by Dawn Chapman
“I’ll let you do this, but I will be making sure that the two events don’t interact. If the guild gets involved in the takedown of Wren, it won’t be fair. It’s also not part of what they’re doing. They need to protect their city, and that means from a few others who are stronger than Wren right now. We can’t let you hurt their ops.”
Reaver lowered her eyes. “I can agree to that, and we’ll steer clear of the city’s edges today because of it.” She nodded to the guys. “Yes, we can do that, right?”
They all agreed.
“Then I need to get into Wren’s Bar and find out anything else I need to know before these guys come in and take it away from me.”
There was a silence about the room then. They didn’t let me feel bad about what was coming, though. I felt solidarity from them. That made me feel better. what they were doing was right in their minds, despite how much I had grown to like Wren.
“Steve, I want you to stay here for now. Give me an hour.” I wanted to work with her, but it seemed I’m not going to, so this is my time to shine. I had to know.
I was totally in a new mood by the time I walked through and into Wren’s Bar. I wanted to take my time here and work out all the things I needed to. I didn’t need to drink myself silly even though that’s what I wanted to do.
But then I also knew I wasn’t going to get the time. What the hell could I do to get this.?
One thing I hadn’t thought of before—I was going to let her seduce me. Could I? I mean I’ve never been with another woman before. And I guess she was kind of hot.
I looked around for her, but she wasn’t at the bar. I was soon over and asking the barman for her whereabouts, and then he pointed. To a corner of the room.
Wren was tucked away, and when I saw her, it was easy to see she’d been crying.
I had no clue as to how to approach this. I didn’t want to see her this upset. But as I made my way over, she looked up at me, her makeup running down her face.
“You know,” she said. “You know what they’re going to do.”
I placed a hand on her back and stared deep into her eyes.
“You want to take everything away from me and ruin me,” she said.
“No, I don’t. I want them to do what they’re here for. They’re Visitors. You understand that, right?” I smiled at her and leaned in to bring her up to me.
“There’s a way to move over to my side,” she said. “I’d take you in anytime. You don’t have to be with them.”
But, I did. She just didn’t know it. Not only was there a timer on my events, paused or not, but I also had to do this for Puatera, I had to see it through. I couldn’t just run away.
“Wren, I need a few things from you,” I said. “I don’t want to ask you for the wrong reasons.”
“Then help me survive this.”
“I can’t.”
Her eyes dipped, and she looked at me with one final grin. “Then you’ll let me at least go out in style.”
I nodded, wondering and yet scared of what she would do. She reached forward and took my hand.
I let her lead me away, to her bedroom, to where there was nothing but a place of experience for her. She let me in, and I looked around the room. It wasn’t what I had expected at all.
“So why am I here if you’re not going to seduce me?” I asked her—because there wasn’t a bed. There was nothing.
“This is just me. I don’t want anything. I wanted nothing from them. It was what they wanted. I know I’m just a set of numbers to them, but I don’t mind. But when I want to do something, I come here, I relax. Will you let me show you?”
I was unsure. What if this creature in the game could do me real harm?
Tibex?
No, she can’t.
I stepped inside the white room and then understood something I didn’t think I ever could. I wanted to push on past through and out into the other world once more.
Wren was real. Like me. I had thought she was joking.
What?
“Maddie, you’re experiencing a form of shock.” Wren pushed me toward the centre, and I stood over a great view. There were stars, there were many other things, the world laid out for me to see, and I grinned.
Tibex, you knew this, and you knew it all along. Why don’t you say these things to me?
Because I’m not allowed to. You’re the one altering the path of this game.
Why me, why us?
You don’t understand that at all yet.
No.
Then you need to look a little deeper and realise.
I sat down in the centre of the room and observed Wren, and then I saw what she really was. A beautiful creature. Her long silky energy flowed out in waves of purity. Maybe she wasn’t the only one, that was it, wasn’t it? I realised I had to protect her now and not let these guys who were coming in to kill her do just that, but I also needed to not let Steve and Dresel know the full extent of what was going on in my life, my real life. They needed to think this really was just a game, and nothing more.
If they knew it was real, they’d stop it all, wouldn’t they? They’d be so scared that something bad was coming for them and their world that they’d just cut us all off. I internalised my thoughts, but still directly asked Tibex… Right?
Yes!
I finally understood it. I finally got what was in front of me. Tibex’s voice dipped slightly, the memories he now recalled painful, and I listened.
We’d been lost, dying, when we found the newly forming Puatera. Somehow, Dresel, a human programmer plugged into the connective lines of our newly forming world, where its life forms fed and grew with electronic energy and code. He liked what he saw, what he could see. Where new life had begun to grow and one that needed nurturing. At first, I was going to stop Dresel from integrating with the creation process, but I saw great potential with what he was doing. He started to help with that. It took some of the burden off me. So I didn’t want to stop him. The world started to change and grow in ways I’d never thought of, and it excited me.
If you’d stopped him, this would be a very different place?
Yes, but it might also never have come to fruition, the different species, the beauty.
I looked at Wren.
If this stopped now, and if things didn’t go to plan, they’d end Puatera, and for a lot of us, a lot of the creatures.
That meant death. They were surviving in a digital world because of the things that had been done to it, what we were doing, and in how we were all connected. Like something out of a painting, I noticed as it all started to come together, and things really played out in my mind.
I grinned, and I looked up into the face of the brother that wasn’t really mine, the family that had helped bring me back to life, and I laughed.
Tibex, I understand, thank you. I want you to talk to me properly. I mean no more secrets at all.
No, you’re still on your own for the most part, and I want you to discover those creatures around here for yourself. At least he seemed sad when he told me this. There’s some who are just here for fun, others have serious consequences for the world, and that’s sometimes something we’re not looking at working against or with. We just have to let it happen.
I could now understand why.
Chapter 8
So, this is because Wren’s real, but also because she doesn’t understand that some of it is inside a world that humans have created?
Tibex looked at her, but she didn’t see him.
Yes, Wren comes from a species that draws certain energies to survive. She is just as real as you are, but she attaches to the world through that energy. All the creatures here can’t learn the truth. They need to believe in the way things are and the way the world works overall so they can survive and live their lives.
But if she really died, she would be dead, right?
Yes.
She just has to continue to do what she must to keep on working away from these guys and to hide.
“You need to cross through the portals,” I said to her. “You need to find a home on a different side of this world. Not here.”
She looked at me. “But this is my home.”
“Yes, but you also want to live, right?”
“I hoped I would be safe in one place if I changed the way I took energy. It seems not.” Her shoulder drooped.
She needs to confuse the system and the Visitors so it works for her and she can live. Then she needs to do it.
So, she must trick them into thinking they killed her?
Whatever it takes, yes.
I caught her eyes with mine. “You need to fool them into thinking they’ve won.”
“You mean I have to pretend to die again.” She sighed. “I hoped I would be able to stop doing this, to keep to one place.”
I shook my head. “How many times have you done this?”
“I’ve lost count. They just seem to keep finding me now, like they know exactly what I’ll come back as and where I’ll come back to.”
“There’s no escape for the inevitable then?”
She shook her head. “No. Eventually, there will be an end for me, Maddie. There’s an end for us all at some point.”
I hoped maybe there wouldn’t be, that there was going to be a way for everyone to live. But remembering Riezella’s recent words, I knew there wouldn’t be.
“I’m glad to have met you, Wren,” I said. She held a hand out for me to take once more.
“I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet you too, Maddie. I’ll give them a run about, and probably will last a millennium longer. Don’t worry about me. I will let them know what and when I’ve had enough, but I do enjoy most of this life. I wanted you to see it, to see what is also inside some of us.”
The reality of this also struck me, and I knew then that this is the information I had to have. That the guild didn’t know, couldn’t ever know.
I turned to look at Tibex’s ghost-like form. Could only I see him? I guessed so because Wren didn’t falter.
How many creatures are alive in Puatera?
Right now?
Yes, I mean how many different species and different people?
His eyes seemed to mist over, and within a second, he looked back to me.
There are twelve million four hundred and seventy-two thousand, and six different species that are alive.
I almost fell over once more at the numbers.
How big is Puatera?
That, my dear sister, is the right question.
So, I looked back to where I thought the doorway was, and indeed, it appeared again before us. I then brought up my newly acquired world map. There appeared several glowing spots. The portals? Then there appeared many more. The world grew smaller and smaller. A star system? Then more blue dots. Then, as the universe expanded around me, so many, many more. I shivered.
Not everything is real. You’ve discovered many things that aren’t, and the cities and circumstances around them are for the human fun side of nature.
Wren was what some considered fun, though she was also real.
“Thank you, Wren,” I said. “I’ll do the best I can for you and try to lead them in.”
I liked that I could walk away and know she would go on. She wasn’t giving up, and I understood more about the world I was a part of. With her blessing, I left the room and the bar.
“Steve, we’re good to go. Let the guys do their mission.”
I noticed the street was getting busy. There were people in all kinds of costumes and life enjoying the night, the parties, and dancing. This was a nice side of the city. A woman stopped me in the street to give me a flower, and I thanked her for it.
It was harder to make sure I wasn’t followed here and back toward the city.
They’re on their way toward the city centre. Go find them but stay back. Just keep me posted to what’s happening, okay? Noc’s message came to me.
So I’d see what they were up to at least now. Maybe be able to help.
I saw a few people from the guild ahead of me, and Steve and I followed them. They were heading to the central square, where vendors of foods and drink were scattered all over the place.
I watched, and they moved away from there to focus on other things, other people, those who were hanging around the fringes of the event, whatever this event was.
“Why is there this celebration?” I asked Steve.
“You’ve been as much a part of this side of the world as I have. Everyone just says it’s a fun event they do each year to celebrate their winter coming to an end.”
I knew I hadn’t seen as much of this side of their lands as he had. I’d been helping more and more with training, only getting to venture out at night if I wasn’t tired, which had happened a lot. Training up was hard. Who knew?
I’d also known the world and its seasons would vary differently. The Tromoal would be on their way home, end of summer for us, so the end of winter here probably wasn’t that hard to believe. The lands of Shiroth, Egerou, had parts that dipped into the lower hemisphere of our world. Seasons seemed to follow patterns, scientific ones. Real ones. So, yeah, it worked. It worked as a celebration as well.
I noticed then there were people dressed up as Tromoal and as other exotic creatures of the world. Etolick and Wetlie, though, much smaller than they might be in real life.
I loved the colours they gave to everything, the way things lit up, and everyone had smiles and laughter. This was a nice event to be a part of.
I was almost swept away in the lovely atmosphere that was this city’s brightest and most invigorating event.
Steve touched my arm and pulled me back. “There are a good few magical effects about here right now,” he said.
I looked around, and then I could see some of them. “I need to figure out more, to see more than I can. Maybe if I’d alter my stats differently?”
“What do you have left?” Steve said.
“I’ve still got seven Karma,” I said. “I could do a lot with it, I’m sure, but I don’t want to blow them on things that I could need later on.”
I paused because he didn’t know how I’d survived Dail, did he? I looked at him then admitted. “Without using them to boost the ring, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“You did what?”
“I boosted Lady Miosl’s ring to bring me back from the brink of death, to kill Dail.”
His eyes widened, and he grinned. “I think that was a risky thing to do. You really could have died not knowing the outcome, but I commend you for it.”
“If I had picked something else back then?”
“It may have been more lasting, but I guess we never know what any of us would do in those situations.”
“No.” I shrugged. “We wouldn’t.”
What I found most interesting were the stalls as I headed in closer to the centre of the city. Several of them were freshly made breads, cooked and uncooked meats, some from animals I’d no clue to what… and other produce of all kinds. My mouth watered despite being well fed at the guild’s hall. I looked to Steve who was also drooling over something. So I moved to his side, and before I knew it, we were tucking into the pastry delights at the side of the road.
“This is delicious,” I said as crumbs flaked all down my jacket.
He just grinned back at me. “I’ve never felt so good about eating rubbish till I came into Puatera. I’ve had more food and more fun than I’ve had in a long time.”
I laughed at this, I knew eating was a pleasurable pastime for Visitors. As was anything ale or sex-related. They were the whims of mortals as we always used to joke about their effects.
I noticed as Travoy’s Guild members came into the market area and went about their business, doing and buying things. It seemed that nothing untoward was going on here, so I was confused as to why Noc had asked for me to stay in the background of this event.
But then I saw Alia as she moved within her people, those with guild clothes proudly displa
yed and then others which weren’t. They had weapons clearly present, and they meant business. I moved away from the side of the road with Steve close at my side and followed Alia through into a side alley.
There ahead of us was something I wasn’t expecting. It looked like a regular stall. Well, a stall with something delicious in it. Two creatures, human mostly, but maybe mixed with another race were serving customers hot warm baked goods. The atmosphere here was happy, intoxicating. The smell drifted my way, sweet and tantalising. Cinnamon and vanilla. I could have died over that smell alone. I started to head toward it, then Steve hit me across the head.
“What?”
“Don’t be stupid, it’s a ploy. Just stay back and watch. This is who they’ve come for.”
“Oh.” I then saw something totally different than I had originally. The stand wasn’t so nice and pretty after all. It was dilapidated, and the products on display were mouldy. I gagged and stepped back more as I noticed a few of the people around the street heading in closer.
A young girl at the front buying goods caught my attention as she had stopped her transaction, hand on her daggers. I was quick to move in and place a hand on her shoulder. Mostly because I knew what was going to happen here. This stall and its vendors were toast.
“Don’t move,” I whispered into her ear.
She froze.
Alia and her two close guards, Vee and Zeb, stepped out surrounding the stall. The magical energy oozing around them was harnessed and already deadly.
These guys were powerful—that much was obvious. The young girl seemed to just stand before me, not even breathing. Had Vee and Zeb done something to her? To all of them in the area, they seemed frozen… I could only presume it was the truth. Either that or time itself had stopped. Which I really doubted.
Magical energy sparked, and I witnessed the full explosive energies of Vee and Zeb as they collided with the wards off the stall.
The cookie stand flickered back to its stunning and attractive-smelling self, then to the mouldy shack.
The stall owners tried to fight it, but they didn’t have a chance. Their wards were no more. It took seconds for the people around us to come out of their trances.
