Blood and Cupcakes

by Taj McCoy El

  “It’s a good thing bleeding debuffs are only good for three minutes in the training village. You’ll be right as rain in how long?”

  “After the debuffs disappear, no longer than eight minutes. Wait, with the hamstrung debuff on my leg, thirty. Thanks for that.”

  “You're welcome. Did someone underestimate a widdle cudwy fwuffy kitty cat???”

  “You know I'm coming for a rematch.”

  “If you didn’t, we couldn’t be friends”

  “You're probably right,” she made a sharp inhalation of pain, “God, this sucks.”

  “Yeah it does. But it’s better to know what it feels like before you… find out what it feels like. If you know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, and I was supposed to teach you a lesson.”

  “What kind of lesson?”

  “Just a serving of humble pie from Jensen.”

  “The funny thing is, you did.” He shrugged at her. “Look Fluff, I wasn’t really taking this seriously until I found out you were stuck in here. You never log out and those long-term pods are crazy expensive. I figured you’re either a rich, crazy virtual role player or you really are a girl stuck in the game. After that, things kinda just changed for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still wonder if you you’re a 50-year-old trust fund baby trolling me, but I trust you. And for whatever reason, I finally realized I was looking at something bigger than myself. Think about it. How often do you get a chance to play the best video game in the world with someone who is not only trapped in the game, but also very good at it? Some of these creations you make, they’re master level.”

  He sat in the grass next to her, “You’re so good at Majesta that the game bends for you. One day it might break and I intend to reap the rewards. I believe the tournament only happened because people saw your duel and got all fired up. There are rumors that it was planned to happen in a week anyway and they pushed it up because of the positive response. You offered the challenge to all of Majesta and they took it up. I'm expecting to invest in this character because now, Majesta has a real reason that has effects in the real world. At first, we knew that we had to defeat Ba'alquion. That was the what, but you showed me the why.”

  He leaned back and crossed his hands behind his head, “This game, it might pay my way through college. If you keep going, I’m going to follow you. Not just for the money, but because you are also making Majesta better for everyone. And that will be the most legendary and most right thing to do.”

  She just looked at him for a moment, then let her head roll back into the grass. “Those are some fancy words. And since I can see that you’ve really thought this through, it's a good thing I’m recording. “

  “What?”

  “Got’cha. And by got’cha, I mean got’cha on film. Also, next time no mercy.”

  He did a kip-up and bounced around on his toes like a boxer. “What could you possibly have for me, loser?”

  “Right now? Seven levels of unspent stat and attribute points.”

  He froze mid bounce, landed flatfooted and stumbled slightly. “You're kidding me, right? Awe man, really???”

  “What's the matter kitty?” She grinned wickedly.

  “I spent all of my points already.”

  Mayah wore an evil grin. “That’s right kitty I'm coming for ya. ….Ooh, hold on that’s Margaret. She says come on over”

  “Well my trusty steed, hurry up and get better. I'm going to go look for some herbs that can stop bleeding. It’s a good thing that you had me take that herbalist trade.”

  “Don’t you want to try out the field medic or healer trades?”

  “Nope,” he said while waving over his shoulder he walked off into the woods.

  Stupid cat…

  “Well I'm gonna work on my runes while I wait,” she said loudly enough for Grax to hear. Then much quieter she said, “…right after I do some healing work.”

  …..

  Due to the high regen rates in the training village, it only took twenty minutes for Mayah to be able to stand again. They exited the wooded copse of the park, and headed towards the village entrance to the storage crypt. Mayah limped slightly, but was mostly healed. Grax rode on her shoulder, trying to get comfortable with every wobbly step.

  “Man, I thought this would be cooler when I made the bet.”

  “Hey, you got what you wanted, so don’t complain to me about it.” Her face remained tense but her brain was skipping through some flowers singing, I’ve got a kitty cat riding on my shoulder. She couldn’t be happier, at least now that her leg was mostly healed.

  “Wanna stop by and see Jensen on the way?” Grax suggested.

  “Not really.”

  “Oh, c’mon let me have a moment of glory.”

  “Fine, but only because you said some really nice things today. So, don’t ruin it.”

  “I’ll do my best. Hey, what if I…” Her cloak snapped back as if caught on a branch. “Now that’s perfect.” He had made a hammock out of her hood.

  “You comfortable now?”

  “Yup.” He sounded so content that there was the hint of a purr in his voice.

  And with that Mayah started to run, jostling and bouncing the poor soul with every limping stride. She lacked grace purposefully.

  Grax deserves nothing but the best.

  They reached the information stand in no time. Jensen was finishing up with a customer who walked away abruptly at their approach. Then he glanced back suspiciously when he thought no one was looking. Seeing Mayah's eyes on him, he turned and hustled off.

  Jensen’s eyes shot to man who’d just left and then back to her. “Hey there, Fluff.”

  “Who was that?”

  “No one, no one. So, what’ve ye been up to?”

  He's definitely hiding something. Who is that?

  “Where are Margaret and Grax?”

  ‘I'm right here.” Grax popped out of the hood like a vampire out of a coffin and stretched his arm as if he had just woken up.

  “Wha…. What are you doing in her hood?”

  “Collecting on a bet,” Grax said imperiously.

  “No…” Jensen’s eyes went from one to the other, as if hoping and praying that it wasn’t so.

  Mayah finally spoke. “He beat me. Pretty solidly too. It was actually masterful. I really have to give him some credit for what he did. He beat Vergie in one blow.” She put her fist over her shoulder and Grax bumped his fist to hers. “Respect.”

  Jensen’s face wore a look of horror.

  “Don’t worry Jensen. I haven’t spent any of my stat or attribute points yet. There's a rematch on the horizon.

  “I want to see it.” There was no escaping that look he was giving her.

  “Me too,” Mayah responded.

  Me...yoooooow three,” Grax said with a yawn and fell back into the hood.

  “Lazy feline. But good job. Ye make an old man proud.”

  Grax sat back up. “Been waiting for that.”

  “For what?” Jensen asked

  “For the end of the quests. Yes!!!” He pumped his fist in the air. Jensen couldn’t help but laugh.

  He reined it in fairly quick compared to his earlier antics. “Okay, I’ve had enough of that today. Where are ye headed now?”

  “Over to the storage crypt. I’m gonna see if I can hatch a plan. After that, some hunting. Hey, later on can you take Margaret through stamina training? See if you can make it grueling so she can get through it faster. She knows what we’re up against. And we need to train again in the morning, so she’ll need some sleep.”

  “If it’s grueling, then that I can do. If I’m not at the stand I’ll meet her at the tavern.”

  “Thank you, Jensen.” She reached over the counter and gave him a hug.

  “That’s alright little sister.” He patted her on the back. “My lassie ...and my laddie.” Grax smiled over Mayah’s shoulder at Jensen.

  When they reached the village side door to the crypt, Mayah felt like she was being watched.
She turned and looked over her shoulder.

  DING!!!

  Awareness level 5

  She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. If awareness triggered, there must be something there.

  “What is it, Fluff?” Grax asked looking back to where she stood.

  She couldn’t tell what she was supposed to see. Her mind was racing over the puzzle. “I guess it’s nothing. It just felt like someone was watching us.”

  “You see anything? Because I don’t.”

  “I guess I’m just on edge with preparations for the tournament. Come on, let's go.” She looked over her shoulder one last time as they entered the door and walked deeper into the crypt.

  Even with her new awareness level, she missed the figure standing at the edge of street a short distance away. She almost saw him. He wasn’t ready for that, yet. Instead, he watched her enter the doorway.

  “That is her,” he said aloud.

  He grabbed a paladin by the shoulder. “What is that?” He pointed.

  “That’s the crypt. Where they keep the zombies and stuff.”

  “Where does it go?”

  “Don’t you have the map?”

  “Show me this map.” His grip tightened on the player as he pulled him closer, turning him so they were face to face.

  “Hey, let go! It’s over there on that board, freak.” The paladin yelled and knocked his hand away.

  “Weirdo.” The paladin said walking away rubbing his arm.

  The figure walked to the map board.

  …..

  5.5 Booms and Bad Guys

  “Cloutus, may I introduce Graxiel Destruir.” Grax climbed out of the hood and leapt to the floor. He bowed to Cloutus

  “Well met, good Cloutus. How fares the day?”

  “Fairly well, thank you for asking.”

  Mayah’s face screwed up. “Grax, why are you talking like that?”

  “I’m trying to raise my presence,” he whispered to her out of the side of his face.

  “I have to be quite honest with you, ...Grax?” Cloutus verified the name, “I have always been more interested in what a person says than how they say it.”

  “I agree,” Mayah said quickly. “Where’s Margaret?”

  “She’s in the study. Let’s go catch her up.”

  Margaret was sound asleep in one of the comfy chairs. Cloutus put a hand on her shoulder and roused her gently.

  “Ooh… did I fall asleep? What time is it?” she began looking around sleepily.

  “Only twenty minutes or so have passed,” he reassured her.

  “Thank goodness.” She yawned and noticed Mayah and Grax, “Hello, dears.” she palmed her eyes and wiped them clean on her lap.

  “Don’t you look comfy?” Mayah said with the hint of a tease.

  “I am comfy. So, what did you send me here for?”

  “Right. Cloutus, you know how the runes for storage work, if I’m not mistaken? Can you explain the process to me?”

  “It’s quite simple actually. The runes create a window to a pocket dimension. When open, they suck the undead in and spit out a token. When you place the token on the symbol, it keys to the pocket dimension and pulls the undead back out.”

  “Do you think you could teach me those runes?”

  “You have to have the runes skill first, but yes I could.”

  “I already have it.”

  “Well then, this should be a breeze.” They walked to the platform that had the runes carved in it. “This is a runeagram, it helps to control the power of the runes. These,” he said pointing to the markings around the circle, “are the four runes that do all of the work.”

  Mayah pulled her runebook from her bag. “This first one is Open (Lf); it is a rune of life.”

  The rune and a description slowly appeared in her book. That was so cool. Do it again …again.

  “This second one is Hold (E); it is a rune of earth.” Again, the book added the rune. For the third rune, he moved around so she could see that it was turned 90 degrees from the others.

  “This is Call (A); a rune of air. And this last one is Release (L); a rune of light.”

  “Now,” Cloutus clapped sharply, “Let me show you how it works. The circle is focal point for all four runes. They were all enchanted into the platform and made to be activated from over here.”

  He walked to the ledger desk where a dial was set in the bottom shelf below the desk’s surface. The dial had three concentric rings nested at various heights. It looked like a small, round Aztec temple.

  “When someone brings their undead in, I’ll have them place their undead on the runeagram. Then I will use the bottom dial to select Open (Lf) and use my mana to power the rune. A rift to the Runiverse, as it’s commonly known, will open. Then I’ll turn the middle knob to Hold (E) and they pop through the rift out of our reality. Then I let go of Open (Lf) and the rift seals, keeping them there. The process creates those small blue crystal tokens. Most people think it’s a form of displacement. Something from the other side of the rift that is keyed to the frequencies of the item you put through the rift.

  “To get them out, well… a little more preparation is needed. The Call (A) rune is a pesky one to figure out. The mana requirements change with length of storage and the distance from where the rift was originally created. That leads a lot of us to think that the pockets that are created are floating freely beyond the rift. When you use the Call (A) rune it harmonizes with the crystal token. When you reach the proper harmonic, you can open the rift, activate Open (Lf) and trigger the release rune, which spits them back through the rift into this reality. They return in the same state they were in. No time will have passed for them. Experiments have been done with complex timekeeping devices. They took the timepieces out at varying intervals and none of them had shown any passing of time. One was left in the runiverse for three years and it was the same result for all the devices.”

  “Has anyone ever gone to the runiverse?”

  “In the early years, there were explorers who attempted to cross the rift. They built all types of airtight vehicles with all manner of life support, mechanical and magical. Every explorer returned dead—perfectly preserved with no sign of wounds or injuries. It was if they had been flash frozen to absolute zero and returned to their previous temperature in milliseconds. Because time does not pass there, there is no way to record anything about what happened to them. Without time, measurement is useless. No molecular movement or conditions can be detected when time is not a factor. At least not with our level of technology.”

  Mayah thought about it for a moment before speaking. “So basically, it’s a deep freeze for any object, but best not used on a living subject.”

  “Exactly. I’ll show you the process slowly so you can see it and then you can try it if you feel comfortable.”

  “Margaret, Grax,” Mayah called, “Get over here and watch. This is how you get those special attributes. You pay attention to things you wouldn’t normally do.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked, putting one of the chairs on the runeagram.

  “Ready and waiting,” Mayah nodded.

  He went through the procedure slowly. Open (Lf), created a sizzling sound that intensified as a vertical line opened behind the chair.

  “That is the opening to the rift. Now I’m going to slowly activate Hold (E).” The chair seemed to slide through the rift, which was strange because the rift had no other noticeable dimensions. Whatever part of the chair touched the rift just wasn’t there anymore. Like in the cartoons when someone got smashed flat and then slipped through a crack in the wall, but with weird electrical crackles and a jagged strip of light so white it seemed black. When the chair completely disappeared, he slowly cycled down on Open (Lf), causing the rift to disappear. Before it closed all the way, a small crystal fell towards the floor and floated an inch from the runeagram’s surface. He released his mana to both runes at once and the crystal fell to the floor as the rift winked out of existence
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br />   “That could be a bit of a workout, if one wanted a work out. Holding them for an extended time like that is a bit draining.” He flapped his hands at his sides shaking out the strain.

  “That would be an awesome way to carry weapons and gear.”

  “You already do, Grax,” Cloutus said to the cat. “How do you think bags of holding work?”

  Mayah had a flash of inspiration. “I think I just figured out how we’re gonna win that tournament. And if I’m right, a lot is going to ride on your shoulders, Margaret.”

  “Me?” Her finger pointed at her chest, her face twisted with the inconceivability of it all.

  “Yes you. I’ll explain later. Cloutus, can you continue?”

  …..

  “So, all we have to do is kill as many high-level creatures as we can and then store them in these portable runeagrams attached to arrows. Then Margaret can shoot her dolls all over the dueling area and release them .”

  “We let the dolls do all the work for the first few rounds and save up our big spells for the later matches.”

  “That is actually quite reasonable,” Margaret agreed from where she sat in her comfy chair, ankles crossed, tea cup in hand. “We play to our strengths… but you do know how I feel about my dolls.”

  “But this is even better! You’ll have the dolls, but you won’t even see them or know they’re there. They’ll be in a pocket dimension attached to your arrows. And since they’re not actually on the field and active at the start of the match, it avoids the rules on a technicality.”

  They aren’t active because they’re in a dimension where there is no time. And she’ll only be bringing them into play after the match starts. Her inner mad scientist laughed. You gotta know the rules to break them.

  “The only problem is getting enough mana to make sure they can all activate. Can we arm the arrows to have the dolls resurrect when they are called out of the runiverse?”

  “That brings us to the fatal flaw in your plan,” Cloutus cut in. “When recalled, the undead have lost their spark until the necromancer activates them. It’s a quandary necromancers have been dealing with for centuries. The skill to carry and raise undead remotely vanished along with Ba'alquion’s Necromancers after the last Great War. If you could figure it out, your names will surely go down in history.”