Falstace gestured toward the back of the room. I turned and found Oz, Thandroot, and Karian stuck behind a wall of yellowed glass. Their figures distorted as they waved their arms and shouted at me but I couldn’t make out the words.
“Fine,” I said and lifted the mace.
“Wait. You want to know more about how you got here, don’t you?”
“No shit, man. Tell me. You know I can use this shard to blast you into pieces,” I bluffed. “I haven’t even begun to experiment with the number of spells I know.”
“We both know that’s a big lie, Walter. You know two spells because that is in your character file, and pretty lame spells at that,” Falstace said.
“You’re the lame one,” I said, well, lamely.
“Oh do tell, Walter,” Falstace taunted.
“I guess my name is on my character sheet as well,” I said.
Falstace smiled wide and then disappeared.
I spun, but he was no longer in the room.
Karian beat on the glass wall, but it made no noise. Her mouth opened but no words came out.
“Fine, asshole,” I said.
I lifted the mace and stalked toward the portal. If he were still here, this would draw him out for sure. Enough of this disappearing act.
I lifted the mace above my head and eyed the middle of the portal. In the center was set a huge ruby red stone that spun in slow motion inside of rune-etched rings that turned the opposite direction of each other. The center ring clockwise, the one outside of it counter clockwise, and so on until the fifth ring which appeared to be vibrating as if waiting for the other rings to catch up.
“Hey, Falstace,” I called. “I’m about to trap your dumb ass here forever.”
“I don’t think so,” Falstace said from directly behind me.
I spun, frost spell ready to unleash, but met a hand. Upside the head. I staggered but managed to swipe the mace around in a hard blow that should have broken Falstace. Instead, he caught it with one hand, ripped the weapon out of my grasp, and flung it across the room.
In the background, Karian, Oz, and Thandroot beat at the glass with renewed fervor to no avail.
I saw stars, briefly, then a hand closed over my fist that held the shard. It tightened, and then Falstace grabbed my neck and lifted me off the floor. I got a look at him and blanched. His face had been horribly scarred from the acid, as had his neck, and every bit of skin that shone through the holes in his once beautiful armor.
I dove into the shard and sought all of its power as I drew and drew and drew. My mind filled with mana in cascading waves that dominated even my desire to breathe. I pulled more and more, fully intent on blowing Falstace, and myself since it had apparently come to that, into death’s embrace.
“Hello, Walter. Allow me to offer a proper introduction. My name is Gabriel,” Falstace said and then stepped into the portal.
The last thing I remembered was the shard fizzling to a clear glass color as the rest of its power fled into me.
The room around me faded from view, the glass that had sheltered my friends shattered and crashed to the floor. Then a roar sounded as the entire structure went up in flames. I didn’t hear the explosion because we were already traveling.
And that was all I remembered for a long time.
EPILOGUE
I had been a complete idiot. Why didn’t I listen to Thandroot’s warning and just get the hell out of the catacombs while I had the chance? If had I done so, we would have been back in Weslori, sipping the remarkable Lorain tea, regaling Ansalon with tales of our exploits, and hopefully leveling up thanks to the quest turn in.
Plus, the shard would have been back in the city, safe, and we might have been tasked with retrieving the rest of the pieces.
But no. Falstace—make that Gabriel—the asshole producer who bought his way into AlgerTech, had played me like a proper fool. I didn’t even know where the shard was, and he had me, although I don’t think he cared about my fate.
I’ve been locked in a dungeon for days, and not a single person has been by to see how I’m doing. The cell contained three items. A hard mattress to sleep on, a thread bare blanket that smelled like shit, and a bucket to relieve myself. At night, I shivered so badly my teeth chattered.
No one had brought me any food or water. My throat felt coated in wool, and hunger burned deep in my belly leaving a hollow pit.
There isn’t even a window here. Just four walls and a ridiculously sturdy metal door. I know because I’ve tried pounding on it and kicking it, which hurt when the only clothing you have on is a long shirt that barely covers your ass. At least there was a bucket to relive myself in, but no one had changed it since I woke up here a few days ago with a splitting headache, countless bruises, and a complete loss of all of my gear. Even my HUD didn’t work correctly and only displayed a red health pool in the corner. I had stopped looking because each time it diminished a little more.
At least when I finally died of starvation, I would wake up back at the binding stone so I could limp back to the city and hope Ansalon took pity on me.
Karian probably hated my guts now.
Thandroot would cast nothing but scorn my way.
Oz, though. I hadn’t liked him much when we got here, but I could now say, with all honestly, that he was one of the best friends I had ever had, I just hoped he would forgive me.
I pulled the blanket around my body, shivered on the mattress, and stared into space. I followed a crack in the wall. It was a hair thin and ran from one side of the room to the other and terminated just above the metal door. In the remarkably dull room this was the only thing that could be called a feature.
Something twinkled. I blinked my eyes a couple of times and sat up. The door was the same but there a new shape near the bottom.
Somehow the figurine I had taken from one of the skeletons sat on the floor and beckoned to me. For the first time in several days I felt something like hope.
The End
The story continues in
Enter the Realm Book Two
Shards of a Nightmare
Coming soon…
Thank you so much for reading ENTER THE REALM: SHARDS OF REALITY! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the book, and that you are looking forward to future novels in the series.
I’m a full time author, and pay my mortgage with my writing. If you could take a spare moments to leave a review for SHARDS OF REALITY on Amazon, I would be extremely gratefully, and sing the praises of your name. Badly. And only in the shower.
Review link: Shards of Reality
Thank you and you now get a free *DING - LEVEL UP*
-Tim
AFTERWORD
Are you as fascinated with the LitRPG genre as I am? There is a fantastic resource on Facebook:
LitRPG Facebook Group
Here you can learn more about LitRPG, talk to authors including myself, and just have an awesome time, please join the LitRPG Group.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have been a lifelong lover of epic fantasy books and I drew a lot of inspiration for this book from my favorite authors. Writers like Steven Erikson, Robert Jordan (RIP), and Brandon Sanderson’s work on finishing the Wheel of Time books. George R R Martin, Joe Abercrombie, and the mighty Terry Pratchett (Also RIP).
I love all things LitRPG and if you do as well I encourage you to check out a couple of resources.
The LitRPG Forum is a fun place to hang out and see what’s happening in the genre.
If you’re on Facebook consider joining the LitRPG society where a lot of fans and authors in the genre tend to congregate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Timothy W. Long has been writing tales and stories since he could hold a crayon and has read enough books to choke a landfill. Tim has a predilection for weird literature, and a deep-seated need to jot words on paper and thrust them at people.
Tim spent time in the US Navy, worked for a major game corporation, an aeronautics company, and he was in the IT field fo
r the last 15 years as an engineer before becoming a full time author. He is an active member of Horror Writers Association, SFWA, and International Thriller Writers.
Tim is the author of 18 novels and resides outside of Seattle where he spends time with his partner in crime, author and publisher Katie Cord. As well as 2 children, 4 dogs of various sizes and dispositions, a slightly psychotic Bengal cat named LucyFurr, and a near constant supply of overpriced and overcooked coffee beans.
www.timothywlong.com
[email protected]
ALSO BY TIMOTHY W. LONG
Among the Living (Permuted Press)
Among the Dead (Permuted Press)
Beyond the Barriers (Permuted Press)
Beyond the Barriers: Ghouls
At the Behest of the Dead
The Zombie Wilson Diaries
The Apocalypse and Satan’s Glory Hole w/Jonathan Moon
Z-Risen 1: Outbreak
Z-Risen 2: Outcasts
Z-Risen 3: Poisoned Earth
Z-Risen 4: Reavers
Z-Risen 5: Barriers
The Front: Screaming Eagles w/David Moody and Craig DiLouie
Impact Earth 1: Symbiosis
Impact Earth 2: Metastasis (forthcoming)
Damaged w/Tim Marquitz
Drums of War
March to War (Forthcoming)
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Introduction
Prologue
1. Noobs and Ale
2. For the Experience
3. Learn a Skill—Stupid Towser
4. Temples, priests, and unicorn farts
5. Get a job!
6. Cellars, rats, and clichés
7. So It Begins
8. Caves and Bandits
9. Three’s a Party
10. Ganked!
11. Four’s a Crowd
12. Bugs, Gear, and Puns
13. Bears and Shit
14. Embrace the Suck
15. Weslori At Last
16. What a Junt
17. Skills, Mages, and Killer Tea
18. Trained to Kill
19. Epic Quest
20. Pissed off and Pissed on
21. It’s a Small World
22. Double Ding FTW
23. Into the Catacombs
24. Lights Out, Sally
25. A Priest, an Assassin, a Rogue, and a Mage Walk into a Catacomb
26. Dungeon Diving for Fun and Profit
27. Going Realm’s Deep
Epilogue
Afterword
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Timothy W. Long
SHARDS OF REALITY: A LitRPG novel (Enter the Realm Book 1) Page 30
