by Dawn Chapman
“Wow… and how?”
“So no one actually taught you to fight?”
“Self-taught,” I replied, a little concerned because of her interest.
“They’re bound to you, yes,” she carried on, “but they’re also magically enhanced. They raise your fighting technique above your actual levels. That’s interesting, indeed, and would explain why we actually are evenly matched.” She nodded at me. I took back my dagger, and within a split second, she had hers back in her hands and was striking out at me again and again.
Out in the square, she’d been an amazing fighter, but there she was also using magic to enhance everything. Here now, she was using nothing but muscle and skill, and finally, I was starting to struggle to keep up.
I think she knew this, though. She slowed down, finally dropping her eyes, then lowered her weapons, and grinned at me. “I’ve not had that much fun in a long time. Thank you.”
A round of applause brought me out of my oneway focus, and I looked around to not only see the one or two people like I’d seen earlier on but, instead, a good crowd around us. Thankfully I was glad of the training situation. If we’d been out in battle, and I’d not been paying attention, it could have been deadly.
“Don’t worry.” She grinned. “There’s never any need to inside these walls. Thank you for trusting me, and us.”
Noc and Steve also stood watching, and I noticed there were night lights out now. It was dark.
“Oops,” I said.
Alia grinned. “Looks like we missed dinner.”
“Training tunnel vision.” I laughed. “I needed that workout, though. thank you.”
We came together to face the crowd, and her grin was catching, everyone around us seemed to be smiling and grinning. Excited chatters and talk.
“Where did she learn to fight like that,” and “Can we get lessons?”
Alia drew in closer. “It seems you’ve made quite the impression on the guild members. Would you be able to teach them some of your unusual techniques?”
I looked out at the eager crowd. They were young, a mixture of races and abilities, I was sure. “I don’t know. I’ve never really had any lessons myself. How can I teach others what I don’t know I possess?”
Alia smiled. “You’re more capable than you think at many things, Maddie. I think the more you participate here, the easier the time will pass, and the closer we might be in finding Lila and us in defending our home and the city.”
I didn’t mind the idea of that, and I kind of liked being in the walls of the guild.
“Noc and Steve can make headway outside the walls if that’s what you’re thinking. I also can and will send out anyone who’s not training with you to ask about and find the girl you’re looking for. Is that a deal?”
I held out my hand for her, and we shook. “I can agree to help you out somewhat in training, but I am going to be looking for Lila myself. It’s my quest, after all.”
Alia smiled. “I can agree to that, thank you. It will make the students here very happy.”
Steve moved toward us. “I think I’ve made headway,” he said. “We’ve been all over the city today asking questions.”
Alia moved away from us to Noc, and they conversed before she shouted to us. “I’ll get food made up and sent to my living quarters. We can eat there in an hour if you want to shower and change.”
I smiled back at her. “I would like that.” Steve led me away, and to our rooms, while he filled me in on the city walk they’d had.
“There is indeed a lot of fighting as more creatures come through the portals. Travoy’s Guild is at war with Gestal’s Hamu. He’s the only one with high enough numbers to try and take the city properly.”
“Yeah, Travoy’s are pretty much fighting to stay alive at this point. The others really do outweigh them in numbers and skills.”
I could see that, but I wasn’t sure how we could make it better for them, bar taking back some of the sides of the city that the others owned.
Maybe that was the answer. To push the others away from the areas they controlled. I’d have to study the city map and see what was there—shops, lands, houses, growing facilities.
I’d need to see this all for myself, with my own eyes. I couldn’t let a map dictate what I wanted to do now.
My mind was made up, and as tired as I felt, I needed to get out there, on my own. I’d eat with Alia, Noc, and Steve, and then make sure they were settled for the night, and then I’d get out there, and I’d do what I needed to do. By myself.
Chapter 5
It had been nice to fill my belly again and then pretend that I was basically going down for the night. I wasn’t.
Since when would I do that in a new world, where there was so much to do? I hadn’t thought getting out of the guild walls or place would be tough though, but it seemed it was. I had to be sneaky.
There were plenty of wards and guards about Travoy’s Guild. I didn’t hide myself from any of them. I made sure they knew I was leaving, and if they told Alia or the others before they could do anything I would be long gone.
The city at night was something totally different. I admit getting about without the Hog was strange, and I would have liked the onboard computer systems and tracking to be able to help me understand where exactly I was and whose territory I was in.
But I was on my own, and I had to make do with tracking the old-fashioned way, by memory. It was a good thing I was able to memorise things easily like places, buildings, and such.
There were some pretty cosy looking bars and inns where the public gathered. There were also some interesting characters. I wouldn’t like to say demon kind, because they were just creatures of the night, more so than other’s we’d already witnessed on our way in, but they really were––horned half breeds, ghostly figures of the dead and damned, and those who worked in the shadows. The night was full of it all, and I wasn’t shy.
Maddie, what do you think you’re doing? a voice whispered in my ear as much as I painted a picture of where she was. I knew I had no clue to what was truly going on for her.
Riezella? I asked, hoping she was nearby.
It is I, Maddie. Why are you in Trofoth and how?
We went through a portal, I said. We’ve been tasked to look for a young girl, Lila. Do you know anything about her? Are you here?
I am not, she said. I am closer to you now than I was in Maicreol, though.
“How close are we?” I had to ask.
We are in a different plane of existence. To get here, we pass through the Darklands.
Darklands? I had heard of those, the Demon Realm. I had also thought it a myth.
Do you need my assistance?
I shook my head as I walked, aware that there were several people looking my way. Probably thinking I was a total crazy because I talked to myself. “No, I think I’m okay. I have to do this on my own. We have to find her and get her home.”
If you do need anything, please ask. It wouldn’t take long for us to be there to aid you. And I’m sure you know that you’d be our first priority.
I tucked myself into a doorway, away from prying eyes and ears while I continued this conversation.
“Sakril?”
There was a deep sigh that came through our bond this time, and I felt something off, something really bad.
“Riezella, what’s going on?”
I do not wish to worry you, Maddie.
“But you already are. Spit it out?”
Sakril has left us.
“What?” my heart almost missed a beat. “I don’t understand,” I said. “How can he have left you?”
He fought for his right to the throne and has been pushed aside. Xanou has won.
I felt my knees go weak. I had no clue what it meant for her, but I suddenly felt real fear.
“Will he get another chance?”
Not for many years. He was rebuked because of his age and his stature. Maybe he can challenge it again, but he needs to grow.
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“You mean he needs to grow bigger, he’s still a baby. Everything in Puatera works like that. You need power, levels, and age.”
He was too young, yes. He felt great shame. He left us.
“Will you be okay?”
I do not know. At the moment, we’re licking our wounds.
I swallowed and leaned further back into the doorway. “Riezella, you don’t sound so good. You’re injured?”
When I first met you, Maddie, I knew what I was going to do would end your life. The life that you knew.
“You couldn’t know that I would become something else, though, right?”
No, I did not. But the next time I met you, I saw something else. I still see something different. I see what you are and what you will be. I will not be returning to Maicreol. I will be seeing out my end days here. I want to—I need to be on my lands when I pass.
My knees weakened even more, and I slipped down the doorway. What happened if I lost her? The thoughts whirled around my head. I already knew. I just didn’t want it to happen. I hadn’t known her for long, but her presence and power were more than I could ever see in anyone else. I couldn’t match up to that, and I knew she wanted me to.
Maddie, you more than match me. You more than match anyone on Puatera. You need to know that, and you also need to know that there’s much more to you than meets the eye. Tibex knows and understands….
“You know Tibex?” I cut her off.
Of course. When I first met you, and I ended your life, I felt the shift in energies around Puatera, and I had to seek him out, to be sure there was no threat to us.
I wished I’d remembered more.
Tibex knows what you are because he is one himself, and he wants you to become what you must. You are the new matriarch, and you will lead not only Puateran’s into the new world but into more than digital––the digital.
“You really think like this?”
Yes, and you must too. You are the one who will defeat the Portal Monster. You are the one he wants. Tibex can’t do it. He’s the planetary guardian. You are and always have been the warrior.
I swallowed and managed to place a hand on the floor to push myself back up.
“You really want me to do this, to save Puatera?”
Yes, you must.
“Why?”
Because you are not only my friend but also my family. That doesn’t mean blood. It means I’ve chosen you to be more than you are. Because of love, because of friendship.
“Riezella, you’re dying, you’re going to lose your life soon? If you are, I’ll find a portal I’ll be right there. I want to be with you. I must.”
Tears started to form.
Someone’s coming.
I heard a voice ask, “Are you okay?” One of Alia’s team. I nodded, waved a hand and chased them away.
Tears burst free. They were down the side of my cheeks before I knew it, and sobs exploded through my chest. My ribs hurt from the speed with which they came, and I wanted to run, to kill, to do anything. I needed to see her right now.
Maddie. No, I don’t have long at all. I don’t have anything else to give this world. But what I’ve given to you already, you’re my prodigy, you’re my everything, and I want to say this before I need to leave this land, this plane of existence.
It was as if I felt a hand caress my tears away. I tried to stem the emotions, but I was hopeless. The further I felt her life slipping from me, the harder it was.
I don’t know you, she said. But I do. I wanted you to be my daughter. You are much more than that. You are everything I wanted in life. You gave me hope, you challenged me, and you won. Everything you put your mind to, you can win. You really wanted this. You want more for yourself and for those around you. That to me means everything, and it means I can do nothing for you but love you. Will you accept that?”
I didn’t know what I wanted, but I didn’t want her to lose her life, not for me and not for Puatera. “No, I can’t allow it I won’t.”
It’s already too late. You don’t get a say in this. You already know that, right?
I tried to smile. I could see her sense of humour, and I could see her form before me, but it wasn’t here. It was more than here, and I loved her for it, all the more.
I wanted to reach out, and I did. I could almost touch what she was. I could, and then I realised… I really could.
“You’re here, you want to see me, to say goodbye, right?”
A ghost-like Riezella in her Tromoal form was really there in front of me, and she smiled, her red hair waving in the moonlight, stunning, more than stunning.
She touched me, she wanted to say so much, but I could see the tears in her eyes and the fact she was running away from me too. She laughed and then she pulled me into her and caressed my cheek with her fingers. She clung to me for life itself, and she cried, such deep sobs and racking breaths. “I love you, Maddie. I always will, and you know this for all it is worth.”
She started to fade, and my chest hurt all the more. I couldn’t let her go. I didn’t want to, though. I was lost, I needed her.
“You don’t need me, Maddie. You will lead them and will take them to the next level. They will need more guidance than I could give them now, so you must.”
My mind whirled. Then I really understood I was not only in charge of an empire but the means to defeat the Portal Monster within it. A hand stifled the revelation. I knew what I had to now do.
My only choice… I had to get the Tromoal back to Maicreol, and I had to do it in style. First, I needed Lila.
There was too much for me to think on, so much for me to do. I wasn’t sure I could manage this at all. I hit the side of my face as she faded even more.
“Riezella, I can’t. I can’t do it.”
“Maddie, trust in yourself.” Her voice started to fade now too. “You can and you will. You are all that they have now. You are all they really need.”
“Sakril?”
“You will need to find him again when the time is right.”
I didn’t know what any of this meant. He was gone, but he could come back. He was more than she knew, and yet he was broken.
Maybe there would be hope in here somewhere. Maybe there was something to bring all of this together. This war, this change for the lands.
Was that really going to be me?
As she faded away and became nothing more than a figment of my imagination, I saw something else.
“Alex?”
He was there, I could see it, but there was something else behind him. A Tromoal. No, he was that Tromoal.
“What’s his name,” I asked. I knew it wasn’t going to be Alex anymore.
Riezella smiled at me, and she mouthed, His name is Tetsu.
The name struck a chord with me for some reason, and I wanted to say it, but it wouldn’t form on my lips.
Tetsu, she whispered as her form was almost gone for good. Tetsu means lost but not forgotten. Find him, Maddie.
I smiled and laughed at the same time. “I will do whatever it takes, Riezella. I promise you.”
She leaned in and kissed the side of my cheek. I let her, and I loved her more for it. That one kiss, that one touch had meant more than any I’d ever had.
Fair well, my daughter, Lady of the Skies. Giver of light in darkness and keeper of portals.
With her kiss, there was a sound and a rushing burst of light. My head hurt.
There in the corner of my vision, I could see a tiny globe. Puatera? On it was several coloured glowing dots, some smaller, some huge.
YOU HAVE BEEN GIFTED A WORLD MAP
ALL KEYS HAVE BEEN USED. THE PORTALS ARE OPEN.
I smiled, and I let her see more than that. I opened my soul to her for a brief moment.
Then she was gone.
That was it, I hadn’t ever felt as alone here as I did now. I wanted to be loved, I had been, I’d felt the love of Alex and Abel and even Steve to some degree if that was what you could call it. But was it real
ly love? What was it we all had between us? Was it programming? But then again, the programming was gone, wasn’t it? Dresel had turned it off. I had seen it was turned off.
There was a ping, and the AI spoke in my ears.
YOU HAVE BEEN AWARDED – SI..D..H..S..ID
GLITCH RECORDED
GAME PAUSED.
Chapter 6
I looked around me, what the hell was this.
GAME PAUSED.
No way.
But it was. The whole world had stopped. I stood up, I pushed myself out the doorway and then moved to the centre of the street.
I wanted to scream, and so I did. I let it out, loud and proud, and the tears came again. They were for Riezella, and they were for my loss, the loss of Alex, the fact I’d taken his mortal body, his real and only way off this plane of worlds, that was, in fact, the only way I could see it. It seemed that Puatera was a central station of sorts, there were many places that gathered here, portals, beings, creatures of the many worlds and then they were gone.
Tibex?
There was no reply.
Tibex, are you here?
Still nothing.
GLITCH RECORDED.
GAME PAUSED.
GLITCH REWIND TO VIEW THE PAST.
Y/N
I didn’t know if hitting rewind was a good thing.
I hesitated.
But then I had no option, really. I wanted to see it. I hit Y.
I saw myself reverse, the body I was in, moving backward, so far back that I’d not gone through the portal, and I wasn’t even in Trofoth anymore. I was back in Maicreol. I hadn’t even been bitten by Riezella.
DO YOU WISH TO WATCH?
Y/N
No, I didn’t want this, I didn’t want to relive this all again, from scratch.
I clicked the N and saw fast forward, so hit that too. To my surprise, it really did just that.
