by Dante Steel
All three of them burst out laughing.
“You told me he wasn’t much of a gamer,” Olivia said. “I didn’t believe you.”
“He does a good job acting like he knows what he’s doing, but he’s just winging it,” Nicoletta said.
“You can almost forget at times. Not bad, rookie.” Elena winked.
Gary threw up his hands. “Go to sleep, you two, and leave me be,” he complained, pretending to be upset.
The girls laughed and said goodnight and vanished.
Elena turned to him. “Want to hunt some vampires or go to sleep?”
“We should probably sleep.”
“You know Smaug’s out there, gaining levels and power and spells,” she said darkly.
“I know, but we can’t think clearly if we don’t sleep. We have to survive this. We have to get you back home.”
“Hey.” She crossed over to him and took his hands in hers. “We have to get back home. Not just me.”
He nodded. “I know. I just… I don’t know what will be waiting for me.”
“We’ll make it work.”
Gary nodded again, but he couldn’t help wondering what she meant by “it.”
When Gary woke the next morning, Elena was sitting up in bed. He wanted to reach over and rub her back, but he refrained, not certain how she would take such a tender, intimate gesture.
“Good morning,” he said.
She flashed him a smile over his shoulder. “Good morning. Ready to kick some vampire ass?”
“You know it.”
After a quick breakfast—Gary sure was getting tired of berries and almost stale bread—they went topside. Olivia and Nicoletta weren’t anywhere in sight, so they slowly walked over toward the volcano. Along the way, they had to take care of no fewer than sixty-six vampires.
“I really hope there is a finite number of them,” she muttered.
“There has to be,” Gary said. “The wizard told us that to become megaheroes, we have to kill them.”
“Yes, but with Smaug tampering with the game…”
“You would think the developers could help with that.”
“Any updates from Haru lately?”
“No.” Gary shrugged and rubbed his chin. “I think I’ve pissed him off the last couple of times we spoke.”
“No wonder. You have every right to be upset.”
“Yeah, but being upset and being a dick are two different things.”
“Only for some guys,” she teased.
“Haha.”
By the time they arrived at the volcano, the other girls were already there. A few hugs, and Nicoletta and Elena were walking off, figuring out where and when exactly Elena should punch.
“It can’t be too quickly. If it’s too early,” Nicoletta was saying, “then the vampires will be able to readjust and move out of the way.”
“But I still need time to get out of dodge myself,” Elena pointed out.
“Yes. Hopefully, since Gary and Olivia will be leading them here, they should be able to sweep both of us into the air so we’ll all be safe.
“We got this,” Olivia said. “Ready for us to grab ‘em?”
Nicoletta gave them the thumbs up signal.
Olivia grabbed Gary’s hand. “Let’s go!”
They took off and zoomed toward the mountains. The moment the castle came into sight in the distance, Olivia tried to adjust closer to it.
“I want to see,” she said, tugging on his arm.
“No,” he said firmly.
“But—”
“It’s a dark place,” he said grimly. “I don’t want to go there.”
“A dark place? Gary, do you believe in auras?”
“If you asked me before I saw that place, I would’ve said no. Now…”
“Really? People who can sense auras have always interested me,” she said.
“So, I’m not crazy?”
“I don’t know. Sensing an aura in a game is kinda weird.”
“Being in a game is kinda weird,” he pointed out.
“True.”
“And games typically have sound tracks. If you combine a creepy place with evil music…”
“Yeah, okay, an atmospheric place in a game could give off auras after all. I’m sorry. Hadn’t thought of it like that.” She exhaled.
“Are you okay?”
“Me? Okay? Yes, sure, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seem off.”
“Vampires ahoy!” she shouted.
“How convenient.”
“Very.” She grinned at him.
“We’re talking about this later.”
“If we survive!” She waved. “Hallo, vampires! How you doing?” she called as she sensually lifted her chin.
The vampires stared up at her. They had clearly been doing something, but Gary couldn’t tell what. Abruptly, they began to race up the mountain until they were level with Gary and Olivia.
And then they leaped off the face of the mountain.
Instead of falling, they turned into hundreds of bats.
Not tiny bats, either, but huge, massive ones with equally massive wings, and the speed, yeah, the bats had their superspeed.
“Fly!” Gary shouted, releasing Olivia’s hand so she could concentrate on evasive maneuvering.
He flew as fast and as zigzaggy as he could. Gary did not want to be bitten. He didn’t want to be devoured. He didn’t want to be consumed by darkness.
Down below, he spied other gamers. They pointed up at him, and he ignored them, flying by.
That was when he heard it. Hundreds of feet sweeping over the sand at impossible speeds.
Not all of the vampires had turned to bats. Most had remained as vampires, and they were giving chase all right.
Gary had to use his powers to keep the vampire bats away from him. One entangled in Olivia’s hair, ready to bite her. She shrieked, and suddenly, the bat was a hundred feet below her. She shook her head, gave the bat the bird, and flew on.
He grinned. She was something else.
Swooping over, he grabbed her hand again, encompassing her in the area where he was keeping the bats back. He sure hoped the other girls were ready.
The volcano was in sight now. They only had a little more to go. Just a little farther. Just a little more.
Down below, Gary couldn’t sense them. He couldn’t feel Nicoletta or Elena. Where were they?
“I don’t see any of the geysers,” Olivia whispered. “Shouldn’t we have passed some?”
She was right. They were almost on top of the volcano by now. What in the world was going on?
Gary jerked hard, banking to the right, and they flew over the top of the volcano.
Ice. All of it was crystalized in a beautiful but devastating lattice pattern.
“Smaug,” he muttered the name as if it were a curse. “He must have been here. He must have realized we were going to try and destroy his followers. Our plan was too simple, too easy for him to figure out.”
“You don’t think he was here already, that he… he…”
“Olivia, they’re fine.”
“How can you be so sure? So calm?” she wailed.
“Because he wants all of us,” he said grimly. “He wants to kill us all.”
“Again, how can you be sure that he didn’t—”
“He is a sick, twisted individual. He’ll want to kill us in front of each other. To him, it’s all about power. Right? Isn’t that what your courses told you?”
“Yes,” she murmured, sounding stronger and slightly less frightened. “But now what? Clearly, they aren’t here, but we can’t have all of these vampires following back to… he’s at the castle, isn’t he?”
“I betcha he is. As for the vampires, we’ll handle them.”
“How?”
“It won’t be easy, but… we have to try.”
Olivia nodded. “Just tell me what to do.”
“When I open it, shove as many vampires inside as you can as quickly as you can.”<
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“Open what?”
“You’ll see.”
He flew her over to a spot that was hopefully far enough away from the iciness of the volcano. Then, he used his power to shove aside the sand, digging deeper, deeper, seeking out warmth, heat, lava.
There.
A geyser burst forth, and Olivia immediately start to fly the vampires through the air to the lava. Already, Gary was working on springing more geysers, and he threw some of the vampires onto the spewing lava before opening more and more.
Just then, a few other gamers came over, and they began to assist with the vampires. Fireballs flew through the air, reminding Gary of Nicoletta. He saw some flashes of metal. Weapons? Fists? He wasn’t sure, but it made him miss and worry for Elena that much more.
It took some time, probably too much time, but eventually, every one of the vampires they had lured off the mountain had been killed. Gary nodded to the pack of gamers on the ground. They nodded back and headed off, probably to find more vampires to kill.
“Don’t want to ask them to join us?” Olivia asked, flying over to him.
“No. We’re a team, and we’re going to go save them. You and me. You up for it?”
“You know it.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gary was so amped up that he wanted to fly all the way to the castle. He was fairly certain that Smaug wouldn’t do anything to harm Nicoletta or Elena without Gary being there to witness it, but what if he was wrong? What if they were already dead?
But if they weren’t dead, then Gary needed to conserve some of his power. He might be considered a hero in the game, but he was only human. He couldn’t go on forever.
“Should we walk?” he asked.
“I don’t want to, but maybe we should,” Olivia said. She bit her lower lip. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be.”
“Aren’t you?”
“Why do you think I told you not to be? I’m scared enough for us both.”
“I can’t have anything happen to you,” she said.
“Nothing will.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. I swear.”
A worried silence fell, and they reached the base of the mountain. Climbing wasn’t going to be easy, so they had to fly to the base of the castle. Up close, it was even more twisted and terrifying, all contorted black metal spiraled into points, almost resembling thorny vines.
Lights glowed from within the castle, making the place seem like it was alive, like a maw in the side of the blackness of the mountain. Night had fallen, but Gary couldn’t picture sunlight ever reaching this forsaken place.
He headed straight for the largest opening. It wasn’t a window or a door, just a space to enter from above.
Gary landed on his feet and glanced around. The place seemed like a cross between a ballroom and a throne room, and he felt as if he had transported back in time.
“Ah, welcome. I knew you would come,” Smaug said. He was perched on a golden throne. He swept to his feet and flung his cape back as he strolled down the three steps off his dais and toward them. “You’re late, though. I do hate when people aren’t punctual.”
“Oh, silly thing,” Gary said, quickly shoving points into strength and vitality. He had gone up another bunch of levels and was now level four hundred and fifty-two. “Killing vampires does take time. I’m getting rather proficient at killing your pets. Your dragon, your vampires… All in a day’s work for a hero, I suppose.”
“You think you’re a hero, do you?” Smaug laughed as he began to walk back toward the throne. “You don’t know anything about the world, how it works.”
“This world or the real world?” Gary asked, lifting his chin.
Olivia glowered at him, clearly wanting him to watch it, but he shrugged and gave a tiny wave of his hand. He knew what he was doing. At least he hoped he did.
Smaug snapped his fists, and vampires dressed like guards dragged in Elena and Nicoletta. The girls had bruised and bloodied faces but otherwise seemed relatively unharmed.
Gary took a step forward
“Stay,” Smaug snapped, commanding him as if he were a dog. “I did not tell you to move. You are my guest here, but if guests displease me, I kill them. Do you want to be killed?”
“It’s just a game,” Gary said. “There’s no point in killing any of the gamers here.”
“Oh, is that so?” Smaug asked. “You’re misguided and a fool at that.”
“You’re pompous and think you’re the top shit, but you’re wrong, so there’s that,” Olivia said.
Smaug smiled and turned to face her. “If you think copping an attitude will endear me to you, you are mistaken.”
“I do not make mistakes,” Olivia said. “A pity your mother made one with you.”
Gary winced at that. Between the two of them, they needed to make sure they didn’t give away too much of what they knew.
“Your mother would be so proud of the way you flaunt your body,” Smaug said.
“Actually, she would be,” Olivia said. “Shows what you know.”
Smaug smiled. “You can act all high and mighty, but you will cower before me, and then I will grant you a merciless death.”
“Do you taunt everyone before you kill them?” Gary asked. “Or, I mean, threaten to kill them?”
“Ah, but you four are special. We have faced a few times now, and now, you all will face your death at my hands.”
Gary settled into a fighting stance. First, he had to get the vampires away from the girls. Then, he—
Smaug opened his mouth, and a piercing high-shrill sound came out. Gary covered his ears.
Four bats flew into the room. They were massive, twenty times larger than a typical bat should be. Together, they circled above Smaug’s head.
The supervillain flicked his wrist, the vampires released the girls and backed away, bowing before leaving the room.
Because that’s not weird.
With a wave of his hand, Smaug pointed lazily at Nicoletta. One of the bats let out a screech and zoomed toward her. It opened its mouth, and a blast of fire came out, the flames purple. Gary wasn’t anywhere near the blast, and he still felt like he was melting from the heat. Fuck. Nicoletta’s fear of fire wasn’t going to take that well at all. She had come a long way, but that bat was chasing her.
Gary reached out his hand, trying to reach for the bat, but Smaug had already unleashed another bat. This one headed straight for Elena, and it tried to yank on and bit her metal arm, the one Smaug had detached.
The fucker was going after them through the bats!
With two whistles, the last two bats were unleashed. One went after Olivia. She tried to take flight, but the bat opened its mouth. Some kind of waves came out, maybe a sonic blast, that pinned her to the floor.
As for the last bat, it went straight for Gary’s mouth. He tried to use his powers to force the bat back, to fling it away, but his powers weren’t working. The bat was coming closer and closer, its mouth opening impossibly wide, its hundreds of jagged teeth ready to pierce him…
Gary darted forward, almost using Smaug as a shield. The supervillain began to laugh as Gary glanced all around. Olivia was still pinned. Elena was trying to punch the bat with her other arm, but the bat would then fly over to that arm to try to detach it. Nicoletta was scrambling to keep from being charred to death.
His bat was somehow immune to his powers, but that didn’t mean the other bats were.
Gary reached out with his telekinesis and tapped into the fire bat. It fought against him but then gave in. Swiftly, he had it attack his bat while he also reclaimed the one from Elena and then the one attacking Olivia.
Swiftly now, Gary turned the three living bats against their former master, but Smaug was already racing toward the window. He jumped out, spread out his cape like it was a giant wing and disappeared from view.
Damn it! Once again, they had failed to take out Smaug!
Chapter Twenty-Seven<
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Gary muttered curse after curse. He was furious.
“Do you want to go after him?” Elena asked.
“No,” he said. “It might be another trap.”
“He might have a trap waiting here for us,” Nicoletta said.
“Are you two all right?” he asked.
Nicoletta smiled wanly. “I’ve been better,” she said.
“I’m fine.” Elena tested out her arms. “I just couldn’t get ahold of that blasted thing no matter how hard I tried.”
“He knew all of our weaknesses, how to pin us down,” Olivia said.
“Yes, and now, he’ll know to make sure that there’s not another loophole,” Gary said darkly.
“We’ll just have to stay one step ahead of him.” Elena nodded.
“Which means we need to explore this place from top to bottom,” Nicoletta said.
“We’ll split up,” Gary said. “Olivia, no, Nicoletta, you with me.”
“Why not me after all?” Olivia asked.
“If something happens, you can fly Elena out of here and get to us.”
Elena shrugged. “You don’t want me with you?”
“I’m fine either way.” Gary smiled and then winced. “Wait. That didn’t come out quite right.”
Elena gave a tiny smile. “Olivia and I will check out here.”
Gary waved and rushed Nicoletta out of there.
“Hurry,” he said. He glanced into each room they passed.
“Shouldn’t we be looking more thoroughly?” she asked, running to keep up.
“We will. Later. First, we have to find those vampires.”
“Good point!”
Up and up and up they climbed, to the top of the tower.
No vampires.
All the way back down, checking every room on this side of the castle.
No vampires.
Down even farther below to what Gary assumed was the dungeon. All he saw were some bones and decaying bodies but no vampires.
“Look.” Nicoletta pointed to one of the bodies. “Bite marks.”
Sure enough, on the neck were bite marks.
“The vampires were here,” Gary said. “Be careful. They could be anywhere.”
He grabbed her hand.
“Really?” she asked, trying to pull away. “Is that necessary?”
