The Right to Choose

by Andrey Vasilyev

  “Do you know how to use portal scrolls?” I asked him.

  He nodded gravely.

  “Excellent.” I pulled out the book I had for Hassan. “Give this to your master and tell him it’s a gift from me and a sign of the great respect I have for him.”

  “My orders are to stay close to you.”

  “Let’s not argue about this. I don’t see the point in that, and everybody’s too busy to be killing people tonight. Come on, get out of here.”

  I handed him a scroll, made sure he used it, took a moment to give myself a mental high-five for making him pay for the return trip himself, and dove into my own portal. I needed to take care of a certain something before he found me again.

  ***

  I picked a fairly remote intersection in the North, a place I’d only been once when Gunther, Flosi, and I were going around the burgs. Flosi had accidentally picked the wrong place to go to, for which the zealous knight had very nearly run him through.

  It was exactly what I needed. Back in civilization, there was somebody out carousing no matter where you were, but everything was quiet in the North. Everybody was at home in their burgs or, if they were peasants, on their farms. Nobody was making any noise, at least not outside Holmstag. That was the capital, though.

  On the other hand, it was a little creepy in the darkness. To my right, there were what looked like the ruins of some farm with a gloomy lake glimmering in the moonlight not far from it, and there was a dark hill behind me.

  “Baron Semadi,” I said softly, in no mood for yelling. “Baron, your white brother is summoning you.”

  A breeze kicked up a spiral of dust around my legs, but nobody appeared. Wait a second, this is the North, and there isn’t any snow. Does it fall in stripes or something?

  “Baron?” I wracked my brain, trying to remember if there was something specific I was supposed to say.

  The wind kicked up again, and some light snowflakes hit my face.

  “Couldn’t you have just come to visit my graveyard?” I hadn’t rubbed my eyes, yet, and Semadi was already there. “Why this wild area? I’ve never liked the North; the people here are so unpleasant.”

  The baron looked ready to party, as well. There was tinsel around the brim of his top hat, he was wearing a new, sparkling tuxedo with something white—either flesh or bones, but not a shirt—showing underneath it, and there was a dandy, snow-white walking stick in his hand.

  “You look good,” I said.

  He spun his walking stick around. “What did you expect? Today’s a holiday for us, too. First, there’s going to be an open-air buffet for everyone, and then we’ll have a closed party just for our group in the crypt. You’re invited, too. Believe me; it’s going to be fun.”

  “That sounds great, but I can’t,” I replied, pasting a sad look on my face. “Sorry, I have other plans. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you without a gift!”

  “You know, I like holidays around here,” Semadi said as he twirled his stick again. “It’s not like in the archipelago. You know what it’s like there? The pirates jump around the palms, they throw some coconuts, and that’s it. But here…”

  “Yes?”

  “Here, everyone’s celebrating, it’s beautiful, and the people are happy to see you.” The baron practically shut his eyes with pleasure. “I just came from a wonderful little city not far from my estate. Everybody greeted me warmly and told me I was wearing a great holiday outfit. Can you imagine that?”

  I laughed just thinking about the stir it would have caused if they’d known exactly who they were frolicking around with.

  “One adorable woman even danced with me,” the baron said, pulling off a couple moves. “I taught her the Danse Macabre, though she didn’t know that was what I was teaching her. She’ll find out later. Ah, she was beautiful, freckled, with a soft chest… It’ll be great to see her when her time comes.”

  I felt bad for the poor girl and hoped her hour hadn’t crept any closer than what fate had ordained. Okay, I need to change the topic.

  Digging around in my bag, I handed him the nutcracker.

  “Oh, this is delightful,” Semadi smiled. “I love it; expensive and all about death. Thank you, white brother. It’s old work, too, unless I’m mistaken, from the masters in those wonderful days that slipped by so quickly between the Wars of Hatred.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I don’t have anything for you, though,” the baron said, pulling his top hat off his head sadly. “We’ll say I owe you a gift.”

  “Ah, forget about it,” I replied with a wave. “Plus, you’ve helped me so many times…”

  “Ah-ha, so we’re here on business.” The nutcracker disappeared into the baron’s bottomless pockets. “What is it this time?”

  “Yes, you’re right, I need something. You know everything about magic, right? Or almost everything?”

  “Not everything, but some things,” Semadi said, glancing down modestly. “Sure, in general, but…”

  “Oh, stop it. If you don’t, who does?”

  “What exactly do you need to know?”

  “In the old days, there was a spell that let you find what were called places of power. Those are—”

  “I know what the places of power are,” the baron said, surprisingly seriously. “I’m just not sure what you could want with them.”

  Whoops. I didn’t really want to explain the whole thing to him, but it looked like that was the only way I was going to get anywhere.

  “I need to find one of them and do something there,” I replied unwillingly.

  “What, exactly?”

  “I have to break a seal.” How pushy are we?

  “I knew it!” The baron perked up, rubbed his hands together, and leaped in place. “I knew there was a reason for us to know each other. You’re a joker in the gods’ hand. The five seals, I’ve heard of them. So, you want to bring the gods back?”

  I decided to just come clean. “Not really, but I don’t have much of a choice.”

  “Sure, when those monsters get someone in their claws, they don’t let them go,” Semadi nodded. “Which one of them is it?”

  “Mesmerta.” I sighed.

  “That fat cow?” Semadi asked in surprise. “I never would have thought it. Tiamat or Lilith, sure, they were always the clever ones, but Mesmerta? They all must have changed out there in the Great Nothing. I wonder, do the rest know about her plan?”

  “No idea. I have enough on my hands with that bitch.”

  “Oh, my naïve friend, you have no idea how right you are.” Semadi laughed quietly. “If you could only imagine the death you’re going to die when she comes back from the skies! And she’ll definitely kill you; don’t worry about that. Typical divine gratitude.”

  “Really?” I asked, feigned surprise on my face. I already knew he was right, and he wasn’t the first person to tell me that. Our only meeting hadn’t done much to ingratiate me with her, either.

  The baron took his top hat off and spun it around in his hand. “Believe me, she’s going to torture you and eat your soul. Becoming part of a god is a reward, too.”

  “That sounds lovely. Damn, I wish they would all just leave me alone.”

  He put his hat back on his head. “No, you need to just plan it right. There are a lot of gods, they aren’t all friends with each other, and you can bring back more than just Mesmerta. But anyway, that’s a subject for a different conversation—a long and detailed one. You need the Road Star spell?”

  “Probably. I wasn’t told what it was called, just that there’s a spell…”

  “That’s it, believe me.” The baron came up close to me, his dark eyes boring into mine. “I can unlock the way there, but I want you to take me with you. Does that work for you, white brother?”

  Warning! If you take Baron Semadi with you to the land of the White Flame, you will not be able to take players or other NPCs with you, as they would find out about your connection with someone fr
om the Dark side and your reputation would suffer.

  I didn’t really care about other players—Semadi alone was worth a hundred of them, both as a fighter and as a mage. On the other hand, I knew that he’d take a mile if I gave him an inch. That’s just what his services cost.

  Still, I was okay with that. I wasn’t going to have to deal with the game once the gods came back, and the rest didn’t really matter.

  “Agreed,” I said, holding out my hand. “Let’s shake on it. What do you need from me for the spell? Ingredients, something else?”

  “Don’t worry about it.” The baron was thinking to himself, working through some calculations or other. “When are you planning to get started?”

  “I’m not sure.” I sighed. “Lots to do. Tomorrow, I’m visiting your home country, and then, there’s a whole laundry list after that.”

  “What home country?” Semadi asked in surprise.

  “I’m going to the last camp, to the great dead godi, Oes, via the Gates of Oblivion or something like that.”

  “The Gates of Oblivion? That’s a bad idea, brother. What takes you there?”

  “I have to go find an object, an axe. I don’t have another option.”

  “There’s nothing I can do to help you over there,” Semadi said with annoyance. “That’s bad. Okay, just remember the most important thing—never, under any circumstances, tell anyone your name. Whatever they say, however scared you are, whatever they promise you, never. Oh, and don’t give them any of your blood. That would be even worse than telling them your name.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s a reason the Gates of Oblivion are called that,” Semadi said, his index finger wagging in front of my nose. “Tell your name to the dead or give them so much as a drop of your blood, and you’ll trade fates with them, forgetting everything you once knew. Whoever takes your name can come back to earth and take your place. If you give someone your blood, they’ll have complete power over you—that’s worse than any slavery.”

  That damn godi! Wait…was that his plan?

  “Just go, find out what you need, and come right back,” the baron said commandingly. “Also, don’t be afraid of anybody there. Unless they get power over you, there’s nothing you have to be afraid of. Even if it’s terrifying, they have no power until you give it to them. Got it?”

  “And you said you didn’t have a present for me,” I joked gloomily. “You just saved my life; I definitely would’ve told them my name without thinking about it.”

  “Afterward, I want you to tell me who got you mixed up in this. I’ll need to have a talk with them.”

  He twirled his walking stick around in his hand, thinking about something, and suddenly started digging around in his pockets.

  “Lose something?” I asked as I watched his serious skull face.

  “Hold on. Ah, there it is.”

  In his hand, he held a dirty date, but it was much larger than the ones I was used to.

  “Here,” he said, holding it out to me. “If things get really bad, eat it, but only if you absolutely have to. If you don’t end up needing it, you can give it back to me afterward.”

  “How will I know if it’s the right time?” I asked, eyeing the exotic…fruit? Berry? What are dates?

  “You’ll know unless you’re a complete fool. And if you’re fool enough to die over there, you won’t be much of a loss. It’ll be a shame to lose the date, but losing you will be fine.”

  “Oh, yes?” I asked him sarcastically.

  He sighed. “No, I’ll have to go help you, break down all kinds of closed doors. So, don’t be an idiot and keep the carelessness to a minimum. You like to just let things fall where they may, and I need you to be smarter, be more discreet, talk less, listen more. Act fast, too, without waiting to be driven into a corner like a rat.”

  I’d lived long enough for the lord of the dead to teach me how to live my life, echoing, practically, word for word what my own parents had always told me. Things really are bad, both here and in the real world…

  “Okay, we can do this, too.” The baron took my hand and waved his palm over the ring he’d given me.

  The dull eyes of the skull on it flared crimson before dying out again.

  “Keep an eye on the ring. If something happens, it’ll tell you what to do, give you a warning. Although… You’re the kind of guy who would get into a war and start working with the enemy.”

  Semadi looked at me with pity and waved a hand dismissively.

  He was mostly teasing me, it turned out, and so we parted on good terms, even giving each other a hug. I told Semadi I’d summon him back to that intersection and let him know when and where we’d be casting the spell.

  When he left, I pulled out the exotic food and took a look at it.

  Date from a tree planted by the goddess Metia

  When eaten, provides the following bonuses for an hour:

  +40 protection against mental attacks

  +40 protection from black magic

  +40 protection from the magic of the dead

  +20 inspiration

  +20 to your ability to threaten

  Warning! This is a powerful item, and using it comes at a cost. Once the effects wear off, you will be assessed the following penalties:

  -10 intelligence for five hours

  -200 mana for twelve hours

  That was enough to make you think twice before eating it. I dropped the date in my pocket and pulled out a portal scroll.

  ***

  Back in Lossarnakh’s castle, the party was heating up. Barrels of wine had been rolled out into the square, and I felt bad that I’d left Flosi in Holmstag; he would’ve loved that. Although to be fair, I didn’t think he’d be wanting for drink. That woman looked like her heart was as big as her chest.

  There was a circle of people dancing around the tree, and I was surprised to see Lossarnakh among them.

  “King!” I yelled, heading over and waiting for him to skip by me. “Ki-i-ing!”

  Lossarnakh turned, saw me, smiled, and left the circle.

  “So much fun!” he announced as he ran over, breaking all the rules of the circle dance. “This is great!”

  “Looks like it. Happy New Year!”

  With that, I pulled the flag out of my bag and handed it to him.

  “Oh, wow,” he said, unrolling it and gazing at the gold crest sewn into the purple silk. “It’s…”

  “A banner!” Tren-Bren sighed from overhead. She was always in on whatever action was going on, and she had a great view from up in the air. “It’s beautiful!”

  “You understand, I can’t…” The king looked at me plaintively.

  “And you don’t have to, yet. It would just be a shame if you didn’t have it with you when the time is right.”

  Lossarnakh gave me a stern, masculine hug, and I noticed he was wearing chainmail when I clapped him on the back.

  “It’s amazing,” the fairy continued.

  I turned to her. “Everyone gave you presents except for me.”

  “Well, I didn’t want to push things,” she said, her eyes dropping and her boot playing in the snow. “You didn’t forget, though, right?”

  “I didn’t,” I said as I handed her the cloak.

  She checked out its attributes, lost the gift of speech, flew up into the air, and came hurtling down to throw herself around my neck, even giving me a kiss on the nose. Lots of hugging, today.

  “Have you seen Gunther?” I asked the fairy, who was rubbing herself against my cheek.

  “Nope. He hasn’t been back since you all left. You’re going to stay, right?”

  To be honest, I would have; I liked it much more than what was waiting for me in real life. Alas, we don’t always get to do what we want to do.

  ***

  Vika had finally realized her dream: she was wearing an evening gown. She looked incredible in it, too, at least, to my uncouth eye. Well, not quite; I’d been in charge of the social column, so I’d seen plenty
of expensive outfits in my day. It was just that I was always more intrigued by the buffet table. It wasn’t easy to get over to it, either, since a crowd of my compatriots always pounced on it as soon as we were given the signal. Still, it was better than dealing with the waiters and their canapé.

  Vika was as beautiful as a starlet and sad as a donkey without its tail.

  “Why so sad?” I asked as I crawled out of the capsule. “What happened?”

  “I don’t even know,” she said, blinking ruefully. “New Year’s Eve, and I’m not in the mood for it.”

  “We’ll fix that.” I glanced at the clock, almost eleven. “I’m going to jump in the shower, shave, get into my suit, and come back so we can drink some champagne, just the two of us. Then, we’ll head downstairs, and I’ll eat my hat if you don’t have all the ladies envious of how beautiful and majestic you are.”

  Vika laughed quietly. “You’re lying, of course, but thanks. Hurry up, it’s getting late.”

  We ended up having the time for champagne, and I gave her the gift I’d gotten her. Then, she gave me mine—a tie clasp and cufflinks, all made out of white gold. I wasn’t sure what to do with the cufflinks, since I never wore them, but I was only too happy to put the tie clasp to good use.

  “What do you think?” Vika asked shyly. “I spent a long time trying to find the right one.”

  “It’s great!”

  “Excellent. And much more useful than some pistol.”

  She put her new jewelry on right away, as well. They were perfect, and I made a mental note to make sure I did what I’d promised Lika I’d do. If I become a Raidion boss, which I doubt, she’ll work for me.

  Another glass of champagne in us, we headed downstairs. The minute hand on the clock was already pointing to half-past eleven.

  “We’re late,” Vika said, adjusting something as the elevator went down. “Like always.”

  “It’s tradition,” I replied placidly. “Just the kind of people we are.”

  The elevator doors opened, and we were greeted by a cacophony of sound. Music, the murmur of voices, firecrackers going off, bottles of champagne being opened, laughter…it all mingled and merged into a deafening roar. Still, I was hit by the holiday feeling. There’s something about people getting together for a common aim, in that case, to have fun.