Somnia Online

by K. T. Hanna

  “Ah, Riasli,” the voice mocked, sounding so familiar to Murmur that she took a step back.

  The only answer the feles gave—as the DoTs continued to tick down her life, as she stood there in whatever type of shielding this shadow held her in—was a whimper. There was genuine fear in her eyes.

  Was this Michael? Finally?

  This time the shadow chuckled, again such a familiar sound.

  “Ah. I am a much better puppet master than you’ll ever be.” He whispered the words to the feles that he now cradled with one arm. “But this is my fight now. These are my prey. And right now, you’re just standing in my way.”

  He plunged an oversized dagger into her back, allowing it to emerge through her body in its entirety. Riasli coughed, spluttered, and her eyes grew larger as her magic began to seep out of her.

  Around the wound a black shadow began to form, eating away at Riasli like a type of necrosis. Everyone but Murmur took another step back, but she was entranced. Not in a good way, but in that “train wreck, can’t look away from” sort of way.

  As the puppet master began to pull his knife back out, he moved slightly, hefting the handle in order to separate it from the bone he’d cut through. Light fell on his face, illuminated fittingly by a lightning strike up above.

  Murmur gasped as Jirald raised the blade and licked the feles blood from it, all of his humanity gone from his locus gaze.

  Storm Entertainment

  Somnia Online Division

  Game Development Offices - Laria’s Office

  Wee Hours, Day Thirty-Three

  “What do you think this will do to the game?” Laria’s voice was calm, maybe a bit too calm if she thought about it. She certainly didn’t feel calm at all. Maybe lethargic was the best description.

  David pushed himself against the wall and tilted his head to look up as if the ceiling was going to give him all the answers he didn’t have for himself. “I’m not sure. And I don’t think it’s the game you’re thinking of, as much as you love it, as much effort as you’ve put into it.” He lowered his gaze and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Fine. Act like you know me.” She snorted and then just…felt all of the energy whoosh out of her. This was getting far too heavy for the computer game design industry. Actual brains shouldn’t have been involved.

  “I just want to know if she’ll be okay? You know, with that weird-ass connection she has, I’m not entirely sure if she will. Showing signs of powers extending to outside the world, showing signs that she may be able to connect even without an actual headset to link into the system? It’s all so futuristic science-fiction-esque that I can’t wrap my head around it.” Laria would have laughed at herself six months ago if she’d said any of this, but this was all such a stark reality for them now, such a potential fuck up, that there was no laughing to be had.

  “Lar. That’s just it. We don’t know. Given Michael’s secretiveness, none of us really could have known.” He moved over swiftly yet somehow so smoothly that she almost didn’t register him appearing beside her until he was giving her the hug. “I adore you, I adore her, and we will figure out what we need to do together, okay?”

  Laria found herself nodding, even though she thought he was being overly optimistic. But it was good to have that in her corner. “Yeah, I get it.” She considered what was awaiting her back in Shayla’s office and the amount of work she’d have to put in to finish it all.

  “I have a lot of work to do if we’re going to help them gain the energy they need. Plunging the entire city into darkness would raise too many questions.” She had no idea how long such a power out might last if it did happen, and frankly, they needed the power to remain on. Generators were one thing, but not everyone who couldn’t live without power would have them. Life support machines, surgery equipment, ventilators…there were way too many people at risk to not take the whole situation seriously.

  “Just remember. It’s solvable. We’ll fix it if something gets broken. Okay?” David had always been such a positive person, leaving his more realistic and pragmatic wife to toe the line when he was in fact correct. For one of the first times ever, Laria fervently hoped he really was right.

  She couldn’t afford for him not to be.

  Jirald leered at them. His starry eyes seemed more sunken back in his skull than Murmur remembered them. Deep and dark holes, more akin to a black hole than a Milky Way. Even his skin tone was paler, bluer than silver with an off-greenish side tone to it.

  Or maybe that was just the dim light.

  He was still the locus he’d always been, and yet…

  Now he stood there before them, at least a foot taller. The malice he usually exuded spread out to reach the entire raid and not just Murmur, for once. She could sense it in her nets, like they were being coated in a miasma of hatred.

  She shivered at the same time as beads of sweat broke out over her brow. He hadn’t even batted an eyelash as Riasli dissolved at his feet.

  He didn’t move, simply allowed his gaze to sweep the entire raid slowly only pausing briefly to lands on Ishwa, Masha, and Murmur. All the while he spun and twirled that deadly knife in his left hand like it was a baton, apparently paying no attention to its actual whereabouts at all.

  Murmur wasn’t sure what they were supposed to do. But their combat ended when Riasli died, and their health and mana were regenerating at their out-of-combat speed. Maybe that’s what he wanted.

  Jirald tossed out a small smile, though he contacted no one. He moved his shoulders like he was limbering up and cracked his neck from side to side, subtly gaining around another foot in height as he did so.

  The tension in the air rose, and the unrest through the whole raid didn’t fare any better. Risk was like a pot about to boil. She could see the steam caught under his collar, like he was about to explode from within, but they couldn’t let that happen.

  There were so many questions floating around everyone right then. So much confusion. It traveled along her sensing nets, alerting her to practically everyone. Even Fable’s members were apprehensive.

  Time seemed to slow down. She could sense every single person gulp, their heart rates, glean the top of their thoughts. Every single person in the raid.

  The raid still, technically, included Jirald.

  He felt different. More confident, angrier, yet determined to execute his own sense of justice. Determined to prove to everyone that he was so much better than them.

  Murmur wondered if he indeed knew she could sense him. Probably not. Hadn’t he somehow overridden Riasli and just basically deleted her? In which case, he wouldn’t have the enchanter capabilities to even sense what it was she could do. She had to count on that, and use it somehow to find a loophole, some way to stop him.

  And then he smiled, showing every single one off his sharp locus teeth.

  “Well, then. I believe you’ve all regained your mana. Wouldn’t be any fun if I didn’t beat you at your best now, would it?” He flashed a grin and disappeared.

  QUEST ACTIVATED: SEE THE LIGHT

  You must help Jirald see the light. That not all enemies are evil, and that not all friends are good. That when crunch time comes, sometimes it’s better to just believe in the people you’ve known the longest.

  Be cautious. If Jirald dies, this quest will terminate, and punishment will be metered out.

  You don’t want punishment. Choose the reward. Trust us.

  Murmur accepted the quest without a second thought. Somnia had told her his headset had been adjusted similarly to hers. She might hate the guy, but killing him in-game without being certain it wouldn’t harm his actual body left her feeling nauseous. She’d experienced that fear herself and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

  There were ways to defeat him without actually killing him. She’d talk to Somnia about that quest later. She could sense Masha hovering close to her, wanting to talk about it, talk about everything. How could Jirald be a boss mob? Why had a quest about it been given out? All questio
ns she didn’t want to answer, but she knew she’d have to eventually.

  “Fucking rogues,” Devlish muttered immediately sending out a loose AoE taunt that spread across the ground, useless for holding aggro usually, but it would be enough to break stealth as long as Jirald walked through it.

  But the rogue was clever and sly. Especially in the last few weeks. There were portions of him that Murmur hadn’t ever witnessed before. He’d grown from a petulant, spoiled healer into a vindictive and skilled assassin.

  Probably not the best growth in the world.

  She’d only just finished reinforcing her shielding when she felt the first stirrings of Snowy’s hackles begin to rise. Tossing herself instinctively to the left, she felt a knife glance off her shielding, almost piercing the thick substance that surrounded her. That was far too close for comfort, and diving left had put Devlish’s DoT on the bastard.

  Jirald just chuckled. “Oops. Got a bit ahead of myself there.” Not being able to vanish right then didn’t deter him even one bit, and luckily, every single person in the raid who could cast a DoT did so then, inundating the rogue with them. But he shrugged it off.

  “More ways than one to skin a Murmur.” He grinned and threw himself into an aerial feat of acrobatics just this side of impossible, only to come up right next to Sinister, his blade already digging into her side before Murmur or anyone else could react.

  Suddenly, Snowy in all his huge furry wolf-ness was there, attached to Jirald’s wrist with his hulking, shark-sized teeth.

  The rogue released the blade with a howl of agony, and shadow-stepped away from the massive wolf. Murmur could have sworn Snowy was grinning, even as she rushed to Sinister’s side where Veranol was already helping her pull out the dagger.

  “What the fuck?” Sinister grimaced with the pain as it came out. “What the fuck are you all standing here for? Go and kill that dickhead.”

  Murmur smiled. Sinister would be fine, but Jirald wasn’t any sort of boss they’d fought in the past. He was in their raid—and in one of their guilds. He’d played with the majority of them on some level for years. Armed with knowledge about how they all fought, especially after three dungeons of teamwork, he likely had a very good idea what he could do.

  Not to mention the fact that he didn’t seem to be restrained by the system at all. His moves didn’t telegraph, and his effects seemed to be what he used as a rogue in battle.

  Murmur had an idea but couldn’t send it over raid and risk him seeing it, so she sent Karn a personal message, knowing Jirald at least wouldn’t be able to see that.

  Meanwhile, the massive locus shook himself off and glared at Sinister, who held his dagger in her hands like daring him to come get it. Snowy stood next to her, remnants of the locus blood dripping down from his fang.

  Jirald laughed. “Now this is more like it.” Adrenaline echoed around him, like this was pumping him full of energy he wouldn’t have otherwise had.

  A visible shiver ran through him, and the sensation of murderous glee floated over to Murmur so strongly she wanted to retch. He stretched once again and reached out his right hand toward Sinister, before looking directly at Murmur.

  “Kulu.” He spoke the word, and the dagger jumped from Sinister’s hand, cut a thin line across her palm and dragged a pained gasp from her. It flew in a high arc through the air to land in Jirald’s outstretched hand.

  “Much better,” he said, as a glimmer of electrical energy charged around his frame. He crouched into a fighting stance and grinned. “Come get me, if you can.”

  The alarm that flooded Murmur when Jirald taunted them shook her right down to her bones. He would aim for Sinister if he couldn’t get her. And they all, including the damned rogue, knew that dying in this dungeon wasn’t a good idea.

  Taking Sinister out would accomplish so many things for him. He’d distract Murmur, remove a healer, and could potentially wipe the raid.

  They couldn’t afford a wipe, and he knew it.

  Jirald stood there, his nine-foot frame towering as he backwards gripped his daggers. The smile didn’t reach his eyes, and his gaze followed Murmur’s every move. Snowy growled beside her.

  “Ready,” he whispered, but it sang through the air like a swirling wind, touching everyone who heard it.

  Murmur clamped her shielding around herself and Sinister, determined to mitigate whatever she could despite the gradual drain on her MA. If she calculated it correctly, they needed to finish this fight in about twenty-nine minutes or her MA would be out of action. Merlin and Havoc both took a step closer to her, like they were forming a vanguard. Fable knew the rivalry had turned poisonous.

  Jirald crouched further down, his snake eyes gleaming. “Set.”

  Snowy growled, growing bigger this time. His legs and body elongated, pushing out until his back reached her chest. A flash of red shot through his eyes, and saliva dripped from his now-larger fangs.

  “We’ve got this.” Havoc spoke as the wolf transformed.

  Merlin nodded next to him. “We’re not going down.”

  Even Risk and Masha, Ishwa and Karn…all of the raid closed ranks, presenting a united front against their opponent.

  Jirald simply grinned. “Go.”

  He shot out from where he stood and vanished momentarily. But Murmur was prepared, and her ability to see invisibility was shared with the entire raid.

  She willed it out there, demanded that her abilities encompass the entire raid. This way, she could depend on her friends, on the people who didn’t need her to take care of them. On the people who would be there while they all took care of things together.

  Your Level 8 spell See Invisible has been expanded.

  Mass See Invisibility

  Cast: Self or All of the Others

  Type: Buff

  Duration: 30 minutes

  Effect: Really? Does this really require explanation? It does? Affects all allies within a twenty-foot radius.

  He couldn’t hide from them if they could see him. And he couldn’t surprise them too much if he couldn’t disappear. Her abilities enhanced her group, her guild, her raid. It was time she stopped carrying everything on her shoulders and got down to the business of working as a team. She could already hear Veranol laughing at her. Apparently, she’d had to learn it the hard way.

  A flicker of irritation passed over Jirald’s face as he realized the entire raid could see him now. So much for the element of surprise. But it wasn’t like that was the only trick up his sleeve. He still possessed all the abilities any in-game rogue had.

  Because he technically still was one. He might have taken on a boss role, but he was still Jirald at the core, regardless how rotten it had become.

  Risk and Devlish stood together side by side, and Risk had pulled out his tanking regalia. Murmur noticed Esolan was in his off-tanking gear, and she knew they had to have a plan.

  Devlish hefted that damned shield, and she could have sworn it had grown again. Almost as tall as the lacerta, he hefted it and screamed what sounded like a war cry. Except she knew differently. It was a scream of defiance, used to hide whatever it was the two dread knights had up their sleeves.

  Jirald looked over, reluctantly tearing his gaze from Murmur, and that’s when she knew they could win. Everything was subject to game mechanics in here. Even if sometimes the physics was completely wonky. Even if sometimes what happened wouldn’t work anywhere else.

  A split second later, as Devlish executed his Hatred and his Torment, she saw the same realization flash over Jirald. The rogue knew it now. Sure, he had abilities he could trigger and ways he could fight as unfairly as possible. But he had to obey the rules of the game. It was built in, integral. He couldn’t avoid being taunted, because he didn’t have the magical resistances to enable that.

  The rogue’s first strike hit the tower shield with a massive clash. Murmur could feel the frustration surrounding him now, feel how angry he was with himself for getting carried away. And he was completely devoted to fin
d some loophole, some glitch, or some way to game the system.

  But Risk and Devlish didn’t plan to make that easy on him. Just before the debuff that made Jirald face Devlish wore off, Risk was there, taunting with the same spells in the same ways, and forcing Jirald to look at him next.

  Jirald cried out, frustration coloring the sound. He executed multiple frontal attacks, his blades whirling so fast she couldn’t keep track of them. It became even more difficult to do so once the rest of the guild joined in the attack.

  Belius, Telvar, and Emilarth jumped on the bandwagon too. Emilarth’s healing abilities were paramount to filling any gaps. Two enchanters in the raid was something she still wasn’t used to, but Murmur would take all the help she could get. Considering Belius seemed to have taken mage as his hybrid class, he could at least contribute somewhat to the damage.

  Telvar jumped into the fray, next to Rashlyn. The two of them executed their combat moves as if they were performing some sort of exotic dance.

  The rangers had spread out, making sure they didn’t present a single target easily taken out by a rogue’s lethal AoE attacks, and the mages had mimicked their movements. Bards danced in and out, buffing, damaging, debuffing. Witches’ cauldrons bubbled, and the rogues, well…Karn and Jinna seemed uniquely set on paying Jirald back for having to suffer through his moods while they fought together.

  Murmur noticed that each healer stood with a ranger, separating themselves from each other, yet providing themselves with some decent cover should they require it.

  She took in a breath as she watched the new and improved Snowy rip at Jirald’s body and counted herself lucky. Without even realizing it, everyone had stepped up, everyone had come together with determination to fight their common enemy.