Brute

by Paul Bellow

  She had done so much for me, but let her die. Every single mistake I had ever made in my life came back to haunt me in that moment. I wanted to be alone so bad.

  Men, women, and even children taunted me as they walked by the cage several sizes too small for me. I sat hunched over as they launched a litany of insults my way.

  “Stupid brute,” a young woman shouted. “You let Wiley get away!”

  Her anger surprised me. Didn’t they see I helped free the dragon? After he flew away without me, I didn’t care about the stupid flying reptile any longer.

  The insults became harsher as a larger crowd gathered around the cage in front of Artemis’ house. I growled at them in frustration, but they only laughed.

  When a small boy came up to the cage and spit between the bars, I knew I had reached the lowest point in my life. I wanted to die and start over again, but I couldn’t.

  The stupid collar around my neck continuously healed me a few health points, just enough to keep me alive. It did nothing for the pain coursing through my body.

  Someone in the crowd whipped a tomato at me. The ripe, red fruit hit one of the bars and splattered, covering me in a red mess. Everyone cheered at my misfortune.

  A fruit merchant must’ve been traveling by because after the first one, a rainstorm of tomatoes, oranges, and even apples came flying at me. The apples hurt the most.

  I lifted my knees and buried my head between them. While they couldn’t kill me by throwing fruit, I didn’t want to see them anymore. They chanted louder when I covered my ears.

  “Bleaking half-orc!” an intensely irate man shouted.

  All the wet, sloppy fruit attracted a bunch of flies and other insects. They descended on my cage like a miniature air force. I didn’t even bother swatting them away.

  When the crowd realized I wasn’t getting upset enough, their tactics changed. They kept on yelling insults at me, but they changed up their projectile weapons.

  A bottle crashed in front of the cage, shattering. Soon, dozens of bottles flew my way. Two of them hit the bars, shattering and sending glass flying inside the cage.

  Four guards rushed out of the house and chased most of the people away. As they worked on clearing the crowd, I reached down and picked up a sliver of glass.

  I couldn’t use it to kill myself with the collar, but maybe I could cut the leather away and take it off. At that point, I could take my own life and hopefully spawn again.

  The guards yelled at the stragglers as I quietly used the sharp glass to slice the collar. My fingers started bleeding, but I kept working. Nothing could stop me.

  After a few minutes, I was making progress. Could I cut the leather enough to rip it off in my weakened condition? As I got closer, one of the guards noticed me.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” he asked while walking toward the cage.

  I cut faster. Timing would be everything.

  The guard on my left reached inside the cage. I pulled away and kept cutting at the collar. The other guards came over.

  “Get the cage open!” someone said.

  I saw one of the guards fumbling with a ring of keys, looking for the right one as I kept sawing at the leather with the shard of glass. When he found the right one, I reached up and pulled at the collar with all my strength. To my surprise, it broke!

  The guard with the key fumbled with the lock as I raised the shard of glass to my throat. Could I really do it? Kill myself? I only had a few seconds to decide whether to go through with it or not. As the guard swung the door of the cage open, I made up my mind.

  33

  Return of the Wizards

  Josh

  As I pressed the glass shard against my throat, ready to end my character, I heard a roar overhead. The people around me fled in every direction. I scooted to the side of the cage, trying to look up, but I couldn’t see anything. Had Wiley returned to save me? Artemis’ guards ran back inside the mansion. I peered down the now empty street and saw a familiar red dragon land in a nearby courtyard. Five figures climbed off and headed toward me. Their colored robes gave me pause. Why were the Four Wizards and Wiley working together again? And who was the fifth person with them? I grabbed the bars of the cage and peered out, anxiously waiting for them to arrive.

  “Hello,” Thom called out, waving his hand.

  Anger flared up inside me as they got closer. I wanted to make them pay for what they had done to me for so many months. Wiley might’ve forgiven them, but I never would. I gripped the steel bars even tighter as they stopped in front of the cage.

  “Need some help?” Monky, in her female body, asked.

  My hands dropped from the bars.

  “You’re alive?” I asked.

  She nodded as the Four Wizards waved their hands. The door of my cage popped open. I crawled out then stood, still wondering if I should believe what was happening. Monky came over and threw her arms around my waist, squeezing.

  “I’m glad you made it,” she said.

  “What happened?” I asked. “Didn’t you get eaten by a gruesnipe?”

  The Four Wizards laughed. Monky smiled sheepishly.

  “I lied about gruesnipes because I had to get away from you. The evil Four Wizards tracked you because of the sigils on your back,” she said. “I couldn’t let them get me before I rescued the originals.”

  “Huh?” I furrowed my brow in confusion.

  “We’ll explain when we get out of here,” Ferris said.

  “Yes,” Sherlock added. “We’ve got company.”

  I turned as half a dozen guards ran out of Artemis’ lavish house.

  The Four Wizards jumped into action, sending a dizzying amount of magic at them. A wall of fire shot up from the ground between us and them. Several lightning bolts shot through it. I heard the guards scream, but I couldn’t see them through the flames.

  “We should go,” Aaron said.

  I turned to Monky, wondering if I could trust her.

  “You can trust me,” she said in my mind.

  Still unsure of what was going on but not wanting to remain a prisoner, I followed her and the Four Wizards back to the courtyard. Wiley snaked his head around to me as we walked up.

  “I’m sorry I had to leave you,” he said. “Things have been tricky.”

  “We’re good,” I said casually.

  “City Guard!” Thom shouted.

  Wiley turned toward the guards running toward us and shot flames from his mouth. Everyone climbed onto his back.

  “Hang on,” he said in his deep voice then leaped into the air.

  I clung to two scales with all my might as we soared up into the sky above the city. Several arrows, bolts, and a few energy beams shot up at us, but Wiley dodged them all as he flew toward the north wall of the city.

  Monky, sitting in front of me, looked around and smiled. If they had shown up another minute later, I would’ve slit my throat without knowing what would happen to me after I died again. She turned back toward the front.

  After flying a mile or so away from the city, Wiley swooped down and landed. Everyone climbed off his back. I used my hand to shield my eyes as I peered at Midgaard in the distance. The brilliant white walls belied what was inside.

  “Will they send someone after us?” I asked.

  “No,” Ferris said. “Not right away.”

  “But the gruesnipes might get us tonight,” Thom said then laughed.

  “Very funny,” I said then looked over at Monky.

  She turned away, not meeting my gaze.

  “What now?” I asked. “Can you get me back to the lower levels? I need to find my friends. They’re probably worried about me.”

  “Not yet,” Aaron said. “We need your help.”

  “My help?” I asked.

  Aaron nodded.

  “We made a grave mistake,” Ferris said. “An experiment to get out of the game failed, and we split ourselves with the spell we created.”

  “Huh?” I asked.

  Sherlock sig
hed like a grumpy old man.

  “It’s simple,” he said. “We cloned ourselves. The idea was that if we diluted our characters, we might be able to escape the game. But it all went wrong.”

  “Horribly wrong,” Thom said in a more serious tone.

  Unlike his clone, he knew when to quit kidding around.

  “Our doubles came out a lot darker,” Ferris said. “They tricked us and imprisoned us. Luckily, we had given them a cursed item that would transport them through the Warp Zone one time and trap them on the first four levels of the game.”

  “Unfortunately,” Aaron said. “They had already imprisoned us.”

  “I needed to leave you in the wastelands to find them,” Monky said.

  “Do you know how many times I almost died?” I asked.

  She frowned and offered a meager, “No.”

  “A lot,” I said. “Too many times.”

  “But you’re alive,” Aaron noted.

  I nodded, unable to argue with this logic.

  “How exactly can I help you?” I asked, still not understanding.

  “We need a warrior,” Sherlock said.

  “A brave fighter like you,” Thom added.

  “You don’t understand,” I said. “The evil wizards were buffing me every day with hidden enchantments. I wouldn’t have won any matches without their magic.”

  “We understand fine,” Ferris said. “You won’t be fighting alone. To reclaim our place on level one-nine, we need to kill our clones. We could fight them outside the arena illegally, but with your local celebrity, we think the Guild Council will approve a Death Match between us and them.”

  “A battle of eight wizards,” Monky said. “It’ll be epic.”

  “But how can I help?” I asked.

  “Don’t underestimate yourself,” Sherlock said.

  He sounded more tolerant than his evil counterpart.

  “If we don’t kill the other Four Wizards,” Thom said. “We can’t get our full powers back.”

  “Full powers?” I asked.

  “Since splitting the four of us into eight, none of us have been able to use our full powers,” Aaron explained.

  “You mean the other four wizards might become even more powerful?” I shook my head. “We don’t stand a chance against them.”

  “They’re weak now, too,” Monky said. “Because they didn’t kill the original wizards.”

  “Ugh,” I sighed then shook my head. “This is all too much. It doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t they kill you instead of imprisoning you?”

  “They didn’t have enough power,” Ferris said. “We need to contact the Guild Council and set up a Death Match in the arena to settle this once and for all.”

  “Will you help us?” Thom asked.

  “If you help me get back to the lower levels,” I said.

  “We’ll help you find your friends,” Sherlock said.

  Could I trust them? I didn’t have much of a choice. A world with an evil set of Four Wizards wasn’t acceptable. I also wanted revenge.

  “Let’s do this,” I said.

  Ferris turned to Thom and said, “Go tell Wiley to fly to Asangard and wait for us.”

  The red-haired mage ran toward the dragon to deliver the message. I thought about what the Four Wizards wanted me to do.

  “You’re doing the right thing,” Monky said.

  I nodded, hoping she was right.

  34

  Guild Council Decision

  Josh

  After Wiley left, everyone joined hands in a circle. The Four Wizards chanted their ancient words, teleporting us away. We appeared in a plain stone room. I glanced around, not seeing any doors or windows on the smooth, grey walls.

  “Where are we?” I asked. “Were you lying to me?”

  “Settle down,” Ferris said. “We’re in the Guild Council’s tower.”

  “Their security is tight,” Thom added.

  I nodded then looked over at Monky.

  “Have you been here before?” I asked.

  She shook her head.

  “My first time, too,” she said. “The Guild Council is a big deal on level one-nine.”

  “What about the other city-states?” I asked.

  “They’re all run differently,” Aaron said.

  One of the four walls disappeared. I looked through the opening and saw an impressive boardroom. The Four Wizards walked forward with Monky close behind.

  “Come on,” she said over her shoulder.

  I followed them, stopping at one end of an ornate wooden table running the length of the long, rectangular room. A dozen men and women sat on either side. I noticed nobody sitting at the head of the table. Artemis, fat and sweaty, was the only person I recognized.

  “We come asking the council’s wisdom,” Ferris said.

  “That’s my barbarian!” Artemis said, wheezing and pointing a pudgy finger. “You four sold him to me then freed him. I demand restitution.”

  “We did no such thing,” Sherlock said. “Our evil clones did it.”

  Everyone on the Guild Council looked at each other.

  “I can explain,” Ferris said, “if you give me the opportunity.”

  “Thieves don’t deserve opportunities,” Artemis said.

  A few of the man and women around him nodded in agreement.

  “How do you explain the fact there’s another set of wizards?” Thom asked.

  “We’re telling the truth,” Ferris said. “You must believe us.”

  “I believe you’ll give me back my property,” Artemis said.

  He turned his thick head toward me, sweat running down his brow.

  “Over my dead body,” I muttered.

  After so long in captivity, I never wanted to be imprisoned again.

  “Quiet,” a tall, thin elf with blond hair said. “The Guild Council Chair isn’t here, so…”

  “I’m here,” Gord-En said, surprising me and everyone else in the room.

  He walked through a doorway and pulled out the chair at the head of the table. Before sitting down, he pointed at me and said, “That barbarian saved my life. We should listen.”

  Artemis huffed and sat back in his chair but said nothing.

  “Thank you,” Ferris said. “Our proposal is simple. To avoid any problems with duplicated characters running about on the same level, one set of Four Wizards needs to die. And in order to make it fair, we propose a grand Death Match in the coliseum.”

  Artemis leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I’m listening,” he said.

  “There’s a lot of coin to be made with a battle of eight wizards,” Monky said.

  Gord-En sat down and leaned back in the high back leather chair.

  “Four of the wizards tried to kill me,” he said. “What guarantee do you have that you’re not as evil as the wizards you call your clones?”

  I inched to my left, away from the Four Wizards.

  “Fair question,” Sherlock said. “Aaron?”

  The wizard in black robes stepped to the table.

  “It’s not safe for us to be on the same level with our clones for long,” Aaron said. “We’re willing to travel back through the Warp Zone and allow the other Four Wizards to stay here.”

  “Solomon, huh?” Gord-En asked then chuckled.

  “I don’t quite get the reference,” Aaron said.

  “Of course you don’t,” Gord-En said. “Nevermind. I believe you’re telling the truth, but if you’re not, we’ll settle that if you make it out of the arena alive.”

  “You’re letting us do it?” Ferris asked.

  Thom clapped his hands and smiled.

  “What about the dragon?” Artemis asked. “The dragon will draw a bigger crowd, but we can’t have him helping one side more than the other. I propose we chain him to the middle of the arena. He’ll fight for whichever group frees him first.”

  “Wiley’s a free man,” I said, then added, “or dragon. A free dragon. He can choose who he wants to fight
with at the match.”

  Artemis laughed, his multiple chins jiggling. “You’re too much, barbarian,” he said.

  “We agree,” Ferris said, surprising me.

  Gord-En slammed his fists on the table then stood.

  “It’s settled,” he said. “The match will be tomorrow.”

  “So soon?” Monky asked. “We’re not ready.”

  “I can’t stay in Midgaard long, but I want to see this epic battle,” Gord-En said then turned his head toward Artemis. “And I want to make sure this is a true Death Match with no rules and nothing stopping until everyone on one side is dead. This is a fight to the death.”

  Gord-En, the master rogue, glanced around the table.

  “Anything else before I go?” he asked.

  Not a single person spoke up. Gord-En’s authority and charisma made an impression on me. Would I ever be as powerful as him inside the Tower of Gates?

  The question concerned me. Was I getting drawn deeper into the game? I needed to help the Four Wizards win the battle so they would return me to the lower levels. Eric and Sarah had to be worried about me after such a long time apart.

  “See everyone tomorrow at the coliseum,” Gord-En said then left the room.

  How had a rogue become the head of the Guild Council? And what did they do exactly? I had so many questions as the Four Wizards turned and left the room. Monky grabbed my arm and pulled before following them. I walked along, still stunned.

  A little over an hour earlier, I had been locked in a cage ready to kill myself. Now, I had a chance to help the Four Wizards and get back to the lower levels of the game to find Eric and Sarah. So much had changed in such a short period of time.

  We went back into the stone room. The Four Wizards once again cast their teleport spell. All of us appeared in a plush garden in someone’s backyard. I glanced around and noticed two women whispering while pointing at us.

  “The targeting is still off,” Aaron said. “We need to adjust.”

  Sherlock waved his hand like he didn’t care.

  “Can you guys teleport me through the Warp Zone safely?” I asked. “When the other Four Wizards did it, they killed what I guess was the second copy of Wiley. Did you clone him, too?”