by Pdmac
“Innis Torr,” Karl said.
The swirling wind evaporated as the raven flew up and cawed, “Friend, friend.”
“You may pass,” the giant grunted. When Gillen made to accompany Karl, the giant held out a threatening palm. “Not you.”
“M’Lord,” she wailed at Karl. “Save me.”
“Tell the raven what I told you,” he reassured her. “I’ll wait for you just past the gate.”
“I’m scared.”
“Of course you are,” he said, hugging her. “Wait ‘til I get past, then it will be your turn. It will all be OK. You’ll see.”
Unhooking himself from her clinging grasp, he cautiously made his way past the giant who stepped aside. Once past him, the giant stepped back into position, effectively blocking Karl from witnessing Gillien’s trial. He took several backwards steps onto the bridge, all the while trying to seeing what was happening, yet he heard and saw nothing until the giant stepped to the side and Gillien came racing past him, leaping into Karl’s arms.
“O my God, O my God,” she exclaimed. “It worked. I’m here with you. Thank the gods, I am with you. I love you, I love you, I love you.” She smothered Karl in kisses until he finally pushed her away.
“OK,” he chuckled, “I get it. C’mon. Let’s find where the rest of the team is.” He turned and started across the bridge, Gillien happily skipping beside him, both hands holding his left hand.
The bridge was constructed of roughhewn stones, thick and heavy. As the bridge curved up and over the ocean span, Karl could not see what was at the other end, yet he could hear the cacophony below them where the sea churned, foamed, and roared. He paused to peer over the side, blinking in surprise at how high above the water they stood. He then craned his neck to see the jagged cliffs in the far distance, descending straight down to the crags and rocks littered with debris.
The island before them, thick with forest, filled the vista.
“Where do you think they might be?” Gillien merrily chatted. “This is so exciting. I’ve never been anywhere outside Tal Olca in my entire life. This is such an adventure. I wish my parents could see me now. My father always said that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. Do you think your two women friends will mind it that I’ve taken you away from them?”
Karl silently moaned, wondering how much more of her jabber he could take when he was jerked to a stop. Twisting his head to frown at her, he saw the startled look in her eyes. He stepped back and turned to face her.
“I don’t feel so good,” she said with strained breath.
Karl heard it before he saw it, a faint static crackling emanating from Gillien, followed by her body beginning to fade and dissipate.
She gaped at him with terrified and imploring eyes, as she sobbed, “My Lord.”
“O God, no,” were the last words he heard before she vanished.
Karl remained rooted, stunned, suddenly realizing that he may have killed her. His next thought was of Elena. Had the same thing happened to her? He sucked in a deep breath remembering the injunction: a player may NOT give, share or otherwise provide the password to a NPC, regardless of circumstances.
He then thought of Dieter and how he must be crushed not to have Elena with him. Accepting that he could not change what had happened and justifying the emotion that Gillien was a NPC, a made up character in a game and not a real person, he pushed his angst into the far recesses of his mind, out of the way where they couldn’t bother him. Then he turned and headed to Innis Torr. It was time to catch up with the rest of his team.
OTHER BOOKS
I write GameLit, Space Opera, Steampunk, Dystopian, Literary, and even poetry, and you can find my books in numerous eBook stores. You can check out my website for more information about my books, upcoming projects, and events I’ll be attending where you can visit with me and even get signed books.
Thank you for choosing to read this story! If you enjoyed it, I’d appreciate your feedback in the form of a review.
Thanks for reading!
-pdmac
WEBSITE
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Bridge Quest: A GameLit Adventure Series
Bridge Quest
Orc’s Bane (Sept. 2019)
Lord of Innis Torr (Oct. 2019)
The Sci Fi/Fantasy Series Wolf 359:
Wolf 359
Queen to Play
A Once and Future King
The Puppet King
The Templar Rebellion
Wolf 359 – Box Set
Steampunk Western: Tombstone Trilogy
Fool’s Gold
An Ounce of Lead
The Devil’s Disciple (Fall 2020)
A Dystopian Novel:
Rebirth of Angels
A Time Travel Novella
Ctrl Z: The Do Over Stone
Poetry
a young man no more
