Hero

by Paul Bellow

  We might be traveling frequently again.

  I got why Bernard had wanted a stable life.

  I scanned the list of items again, wondering if I should tell the guys about the armor or not. They would notice the odor if Bernard tried it on.

  4 potions of minor healing (heal 2d20 health)

  3 potions of major healing (heal 5d20 health)

  2 potions of enlarge (double your normal height)

  5 potions of remove poison

  2 potions of restore mana (5d20 mana points)

  Chain Mail of Orc Odors (+35 Armor Class, odors from armor gives -5% to hit on all nearby foes and friends.)

  +2 mace of detect alignment (+10% to hit bonus, 1d10+2 damage, detect alignment 2x/day)

  The mace would help Bernard, our pseudo priest. And potions were always helpful; not a bad haul. As new as the temple looked, the game had somehow thrown us a break.

  “Unless it was trying to trick us,” I thought to Charlotte. “What do you think?”

  “Can we talk normally, Kali? I need the practice,” she said.

  “Sure. We’re about to level up again soon.”

  “I’m so excited,” Charlotte said. “What new abilities will I have?”

  “You haven’t had anything other than being able to talk out loud to others so far.”

  “I know, Kali. But the possibilities are endless. Our future together is bright.”

  “Can you help me figure out this note on the back of the map to the Mines of Oriam?”

  “I can try, Kali.”

  She crawled down my arm and walked onto the map. I sat back and studied the strange characters.

  “Does the priest have a dwarven translation book?” Charlotte asked.

  “Genius,” I said, standing up. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  I walked down to the office on the first floor of the temple. Ewen and Evan waved as I walked past them in the main room.

  “I’m guarding the doors, Sarah,” Evan called out.

  “Great job,” I said, wondering about the two of them outside of the game.

  Eric appeared to have no trouble being stuck in the game with no escape until his father came home and rescued us, but I didn’t look forward to years away from reality.

  When I reached the priest’s office, I scanned the bookshelves for anything that matched the strange characters on the map. Near the bottom of the last one, I saw something.

  “Bingo,” I said, pulling out a black, leather-bound tome.

  The cover had Dwarven Rosetta Codex written on it in gold, embossed letters. I tucked the book under my arm then went upstairs. Charlotte still stood on the map when I walked in.

  “I found something,” I said, stopping at the side of the table.

  “Great,” she said. “Good job.”

  “It’s going to take some time, but I should be able to translate it.”

  “You’re the best, Sarah.”

  “Oh, I’m Sarah now?” I teased.

  “Is that okay?” Charlotte asked.

  “Of course,” I said in a motherly tone. “Do you want me to call you something other than Charlotte? I didn’t get to choose my name either.”

  “No,” she said. “I like my name.”

  I smiled, falling more in love with my familiar.

  “Let’s get to work…”

  I cracked open the virtual book to learn.

  An hour later, I had the message translated and written on the inside cover of the dwarven dictionary. I read the strange letter one more time.

  Dear Professor,

  As a dwarf myself, I’m outraged at your recent lecture on exterminating all the dwarves from the realms. The Pit of Doom in the Mines of Oriam exists for a reason, and having it guarded by a black dragon so dwarves can’t enter this realm is against all dwarven decency I’ve learned in the hundred years I’ve been around.

  Rest assured, I’ll do my best to stop you. I’ll be living openly in the Woodshore Forest on level one-two if you dare come to find me. You shouldn’t try to stop me unless you’re ready to face my wrath.

  Signed,

  Axelrod

  I read the note three more times.

  Had I messed up the translation?

  “Does it make sense to you, Charlotte?” I asked.

  “Not really, Sarah. We should go find him and see if he’s still alive.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “Might be time to slay our first dragon.”

  NEW MAIN QUEST:

  Kill the juvenile black dragon blocking dwarves from entering this crucial realm and trapping those already here. Your alignment is important. On slaying the evil black dragon, your party will receive 25,000 xp.

  Had Bernard, Eric, and the brownies gotten the same notification? I hadn’t exactly chosen to accept the quest. Maybe we didn’t have a choice on level one-two?

  “Let’s go find the others,” I said, setting my hand on the map.

  Charlotte scurried up my arm to her favorite spot on my shoulder. I walked downstairs just as Eric walked in the front door, laughing loudly.

  “You okay?” I asked as I walked over. “What’s so funny?”

  “I’m fine,” Eric said. “Captain Riggardo isn’t offering anything other than the temple and everything in it for our journey, but that’ll be more than enough.”

  “I’m gonna slay the dragon,” Evan said excitedly. “Best quest ever.”

  As he pumped his fist in the air, Ewen rolled his eyes.

  “Captain Riggardo is paying us to protect it, but we’re definitely going to slay it,” Eric said then turned to me. “Did you get the map translated?”

  I nodded and said, “Yup. It’s upstairs. You need to read it. The items will help. Did you get the main quest prompt?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Strange we didn’t get to choose.”

  “Right? This game is cool but sucks at the same time.”

  “I know what you mean,” he said.

  Evan stopped slaying a pretend dragon with his dagger.

  “I’m going to check on dinner,” he said as he walked toward the kitchen.

  “Ewen, keep an eye on the door,” Eric said. “We’re going upstairs.”

  “Always the most boring job,” he replied in monotone voice. “It’s fine with me.”

  He walked toward the door while Eric followed me upstairs.

  “We have magic armor of stink and a decent mace of detection for Bernard,” I said as we walked. “We’re not keeping the armor.”

  “Armor of stink?” Eric chuckled. “Is that the official name?”

  “No, it’s Armor of Orc Odors. I think it’s cursed because it affects everyone who’s not an orc, including any non-orcs wearing it.”

  “Are the buffs on it any good?” he asked.

  I stopped at the second floor of the building.

  “Not worth the smell,” I said.

  “And the potions?” he asked.

  “Good ones,” I said. “There’s a list. Come on.”

  I walked toward the room where I’d left everything.

  “What was the note all about?” he asked.

  I sighed then launched into the contents of the note.

  “Some dwarf named Axelrod quit college in an outrage when a black dragon began guarding the Pit of Doom which the dwarves apparently use to get into this realm,” I said. “You need to read it. I’m still not sure if it’s a joke or what.”

  We stopped inside the room with our new items and the map.

  “Killing the dragon is our main quest for this level, but we need to stop that Magi Inyontoo, too,” I said. “Would the game even allow us to bypass the quest and help Captain Riggardo stop the dwarves from playing?”

  “It’s like the game’s pushing us to be good,” he said. “Which makes sense if it’s a virtual prison. I still can’t believe my father helped build this place.”

  “He always seemed like a cool guy,” I said.

  “You’ve never lived with him,” Eric sai
d.

  “I’ll be glad when he comes home and gets us out of here, regardless,” I said. “The game’s super fun and all, but I don’t want to be trapped in here for twenty or thirty years.”

  I picked up the note then passed it to Eric. “Here, read the whole thing. It’s nuts. The game must be pushing us to stop the black dragon because it’s breaking the rules or something.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Eric said.

  He picked up the list of items, including the potions.

  “Not too shabby,” he said. “I’ll go tell Bernard about the mace and armor then we can go eat. Hopefully, Evan does know how to cook.”

  “He tracked the old man here,” I said in his defense. “And about the armor—do we really want it stinking up friends and foes?”

  Eric snickered.

  “What?” I asked. “You don’t want to wear it, do you?”

  “No, no,” he said. “Remember that time we were raiding in War of Spellcraft and Tommy let one rip? The whole party swore we could smell it in real life because it was so powerful. We teased him about that for a good two months.”

  I smiled. The memories of gaming with Eric a few years earlier had been pushed down deep in the back of my mind. It was nice to feel them again.

  Then I remembered the bad times, and I pushed those thoughts away.

  “It wasn’t all fun and games,” I said.

  The smile slipped from his face.

  “Let’s not talk about that now, okay?” he asked. “Please?”

  I nodded, saying nothing. The reason we had stopped hanging out together wasn’t something I desired to relive. I wanted to forget the big fight.

  “Agreed,” I said. “With Magi Inyontoo knowing we’re here, it’s probably a good idea to leave as early in the morning as possible, if not tonight.”

  “I don’t know,” Eric said. “Captain Riggardo doesn’t sound like he has any love for Magi Inyontoo either despite us wanting to check on the black dragon for him. Maybe Magi isn’t behind the dwarves being kept from the game?”

  I shrugged then said, “All I want to do is clear another level and get out of here.”

  Bernard walked into the room.

  “You’re back,” he said. “This new quest sounds dangerous.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Eric said. “You’re not scared, are you?”

  “No,” Bernard said. “But we’ve got to be smart. Every level of the game is tougher from what others have told me.”

  “We’ve lucked out so far on this level,” I said. “Check out this mace.”

  I picked up the heavy metal implement of destruction then handed it to him.

  “Five times a day, you can detect alignment,” I said.

  “Cool,” he said, admiring it. “That pairs with the new main quest message.”

  I nodded, getting excited about the game despite being trapped inside it.

  “We have new magic chain mail too,” Eric said. “But it affects friends and foes.”

  “How so?” Bernard asked. “Not that I’d wear something that heavy.”

  “It secretes Orc odors,” I said. “Throws off anyone near enough to get a whiff.”

  Bernard shook his head while grinning.

  “This game is nuts,” he said.

  Eric nodded and said, “You nailed it once again, my friend.”

  “Speaking of nuts,” Bernard said. “Do you think we should keep the brownies in the party? They’re a bit…how shall I put it? Unbalanced?”

  “They’re doing okay,” I said. “They’ve obviously got some mental problems, but they’ve been in this game a long time. We need all the help we can get.”

  “Okay,” Bernard said. “All we need to do is defeat this black dragon, allow the dwarves into the realm, free the trapped ones, and clear the level.”

  “Don’t you dare call it an easy quest,” I teased.

  Bernard grinned. I regretted not letting him into our group earlier.

  “Tell him about the note from the map,” Eric said.

  I picked up the note then handed it to Bernard.

  “Some dwarf named Axelrod is hiding in Woodshore forest,” I said. “He might help us defeat the black dragon which isn’t officially our main quest.”

  “Trolls,” Bernard muttered.

  “Huh?” I asked, tilting my head.

  “There’s tree trolls in those woods,” he explained.

  “We’ll be fine,” Eric said. “Hopefully the dwarf is a decent fighter. We still need to beef up our party size. Before we go to the Pit of Doom, we’ll take a detour and find Axelrod. Maybe he’ll join our party.”

  “I bought more than enough supplies,” Bernard said. “I also found a cart and two horses. Everything is in the cart in the stables out back.”

  “Great,” Eric said. “We have a plan. Tomorrow morning, we’ll leave.”

  “Sounds good,” I said. “What do you think, Charlotte?”

  “I agree, Kali,” she said, perched on my shoulder.

  “We should look for Josh too,” I said then frowned.

  “Yeah,” Eric said, nodding his head. “We’ll find him too. Soon.”

  We each took a separate room, staying clear of the room with the magic mirror. I’d thought about breaking it, but we couldn’t risk seven years of bad luck in our virtual world.

  As I laid on one of the bunks on the second floor and closed my eyes, sleep overtook me right away. My dreams were filled with frustratingly endless adventures.

  When I woke in the morning, I found the other four already busy. Eric had hired a half-dozen men to guard the temple in our absence. We’d retrieved our meager amount of gold plus a lot more from the temple’s coffers.

  “They’ll never find the secret room,” Eric said as we watched Bernard, Ewen, and Evan finish loading the wagon.

  “Good,” I said. “Hopefully the wilderness won’t be too rough. We’re still short a party member, and we have room for twelve.”

  “I know,” Eric said. “We’ll find people to help as we go along. I’ve been asking—do you think Josh would even accept?”

  “Yes,” I answered quickly. “Why would you ask that?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Josh is not a nice guy.”

  “Let’s not talk about it, okay?”

  “Fine,” he said. “My pleasure.”

  We had many things we couldn’t easily talk about anymore, unspoken words between us. I walked over to the covered wagon same with the one we’d had on level one-one.

  Two horses would help speed up our travel time.

  Would I ever get a teleportation spell?

  The thought intrigued me greatly.

  Bernard waved us over.

  “We’re ready to go,” he said.

  I walked over then climbed into the back. The others could talk and keep watch. I wanted to read one of the books about ancient history in the Grabisco Isles.

  Sometimes, we instinctively knew things because of the game working behind the scenes, but I wanted to learn as much as possible to help find a way out.

  Evan and Ewen also climbed into the back while Eric and Bernard sat up front. I grabbed onto a wooden chest for balance as the wagon tumbled forward.

  We’d put all the potions and some gold into the locked and reinforced chest for safe keeping on the journey. None of us trusted the men we’d hired.

  Evan stared at me from the other side of the wagon.

  “You’re the best, Sarah,” he said.

  Ewen, sitting next to him, mumbled something.

  “Thanks, Evan,” I said. “You’re special too.”

  He cocked his head, eyes widening.

  “I am?” he asked.

  “Yup,” I said. “But I’m going to read this book now, okay? Can you keep watch out the back of the wagon?”

  “Not a problem, Sarah,” he said. “If I see the dragon, I’ll sneak around and stab it to death for you! I’m your protector now.”


  “You better not go off on your own again,” Ewen said.

  I looked down at my history book. The pillow I was sitting on hardly buffered the bumps on the rough road as we rocked and rolled out of the city.

  The sound of Eric and Bernard talking up front faded as I got drawn into the words. A virtual book about a virtual world made for surreal reading.

  Was being trapped in the game so bad? I wondered. A year or two in the game wouldn’t kill me. Right? What would my limit be? One year? Three?

  Bernard and the others had been through even longer periods of game time—decades even.

  Could I last that long without cracking up and going nuts?

  “Whoa,” Eric said a few miles outside of town.

  I put the book down and crawled to the front.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “There’s someone on the road ahead,” Bernard said.

  I peered between them and saw a man dressed in black riding a brown horse.

  “Bandit?” I asked.

  “Probably,” Eric said. “I don’t see anyone else, but we should be ready.”

  “Do you want me to buff you?” I asked.

  Eric nodded.

  “Might as well,” he said. “Better safe than sorry. We’ve got potions.”

  Instead of going straight-out offensive as usual, I wanted to help by buffing our strongest fighter. We had to adapt our strategies as we got further in the game.

  “He’s coming closer,” Bernard said.

  “I need to get out of the wagon to cast something,” I said.

  Eric hopped off the wagon then drew his sword. Bernard did the same while I climbed out the back. Evan and Ewen joined me at the front of the wagon.

  Together, we waited for the ruffian to approach.

  He stopped a few hundred yards away, staring in our direction.

  “What do you want?” Eric asked.

  “Your money and wagon,” the man replied.

  “Come and get it,” Eric said. “You’re outnumbered.”

  “Two brownies and an elf only count for half a human, don’t they?” the man asked then laughed. “I’m Ritheard, and you’re going to hand over all your possessions or else.”