping her head over the cover and laying out another round of shots. “Only three boys from the village, and one’s your brother. The only thing that’s going to be stuck up with you is your attitude.”

Eve looked at the baby boy sitting between them, “I don’t think my chances with a man are going to be much worse than yours for another twenty or thirty years. Darwin isn’t even two. I mean, I know your mom hooked up with a guy almost a hundred and twenty years younger than her, but I feel like even you cougars have limits.”

“Yeah, not to mention if he grows up half as dorky as you, he won’t even be attractive enough to ask out on a mission, much less a date,” Stephanie chuckled before firing off one final salvo of bullets while she popped out from behind the cover and rushed to a forward position on the other side of the road.

“Don’t be so jealous of my cute little brother Stephanie. If you keep it up, those red eyes will turn green, and then we’ll have to shoot you like the rest of the aimless lemmings over there,” Eve laughed as she managed to pick off a few more of the approaching enemies while Stephanie got situated enough to provide her cover fire.

“I’m sorry, Eve: I couldn’t hear you over your gun,” Stephanie yelled back, “Your mouth may fire off faster than a machine gun, but that doesn’t mean it’s louder.”

“Ugh! Fine! I’ll get closer!” Eve shouted as loudly as she could before scooping up Darwin in one hand and carrying him like he was a football to a spot next to Stephanie behind the downed armored transport unit on the other side of the road.

“You should be more careful with that one, Eve,” Stephanie said as she motioned to Darwin, “kind of got the whole ‘future of our clan’ thing riding on him.”

“Clan? Might be species at this rate,” Eve frowned as she looked at the baby, “I haven’t seen another red-eye clan in years. I’m beginning to think that we’re the last ones left.”

“Eww, don’t say that. It makes it more depressing,” Stephanie grumbled. “Just, you know, feels too cliche . . . like one of those stories you hear as a kid. ‘Oh! you have to save the baby to save the world from the evil invaders with a mysterious unknown agenda.’ It’s almost as bad as that idiot eight generations back who murdered every guard on her way to take out the general and then decided she didn’t like ‘killing’ all of the sudden.”

“Cliche? That’s your problem with it?” Eve used her free hand to connect her palm with her forehead. “We’re all about to die, and your problem is that the situation is too trite and predictable?”

“Eve, everything about this entire thing is kind of ‘trite and predictable.’ How can it not bother you? The only thing worse than being stuck in a cliche storyline is being the villain of one.” Stephanie gave Eve a wicked smile before reloading her gun and popping her head out to shoot another enemy. The problem was, before she could get her head over the transport, bullets screamed past and almost pulled it off her body. The enemy had her side pinned and knew just where she would pop out. “Well, this isn’t going as planned,” she noted, not poking her head out a second time.

“Fine. I’ll do it, you scaredy cat.” Eve scooted over to Stephanie and handed off the Darwin football, “You just watch after little Mr. Cliche.”

Stephanie let her gun fall into its sling as she carefully reached out and took the baby with two hands. “Sniper spoon time?”

“Yep,” Eve nodded, pulling a spoon out of her pocket. The others had always thought she could somehow see a clear image in the spoon’s little head, calling her the ‘Spoon Sniper’ for her excellent vision, but it wasn’t really the trick. She just had really good hearing and the gumbo privates on the other side never really thought before they fired. Eve etched over to the side and held the spoon out from behind the cover, twisting it on occasion until finally someone fired. *Bang!* That’s one. Don’t tell me there is only one, she thought, letting the spoon dangle over the side a bit longer, she wasn’t worried about it actually being hit. Even though they had improved a lot, the storm troopers on the other side couldn’t hit a target as small as a spoon in a million years with unlimited ammunition. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* There you are. That’s all of you, right? she thought, pulling her spoon back and smiling, she knew exactly where they were.

She laid out on all fours, and started crawling under the transport. If she stuck her head out the same spot again there was a good chance that they wouldn’t hit her still, but she didn’t want to leave anything to chance. She was awful at dice, so she went the other way around the transport: under it. When she was finally far enough under to shoot out the other side, she was able to clean up  in less than a second. Men: they never last long enough, she smiled, blowing the smoke off the hot barrel of the gun.

“Eve, you blew the smoke off the top of your barrel again, didn’t you?” Stephanie asked. Even though there was no way for her to see, she knew Eve better than Eve knew Eve.

“I did not,” Eve lied, her face turning red. How does she always know when I do that?

“That’s because I know you can’t help yourself Eve,” Stephanie responded from her seated position as if she could read Eve’s mind. “If a gun is smoking hot and it’s near your mouth, you just have to blow it, don't’ you?”

“That sounds so dirty!” Eve almost did a spit take at Stephanie’s implication as Stephanie stood up and walked around to give Eve a hand up.

“That’s just your dirty mind matching your filthy attire,” Stephanie said as Eve took her hand and stood up. “All this dashing about is making your outfit absolutely filthy, Eve. It looks like you spent the day in a pig pen.”

“Have you managed to add the word ‘thanks’ to your lexicon,” Eve griped as she stood up and dusted herself off. “Where’s Darwin?”

“I set him down behind the front end of this dinosaur,” Stephanie patted the rickety machine twice, “He’s perfectly safe.”

“What? You need to have him with you at all times!” Eve barked at Stephanie while starting to head over to where Stephanie had pointed. “Do you not realize how important he is?”

“Oh, so much affection. Perhaps I should protect him from you!” she laughed, easily darting in front of Eve, snatching the baby up and rushing out of Eve’s reach. “Careful, Darwin,” Stephanie whispered loud enough for Eve to hear, “this one is a real predator. She’ll spot you with that spoon of hers and snatch you up without a moment’s notice.”

“Will you stop it with that joke already? This is not going to be a Luke and Leia mishap,” Eve protested, trying to dash after the faster Stephanie who was skirting around the transport. “Just . . . be careful with him!”

“Oh, it’s okay. I know it won’t be a Luke or Leia incident. That was the bro chasing the sis; this will be the other way around.” Stephanie grinned ear to ear and then left off her dance around the transport to rush up to the next clear cover point on the side of a building.

“It will . . . you are so frustrating!” Eve finally relented, still following after her but this time only to make sure she wasn’t left behind in the mission.

“Of course I’m frustrating. You volunteered me for an escort mission. The only thankful part of this whole story is that we didn’t get one of the townspeople. How is it that they do mission after mission on their own when our units are out, but the second they have to be escorted they turn into fumbling idiots with an IQ lower than a French Model’s dress size?” Stephanie didn’t even bother controlling her volume as she poked her head around the corner. “All clear again.”

“Well, by all means you could have gone with Jennifer’s group.” Eve snatched Darwin from Stephanie while Stephanie was still looking for enemies to shoot. “She got stuck escorting Octopus Hands McGrabs-A-Lot. I swear the only thing more annoying than how that guy dashes in front of the line of fire every five minutes is how he tries to grab at you every two minutes. If he wasn’t one of the only guys left and needed for the ‘survival of the race,’ I’d have shot him myself years ago.”

“How is he different from you again, Ms. Handsy?” Stephanie giggled as she peered around the corner again. “I’ve seen the way you slink up on the other gentleman in the camp when nobody's watching.”

“I am not that handsy. He’s just cute, and I like talking to him,” Eve blushed a little, then looked at Darwin and regained her focus. “Anyway, we have a mission to complete. How far away from the target are we?” she asked, not being able to see the same thing Stephanie was looking at around the corner.

“Well, there is good news and there is bad news on that topic,” Stephanie turned to look over at Eve. “Which do you want first?”

“Good news, I guess? Unless it’s just good news compared to the bad news. In that case, just give them both at once.” Eve was used to Stephanie prettying up bad news to look like good news just so the expression would fit.

“Don’t be so distrustful. Good news is good news, and boy is it good news this time! We’re right on the target. In fact, it’s just around the corner,” Stephanie said excitedly while checking to make sure she had a fresh clip in her gun.

“Then what’s the bad news?” Eve worried. She knew that when it came to a mission, especially an escort mission, it was never a good sign for Stephanie to be happy. With anyone else, she would have just thought, oh, we only had to escort one person to the giant blue portal that is supposed to save our race, and we’re almost there with no casualties, so of course there is reason to be happy, but not for Stephanie. Excitement, thrill, danger and adventure--those were reasons for Stephanie to be happy. Reasons Eve rather dreaded doing missions with her even if she was her closest friend.

“Well, you know how we always make fun of the fact that they never establish a stable perimeter? How the bad guys always leave themselves scattered out in groups of two to four with no guards at the door, no real alarm systems and progressively harder enemies? Like they are trying to let you get plenty of time to get good enough to beat them?” Stephanie started, each word causing Eve to worry.

“Yeah, I know,” Eve hesitated, looking at Darwin nervously. “What about it?”

“Well, go figure they did that here too, and it seems we’re the first group to arrive.” she said, motioning with her head for Eve to look around the corner. “There are probably thirty of them, and that big ugly one in the middle looks like his gun isn’t for decoration.”

“You think he’s the boss?” Eve asked, edging her head around the corner to see it too.

“I don’t know. Usually the way they pick who is in charge seems kind of random, not common sensical, but your guess is as good as mine.” Stephanie paused for a minute and looked at Eve with a ‘you’re about to regret me doing this’ smile before stepping backwards out of cover and into the path then turning to fire at the opposition. “Toodles!”

“Toodles? Who even says that?” Eve wanted to chase after her, but the baby in her left arm was a clear impediment to her going anywhere. The mission wasn’t just to enter the portal, it was to do so with the baby boy and ensure the survival of the species.

“Eve, I’ve been wondering something,” Stephanie somehow managed to talk perfectly calmly while doing acrobatic gun tricks that even Eve would have struggled to pull off. “Has anyone of us ever died of natural causes?”

“No, I can’t remember ever seeing it happen. Usually we just age until about twenty and then stop altogether, why?” Eve wasn’t about to let Stephanie get all the kills, so she put Darwin down gently and popped out to pick off an enemy or two. She saw the ugly guy guarding the portal and almost threw up. I’ve seen steroid jocks before, but that guy has more veins than trees have roots.

“That’s exactly my question: why? We’ve run thousands of missions, generally no dies, and no one ages, and we aren’t for lacking in kids popping out . . . so what exactly happened to the generation before us to put us in this situation? Why are we fighting for our lives to go through some mysterious blue portal without even knowing its destination?” Stephanie was still talking with a voice that didn’t show the struggle at all someone should be enduring as they roll over the hood of a car while firing an automatic weapon into a populated area.  “And the only clue we have to what’s going to happen is that some old bossy person from the village says it’s the right thing to do, the thing we have to do.”

“Well, now that you mention it . . .” Eve did her best to put together whatever pieces were rattling around in Stephanie’s head as she managed another headshot on an unlucky foe popping his head out behind one of the building corners two blocks ahead of her. If Stephanie’s smile wasn’t good news, her thinking somehow managed to be even worse. She had a way of putting together things, plans, schemes that even as her best friend Eve couldn’t grasp all the time.

“Come on, Eve. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it before.” Stephanie stopped firing and looked at her with a sad face Eve didn’t recognize. “Don’t tell me that even you haven’t put it together . . .”

“Put what together?” Eve tried to smile, but only half her mouth went up. What don’t I get? she thought as she looked out behind her building corner. What don’t I understand? She normally would have fired at something even while putting the pieces together, but everything was already dead. Stephanie’s acrobatics and twists and spins and turns hadn’t been for show. There were two clean bullet holes between the eyes of everything that was once breathing in the zone.

“Just . . . just get the baby and come on.” Stephanie’s face fell as she turned and walked to the blue portal.

Eve picked Darwin back up and followed, not sure where all of this talk had come from. A few minutes ago, they were happily joking around about guys, bad guys, and the usual inappropriate comments, but now she was acting all solemn and talking about plans and stuff without any reason.

“Should we be waiting for the others to get here?” Eve wondered aloud as she got close enough to the portal to touch it.

“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Stephanie answered before reaching out with her free hand. “Here, let me see the baby.”

“Sure, he’s all yours.” Eve smiled, happy to have a free hand again.

“Eve, I wanted you to know something.” Stephanie’s frown had mostly faded, but her face was still more serious-looking than Eve was used to ever seeing. “I really did love you, like a sister, that is. I just wish you weren’t such a good person.”

“Stephanie, what . . . what are you talking about? Why do you wish I wasn’t such a good person?” Eve became dreadfully aware of the fact Stephanie’s gun was trained on her heart.

“You’re just too kind to pull the trigger yourself. Sure, I’ve seen you kill plenty of these scum, but you could never kill the innocent and those that need to die for our people to live.” Stephanie stepped back, gave a forced half grin that her eyes didn’t match and shrugged. “I’m sorry, Eve, you really were a sister to me,” she said before pulling the trigger three times and leaving Eve clutching her sides. One of the bullets had knocked the gun out of her hand and the other two had torn right through her sides.

“I . . . why?” Eve said as she looked down at the holes trickling out blood near her kidneys.

“That you don’t know is ‘why’ enough, darling. I really do hate how cliche this all is. I really can’t tell if the overworked plot or the fact I had to shoot you is a bigger regret.” Stephanie slung her long black hair backwards and stepped through the portal while holding Darwin.

Eve, still clutching her sides, reached her hand out after her. “Wh . . . no, you can’t take Dar . . . Darwin. He’s my brother. You can’t have him . . .” she called out after the vanished Stephanie as she edged closer and closer to the portal. It can’t end here. She can’t get away with . . . Eve struggled, but wasn’t able to even keep her eyes open. The blood loss was too much, and just as she entered the portal after Stephanie, her world faded to darkness and she found the growing blackness had muted her hearing as well as her vision. Is this how I d . . .

-------

Eve finally managed to open her eyes again only to wish she hadn’t. The light was too bright, the noises were too noisy, and there was enough pain shooting up and down her sides that made her feel like a mac truck had used her for a punching bag. Darwin!? Where is Darwin? She tried to piece together the events that had lead her to where she was. Where did Stephanie go with Darwin? she thought as she leaned up on the bed she was in while scrunching her face as much as possible to stop the light from beating her face in.

“It’s called orange juice. You’re going to need a few gallons of it or that headache will get worse than a fifth of scotch from the night before kicking you at a company conference,” an unknown male voice said to her, “You’ve lost too much blood. I have cookies too since I always see them at the blood clinic, but they are chocolate chip, so you’ll have to wait for a warm glass of milk before you can eat them.”

“Milk and cookies?” Eve asked while reaching for the glass of whatever beverage he had said he was offering. It was hard to grab anything though when each twist of her body to move her arm resulted in more pain. Go figure: first time I get hit, it’s friendly fire. I feel like that idiot who kept going duck hunting with Cheney.

“What? Don’t tell me you don’t have milk and cookies where you’re from. That’s just silly.” He leaned in and made sure the glass was more easily reached.

After sipping the orange juice, which was far tastier than any of the rations she was used to eating in the village, she rubbed her eyes and started to get a better picture of the room and the man who was helping her. For starters, he was in a full suit with a necktie, two things she had never actually seen before, and he had parted blonde hair with blue eyes, which were two more things that were foreign to her. She knew that the enemies often had blonde hair, but she had never actually seen any of them up close. In fact, most of the time she saw them, whatever hair color they used to have was dyed red from blood or brown from dirt. On top of his blonde hair and blue eyes, he had a clean shaven face.

It’s like looking at an angel . . . wait . . . am I dead? panic almost got the better of her, but then the pain crept back up to remind her that no, she wasn’t free of suffering just yet. Then, other details became evident; for instance, the fact that she was naked in a bed with only two sheets covering her, and she had passed out fully clothed.

“Why am I naked?” She asked as she peeked under the covers to confirm her suspicions.

The question made the man blush, “well, you see, the vet I had come stitch you up kind of had to get under your clothes to operate . . . and at that point, I also didn’t really want you to ruin a fresh set of sheets with blood and all. Seemed like a waste of good linen . . .  yeah, that’s why,” he fumbled for words as his face flushed and he scratched the back of his head.

“So, you didn’t just do this to see me naked?” she pried, with only two people to draw from for experience, she was confident she could say that men were both the same, at least where her village was concerned, and this one probably matched the perverted nature of the ones she already knew. Also, she only just met this man, but it seemed fun to watch him squirm.

“Oh, yeah, you see, it was only to help you. I wouldn’t ever want to see you naked,” the man who had been so collected when offering her refreshments had started tripping over her words like debris on a battlefield.

“You would never want to see me naked? Am I that ugly? Am I just some old hag who isn’t even worth one glance?” she feigned anger at his statement, it took all of her effort not to laugh as his face went from blushed to pale and panic covered his mood. Why is it so fun to annoy him?

“No, no, no! It’s just . . . I mean . . .” He looked like he was about to try and come up with an excuse and then just sighed and gave up.

That was too quick. It’s no fun if the man doesn’t last longer, she sighed as well. “So you had a vet come by? I guess that’s why I’m still alive?”

“Well, yeah. At first I was going to call 911 and get an ambulance to help you, but you grabbed me when I was about to start dialing and told me not to. I was kind of freaked out that you knew my nickname, so I just went with your plan and called a buddy of mine who has operated on more than one living creature,” he said, leaning back in his chair and pulling out a piece of food to eat. When he saw Eve’s eyes following the food intently, he held it forward, “Cookie?”

“Don’t I need milk? I mean, wait, go back to the story. I knew your nickname?” Eve said, unsure if it was safe to eat the cookie without milk.

“Yeah, my actual name is Charles and only people down at the office call me Darwin, but there you were saying it over and over again every time I tried to call or leave to get help: ‘Darwin! No! Darwin! No! Come back!’ I gotta say it really freaked me out, so I kind of had to figure out what was going on, and, uh . . . that was four days ago.”

“Four . . . four days ago?” Eve forgot that she was naked and started to try and climb out of bed when Charles stopped her with a hand on the shoulder, pushing her back down, quickly reminding her of the pain that came with movement.

“Yes, four days ago. I know you probably have an urgent task, but whatever it is, you need to relax and get some rest,” Charles urged, firmly pushing her back into the bed. “You’ve gotten some orange juice in you, so now close your eyes and let your body use it. I’ll be here when you wake up with some more fresh juice.”

No, I can’t sleep. I need to . . . I need to help Darwin . . . I have to . . . she tried to say, but for some reason as soon as her head touched the pillow again, even thinking was difficult. She only closed her eyes for a moment and found that she couldn’t open them again. This can’t just be a bed, is this some kind of trap? Why is it so warm and comfortable . . .  how does anyone escape this awful trap . . . it’s so snuggly like--like a hug made out of silk and . . . she fell asleep again.

She opened her eyes again except this time it was dark. She couldn’t see anything well, but she could make out Charles’ sleeping figure next to her, holding a cookie. Has he been sleeping next to me every day? Has he not left my side? Why does he care so much? she wondered to herself as she leaned up, holding her side.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, she stood up and took the cookie from Charles’ hand as she did her best to sneak out of the room unnoticed. She looked around for her guns as soon as she cleared the room. She had expected them to be hidden, hard to find in one of the hundreds of easily openable chests and storage units the man had for some reason deemed necessary to have in his domicile. Instead though, they were hung neatly by their straps on a rod with his coat by a door she could only assume was the exit. Her ammunition was in a box next to it. Well, that’s convenient, she thought as she took reached for the guns and took a bite of her cookie, holy crap this is delicious. How do people even get mad with these amazing cookies around?

Wait. Focus. I need to find Darwin. Eve shook her head free of the cookie thoughts. This cookie is just another trap, like the bed, to distract me from my mission. Cunning, Mr. Charles, cunning, but you won’t stop me from completing my mission.

Eve opened the door, certain it was the exit, only to find a hallway filled with more doors on either side of her. What the heck? What is with this maze? I’ve only seen this type of set up in the old buildings and the prisons back on our world. Was he a jailor? Was that room meant to be a prison cell I wouldn’t recognize?

She tried not to think about it as she made her way left down the hallway towards the bright red ‘EXIT’ sign above a door at the end. As she got halfway down the hallway, a door, three or four doors behind her, opened and a guy popped out and immediately froze. Eve, who had stopped and turned to see who it was, automatically trained her gun on him by instinct.

“I know the expression is I’d die just to see a girl that hot, but do you have to shoot me, pretty naked lady?” the frumpy-looking, plaid-wearing man said as he dropped his keys and put his hands in the air.

Naked? Oh, crap, I forgot my clothes! Eve covered herself the best she could while pulling her trigger and lighting the man up from chest to forehead. Sorry, but, I just can’t risk you being a plant from Stephanie, Eve thought as she headed back to Charles’ room. I need some clothes. I’m in enough pain without trying to run braless.

When she got back in Charles’ room though, she couldn’t find her clothes. She started searching through the wooden-floored rooms, opening every closet and cabinet looking for her clothes. All she found were several pairs of men’s clothing with waists too big to wear, which she knew for certain after trying once.

What the hell am I going to do? she sighed as she sat down at one of the chairs pulled up to a table. If I just woke him up, he could tell me where the clothes are. As she wrestled with the decision in her head, he opened the door and came out of the room with the bed.

“Didn’t think you’d be moving around this much--oh, oh, your clothes are by your bed,” he said, covering his eyes as soon as he realized she was naked. “I had them washed and cleaned up for you, so put them on. You can’t just be running around naked.”

“Thanks.” Eve felt stupid for not checking around her in the first place when she got up earlier. “I’ll be right back.”

*Knock Knock Knock* Eve heard the heavy beating on Charles’ front door as she finished buttoning up her shirt.

“Yes, officer, can I help you?” Charles asked someone at the door. Eve wanted to check it out, but she didn’t know who it was, so she stayed in her room and gripped her gun tight, aiming it at the door instead.

“Just asking some routine questions regarding an earlier incident. Have you heard anything or seen anything lately?” the voice asked.

Earlier incident? Does he mean me shooting that guy in the hallway earlier? Eve puzzled.

“No, nothing out of the ordinary. I was just making myself some breakfast? Would you like to come in and take a look around though? Would that help?” Charles asked.

That idiot, if he comes in, then I’ll have to kill him too. Eve grumbled, her trigger finger itching nervously.

“That’s quite alright, citizen. We’ll come back later if we have any additional questions.”

“Um, Officer, just out of curiosity, what was the incident?”

“Oh, a man in your hallway was shot earlier. We have reason to believe from the strange bullet wounds that it’s tied to the string of killings earlier this week done by the crazy red-eyed girl holding the baby. If you see or hear anything, give me a call at this number.”

“Thanks, Officer, I’ll make sure to,” Charles replied before the sound of the door shutting let Eve know it was safe to come out.

Eve walked into the main room, her gun pointed right at Charles.

“Are you going to call that number?” Eve asked, motioning to the card Charles was holding.

“Calm down. if I had wanted to turn you in I would have done so right then. I’m on your side,” he said, his hands in the air just like the man in the hallways were. “I’m not interested in the dead guy. I’m interested in that blue portal I saw you appear from. I’m interested in why your eyes are red and why you were healing from that wound before anyone even started operating on you.”

“The blue portal? You saw the portal!” Eve asked, not moving her gun an inch.

“Yes, I saw the portal. Look, I’ve been honest with you, and I’ve helped you out. Now, I know you’re here for a reason, and I’m more than happy to help you, but I just need you to trust me for a minute. I need you to put the gun down, take a seat, and tell me what you need.” Charles motioned to one of the chairs by the table.

Eve looked at the door. She knew she didn’t have any leads to go on, and she knew she didn’t know the area at all. If she was to find Stephanie and operate in this world, she needed his help, and he obviously wanted something from her in return.

“Alright, I’ll answer some of your questions, but I need to know who you work for and what you hope to get out of me,” Eve said, relaxing her grip on her gun and letting it slide its aim to the floor.

“Well, for starters, I’m Charles, a scientist working on an Artificial Intelligence engine. As far as my goals, like I said, I’m a scientist. I just want to learn and explore the unknown, and that portal was definitely unknown.” He gave a half smile and tilted his face. “I just want to be the person to ask the questions about something that, as far as I can tell, no one else has ever seen before.”

Eve walked forward, set her gun down on the table and sat in one of the chairs circling it. “Alright, but can I get another one of those cookies?”

“A chocolate chip cookie? Sure, but you’re going to have to try it with milk. Trust me.” Charles smiled, laughed a bit, and went to the kitchen to get her a cookie. They had a lot to talk about, and it was definitely not going to be a short night.

THE RELIQUARY

The Reliquary

The Monster Manual:

The Burglar: If you’ve ever had to pay money for locks, a security system, and theft insurance, you can thank this mob. Adverse to hard work and determined to take that which is not theirs, the only thing worse than their impact on family vacations is their often awful fashion sense and insistence on wearing women’s lingerie and ski attire for masks.

Strengths: Good at acting dangerous to pick up less than intelligent mates.

Weaknesses: Dogs, police officers, and angry mothers.

Deer-Frog: Old men aren’t the only ones who are horny when they croak; so are the Deer Frogs. Their creepy, giant googly-eyes are always following their prey. For those who aren’t careful, a quick tongue will latch onto its victim and pull the giant man-sized frog straight into its prey, or the other way around depending on size, leaving its antlers firmly planted in its victim.

Strengths: Giant man-sized flies, beer commercials, tap dancing.

Weakness: Fire, Ice

Ogre: Mean, clunky, and bigger by the level. Often thought of as a savage and barbaric creature by those who hunt them for experience or items, the Ogre actually is a very calm creature who often seeks to achieve a state of inner peace and has thus discarded most if not all of its material possessions and wants. Unfortunately, living in a forest surrounded by aggressive adventurers has trained the ogre to keep a maul as a form of self defense.

Strength: Big. Big Big. Super Big.

Weakness: Lazy and fond of comfortable places to rest when no-one is looking.

Turtle-Wolf: Standing on two legs like a dog that thinks he is human, the wolf inside the shell has manlike hands tapered off with claws instead of paws, and a twisting, swiveling long neck that lets you know the shell isn’t the only part of the creature that is turtle. It has all the defense of a fully armored soldier coupled with the aggression of a rabid wolf.

Strengths: Racing rabbits, chasing cars, tracking

Weakness: Has trouble standing up if pushed on its back, fence posts.

Demon-Mole: They have all the standard red, beady-eyed attributes of a demon, but they are moles. Raised on a diet of guacaMole, aniMole crackers, and Mole-assus, one has more to fear from their imMole-ating abilities than their Mole-ars, though both can ensure a disMole fate for a foe.

Strengths: Spying, sneaking behind enemy lines, making a black spot on someone’s skin.

Weakness: 6.02 x 10^23

Black Bear: Sometimes a bear is just a bear, and that’s all there is to it. With nothing but muscles, claws and an appetite greater than its cuteness, beware of the bear.

Strengths: Bear Arms, Salmon, Napping

Weakness: Honeypots, bees, overnapping

Beetle-Bee: With one horn in the front, and one horn in the back, the four foot long Beetle-Bee is deadly from both ends. Its favorite method of attacking is using its wings to propel it into its foe horn first and swinging its stinger into it as soon as impact occurs.

Strengths: Japanese gambling games, flower collecting

Weakness: Strong Winds, Alcohol (A drunk Beetle-Bee is more sad than deadly)

Goldfish-Butterfly-Squirrel: This creature is a clear jab at one creator’s inability to stay focused, with every metaphor for losing one’s attention except a cat with a laser rolled up into one monstrously ugly and confusing creature. It’s almost hard to feel threatened. That said, the butterfly-winged flying furball with fish eyes and a fish tail is clearly not trying to threaten anyone, it’s just trying to make you laugh before you forget what it likely already has: that you’re supposed to kill it.

Strengths: Nothing

Weakness: Shiny objects--oh! Look at the butterfly!

Boss Book:

Burriza: There is nothing more vicious and ruthless than a polar bear in its natural habitat, a good reason many similarly-natured companies try to associate with them. Burriza is the one exception, for while he is a powerful enemy, he prefers it be in poker and not combat. Burriza is one of the few bosses that will not tolerate sycophants, but mainly just because they make great liars and subsequently better poker players.

Strengths: Straight flush, deuces, accounting, drinking coke

Weakness: Global warming

Rabbistro: Well-mannered, well-dressed and well-tempered are three compliments Rabbistro likes to earn. But, never should someone ask for rabbit stew or insult his suit, for if they do, the eight-foot rabbit will literally grow with his rage and devour his offender.

Strengths: Cooking

Weakness: Lucky feet, tardiness, disappearing cats

Dark Hydra: No-one can ever be certain how many heads a Hydra starts with, but they can be sure of how many are left when they hydra eats them. In this case, the last victim of the Dark Hydra tried to fight off seven heads that independently chomped, bit and breathed their way to victory. Poor soul.

Strengths: Immunity to doctor bills,

Weakness: Grocery bills, dentist bills

I’m not a Racist, but:

Humans [Human]: One look in the mirror will tell you everything you need to know about this often-frumpy, weak-muscled, overlooked race. Even in the real world they lack many characteristics gamers would value on a stat sheet, but for some reason they always seem to prevail. Be wary of doubting or underestimating the tenacity of the meek and cunning.

Bonus: +1 stat point per level

Minotaur [White-Horn]: More bull than man, these lumbering giants may have many myths and stories revolving around how they were made, most with jokes about someone’s mother looking like a cow, but that doesn’t change the fact they are a massive force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Favoring the Axe and their brute power, they can cleave through most lines with little to no effort.

Bonus: +25% Movement Speed, +5% Power, +5% Damage when wielding Axes, can’t wear Shoes.

Satyr [White-Horn]: Satyrs don’t kid around when it comes to magic. These half-goat men are experts at manipulating nature and traversing rough terrain. With enough of them in an army, one is sure to control the weather--just don’t expect to keep your lawn.

Bonus: +10% Casting Speed, +25% Movement Speed over rough terrain, +5% Cold Resistance.

Vampires [Black-Wing]: Arguably the suckiest race in the game, vampires have learned to embody the true spirit of a bat man. They thrive on the night and draw the life force out of any foe within reach during combat. With their large, dark, black wings, Lifesteal, and affinity for the night, the Vampire is a terror in the skies when the sun sets.

Bonus: Flying, +5% Lifesteal on Melee Attacks, +5% Increased Damage during nighttime

Incubus/Succubus [Black-Wing]: It’s always a common joke that a woman is a man’s worst enemy, or the other way around depending on who is saying it, and by that logic, this race fits right in. An innate charm serves to disarm opponents of the opposite gender during combat. That said, there are far worse ways to die than in the presence of a sexy foe.

Bonus: Flying, +5% Damage against opposite gender, +5% Damage bonus with Whips.

Dragon-Wing [Black-Wing]: There are few things more ferocious than a full-grown, fire-breathing, battle-worn dragon. Unfortunately this is just a cheap knock off version. They have a great deal of health like the dragons they take their name from and are excellent at resisting fire. Even if they aren’t actually dragons, they do make great dragon hunters.

Bonus: Flying, +10% Vitality, +25% Fire Resistance

White-Wing [Sun God Empire]: The White-Wings are what people first wanted angels to be: humans with giant sets of wings. This race has mastered prison fighting and learned to wield the shiv with expert dexterity. Contrary to all the chicken jokes though, they do not run from fights.

Bonus: Flying, +10% Damage with Daggers, -10% damage with all other weapons, +5% Armor bonus when wearing low-weight Armor.

Fire-Walkers [Sun God Empire]: Love the fresh smell of napalm in the morning? Fire-Walkers sure do. They may have given up smoking cigarettes, but they’ve permanently solved the lighter issue. With feet always on fire and flames shooting out of any body part, Fire-Walkers have trouble handling normal weapons and developed their own unique crafting system to compensate.

Bonus: -50% Damage with non-glass weapons, cannot wear shoes, +10% Damage with glass weapons, Fire Manipulation, Fire Creation, Fire Crafting.

Demon [StormGuard Alliance]: No one knows where they came from or when they arrived, but this mysterious Race of red-eyed, black-haired human look-alikes is feared and respected by those who know better.

Bonus: Locked stat growth, unique abilities, unusually high stat growth.

Inventory of Items:

Ring of the Ice Queen: No one is sure if they called her the Ice Queen because she was as frigid as a winter’s storm when it came to dating, or if it was because of her profound affinity for summoning a winter’s storm. Regardless, the ring was aptly named and has served many mages since.

Stats: + 10 Vitality, + 10 Spirit, + 10 Concentration

Restriction: Frost Mage only

Ring of Power: It’s too bad an item with the name like ‘Ring of Power’ isn’t better than it is.

Stats: +10 Power, +10 Speed, +10 Vitality

Captain’s Ring: Often those who receive this item complain that it isn’t powerful enough. It doesn’t have enough stats. That’s because they don’t understand that its only limit is the strength of those who follow its wearer.

Stats: +10 Power, +1% increased Power and Speed for all allied party members.

Dragon’s Tear: Proving that there is at least some value in making someone cry, the Dragon’s Tears sometimes harden into beautiful jewelry with magical powers. At other times, they just ruin the shoulder of someone’s shirt.

Stats: +10 Spirit, +10 Concentration

Captain’s Emblem: A symbol of power can be more than just a symbol if it carries with it the trust and hopes of those who give it meaning.

Stats: When carried, raises the level of all NPCs commanded by +5. All nearby allied players will receive +5% to all stats.

Dull Iron Axe: Sometimes, you have to make do with what you have. After all, a giant axe to an enemy’s face is better than nothing, right?

Stats: 98 Damage

Double-Bladed Axe: If spearmint gum has taught us anything, it’s that it’s perfectly okay to double your pleasure and double the fun, and nothing says twice as much fun as an extra blade on an axe.

Stats: 135 Damage

Burriza Blade: What does a polar bear have to do with a sword? Who knows, but when you see how well it turned out, who cares?

Stats: 215 Damage, +10 Power

Sapphire Spell Staff: Pretty when new, pretty when blue. With an intricate blue sapphire beautifully adorning a dark wooden staff, this is just as much a decorative accessory as it is a weapon.

Stats: +15 Spirit, +10 Concentration

Enchanted Bathrobe of Valcrest: Special times call for special measures. When armor is too heavy, clothes take too long to put on, and you’re expecting company, the bathrobe is the right special measure needed. This one just comes fully decked out. Ramen not included.

Stats: +15 to Power, +15 Speed, +15 Vitality, reduces incoming Damage from all sources by 10%, +35 Damage when wielding Spoons, +10 damage versus French Onion Soup

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Deadly Spooning!

Chapter 2: Town Trip!

Chapter 3: Deal Me In, Poker Bear!

Chapter 4: The Red-Eye Flight to ZombOgre Town

Chapter 5: The Bear Necessities!

Chapter 6: A Hop, Skip and a Pan Away!

Chapter 7: One Stone To Rule Them All!

Chapter 8: Mountains out of Molehills

Chapter 9: Cry Havoc – Let Slip the Turtle-Wolves of War

Chapter 10: Lines in the Sand

Bonus Chapter 1: Maddock’s POV in the Beach Battle.

Bonus Chapter 2: Dawn of Eve

THE RELIQUARY