by Paul Bellow
Pursing my lips together, I shook my head.
“We’re not special,” Sarah said. “Just new to the game. I signed up for a beta-test in Colorado to help pay my college loans.”
“Me too,” I said.
Bernard kept his mouth shut.
“And what about you?” Ferris asked as he turned to Bernard. “How did you come to be in the game so recently?”
“I’ve been around,” Bernard said. “A while now.”
Thom stepped in between them and threw his arm around Bernard’s shoulder.
“Don’t let them get to you,” he said. “We know all about your exploits. You disappeared off the radar after that basilisk took you out by cheating.”
Bernard became more animated, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm.
“That mob cheated so hard,” he said. “I can’t believe you guys know about that story.”
“We keep our eyes on everything,” Sherlock said.
The wizard held a wooden staff with intricate sigils carved into it. His pearl-white beard came down to his waist like Gandalf or Merlin.
“Do you have the last of the Gnome Oil?” Sarah asked.
“The original recipe,” Bernard added.
All the Four Wizards laughed.
“That never gets old,” Thom said. “We have what’s left of it.”
“Has anyone else come looking for it?” I asked.
“No,” Ferris said. “Why?”
“A group who follows Magi Inyontoo is looking for the Dawn Acid items too,” Sarah said. “They almost killed us a few times.”
“You’ll be safe here,” Sherlock said. “He knows not to mess with us anymore.”
“How high of a level are you guys?” I asked.
Ferris grinned.
“High enough,” Sherlock said. “We’ve been hiding out here in the Four Towers working on new spells and magic items to defeat Magi Inyontoo.”
“Wait,” Sarah said, her eyes lighting up. “You four create new spells in the game? Is that possible? Will I be able to do it too?”
“Calm down,” Ferris said. “Who do you think came up with a strange spell like Fish Slaying? It wasn’t the game designers or the AI running the place.”
“I love that spell,” Sarah said, becoming even more excited.
“That’s not even a good one,” Sherlock said. “We had a few good experiments going on in my old tower before Magi Inyontoo and his goons took it over.”
“I killed Snargao,” I said, proud of my own good deeds.
All four wizards turned to me.
“You did?” Sherlock asked.
“When did this happen?” Ferris added.
“Not too long ago,” I said.
“Captain Riggard died in the battle,” Bernard said.
The Four Wizards bent over in a huddle, whispering amongst themselves. After a few moments, they turned back to us.
“We have the Gnome Oil and Star Rock for you,” Ferris said. “We might have another few items to help you on your quest.”
“That’s great,” Sarah said.
“Come inside my tower,” Ferris said. “We’ll get you outfitted and on your way. Destroying the Pendant of Visions is of great importance. More than you three know. Get into a circle with us.”
The other three wizards joined us. Aaron cast a silent spell, teleporting us all to a brilliant brick room. I glanced around, amazed at all the magic items.
“We’re in my tower.” Ferris turned to Sarah. “Will you join us upstairs?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
“You two should stay down here,” Sherlock said. “We only allow magic users upstairs for a number of reasons.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sarah said.
“Are you sure?” I asked, and she nodded in response.
I watched as she followed the Four Wizards to a staircase leading up. Bernard walked over and stopped by my side.
“We can trust them,” he said.
“I hope you’re right, my friend.”
Bernard’s gaze roamed around the room.
“You know…” he said then stopped.
“One step ahead of you,” I said, walking toward a doorway. “Follow me.”
“We shouldn’t take anything,” Bernard said.
“I didn’t say anything about stealing. We’ll just explore a bit. Come on.”
He looked nervously at the staircase then came over and met me at the door. I opened it, peering through to the other side.
“That’s an awfully big room,” I said.
“We shouldn’t go far,” Bernard said.
I boldly walked through the doorway.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” I asked.
He joined me in the new, larger room.
“I left it back home in the Shire,” he said.
“Love those books,” I said, looking around the room.
“There’s two more doors.” Bernard walked over to the closest one and turned the handle. “This one’s locked.”
“Since when could a simple lock stop two men such as ourselves?” I asked as I walked over.
Bernard stepped aside.
“Can you pick magically locked doors?” he asked.
“Not yet,” I said. “Let’s try the other one.”
He followed me across the room. The door opened, and with a smile, I walked through to the other side. My eyes widened at the size of the space.
“The tower looked big from far away,” I said. “But not this big.”
Bernard wandered past me and into the room. He stared up at the high, vaulted ceilings—where someone had painted an epic battle scene.
“That was a battle from the Great War,” he said.
I saw a staircase leading down on the far wall.
“Come on,” I said as I walked over. “Let’s see what else they have hiding in this tower of theirs. I bet we’ll find something good.”
Bernard stepped toward me.
“They did mention wanting to give us items to help on the quest,” he said.
I stopped at the stone staircase leading down into the darkness.
“We should stay up here,” Bernard said.
I ignored him and ventured down a few steps.
“Are you coming?” I asked without turning around.
“Yeah,” he said. “But this is the last room.”
Two steps turned into twenty then thirty more. At the very bottom, I spotted a door. Probably locked, I thought as I turned the knob.
My eyes widened as it opened. I pushed the thick, wooden door inward. Yet another massive stone room stretched out in front of us.
“It’s so big,” Bernard said. “Are we underground?”
“Not sure,” I said, stepping forward. “But I see something on the ground over there. Let’s check it out.”
Without waiting for his reply, I kept walking toward the round object on the floor.
Too small for a table. Maybe a strangely-shaped treasure chest?
“It’s a round, metal hatch,” I said as I stopped next to it.
Bernard caught up to me.
“We should leave it alone,” he said. “The others will be coming back soon.”
“Uh huh,” I said, not paying him any attention as I studied the hatch.
I grabbed a sturdy metal ring on one side and pulled. To my surprise, it flew open. While it appeared heavy, the door had no real weight to it.
A wisp of dank, grey smoke rose from the opening as Bernard and I peered down the hole. I saw a ladder descending into the darkness.
“Should we go down?” I asked.
Bernard took a deep breath.
“I’m not sure,” he said.
“Do you have that bullseye lantern from back in Esterhollow?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, rummaging through his sack. “Hold on a minute.”
Another stream of smoke rose from the depths below. Tears poured out of my eyes as the acrid smoke and smell hit my nose forceful
ly.
“Here we go,” he said, pulling out the lantern.
After lighting it, he pointed the beam of light into the deep, dank pit.
“Hold the light while I go down,” I said.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I climbed onto the ladder.
“Positive,” I said, moving down a rung.
As Bernard pointed the light, I kept climbing down.
“Can you see anything?” he asked in a loud whisper.
“It’s a huge cavern,” I said as I glanced around. “Lots of glittering. Hand me the lantern. I want to check it out more closely.”
He lowered the lantern on a bit of rope. After untying it, I shined the light across the immense cavern below me. Gems and gold filled the place.
“This is a lot of treasure,” I said, greedily taking it all in.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Bernard muttered.
“Hold on,” I said. “Let me go down some more.”
I still hadn’t reached the bottom of the ladder. As I climbed down, I lost my grip on the bullseye lantern, and it fell into the darkness below me.
The beam of light tumbled and bounced as it continued falling for more than a second. When it hit the bottom with a loud clang, I flinched.
“Are you okay?” Bernard asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “But I need to get the lantern.”
After climbing down a few more rungs, Bernard shouted, “Watch out!”
I glanced down to my left and saw the piles of gold and other loot begin to stir.
Was it a trap? I wondered as I froze in place on the ladder.
Two massive, reptilian eyes blinked open near a lumpy pile of coins. My heartbeat kicked into overdrive as a huge red dragon lifted its head.
Rivers of coins streamed down both sides of its massive body. It shook like a wet dog, sending them scattering through the cavern below.
“Who goes there?” a booming voice asked. “Are you my dinner?”
“No,” I said. “Wrong door. Sorry. We’re leaving now.”
“Don’t leave,” the dragon said.
As I scampered up the ladder, its serpentine neck zoomed toward me. With a giant dragon eye mere inches from my face, I stopped.
“We don’t mean you any harm,” I said.
The dragon moved its head back and laughed heartily.
“Good to know,” it said, still chuckling.
“What do you want from us?” I asked.
“You came to visit me,” the dragon said.
“And we’d like to leave now,” I said. “Can we?”
“Not yet.” The dragon craned its neck to see me better. “Come closer.”
“I’d rather not,” I said. “Your breath is so hot.”
The dragon laughed, sending flames into the air.
“Careful,” I shouted, stepping backward.
Its head swiveled to me again.
“My name is Wiley,” it said. “What’s yours?”
“I’m Drex, and that’s Bernard,” I said.
“What are you doing in this tower?” Wiley asked.
Bernard stepped away from the ladder.
“The wizards know we’re here,” he said.
Wiley’s head snapped toward Bernard.
“Do they?” he asked.
Smoke swirled out of its nostrils.
“They’re down here,” Thom shouted.
I looked up toward his voice, happy they’d arrived.
“We should get going now,” I said. “But nice meeting you.”
The dragon growled as it settled back into the pile of treasure. After Bernard climbed up the ladder, I followed close behind.
We emerged in the giant stone room above. Sarah stood in middle of the Four Wizards in a semi-circle near the hole in the floor.
“Good timing,” I said. “Nice dragon.”
“Thanks, man,” Thom said.
Sherlock shot him a stern look.
“Why were you wandering around?” Ferris asked.
“Looking for the bathroom,” I said, obviously lying. “This place is huge.”
“Bigger on the inside than the outside,” Sarah said.
She smiled as she walked over.
“I have the next two items for Dawn Acid,” she said.
“That’s great.” I turned to Sherlock. “Any chance of a magic weapon to help finish this quest? We still need monkey ghoul brains.”
“As we were telling Sarah upstairs,” Sherlock said. “We have some items to help you to stop Magi Inyontoo.”
“Or kill him,” I said. “Problem solved.”
Ferris shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Even with our weapons, your group isn’t powerful enough to kill him,” he said. “But destroying the cursed Pendant of Visions will slow him down.”
Sarah put her hand on my arm.
“They’ve been in the game longer than Bernard,” she said. “And they don’t even remember their names in the real world.”
I swallowed as I stared at the Four Wizards.
“You don’t remember your names?” I asked.
“No,” Sherlock said. “Once we stop Magi Inyontoo and learn his secrets, we’ll be able to focus our efforts on getting out of this game.”
“Give me good enough of a sword, and I’ll kill him,” I said.
Sarah pulled her hand away, staying silent.
“Here you go.” Ferris pulled a glowing broadsword out of a bag at his side. “If you kill him with this sword, you might trap him as a low-level NPC.”
Sherlock rubbed his hands together at the thought.
“With him unable to become a player character, we can find a way out of this game.”
Bernard clapped his hands together.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said.
I walked toward Ferris and took the sword from him.
Magic Item: FAST Sword +5
This broadsword deals 1d10 damage + 5/x3 Critical. It has +25% to hit modifier. The bearer of this sword created by Ferris, Aaron, Sherlock, and Thom will always go first in an encounter. When used against another player character, they have a 25% chance of losing 1d3 NPC lives if this sword delivers the killing strike.
“What about us?” Bernard asked.
“In the morning,” Ferris said. “We’re finishing them up. Tonight, you can stay here and rest up for the final leg of your quest.”
“Can you help us find a red mage and an elven ranger?” I asked.
Sherlock shook his head.
“No,” he said. “Would that be a helpful spell?”
“Are you kidding?” I asked.
He grinned.
“We lost some magic schools by building our own,” he said. “Find person and detection spells were the main ones we swapped for our custom mods.”
I nodded, amazed at what they’d been able to accomplish in the game.
“You should come with us to destroy Magi Inyontoo,” I said.
Bernard nodded and added, “Yeah. We could use the help.”
“It would be fun,” Ferris said. “But we have adventures on higher levels to finish. Now that we know you’re working on this low-level quest, we need to make sure everything’s ready on the higher levels.”
“How far into the game have you been?” Sarah asked.
“Too far,” Ferris said. “Way too far.”
“And you didn’t find a way out?” she asked.
“No,” Ferris said. “Not yet.”
“Will we meet you again?” I asked.
“That depends on the decisions you make and the mood of the game,” Sherlock said. “The AI can be moody at times.”
I nodded, wishing they’d tell us more.
“We can’t tell them anymore,” Ferris said. “You guys know the rules.”
“The rules?” I asked.
Sherlock nodded.
“The rules of the game,” he said. “We’ve said too much already. You three shou
ld rest and prepare yourselves for this final leg of your journey. We’ll have your other magic items in the morning.”
“You can find a room upstairs on the sleeping levels,” Ferris said. “We need to work on these last two items for you before we leave.”
The Four Wizards turned and headed toward the stairs.
“One more question,” I said as they walked away.
All four stopped then turned.
“Where are the Dwarves?” I asked.
Thom smiled, but none of them said anything.
“It’s a long story,” Sherlock said. “Maybe some other time. If you’ll excuse us, we need to get ready for our raid.”
They left us in the vast room above the dragon in a cavern.
I turned to Sarah.
“What did they say to you upstairs?” I asked.
“Not much,” she said. “They’re preparing for some high-level quest that needs to be completed. I asked for more information, but they wouldn’t tell me. We should rest up and leave in the morning.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Let’s go find a room.”
We walked up the stone staircase then wandered around until we eventually found the countless bedrooms upstairs.
Each of us claimed our own room. Mine contained a four-poster bed with wooden posts and a thick, firm mattress—even the pillows were quality.
I took off my armor then climbed into the bed.
My mind wandered over all the events that had led us that far in the game.
Such a long time.
A human rogue with hobgoblin armor, wielding an experimental magical sword forged by four wizards trapped in the game for forty years.
What could possibly go wrong? I thought, grinning as I close my eyes.
10
Bringing Out Their Evil Dead
Sarah
* * *
In the morning, we stood inside the tower with Ferris, Aaron, Sherlock, and Thom. Sherlock held a thick, intricately carved wooden staff.
“This is the first of its kind,” he said. “Now it’s yours.”
He handed the staff to me, and I wrapped my fingers around it. Various sized holes covered it from top to bottom.
“Thanks,” I said, admiring the handiwork. “What does it do?”
“It charges other wands,” Ferris said. “Pop a wand in one of the numerous holes in the staff, and it will get back one charge per day.”
