Hero

by Paul Bellow

  “It’s so random,” she said.

  “Come on,” Axelrod snapped. “We’ve got ground to cover.”

  “I’m in the other wagon,” she said. “We can talk later when we reach the mines.”

  She smiled with her perfect elven features then walked away to the other wagon. I walked around to the back then climbed in. Bernard, Evan, and Ryu sat in the back.

  “You slept long enough,” Bernard joked.

  “I wanted to rest up before taking out this dragon,” I said.

  “That dragon is as good as dead,” Evan said.

  The wagon lurched forward, sending us all scrambling to keep our balance.

  “You ready for this, Evan?” I asked the brownie.

  He nodded, forever smiling.

  “You’ve been doing great,” I said.

  “Thanks, Eric,” he said. “I’m just being me.”

  As I smiled, I glanced at Ryu. His expressionless face stood out.

  Was he meditating with his eyes open or something? Did the game turn everyone crazy eventually?

  “You still happy you joined our party, Bernard?” I asked.

  He smiled and nodded his head.

  “It’s been great not being alone,” he said. “Good to have a real healer in the party. Has anyone told you about me pretending to be a priest?”

  Ryu shook his head but said nothing.

  “Are we there yet?” Evan asked like an impatient child.

  “No,” I said. “A little bit longer.”

  I smiled, remembering how many times my parents had told me the same thing when traveling around the world or to our time-share pod on the moon.

  Silence filled the back of the wagon as if someone had cast a high-level spell. I flipped through my stats then looked up the dual wield skill to learn more.

  Weapon Craft – Dual Wield You’re adept enough with a single weapon; now, you can train to use two. The sword or dagger in your off-hand must be smaller than your main weapon. You will receive two attacks per round instead of the usual one.

  “Do you have an extra short sword or dagger?” I asked Bernard.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I think so. Why?”

  “I need to practice my Dual Wield skill,” I said. “There’s no telling what we’ll run into after we enter the mines.”

  “Bad things,” Ryu said.

  I turned my head to look at him.

  “What do you know about the Mines of Oriam?” I asked.

  “Only the legends,” he said. “We’ll face dangerous enemies and deadly traps.”

  “My Disarm Traps skill is getting better,” Bernard said. “Maybe I’ll get to use it more.”

  “You will,” Ryu said. “Don’t worry.”

  The wagon hit a bump in the road, sending Evan to the floor.

  “Ouch,” he said, still smiling.

  I stood, crouched over, and stepped to the front of the wagon. Pulling the sturdy cloth aside, I saw Axelrod on the front bench. He looked over his shoulder.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “It’s dark, that’s all,” Axelrod said.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Before waiting for an answer, I crawled to the front and sat next to him.

  “I guess not,” he said, staring at the dirt road ahead.

  “You know the way, right?” I asked.

  Axelrod glanced over and frowned.

  “Are you a side-seat driver?” he asked.

  “What?” I chuckled.

  “Are you going to tell me how to work the wagon the entire way?” he asked. “Do you think dwarves can’t get a wagon from point A to point B? Huh?”

  “Settle down,” I said. “You’re touchy about the dwarf thing, aren’t you?”

  “Didn’t you notice you can’t even select dwarf as a race when starting the game? Someone told me it’s not even an option anymore.”

  “It’s not,” I said. “You’ve talked to other players, then?”

  “Plenty of them,” he snorted. “Didn’t I tell you about my companions?”

  “No,” I said. “You never got around to telling the story.”

  Axelrod took a deep breath and ran his free hand over his mohawk.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready to tell it,” he said.

  “That’s fine. I’m just curious about the roguelike game,” I said.

  “Fine,” he said. “I’ll tell you. After wandering around the game on my own, I learned the Temple of Magictology wanted to get rid of all the non-human races in the game. A couple people approached me to help them stop Magi Inyontoo and his crew.”

  “Were they dwarves too?” I asked.

  He shook his head, still staring at the road ahead.

  “No, a human and an elf named Alex and Regina.” He paused for another deep breath. “They were both great. We had fun times together and got far in the game. At least, we thought we’d gotten far.”

  “What happened?” I asked. “Did your companions play the roguelike?”

  His frown deepened.

  “Yeah, they went into the roguelike,” he said. “I waited around for a year, but they never came out. By that time, all the other dwarves had been driven to higher levels in the game or frozen on this level.”

  “That’s insane,” I said. “We’ll stop Magi Inyontoo and anyone working with him.”

  “Good,” Axelrod said. “I told my companions not to enter the roguelike game, but the temptation was too much for them both.”

  “Temptation?” I asked.

  “If you make it out of the procedural generated dungeon with the Amulet of Yendro, you can use the artifact in the main game,” he said.

  “There’s always a small chance you can win a roguelike,” I said, remembering the hours I’d spend exploring procedurally generated dungeons. “What do they do about permadeath?”

  “No one knows for sure,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s ever come back out.”

  I sat up on the bench and said, “Maybe it’s a way out of the Tower of Gates.”

  He shrugged.

  “We’re here,” he said.

  I turned and saw the entrance to the stone giant’s cave. The body wasn’t around, however. Axelrod stopped the wagon by pulling on the reins while Josh stopped the other wagon next to us.

  “We’ll leave the wagons here and let the horses go,” Axelrod said as he sat down the reins then climbed down to the grassy ground. “We won’t need them where we’re going, and I don’t want them to die.”

  “I agree,” I said. “But what are we going to do about all our stuff?”

  “Pack it up and carry as much as we can,” he said.

  I climbed down from the wagon and stretched. The sun peeked over the top of the mountain range. I noticed a tall figure walk out of the cave.

  “Look,” I said, pointing.

  “What?” Axelrod asked.

  The others scrambled out of the wagons and walked around to the front.

  “It’s a fire giant,” I said. “Possibly a teen by its height.”

  The twelve-foot tall, misshapen beast lumbered toward us.

  “We can handle a fire giant,” Axelrod said, grabbing his battle-ax from the wagon.

  As the words came out of his mouth, three other adolescent fire giants walked out of the cave along with seven hellhounds shooting flames as they growled.

  “Battle positions!” Axelrod shouted.

  The tallest of the fire giants pointed a knotted hand in our direction and growled something in an unknown tongue.

  “For the dwarves,” Axelrod screamed as he ran toward them.

  Josh squatted, sword in hand, and went into a barbarian rage.

  “We got this,” I said, turning to Bernard. “You got that extra sword?”

  “It’s in the wagon,” he said then ran toward the three fire giants.

  The tallest one, their leader, stood near the entrance of the stone giant’s cave with four of the hell hounds by his side. I ran around to the back of the
wagon.

  “Hold on,” Sarah said as I came back with a sword in each hand.

  “What?” I asked. “They need me up front. Are you okay? Need something?”

  “I want to give you a buff, dummy,” she said then cast two spells.

  Glorified Cloaks of Bronze - +10 Armor Class Blessed Webs of Gold - +2 to hit +2 damage

  I grinned then said, “Thanks.”

  She ran to the front of the wagons to cast more spells along with Sheldon. I raised my sword and went toward the fire giants rushing toward us with literal fire in their eyes.

  Axelrod and Josh reached them first, both tearing into one of them. Three hell hounds flanked them while the third fire giant lumbered toward the wagons and our spell casters.

  “Not on my watch,” I muttered as I shot past Sarah, Sheldon, and Ryu.

  I saw Ewen and Evan teaming up to take on one of the hell hounds as I rushed forward. The fire dog stood taller than them both.

  I hoped they could handle their fight.

  As I ran past them and toward the fire giant, the hellhound spat fire. Both brownies screamed in agony. I dodged just in time, avoiding most of the flames.

  The hellhound’s breath weapon GRAZES you for 6 damage.

  You have [98/104] health remaining.

  I stopped and crouched down as the ten-foot monster approached. Two weapons felt comfortable in my hands. Dual Wield was one reason I loved playing rogues.

  Concentrate, I scolded myself as the fire giant slowed down and laughed.

  A giant arc of lightning whizzed by me and hit one of the other two smaller fire giants that Axelrod and Josh were fighting. The one in front of me looked down.

  “You’ll pay for killing Herb!” he yelled while raising a giant greatsword.

  I rushed forward and attacked.

  Your slash MAULS the fire giant adolescent for 29 damage.

  Your pierce MISSES the fire giant adolescent.

  This might be tougher than I thought.

  Another laugh filled the air as several golden bolts whizzed by.

  The fire giant swung the massive greatsword, hitting me in the arm.

  The fire giant adolescent’s greatsword DECIMATES you for 33 damage.

  You have [65/104] health remaining.

  As the battle stats flashed in front of me, I worried we might lose the fight.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Evan run by, smoke still coming off his clothes.

  I went in for another attack with both weapons.

  Your slash WOUNDS the fire giant adolescent for 17 damage.

  Your pierce INJURES the fire giant adolescent for 12 damage.

  Your Monster Lore skill has improved to Basic Level 6 of 10

  The fire giant adolescent is severely damaged.

  I dodged as the greatsword swung for me again.

  The fire giant adolescent’s greatsword MISSES you.

  Your dodge skill has improved to Basic Level 4 of 10

  Now we’re talking, I thought as adrenaline raced through my virtual veins.

  As I prepared my next attack, Evan appeared behind the fire giant and stabbed it in the back of the leg, scoring a direct hit. The fire giant growled in pain.

  When it twisted around, I used the opportunity to aim for its neck and a killing blow. I had to jump to reach it, but it was worth a shot.

  Critical hit!

  Your pierce DECIMATES the fire giant adolescent for 35 damage.

  Your stab DECIMATES the fire giant adolescent for 37 damage.

  The fire giant is dead!

  Your Weapon Craft – Dual Wield Skill has improved Weapon Craft – Dual Wield is Basic Level 2 of 10

  I saw Evan smiling as the fire giant flopped around then quit moving.

  “Great job,” I said, then added. “Watch out!”

  A hellhound crept up behind him and let loose with its breath. Ewen rushed past me and tackled Evan to the ground, shielding the other brownie’s body with his own.

  “No,” I said, rushing forward.

  When I reached the hellhound, I leaped over Ewen and Evan then stabbed it.

  Your pierce WOUNDS the hellhound for 18 damage.

  Your stab INJURES the hellhound for 14 damage.

  The hellhound is dead!

  I pulled my weapons free then turned to check on the brownies.

  “Get off me,” Evan cried.

  Ewen wasn’t moving as I rushed over to his crisp, lifeless body.

  “Noooo…” Evan cried as he struggled to his feet. “Not Ewen.”

  The smile on Ewen’s face made the situation even worse in some ways.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “We’ll find him again.”

  “No…” Evan dropped to his knees beside his companion. “We’ve got to stick together. They told us. It’s important for us to be together.”

  “Who told you?” I asked.

  “No time,” Evan replied as he stood.

  His evil eyebrows returned, making him look sinister.

  “Time to join my friend,” he said then rushed toward the tallest fire giant.

  “Healing,” Axelrod called out after downing the fire giant he’d been fighting on his own.

  Josh, still in a barbarian rage, charged after Evan.

  I needed health myself, but there wasn’t time to wait for our inept healer.

  “Evan, wait up,” I said as I rushed after him.

  The largest fire giant stood next to the entrance to the mines. Four hell hounds barked and yapped at his sides. I calculated the odds for the fight in my mind. They weren’t good. A familiar bolt of energy hit me from afar as I ran.

  The Divine Arrow of Energy hits you.

  You feel better!

  You have [104/104] health remaining.

  +10 to-hit bonus for duration of this battle.

  That’s what I’m talking about, I thought with a smile as I reached the entrance of the cave. A hellhound burned Evan before I could do anything.

  He fell to the ground in a smoking heap. My heart broke, but I continued forward, even more determined to win the battle for our fallen comrades.

  I reached the fire giant and attacked as Josh knocked the hellhounds over their heads with the Sword of Sands, causing them to yelp and howl in pain.

  Time to finish this…

  Your pierce WOUNDS the fire giant teen for 16 damage.

  Your stab INJURES the fire giant teen for 15 damage.

  The fire giant teen is barely bothered by you.

  Another steel, two-handed greatsword swung toward me. I dodged but stumbled and took the brunt of the hit.

  The fire giant teen’s greatsword MAULS you for 27 damage.

  You have [77/104] health remaining.

  Where’s Axelrod and the others?

  I questioned my foolhardy rush to take out the final boss—the toughest of them all—basically on my own.

  Josh finished off the last hellhound then charged toward me. I dashed around to the back of the fire giant. The raging barbarian swung his sword and hit the fire giant’s leg.

  I attacked again with both weapons, loving all my buffs but wanting more. The game continued to draw me in as I hit twice, feeling the rush of a good strike on a mob.

  Your pierce INJURES the fire giant teen for 14 damage.

  Your stab HITS the fire giant teen for 10 damage.

  The fire giant teen is feeling pain.

  Axelrod ran up, swinging his battle-ax and screaming, “For the dwarves!”

  I grinned and slashed at the fire giant leader again.

  Your pierce WOUNDS the fire giant adolescent for 17 damage.

  Your stab INJURES the fire giant adolescent for 13 damage.

  The fire giant adolescent is in pain and liable to flee.

  Your Monster Lore skill has improved Monster Lore - Basic Level 7 of 10

  Axelrod and Josh both battered the fire giant leader. When both connected with solid hits, the fire giant turned to run back into the cave.

  “Get him!”
I yelled, chasing after him.

  “Wait!” Axelrod screamed. “There might be more.”

  Ugh. I continued anyway. We need the xp and to get into the mines.

  I ran into the dank, dark cave, hoping the others would follow.

  16

  A Game Within a Game?

  Sarah

  I stopped outside the entrance of the stone giant’s cave, exhausted and out of breath. Axelrod and Josh stood near Evan’s badly charred body.

  “Where’s Eric?” I asked.

  “The fool went in the cave alone to chase the leader,” Axelrod said.

  “Both brownies died,” Josh said in a monotone voice.

  “This battle’s not over yet,” I said. “Let’s go help Eric.”

  “At least the half-orc settled down,” Axelrod said.

  I heard someone scream inside the cave. Not caring about the danger, I ran into the damp, dank cave and headed toward the sounds of sheer terror.

  A few small cooking fires threw crazy shadows on the walls as I ventured further into the massive cave. I slowed down as I neared a large chamber.

  Both Axelrod and Josh stopped next to me. I saw the biggest of the fire giant adolescents throw a boulder at Eric. He fell to the ground, the rock on top of him.

  “Let’s go!” I shouted.

  Sheldon was nowhere to be seen, and the brownies had been killed, but with Axelrod and Josh, we’d finish the fight. I wondered where Ryu had gone.

  “What’s the plan?” Josh asked, surprising me in a good way.

  “I’ll summon a few monsters to distract it,” I said, pulling the wand out.

  After zapping it three times, a giant eagle, a wolf, and a shark appeared near the fire giant. They caught his attention, giving Eric time to get away.

  The eagle flew into the air while the wolf growled then charged at the fire giant. As expected, the shark flopped around on the ground, unable to breathe.