Bethany Anne scrolled down the list. “What if I don’t see a character I like?”
Gabriel grinned. “Just choose the one you like the most.”
She stuck out her tongue, then made her selection. “I’ll choose the fighter.”
Bethany Anne’s mouth opened a small “o” when her clothing was replaced by shining armor. She shook her left arm to adjust the position of the shield and removed her helmet to get a better look at the sword that had appeared in her right hand.
Gabriel made a noise of appreciation. “Nice!” He held out his bow for her inspection. “But I like my bow better than that sword. It has magic arrows that never miss. Aunt Addix plays the fighter, but she always gets Aunt Eve to exchange the sword for her knives. She says that the longsword restricts you to a certain style of fighting, and that can be a disadvantage in close-quarter combat.”
“Your Aunt Addix is right.” Bethany Anne passed the bow back to Gabriel and held the sword up to the light. She turned it from side to side, so the light caught the blood channels. “Hmmm. It is beautiful, but it’s not what I would choose.” She laid the sword on the table, then pulled the shield off and tossed that down to join the sword. “How do I exchange it?”
Alexis frowned in thought. “Aunt Addix asks Eve, but she’s not there.”
“Yes, but your father is. Michael, can you…” Bethany Anne waved a finger over the sword, knowing that Michael was watching on the screen. The longsword and shield were replaced by her katanas. “Thank you, honey.”
Bethany Anne was surprised to find that the katanas felt exactly the same as the real thing. She made a couple of turns of her wrist with them to test the weight and balance before she strapped them to her back. “Perfect. Now I’m ready to fight.”
She tilted her head to Alexis and Gabriel. “Who or what are we fighting against today?”
Alexis giggled. “Oh, Mommy, you are going to love this game! This is our favorite scenario, where we fight with the light elves to defeat the Dark Lord’s army.”
Bethany Anne raised her eyebrow in amusement. “There’s a Dark Lord?”
“Yes, Mommy.” Her eyes were alight with joy. “We have to battle all of his forces to save the Magic Kingdom from falling into darkness.”
Gabriel huffed impatiently. “Alexis, get changed already!”
Alexis rolled her eyes at her brother. “Okay, okay.” She closed her eyes and raised her arms, and her atmosuit was replaced by flowing mage robes. “There, I’m almost done.”
Bethany Anne eyed her admiringly. “Darling, that’s a beautiful costume. It’s you.”
Alexis picked up one side of the robe and twirled so that the folds of her robes caught the air. “I know, Mommy. Eve helped me to design my costume so I can look like a mage and a princess.”
“You look just like a magical princess,” Bethany Anne assured her. “Now if only this armor had heels.”
Alexis squealed. “Oh, yes! We’ll get Eve to make it for you for next time.” Alexis reached into the air and retrieved her jeweled staff and pointed hat. She placed the hat on her head and smiled at her mother’s bemused expression. “I learned that trick from Daddy.”
They heard a horn sound far in the distance.
Gabriel’s face flushed with excitement. “Mommy! Alexis! Stop talking about fashion and let’s go!”
Alexis let out a yip of delight and bolted for the door, her staff tapping on the floor as she ran.
Gabriel waited for Bethany Anne. She took her son’s hand and they walked from the cottage.
Bethany Anne examined her son’s costume as they followed Alexis up the cottage path. “You didn’t want to be a fighter, huh?”
Gabriel smiled softly. “No, Mommy. I like to be the rogue much more than I like to be the fighter.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Bethany Anne waited for Gabriel to consider the question.
Her son never rushed into anything. They had almost reached the woodland edge by the time Gabriel had his answer.
“Well, if I was just a fighter, all I could do is fight. If I am a rogue, then I can use all of my strengths, not just physical.”
Bethany Anne pressed her lips together. “So what you’re telling me is that you don’t like to be restricted?”
Gabriel looked up at his mother in confusion. “Well, no, Mommy. Why would I want to be restricted?”
Alexis scampered back from the edge of the forest where she had gone to scout ahead. “The Dark Lord’s soldiers are on the road to the mountain pass. If we hurry, we can catch them before they reach the rest of the army.”
Bethany Anne and Gabriel followed Alexis along the path through the trees.
Bethany Anne looked around as they walked, impressed by the fine detail in every part of the gamescape. She noted that the temperature rose as soon as they left the trees. “There’s weather in here?”
Gabriel nodded, keeping his attention on Alexis and the path.
Alexis paused to wait for them when she reached the place where the path joined a well-traveled dirt road, then took a few steps onto the road and pointed north, where the rising dust of a group traveling quickly toward them was visible in the distance. “Look there.”
Alexis and Gabriel shared a glance and moved closer together, which did not go unnoticed by their mother.
Bethany Anne drew one of her swords and moved to stand in front of her children.
The twins laughed and skipped around Bethany Anne as the dust grew closer.
“This is just the warmup, Mommy,” Alexis told her. She flicked her hair out of the way and pushed up the voluminous sleeves of her robe. “It will be easy.”
Gabriel pulled an arrow from the quiver slung over his back and nocked it. “Mommy, we do this all the time. Alexis is right—it will be easy.”
Bethany Anne chuckled and swept a hand toward the approaching enemy. “Go ahead. But you can’t blame a mother for trying.”
The Dark Lord’s soldiers were upon them in the next moment, giving Bethany Anne no chance to defend herself—from her children’s snickering.
The dust cloud fell away as the grizzled band of warriors slowed to a stop in the road fifty feet away, revealing six dark elves and around forty foot soldiers.
The dark elves, haughty and beautiful, did not dismount from the hellbeasts they rode. The two-headed beasts snapped and slavered at the bit while the elves whipped them into submission. Most of the foot soldiers glared at the humans with hatred—all except the goblins and orcs, who looked at Bethany Anne and the children hungrily.
Alexis and Gabriel denied them the opportunity to attack first. Alexis created a shining ball of light in her palm and flung it at the elves.
The elf at the head of the group gave a signal, and the foot soldiers surged past them toward Bethany Anne’s children.
Bethany Anne leapt into action. She darted into the oncoming soldiers, stepping lightly into the gaps between them with her sword dancing deadly circles around her.
The elves raised their hands and began to chant, then the shadows came to life and all hell broke loose. The foot soldiers swarmed Bethany Anne as the shadows flowed in from the forest.
Bethany Anne had to keep reminding herself that they were in a game. She punched an oncoming orc in the face with the hand gripping her sword and kicked away an axe-wielding dwarf who was standing between her and her babies.
Who didn’t actually need any help.
Bethany Anne gasped at the sight of the twins in action. Gabriel seemed to be everywhere at once, protecting his sister from nonmagical threats while she took care of the rest. Alexis had her feet shoulder-width apart in the middle of the road. Her face was set in a scowl of utter concentration as she hurled massive amounts of shining magic to counteract the elves’ shadow wraiths.
Bethany Anne brought up her hand to create an energy ball of her own, but her connection to the Etheric did not come. Another orc came at her and she dispatched it with a flick of her blade, still trying to ignite an ene
rgy ball without success. ADAM, why aren’t my powers working?
No answer. Dammit, she was cut off.
Alexis turned to blast a shadow wraith into smoke and dust and noticed her mother’s attempt to access her powers. “Mommy, you’re a fighter. That means you can’t use magic. You have to work within the rules of the game.”
Gabriel loosed an arrow into the eye of a goblin. “I told you, it’s not fun being restricted.” He winked out of existence and reappeared on an overhanging tree limb. “This is why I like being a rogue. I stole this power from one of the Dark Lord’s wizards.”
Bethany Anne shrugged and drew her other katana as a goblin brandishing a vicious-looking spiked mace came at her. “So you get to keep things from previous sessions, like an inventory?” She took a quarter-step and brought her swords flashing down. “And you can gain skills and powers…”
The goblin stopped attacking and slid to the ground in four pieces. She picked up the mace, swung it once, and released it to dispatch an orc vaguely waving a scimitar in her children’s direction. “Hmmm. Maybe your father is right, and this gaming thing isn’t so boring after all. What are the Dark Lord’s powers?”
Alexis turned to answer, completely missing the dwarf creeping up on her blind side with a knife between his teeth.
Gabriel did not. He vanished from the tree limb and reappeared behind his sister in the nick of time with his knives in his hands. He planted his boot in the dwarf’s face as it lunged and the dwarf tumbled back, dropping his knife.
Alexis half-turned with her magic ready.
Bethany Anne saw the potential disaster unfold in slow motion. The elves were taking advantage of Alexis’ distraction to cast a wave of dark magic.
“Alexis, the elves!” The cry left Bethany Anne’s lips as the dark spell left the elves’ hands and the dwarf got to his feet and rushed the twins again.
They reacted as one. Alexis twisted and released her magic upward to form a ten-foot high transparent dome. Bethany Anne was left standing in the road on the outside.
Gabriel threw himself at the larger dwarf knives-first as the spell dissipated harmlessly against the shield Alexis had thrown up.
However, the dwarf was half as large again as Gabriel, and while Gabriel was fast enough to counter the size difference, he was not yet strong enough to do anything about the disparity in their strength.
He got in a few good strikes before the dwarf landed a lucky blow to Gabriel’s stomach. The boy doubled over, and the dwarf backhanded him into the dome while his defenses were down.
Alexis screamed and released the magic. She ran over to Gabriel on wobbly legs and dropped to her knees beside him, exhausted from wielding so much magical energy.
Bethany Anne darted forward when the dome vanished. Seeing Alexis and Gabriel hurt even in a game made her lose focus for a moment, and an arrow pierced her thigh. “Sonofa…”
She gritted her teeth and pulled the arrow out with a hiss of pain. The wound healed instantly, but fuck-damn, she felt it. Her head snapped up.
That meant that the children were hurt for real.
Gabriel was already on his feet when she reached them. He grinned, touching his fingers to his head. “I’m okay, Mom.”
The second she saw that Gabriel wasn’t hurt, Bethany Anne’s panic ebbed. Her vision turned to red as it was replaced by rage. “Wait here.”
Bethany Anne strode over to the dwarf and picked him up. The jerkin he was wearing scrunched in her hand like real leather. She lifted the dwarf easily despite his struggles. “I would feel bad about what’s about to happen to you if you weren’t just a figment of my husband’s Tolkien phase.”
The children watched openmouthed as their mother used the dwarf to take out the last few foot soldiers in much the same way she’d used the mace earlier. She came to rest when they were all down for good, still gripping the dwarf.
Bethany Anne turned her head to Alexis and Gabriel. “This is the easy level? I can’t wait for the main battle.” With that, she hoisted the unconscious dwarf and sent him flying at the elves.
The dwarf shot through the air and knocked two of the elves from their saddles. Before they had landed, Bethany Anne was there. Her swords slashed and the heads of the elves rolled.
“Moooom!” Alexis complained. “You didn’t save any for us!”
“Yeah, Mommy,” Gabriel echoed. “You’re going to get all the kill points.”
Bethany Anne hung her head and chuckled. “It’s Mother’s Day, so it’s only right I get the first group.”
The twins shared a skeptical look, which they then turned on her.
Bethany Anne rolled her eyes and waved a hand. “Oh, fine,” she admitted. “I wasn’t pleased with the idea of you two feeling pain.”
Alexis frowned. “How else are we supposed to learn?”
Gabriel nodded agreement with his sister. “We’ve gotten much better since we started training in here.”
Bethany Anne recalled the way they had worked as a single unit during the fight. “I suppose you’re right. At any rate, I’m extremely proud of how well the two of you worked together. You had each other’s backs the whole time, and used your skills to complement your sibling’s.”
The twins basked in their mother’s praise.
Bethany Anne held out her hands. “Shall we head to the next battle, my fearsome warriors?”
Alexis took Bethany Anne’s right hand, Gabriel her left, and they set off walking down the road to the south.
The road after the forest widened and narrowed as the landscape dictated as it wound around farms and bucolic villages with names that were just too cute for Bethany Anne to remember once they’d passed.
The twins were conditioned to traveling the long distances between the game locations. They knew the game was reaching its climax when the dirt beneath their feet turned to crushed gravel, and then to stone a short time later.
Alexis peered around Bethany Anne’s legs to catch her brother’s attention. Gabriel, now that Mommy is playing the game, do you think we might get past this scenario?
Gabriel tilted his head while he considered the question. Mommy is the best fighter, but the Dark Lord is super-powerful like Daddy, except evil.
Alexis was quiet for a moment. Do you know what that means?
No? Gabriel replied.
Alexis gazed up at Bethany Anne with complete adoration. We will have a chance—if she gets angry.
The road ahead took a wide bend to avoid the river coming in from the west.
The dark shadow on the horizon revealed itself to be not a mountain, but a city on an enormous bridge much farther down the river. The sound of clashing metal drew them away from the road to the city and over to where the river swept down toward the sea.
Bethany Anne led Alexis and Gabriel to the side of the road to gaze across the grassy plain between the road and the river, where the two armies were locked in a battle that stretched across both banks of the river and filled the plain below.
Bethany Anne looked out over the seething mass of violence, which pulsed with a life of its own. “We have to fight our way through this to get to the Dark Lord?”
Gabriel shook his head. “You can, but that would take too long. We get Eve to send us straight here if we want to do that quest. This time, all we have to do is challenge the Dark Lord.”
Bethany Anne nodded and lowered the hand that had been reaching for her sword. “Let’s save that for another day, then. So, where do we find this ‘Dark Lord?’”
Alexis pointed at the tents by the river on the opposite side. “Down there. See that black and gold one? The largest?”
“He’s in there,” Gabriel finished.
Alexis reached into thin air and produced a horn. “If you blow this, he’ll know you’re here to challenge him.”
Bethany Anne took the horn from her daughter. “Of course he will.” She looked at the tent where the Dark Lord awaited. “This won’t take too long.”
“Don’t
just rush the Dark Lord,” Gabriel told her solemnly. “He’s stronger than he looks.”
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow and lifted the horn to her lips. “I think I’ll be fine.” She blew the horn, and the battle below ceased immediately.
Silence fell where a second before the clash of swords and the screams and grunts of the battle had echoed. There was a splintering crash as one of the hastily-built siege bridges collapsed into the river and was swept away by the current.
Then the armies parted to form a path to the black tent.
Bethany Anne told the children to stay behind her and began the walk through the sea of soldiers.
The tent flaps opened and the Dark Lord emerged.
Bethany Anne couldn’t see his face since it was covered by his helmet. His body was protected by his head-to-toe black armor.
He strode out and stood with his hands on his hips in a way that looked familiar to Bethany Anne. His voice thundered across the battlefield, heard by all. “Who challenges the Dark Lord?”
Bethany Anne snorted. She took the last few steps toward him and poked him in the chest with her finger. “Dark Lord, my pampered posterior. My children could take you out before breakfast.”
Gabriel groaned. “Oh, damn. Now she’s gone and done it.”
Bethany Anne held a finger up to the Dark Lord and turned to Gabriel. “Language, Gabriel!”
Gabriel pouted. “But, Mommy! We haven’t defeated him yet!” His eyes suddenly widened and he pointed behind Bethany Anne wordlessly.
Bethany Anne turned at exactly the wrong moment. The Dark Lord cracked her openhanded across the face, sending her flying across the litter-strewn battlefield.
Her landing was cushioned by a group of conveniently-placed elves. She rolled through them like a bowling ball and crashed into the side of the ballista they were operating. The air was driven out of Bethany Anne’s lungs when her ribs cracked on impact, and a number of other places on her body began to complain loudly as she bounced off the side of the wooden catapult and dropped into the bed of a cart filled with rotting cabbages.
She lay there and waited for her bones to knit together, not even registering the discomfort caused by the cabbages beneath her. “Ooouuuchhh. That was definitely not Michael.”
Through The Fire and Flame (The Kurtherian Endgame Book 3) Page 9
