I felt her healing power wash over me, and soon my wounds were healed. I stood on shaky legs feeling like a crack addict that needed a hit. The Throne’s power had been intoxicating, and without it I felt hollow.
“Has the Throne abandoned you altogether?” Kit asked with hope brimming in her eyes.
“No,” I said after a moment. “I can still feel it. It’s just…far away I guess.”
“Oh,” she said, eyes downturned.
“How’s Trinity?” I asked, wincing to hear the answer.
“She’s alright. She’s worried about you. We all are.”
“Where is she?”
“In the common room with everyone else.”
“Alright,” I said, leaning on her for support. “Let’s go see them. I’ve got some apologizing to do.”
When we entered the common room, the rest of my guild mates were sitting around the sectional looking glum. My eyes immediately moved to Trinity, and when she saw that I no longer had horns, her eyes became hopeful. I approached her with pursed lips, and a pang of sorrow swelled in my throat.
“Trinity, I’m so sorry—”
She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me, but before I could return the hug she pulled back and slapped me across the face.
“I guess I deserve that,” I said as I rubbed my jaw.
“You deserve a good kick in the balls,” Trinity said with a scowl.
“There’s no excuse for what I did. It will never happen again,” I promised.
“Has the Throne released you?” Trinity asked hopefully.
“No, there’s still a link between us. He’s pissed at me because I gave him shit for striking you.”
“What do you mean?” Ember asked. “The Throne slapped Trinity?”
“Through me, yeah.” I rubbed the nape of my neck as I considered the implications of what I had said.
“So you were possessed? Is that it?” Trinity asked.
“It’s still no excuse,” I said. “But yeah, kind of. I mean the Throne didn’t straight up take control of my body, but sometimes when I’m caught up in the middle of fighting, the line separating the two of us begins to blur.”
“You think?” said Tweak. “Your voice changes, your fucking hair turns into fire, and your eyes get all demonic and shit. Sam, Bro, this Throne is going to be your ruin.”
“He’s right,” Cecilia said with a grim nod.
“I don’t like it when you get like that, Big Daddy.” Kit hugged my right side. “Just get rid of that Throne. Tell it you don’t want to be the Dark Lord anymore.”
“I can’t,” I told her.
“Can’t or won’t?” Trinity asked with a raised brow.
“I…I don’t know,” I said. “I think that I can control it.”
“You think?” said Nanaya.
“You were the Dark Lord for a time,” said Cecilia. “What was your experience with the Throne? How did you get out of it?”
“Megulla kicked my ass,” said Nanaya.
“Her heart wasn’t in it,” I clarified, and Nanaya nodded agreement.
“He’s right,” said the succubus. “The Throne feeds off the Dark Lord’s anger and rage. The more you give in to your primal urges, the more power you get. But the stronger you become, the more you lose a part of yourself. By the end, I didn’t really want the mantle anymore, and the Throne knew it.”
“You can’t lose yourself, Big Daddy.”
“I won’t, Kit,” I ensured her.
“You can’t control it,” said Zoe. “No one can.”
“I don’t have to control it,” I told her. “I just have to control myself.”
“I think you’ve already proven that you can’t do that,” said Trinity.
“That won’t happen again,” I said and reached for her, but she pulled back.
“You don’t know that!” she screamed.
“Listen,” I said in a voice to match. “Let’s not forget that this is a game. And in that game, we’re at the top of the fucking food chain. We’re making a shit ton of gold, and no matter how this all turns out, you’ll all be rich as hell in the real world.”
“He’s right,” said Stormy. “Hell, we’ve already cashed out a few hundred thousand a piece.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Pretty soon we’ll have so much in-game gold that if we withdraw it all, we’ll crash the entire Rebirth economy. Now that’s real power.”
“You’ve never wanted power, Sam,” said Anna. “You’ve always tried to do the right thing.”
“I’m still trying to do the right thing,” I said arms wide.
“Really?” Anna tapped on her interface and swiped something up onto the looking glass.
A moment later, the video of a huge demon tearing apart the Orc Chieftains began to play. I got a sick feeling in my gut a millisecond later when I realized that I was looking at myself. My horns were huge and curved, and my hair had turned to green flames. I appeared to be at least nine feet tall, and my muscles rippled and bulged as I fed on my enemies like a feral beast. I watched myself tear out a chunk of one of the orc’s necks and turned my head away in disgust.
“You call that ‘doing the right thing’?” Anna asked.
I had no rebuttal as I turned my gaze back toward the looking glass.
“And leaving Frisco and his guild mates to die,” said Kit in almost a whisper.
“I’d finally found the Orc Chieftains,” I told her in my defense. “I couldn’t just let them go.”
“What was the point in even hunting them down?” Trinity asked. “Revenge?”
“Uhhh, yeah!” I said with a mirthless laugh. “Bogrum and his dickhead guild mates killed me like a dozen times. They tortured me for fuck sake. So yeah, I plan on killing them until they are level zero, and then locking their asses up in the Underworld.”
“Now that’s some real dark lord shit there bro,” said Tweak.
“Shut that shit off,” I told Anna.
She did so, and the animalistic sounds that I had been making on the recording were replaced by silence. But it didn’t last long.
“Sire,” said Miramar from the doorway. “The other leaders of Ozara have arrived.”
“Have them brought to the war room. I will be there shortly,” I instructed.
“As you wish, my lord,” he said with a bow and disappeared.
“What are you going to do to them?” Stormy asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “I’m just going to ensure that they are on our side from now on.”
I entered the war room a few minutes later and found King Hagar, Queen Lyra, Queen Moondar, and Chieftain Gregor waiting for me. The Throne may have receded and taken with it a large amount of my power, but I still had enough to perform Mind Control.
“What is the meaning of this?” said Lyra as she turned her scowl from my golden sons to me.
She was obviously pissed about being kidnapped, as were they all, but I didn’t bother explaining things to the NPC’s. Instead, I raised my hand and extended my demonic will upon the NPC’s.
“From this day forth, you will all bow before me and call me your lord, do you understand?”
Lyra scowled, looking to be fighting my influence, so I pressed their minds a little harder.
“From this day forth, you will all bow before me and call me your lord!” I said evenly.
“Yes, my lord,” said Hagar, Moondar, and Gregor in unison.
Their eyes were now glowing bright green, and their voices came out in a droning slur. But Lyra was still fighting me. I moved toward her and grabbed her by the throat. My eyes locked on hers, which had begun to glow a dull green.
“I am your lord, now and forever…” I said to her.
“You are my lord,” she said with a bit of a struggle.
I mentally forced myself into her mind, destroying all of her mental walls and destroying her will.
“My lord,” she said with a smile. “You are my lord, now and forever.”
“Very good,�
� I said and released her. “Now, bow before me and swear fealty,”
They all rose from their chairs and bowed at my feet. In unison, they swore fealty to me and declared themselves my servants, now and forever.
“Now,” I said as I gestured for them to rise. “You will send me your armies, your most skilled workers, and you will double production or your exports to Haven.”
“Yes, my lord,” they said in unison and bowed once again.
I opened a portal that would lead them each to their respective homes and nodded to my golden sons. Once they had been led through the portals, I gazed at the holographic map of Ozara and looked at the bordering zones. To the north lay the winter zone Frostmore, which was a new, high-level area for advanced players. To the south the Redgrass Plains extended for hundreds of miles. On the west we were bordered by the Arcane Mountains, another high-level area, and to the east, lay the Forest of Fairies, a whimsical mid-level zone known for its entertaining quests.
Soon, they would all be mine, as would their wealth.
I opened a portal that would lead me down to the dungeons, and when I stepped through the threshold, the stench of my captives wafted over me. Bogrum was talking to his guild mates and ensuring them that someone would do something to free them, but he promptly shut his mouth when I walked into the big cell.
Their terror-filled eyes all locked on me, and I felt the Throne’s attention shift.
“Have you come to your senses?” Bogrum asked me bravely.
I glanced at his level, which was now 61, and I grinned.
“Yes, Bogrum,” I said as I approached him. “I have come to release you and beg your forgiveness.”
He frowned, and I unsheathed my sword in a blur of motion and stabbed him in the heart.
Some of the Orc Chieftains cried out in surprise, others sobbed, yet others cursed and spit at me. I conjured Arcane Lighting and fried the ugly bastards, and part of me enjoyed the smell of their burnt flesh.
I grow tired of this little game that you are playing with the orcs.
The return of the Throne’s voice made my heart quicken, but I kept my cool.
“I’m not doing this for your entertainment,” I told the Throne as the Orc Chieftains began to respawn on the saltires.
“What do you want?” Bogrum bellowed when his body solidified. “You win. Alright? You fucking win. Do you want me to beg? Do you want an apology?”
“No,” I said as I slowly shook my head. “I want to hang you from the balcony of the Dark Throne. You see, Bogrum, I told you not to fuck with me. I warned you time and again. But you couldn’t just let well enough alone, could you? Well, this is what happens when you fuck with me.”
I blew off his head with a Fireball, and when he respawned, I instructed my gilded sons to kill them all until they were down to level 1.
I left the dungeon knowing that the Throne was watching, and that he was pleased by my callous instructions. He still hadn’t given me back my full power, and I was beginning to wonder if the other lords of the Underworld knew about our little squabble.
I was heading toward the common room and thinking about summoning Frig to get the lowdown about the other lords, when Miramar appeared before me with his face etched in concern.
“Sire,” he said with a bow. “The one you call Dr. Marks is outside the city gates. He wishes to speak to you.”
“What? Why didn’t he contact me first?” I asked, more to myself than Miramar.
“I do not know Sire.”
I angrily opened a portal that would lead me to the gate and marched through.
When I stepped out into the sunlight, I felt a small wave of fatigue wash over me. Dr. Marks was standing opposite the open gate, and there were three winged eyeballs hovering around him. I knew that if he was broadcasting the meeting then he had something important to say.
“Sam,” he said with a nod.
I pointed at the hovering eyeballs. “What’s this all about?”
“You look more like yourself,” he noted, ignoring my question.
“Is that what you came here to tell me?”
“No,” said the doctor. “I came here to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?”
“You must renounce the Dark Throne before it is too late,” he told me with dramatic flair, and I laughed in his face.
“Haven’t we been through this before?” I said, laying on the sarcasm.
“I know that the lure of the Throne’s power is tempting, Sam, I do. But real-world players were never meant to bear the mantle of the Dark Throne. It is already changing you. You must feel it.”
“Chill out Doc, it’s just a game after all, right?”
Dr. Marks frowned, and I could tell that he was truly disturbed about something.
“Sam, I was sent here by the game masters in a last-ditch attempt to get you to lay down the mantle of the Dark Throne,” he said as he glanced down at my enchanted sword.
Who is this man with the power of a god, The Throne asked in a voice filled with ire.
I felt the dark power begin to return to me, and Dr. Marks must have noticed the change in me, because he took a pensive step back.
He’s a friend, I told the Throne.
Friend? Laughter filled my head as more power coursed through me.
“Sam?” said Dr. Marks pensively. “I can help you. You need only lay down your sword, Cast off the mantle.”
“Then what?” I said in a voice that echoed with the Throne’s deep baritone. “I stand trial for my supposed crimes?”
“There will be no punishment,” the good doctor ensured me. “Indeed, if you can give up such power you will be hailed a hero.”
“I don’t know Doc. I’ve done the hero thing. And look where that got me.”
“I can assure you that you will not be punished. The gods wish to parlay with you.”
The gods fear you… The Throne suddenly realized, and his excitement became my own. I felt the power of the Dark Throne surge through me. My horns burst from my skull and curled on each side of my head. They grew straight out from there at least a foot, pointing at Dr, Marks menacingly. I felt my hair burst into flames as my body grew bigger, and soon I was towering over the doctor.
The winged eyeballs hovered around us, and I imagined the players all throughout the game watching on the edge of their seats.
“You’ve got to fight it Sam,” said Dr, Marks as he backed away from me a step and clutched the sleek silver staff in his right hand. “Give up the Throne and you shall be hailed a hero. You and your guild will be left alone, and you can build your kingdom in peace.”
“Peace?” I said with a laugh. “Now the gods want peace?”
I could feel the anger swelling in me, and it was rewarded with unbridled dark power.
“Yes,” said the Doctor. “Peace. Once, you stood for goodness. You stood in the light and shone brighter than anyone in Rebirth Online. Once, you defeated the Dark Lord. You can do it again, Sam.”
“And what did I get in return for my sacrifices?” I said as the rage billowed within my soul and begged to be released. My wings burst from my back and spread out twelve feet in each direction. I beat them once and rose into the air, leaping toward the doctor and landing before him with such power that the ground trembled beneath my hooved feet.
You were hunted…
“I was hunted!” I repeated the Throne’s words and stomped toward the Doctor.
You were tortured…
“I was tortured!” I bellowed, and my breath became fire.
You were murdered!
“I was murdered repeatedly, and you didn’t do anything to stop it!”
The doctor lifted his staff to the heavens, and blueish-white lightning erupted from the end of it. A shockwave of cold energy slammed into me, pushing me back several feet. Dr. Marks began to glow, and he grew fifteen feet tall, radiating holy power that stung my eyes and burned my skin.
“Now the game masters decide to intervein?” I sa
id in my own voice and that of the Throne. “You wouldn’t try to stop Kincaid, and you left it up to me to defeat his ghost in the Underworld, yet you would move against me?”
They fear what you will become, said the Throne. They know that you are the strongest of my chosen! Show them the folly of their ways, show them our power!
With every word the Throne spoke, more power flowed into me. I unsheathed my enchanted sword.
“I’m not afraid for the players of Rebirth,” said Dr. Marks. “I’m afraid for you, Sam. I’m trying to help—”
I summoned Arcane Lightning and thrust my arms forward, but the Doctor was ready for the attack, and he stopped the biting lightning with his silver staff. The power of my spell made the ground shake and echoed across the land like apocalyptic thunder. Dr. Marks stood tall and strong before my onslaught, his face twisted into a grim scowl.
“You don’t want to do this, Sam…” he said pensively.
Oh boy did I.
“Behold!” I bellowed as more power coursed through me. “I am retribution borne!”
I unsheathed my blade, which crackled with unbridled power, and I brought it down on the doctor’s head. He blocked the strike with his staff, but the power behind my blade was that of the Dark Throne itself, and it shorn the silver staff in two. I lashed out with Crimson Fury, and howling green flames surrounded Dr, Marks and left him thrashing on the ground.
Even a god cannot stand up to your power! The Throne’s words filled me with blood lust, and I no longer saw the doctor as the man who had guided me into my new world. Instead I saw him as the father figure who had abandoned me to the wolves, and I wanted nothing more than to see him die.
“Sam…” Dr. Marks pleading called from the flames.
I fed my spell with the vast wells of rage that boiled within me, and Dr. Marks was lost in the ball of green flame. But then he suddenly exploded with light, and my spell was devoured as a wall of energy crashed into me and slammed me into the city wall. I crashed through it, landed on my back, and quickly rolled out of the way. A moment later Dr, Marks landed and slammed a sword of light into the ground where I had been.
My Fire Shield burst to life in my left hand, and I swung my enchanted sword at the doctor. He blocked the strike and thrust a spell at me from his left hand. I blocked it with my shield, and the spell ricocheted and destroyed a nearby tower. As the bricks rained down on us, we exchanged blows that rocked the entire city.
Rebirth Online 6 Page 2
