Party Hard

by David Petrie

  Little more than a rudimentary development console, the cleric menu allowed Alastair to make small changes to the world on the fly. It bore no decorative elements or fantasy styling of any kind since, not being available to the public, there was never a need to make it look nice. So, unlike everything else in Noctem, which had been designed to keep players immersed in the illusion that the world was real, it just appeared as a simple blank rectangle in the palm of its user's hand. Although, despite its simplicity, it was still powerful, or at least it could be, provided there was time to do a little coding.

  The misfit's mouth opened wide in a sort of silent laughter as its eyes focused on the Cauldron mage attempting to set up a command to destroy it.

  Spoiler moved first, putting himself between them, his gauntlet’s barrier glowing. He planted one foot as the strange creature rushed forward, its large, yellowed teeth coming straight for him. Then, at the last second, the damned thing jumped feet first, impacting with his shield. For a moment, time slowed as the horror of what was happening sunk in. The attack didn't carry much damage, and Spoiler had blocked it well, but the force of it was more than anyone could have anticipated, not to mention the angle was bad. Spoiler’s back leg buckled as he slipped back.

  FireDrill reached out, his fingers falling just short as his friend and co-worker was launched over the side, their eyes meeting as he fell. FireDrill clenched his fist and turned to face his comrade’s killer.

  It swayed before refocusing on Alastair who was still tapping away at the small window in his hand.

  FireDrill's eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat. He wasn't sure if he could stop it. He made a choice, deactivating his shield and dashing forward, dropping into a slide on one knee just in time, his sword held in front to force the misfit back.

  Again, it leapt, but this time, face first. Its impossibly wide smile came at him, its silent laughter filling his mind. Teeth clamped down on his blade, ripping it from his hand.

  Panic coursed through him. He just hoped he’d bought enough time as the creature flipped in the air, its hind legs impacting against his chest.

  Alastair ignored the second Shield as he disappeared over the edge, his scream cut off by the jagged stalagmites below. Despite losing his two guards, he remained calm.

  Jeff-with-a-three made no motion to help.

  Max took a step back as the misfit retargeted again.

  Kira and the rest of the party followed suit, backing away in unison.

  Alastair finished his sequencing and closed the window just as the thing closed the gap. Then he grinned, almost as wide as the creature before him. He snapped his fingers. The attack carried no effects or animation, but the thing fell dead at his feet, its wing-like ears falling limp over the madness of its face. It was a little anticlimactic, but regardless, Alastair blew on his fingers like they were the muzzle of a recently fired gun. "Told you there was nothing to worry about."

  Max leaned over the side where the two Shields had fallen. "Dude, that was cold."

  "I did choose the name Coldblood. I do what has to be done." Alastair continued walking toward their destination, letting Max watch as he walked away. That will hopefully make him think twice about throwing another punch.

  A treasure chest waited in the chamber beyond, and Ginger wasted no time, popping it open with a set of lock-pick tools. Inside sat six full-size bars of hard mercury, each being worth around nine hundred dollars. Her face lit up.

  "Sweet!" she squealed.

  The material had no real use in the game. It was just mercury, enchanted to remain in solid form, but since it could be traded into Checkpoint for real money, it encouraged exploration and kept the players engaged, even if it was a rare find. After all, who could resist a good treasure hunt? Besides, money was something that Checkpoint had no shortage of.

  Alastair tapped the chest with his foot. "We had to put something valuable here in case someone made it past the misfit somehow. Couldn't have anyone suspecting the real reason for this place."

  Max ignored him, glaring down at Ginger as she took a bar of hard from the chest. "We didn't earn that."

  It surprised Alastair. He didn't expect Max to be so honorable.

  Ginger sucked her teeth at the Fury. "Yeah, I don't really care."

  Max continued to judge her with his eyes.

  "But …" she started to say as Kira joined in.

  The fairy's eyes settled upon the Coin like two wide pools of glistening water.

  "FINE!" Ginger fell victim to the sad puppy act and tossed the bar back into the chest before slamming the lid shut. "You both suck."

  With that done, Max changed the subject, "So where's this invisible entrance?"

  Alastair pointed at the back of the cave behind the chest. "Right there."

  Max approached the rock wall and placed his hand on its surface. "Feels pretty solid to me."

  "Of course it does. You literally have to run into it for it to let you through. We figured no one in their right mind would do that." Alastair kept his voice even to ensure that it was hard to read.

  Max squinted and raised one eyebrow at him. "Okaaaay." He took a few steps back and got into a runner's stance. He glanced back at Alastair.

  He waved his hand as if to say, get on with it.

  Max faced forward again and pushed off, holding his arms in front of himself just in case.

  Kira burst out laughing as the Fury impacted with the wall, tumbling backward to the floor.

  The others held still as death, their eyes shifting back to Alastair.

  He didn't really intend to go through with the prank, but at the last second, he thought of Kira and what she had laying ahead of her. He couldn't predict what would happen in the next fight. At that moment, he just wanted to hear her laugh.

  Max sighed. "Okay, I guess I deserved that a little."

  The others joined the fairy's laughter when they saw it was safe to do so, which only made her laugh harder.

  Kira wiped a tear from her eye and leaned against the cavern wall to recover. She let out a short yelp as she fell through the solid rock behind her as if it wasn't there.

  Max lost it immediately, clapping and rolling on the ground like an idiot. "Now that is the best thing I've seen."

  Alastair snickered too, feeling a little like part of the team again.

  Kira stamped back through the wall. "Okay, I get it. Karma's a thing."

  "Yeah, and it's awesome," Max agreed, still on the floor holding his sides.

  Kira shook her head and stormed off through the wall again. Farn let out a few last chuckles before following.

  Alastair approached as well, hoping that he might be allowed to stay with the team a little further. His heart sank as his hand felt solid stone against his virtual skin.

  "I guess this is where we part." He offered a hand to Max, who took it, forming an unspoken truce as he helped him up. Then, still holding his hand, Alastair spoke. "Seriously, thank you. For everything."

  Max smiled. "Anytime." He paused. "Jackass."

  Back in the city of Valain, two Shields respawned with no way of returning to the Nostromo without a specific teleport spell. They sighed and turned to each other.

  "Want to stop by a tavern, get a drink?"

  The other nodded. "Hell, yes."

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Max passed through the stone wall, leaving Alastair behind on the other side of the intangible rock. It was cold as he slipped through the rock like a ghost. With no light source within the construct of the wall, he was blind until he reached the other side, where a dim glow hit his eyes and his foot caught something soft but firm. He fell forward, arms flailing as, again, the sound of laughter filled his ears. He growled a sigh and looked back to his feet, where he saw a giggling Kira stretched across the floor of the entrance. As annoying as her continued pranks were, she was still hard to be mad at. She was probably just coping with her situation.

  "Fool me twice, shame on me." He chuckled to himself
as he got back to his feet and offered a hand to his partner. She accepted, and he lifted her to her feet.

  From there, Max led the group down the newly discovered tunnel for a short distance before coming to an opening where, all at once, they fell silent as Sierra came into view. Max's knees actually trembled as he uttered a quiet, "Holy shit."

  Spanning for what seemed like miles, the subterranean expanse filled a cavern so large that it seemed impossible. Even its edges branched out into a network of caves, reaching like tendrils into the surrounding rock. Max always knew that the developers of Noctem had a policy of go big or go home, but this was something on a whole new level of imagination.

  The cavern was covered with dozens of towers of all sizes, rising from the floor as they tapered into points at their tops. Strangely, they had no walls. Instead, they consisted of layered rings, supported by heavy girders and wood beams. Each was filled with smaller buildings as if every level was a small village in and of itself. Alone, the towers would have been impressive, but the fact that more hung from the ceiling like stalactites, mirroring their counterparts on the floor, rendered the view breathtaking. The structures above and below reached toward each other, sometimes overlapping like the teeth of the dragons imprisoned within. Some even connected in the middle as if they had grown together over time. The rest were joined by a series of lifts dangling from heavy chains while tracks wove through the city for what Max assumed was some kind of train.

  Somehow, though housed within a cavern of stone, the place felt warm and inviting like a hearth. Massive crystals hung throughout the space, their glow chasing away the shadows. In a way, the city seemed almost industrial, like its people had learned to use magic in an entirely different way from the rest of the world.

  Kira stood, bending to the side to view the hidden city upside down while letting out a slow whistle as she wobbled on the balls of her feet.

  The path from the secret entrance ran halfway up the wall of the cavern before reaching a bridge that took them down to one of the towers. From there, Max could just barely make out the shape of the two dragon kings between the structures. Their forms were still locked in some kind of eternal struggle, jaws open as if letting out a never-ending roar of frustration at their fate as the city surrounded them on all sides.

  "Damn. Can't see much, but they're definitely big."

  Finally, after coming to terms with how small he felt before the city, he continued, becoming the first player to set foot in Sierra to declare the lost city no longer lost. To his surprise, the layers of each tower were populated by NPCs, each a member of the never before seen race, the deru. Their skin ranged from blue to gray, but overall, they looked human enough. The only major difference was the strange crystalline formations poking out from their hair behind their ears. With each crystal colored to match one of the world's elements, it was easy to guess that their race had some kind of affinity system built into it.

  Corvin raised a few thoughts on the subject, wondering about some of the possibilities out loud, especially for mages.

  Judging from the towers and the number of workshops they passed, it also seemed likely there was an emphasis on crafting for the deru. It was as if they were Noctem's version of dwarves despite the fact that they weren't short. Hell, if anything, they were taller than most races.

  The city's inhabitants paid no mind as Max led the party through the walkways that circled their towers. When he approached to engage any of them, they gave him a gentle smile and lowered their head politely. Apparently, none of them had any dialogue set up yet.

  "Any thoughts on how we trigger this thing?" Max questioned the group.

  Shrugs from all around told him that they had none.

  He shrugged as well. "I guess we just head toward the center for now."

  Kira walked slower the closer they got, her breathing speeding up noticeably with each step as he looked back to check on her.

  "How you doing? Feeling godlike yet?" Max asked over his shoulder, half-joking as to avoid putting pressure on the fairy.

  She placed a hand on her chest. "Maybe?" she said with an upwards inflection that made it sound more like she was asking him.

  "Actually, we might do okay here," Corvin jumped in.

  "How so?" Max asked.

  "This is a city, not a dungeon, meaning we aren't limited to the items in our bags; we can access our entire inventory. I don't know about you, but I have a ton of stuff stored."

  Kira looked over her item list. "I have fifteen bone charms that I made earlier with the loot we farmed last night. That's a lot of free hits." With that, her breathing settled out.

  Ginger hopped back to the fairy. "Hey, if they have any item stores set up here, I'll buy you anything you like since I lost your other stuff. I know you probably can't wait to replace that dress."

  Kira let out a simple, "Meh," before adding, "I'm getting used to it, and it's easy to move in."

  "Fine with me. Saves me credits." Ginger folded her hands behind her head as she walked. "I like the new look better anyway."

  Kira smiled and twirled one of the braids in her hair.

  Max hadn't really paid much attention to her new gear, or more accurately, he had tried his best not to since he didn't want to be caught staring again. Although, as desirable as her appearance might have been, if he was honest, she looked a little ridiculous in a fight, like she had worn the wrong outfit to the battle, forgetting her armor at home. Max chuckled at the thought; it actually seemed like something she might do. Her dress was common for fairy gear, though, all fluff and no toughness. He'd always found it annoying, like his poor partner was forever doomed to get the short end of the stick, never looking as cool as someone like Farn. His attention drifted to find the Shield with the corner of his eye to take a closer look at her gear. The ends of her tunic swayed as she walked, and Max couldn't help but notice how detailed the embroidery of her sash was.

  Of course, that was the moment Kira chose to look in his direction, following his line of sight with hers.

  Max flicked his gaze away, pretending that he was looking past the Shield at something in the distance.

  Kira narrowed her eyes so that slivers of purple focused on him accusingly.

  His head itched as heat prickled across his scalp. Fortunately, they came across a bridge, allowing him to blurt out, "A bridge!" He swept his arm out toward it as if they might have missed it without him there to point it out. "Ah, looks like it will take us to the towers closer to the dragons."

  Kira rolled her eyes and stepped past him across the walkway, letting him breathe a sigh of relief, a feeling that was short-lived.

  The bridge did indeed take them closer to the dragons, their hulking forms just as intimidating as Max had expected up close. The pair of beasts stood frozen in stone in a wide circle lined with glowing lanterns around its outer perimeter. Four shrines sat spaced around its edge. They had to be where the crystals that kept the War Dragons sealed away were housed.

  Max found what he thought was a lift station and pulled a lever to call it up. What arrived was no elevator. Instead, a line of mining cars rolled up alongside the tower, wrapping its train around the level like the boarding zone of a roller coaster, which in retrospect, should have been his first clue that he should hold onto the handrails.

  He turned back to the others as if to ask their opinion. Farn responded by hopping in and holding out her hand toward the narrow benches that faced in both directions as if she had saved him a seat. He shrugged and joined her with Kira nestling in alongside him. Ginger jumped into the next car, leaving room for someone to join her. She looked surprised when Kegan and Corvin took the car behind her.

  Max found a lever at the front that read ‘up’ and ‘down’ on either side, along with several tick marks in between the words that he paid no attention to as he pulled it all the way toward down. The train started with a hiss, like air lines releasing steam, and it slowly began traveling along the rail that circled the level they w
ere on.

  Ginger stood, leaning over the back of her car to talk to the pair behind her while Max turned and rested his arm on the edge of his. The ride was relaxing, as he looked forward, watching the track. Then he grinned.

  "Hey, Ginger." He kept his voice in monotone, so it would be hard to read.

  "Yeah?" she answered, without even looking over her shoulder at him.

  "You may want to sit down."

  "Eh, I've ridden a train before." She brushed him off.

  He didn't argue, but he did grin wider.

  Kira arched an eyebrow at him and followed his eyes to the track ahead of them before letting out a solid, "Nope," and motioning to take flight. Max responded by grabbing the back of her dress and pulling her back down beside him as the train dropped.

  "I hate you!" she cried as Max laughed, getting his payback for her tripping him earlier as they shot toward the ground below at an eighty-degree angle.

  Farn raised both arms in the air and let out a long, "Whoooooo!"

  It didn't take long for them to reach the bottom since apparently the tick marks on the lever that Max had ignored indicated speed.

  The brakes kicked in as Farn's shouting shifted into a, "Woooah no," as she tumbled on top of Max and Kira in front of her.

  "That was awesome." Max laughed as he peeled off his fairy companion, who had given in and huddled tightly to his side. "You want to go again?"

  She didn’t answer, opting to glower at him with every fiber of her being instead.

  He turned to check on Ginger, only to find her car empty. Behind it struggled the rest of the party, who now had an upside-down Coin to wrestle with, her feet sticking up as she squirmed. Judging from the uncomfortable look on Corvin's face, it wasn't hard to figure out where her head had landed. He let out a yelp as she hit him somewhere sensitive, to which Kegan responded with a few inappropriate comments that were followed promptly by Ginger kicking him in the head. There was some question of whether it was an accident. Soon after, they were all back on their feet, ready for whatever was next.