The Magic Sequence

by Dawn Chapman

  I watched Taegen’s face fall. His whole posture seemed so different. It looked like he wanted to say more but couldn’t. At least not yet.

  “How long will it take to get there?” I asked to change the subject.

  Taegen looked forwards. His ebolos edged in that direction. “It will take a week, maybe longer. There’s no easy way around unless we go through the forest but from what you were saying about how fast that thing was moving, we could get stuck in the area they’re expanding into. So we’ve to skirt around it. That means taking on some of the dangerous cliff roads and hills closest to the coast. There are a few indigenous people who like to live up that way. I don’t think getting through their villages and lands will be hard, but it’s been a while since I’ve gone that way myself. It’s always easier to go through the forest.”

  Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to get back with my sisters, but the thought of being on this adventure now, with these two cool guys, was also exciting.

  After the shadow caused by talk of Taegen’s past dissipated, he moved to other subjects, and that about learning more of our skills, teaching us as we rode. Jarvin was a monster at learning, and I tried my best to keep up, hoping that what I was doing was actually making a difference to the character/visitor that I was in here. Each time we did something or saw something in the grounds around us, it solidified what we wanted and needed to do — to be the best version of ourselves.

  A nice stat screen, with a view of my skills page, might be nice, though. I let out a sigh.

  Over the course of the next few days, the giggling duo took to making jokes about me, and the way I was doing things. The stress and hardship of the past few weeks melted away and into being somewhere I wanted to be.

  I was actually enjoying this. The game had its ups and downs, but wasn’t that the point? It was supposed to feel real, to be scary and make you do things you didn’t want to do. It was about character-building and learning.

  A text scrolled past my vision, and I shuddered. ‘Play the game, Dahlia.’

  But the game wanted me to go to my sisters, didn’t it? What was this?

  I questioned everything about that day in the office, what the truth was and who wanted me to do what.

  Was I supposed to play the game the way I wanted, or the way the AI wanted?

  I had thought that finding my sisters was all I wanted, but now I knew different. I did want to find them, and for the glitch to be fixed, and for us all to return home. But, I’d also realised I wanted this — this friendship.

  Life was lonely back home. I had my sisters, and that was about it. Lila had friends. I was the one left out. If I wasn’t doing something with her, I was sat at home playing games and interacting with other players, strangers. I’d a couple of people I liked to call friends, but they were just ‘guild mates’. We used each other. There was nothing real about it. If I asked any of them to help me in the real world, I’d no doubt the answer would be no.

  The games we played were online ways to escape our lives and, just like I did, they made stories up. Who knew if ‘Ang21’ was actually a girl, or if she went to a school in a good town in the US? She could have been lonely Joe 45 who liked to kick ass in games with whoever would play with them. The reality was, looking at these two now, I had found something very different. This VR of Puatera felt more real than any other game I’d played. Right at this moment in time, I didn’t want this to end.

  This time when we camped, the firelight surrounding us lit up the area really well. The food hadn’t been as easy to get hold of. We hadn’t had any kind of meat for a few days, and there was no stew.

  Taegen and Jarvin had gotten off to try and find more food, but when they returned they were empty-handed.

  This was the first time I’d been in-game when my stomach growled, more than growled. My splotch was back, and it pulsed at a steady 4. I was drained, both physically and emotionally. I knew it, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  “Maybe I can summon a creature to kill?” I asked. I didn’t want to, but I would.

  “It’s against most Summoner codes of practice,” Taegen said.

  I nodded. I kind of already knew this. “What would I antagonize?”

  “Possibly ruin all the progression you’ve had with them so far. You’d end up taking a much darker path, I believe.”

  I thought about that for a few moments and then decided against it. I was hungry, but I was not starving. Not yet.

  I shook my head and eyed them both carefully. “No, I really couldn’t. I would feel more than awful about lulling an innocent animal into a trap only to make a grab for it and kill it.”

  “Good. I don’t think I’d want to be associated with those who did that.”

  My splotch reached 10 and I started to feel sicker. “Okay, but I tell you now, if we don’t find enough to eat by tomorrow night, then I will do what I have to do for us all to survive.”

  Jarvin nodded.

  We’d no idea that the next day would provide us with just as little food. That my splotch would be on 20, and that we’d be sitting in the heat of the sun wondering what the hell to do to survive.

  I wanted to ask for their help, but instead I decided to go off and do this myself. If they had nothing to do with the summoning, then whatever creature I lured wouldn’t be on their conscience. It would be on mine.

  I decided the best place for me to sit and try this was out in the open, a rock to my back and the sun scorching as it was in full view. Sweat dripped off my nose, and I wiped it away on my sleeve. Very ladylike.

  There was no way I’d still want to kill something I summoned, but I had to give this a go. I wasn’t trying to lure them. I wanted them to come to me, to help us. To think of their sacrifice in a much better way. That there wasn’t anything better than laying your life down in the hope that something else would survive and that it gave your relatives and family the best chance because the creatures your body nourished were ultimately doing good.

  It wasn’t long before the bushes ahead of me moved and an animal snout poked through.

  It was some kind of pig-like creature. I wasn’t sure what, but it was cute. I stared into its eyes and realised how it felt. Its emotions were oozing towards me.

  I held out a hand and it edged forwards, placing its snout inside it. The need to actually kill something to eat, to kill it so my friends would live, hurt.

  But it looked up at me, and its eyes weren’t sad. An unspoken language passed between us. Had it really understood what I wanted from it? It pushed its snout harder into my hand and I struggled to keep my emotions in check. Tears ran down my face as I pulled out the knife I’d gotten from the estate. It was a clean killing knife, but I wasn’t sure I could make that killing blow.

  It grunted at me, and its body pointed towards the knife.

  “This day will not be forgotten,” I said. “I will find a way to pay your family back for your loss.”

  “Do not fear, little one,” it replied.

  I didn’t feel so little. There was one thing that I still had to do, and that was to plunge the knife into its neck. I did so quickly, and even though it had wanted it, the boar-like animal struggled against my hands and I had to grip it tightly. The life flowed from it in the weirdest shade of red, but there were pings across my screen. It was still glitching, but I knew my skills and maybe even my levels, if there were any, were growing. I’d made my first kill for my own survival but also to help others survive. Pushing myself up a few moments later, I pulled the knife from its neck, then slashed deeper. It would bleed out for quite a while, but at least when I hauled it onto my shoulder, it wouldn’t drip all over me.

  I tried to make my way back to the others without struggling, but the splotch on my view wasn’t having it.

  I called to them. I had no other choice.

  Jarvin found me first. He helped both me and the boar into a better position so he could get us back to the camp.

  Taegen was waiting for us, and I wav
ed at him. He didn’t look happy, but I smiled. “I didn’t order it. I asked; totally different situation. This was a life sacrifice for us, to help their lands and the whole of Puatera.”

  He let out a laugh. “That’s amazing, I never thought that would be possible.”

  “It is, and it was, but...” I teared up, and Jarvin took the animal from me. “Rest up,” he said. “We’ll sort this.”

  So I did. I made my way to the dugout and huddled down while they prepared the roast. I slept like I’d never slept before.

  Chapter 11

  The smell woke me. That and my grumbling stomach. I’d had more than enough rest, but the pain from it feeling so empty was real. I needed to eat. Taegen called me over and I sat before them. He handed me a bowl filled with the delicious meat. I’d never tasted anything so good. It wasn’t quite like ham, or chicken, but something in-between. The splotch in my view changed with each bite. I swallowed down some water and, finally, it vanished. This was so good. But I was also full far too quickly.

  What I needed now was to do something else, to keep myself going all the more. I loved this place, but the excitement and thrill were tough things to follow.

  Jarvin set about making some more hot drinks for us, and he pointed out the flowers floating in the water. “They’ll help with our digestion, as it’s been a few days since we’ve eaten.”

  “They smell lovely. Where did you get them?” I looked around. There weren’t many flowers anywhere.

  “It took me some time but I found them, and this, too.” He pulled out an oddly shaped brown fruit round on one end. “Both Taegen and I have had a couple. I saved the last two for you.”

  “Why two?”

  “They’re that good you’ll want more than two.” He laughed.

  I took one from him, biting into the flesh of the fruit.

  He wasn’t kidding. This was the best thing I’d ever had. It was like strawberries and chocolate all in the same mouthful. With a mouthful of flesh and dripping juices, I tried my best to not let any spill.

  “This is heaven.”

  He grinned. “I had a feeling you’d like it.”

  I did, and I held my hand out for the second one. However, I was still so full. I did and I didn’t want to eat it just yet.

  I was going to save it until I could eat it in private and hoard over it like a chocoholic. Oh, I really missed a treat like this.

  How long had I even been here? A few weeks? In the real world it was probably only a few days, but this was more like two weeks, going into three now. I was sure of it. Wasn’t there a reboot feature on the game? Maybe I’d be kicked out automatically after a set time.

  I sighed. I wondered if my mum was okay, or whether she was going nuts. Though I knew her, and I knew what we’d done, this was serious. If we were really stuck in the game, we’d jeopardise her job.

  I tried to push that thought away by covering my face with my hands.

  Taegen placed a hand on my head. “We’re here if you ever want to talk. We know things have been difficult for you.”

  “Thanks,” I said and looked back up at them.

  I really wanted to do this, and I would. “Whatever’s in the forest is bad news. You know that, right?”

  He looked east and agreed. “You can see it from here if you look close enough to the forest lines. It’s probably bigger than we can handle.”

  “You don’t think your father can stop it?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe if he has enough mages on standby.”

  I suddenly felt extra small. What was I thinking? That I’d be able to help them?

  “I shouldn’t even be with you when it happens. What can I do that you or your father and his people can’t?”

  Taegen’s lip curled. “You’re kidding. You’re a Summoner. Only my father can do that, and he can’t leave the palace. There are wards in place because of what he is. It’s one of the reasons he must have sent Clax out to watch me.”

  “Oh, so I can do something?” My face must have lit up because I felt myself flush afterward.

  “I am sure the creatures around you would be interested in following you wherever you want to go, but what about calling something to fight for you?”

  “Like something evil?”

  Taegen shook his head. “No, like something that’s not really here.”

  “I don’t understand.

  “The only way I can explain it is if you try it at the same time.”

  “Okay, I’m willing to do that. Or try, anyway.”

  He patted the place before him and I shuffled over to his side.

  “I want you to think about the place we are, and the surroundings. Visualise the trees, the rocks. And think of them as living creatures. Because essentially, they are.”

  “Okay.”

  This was confusing, but I closed my eyes and did as he asked.

  “Now, I want you to think that they can come and help you, that the trees will become creatures, monsters, and that they’ll protect you.”

  I pictured tree things, like the tree critters I’d seen as a kid in the movies. Cute. I could do that.

  I heard movement all around me, twitching branches and creaking, and opened my eyes. There before me was a little thing. It wasn’t cute. It wasn’t much of anything. It was a small tree, maybe two feet high, scrawny, with several twigs as arms, each hand in that arm holding a weapon. When I looked closer, I realised that they definitely were weapons, sharp-bladed knife things.

  “I did that?”

  “Yeah. This is a Trelk. A small one, but that’s just on the first try. You’ve got a great spark in there, but it needs a lot of practice. If the mages are with the army when we get there, I can ask one of them to power-boost you. You can create a small army with enough power. You just can’t do it yourself yet.

  “An army!” I was good at parroting him.

  Jarvin giggled. “I wish I could do that. But I think I might be best healing, and doing other things.”

  Taegen nodded. “Practice getting the little tree to follow us when we’re on the ebolos. That will bring up its stamina, and yours.”

  I smiled and stared at the thing. It pointed the stick at me and stabbed my finger, causing a tiny drop of blood to form. “Feisty little thing.”

  “You called him for a reason. He wants to help.”

  “Already? He knows there’s trouble?”

  Taegen started to pack up. “Yes. We’ll travel in a little while. We can gain some ground through the morning, then shelter when the sun comes up again. As you’ve seen, it’s quite harsh up here through the day.”

  Yeah. That meant we’d be even more sweaty and hot. Riding those ebolos through this heat was not nice.

  Jarvin’s face told another story, though. “What about the indigenous creatures? They might…”

  “The Creviok, yeah. I hope they’ll mostly be asleep, too,” he said.

  “Mostly?” It was a question he didn’t answer.

  I swallowed and helped them pack up. When we were done, we climbed onto our mounts and headed out. The slope was tough, and the ebolos worked really hard. Heck, I was sweating before I even saw any signs of the night settling. It was cool, and I could see my breath in the air. Every single bump made the ebolos nervous, and me all the more nervous about it.

  “Taegen, I’m not liking this,” I said. “Like, really not liking it.”

  He turned to me with a furrowed brow. However, he was grinning. “Have you seen what you’ve done, though?” He pointed behind him.

  I looked over my shoulder and saw the things going bump in the night were the tree creatures. There wasn’t just one following us — well, running, really — there were half a dozen. They were taller than the first.

  “Wow,” I said. “I didn’t know I’d done that.”

  Taegen winked. “Don’t worry, they’ve got your back. I doubt anything would have a chance if they tried running at you.”

  I studied their beady little eyes, red and glowing
in the dark. Man, if they ran at me, I’d freak out. They were toddler-sized, and their sharp sticks looked more like swords now.

  A bellow sounded from up ahead. Taegen’s ebolos reared up, and mine almost ran into him. I had to pull sharply on his reins.

  “Jarvin, what is it?”

  Jarvin came in, on his ebolos, beside me. “It’s a Frolbear.”

  “One of those indigenous creatures that shouldn’t be here?”

  He jumped off his ebolos and let the reins go. So did I. But I didn’t know what else to do. The ebolos didn’t move or go anywhere. They immediately started munching on the local bushes. I rushed forwards with Jarvin.

  Taegen had engaged the Frolbear, which was much like a bear in my world, with its large body, square face and long claws, but its jaw split into two, and those two mouths looked deadly. I didn’t want to get hit by that; it would hurt something wicked.

  I pulled out my knife and held it out in the hopes the creature wouldn’t run for me.

  Jarvin called back. “You don’t need to do anything. Stand back and let your trelks in.”

  “Trelks?”

  He laughed. “That’s their name. Use them.”

  I turned to see the little horde of trelks. Why not? I could let them go in and see what damage they’d cause, if any. Or if they’d help at all, not hinder. If they were gonna get in the way, I’d pull them back.

  Taegen swiped at the bear with his sword and backed away when the trelks ran in. Their short stabby sticks were so fast, and their war cry was something else.

  They stabbed, cut, hit out and then backed away. The bear swiped at them and a few were launched into the air. I gasped as they were destroyed. I guessed they were quick but not very strong. I wondered how I could make them stronger, so they could really stand out.

  In the next few strikes, the bear’s blood started to flow. I was really egging them on. Taegen backed farther away and stood beside me, panting. “They’re more than feisty, Dahlia, they’re evil little gits.”

  I tried not to laugh at him, but he was right, they were. I liked this about them. I wanted them to kill that thing. The Frolbear could be our next dinner.