by Pavel Kornev
Neo! Neo had heard me!
I heaved a sigh of relief. I was saved!
“Wow,” Marquis whistled, noticing the unwanted guest, then cast a furtive glance at his own portal. “Look, Baron, who’s graced us with his presence!”
The midget stopped cornering me and turned round, staring at the lad in surprise. Neo didn’t give the impression of a strong fighter — he was too short and skinny — but I knew how deceptive his appearance could be.
I did, but Baron didn’t. He seemed to be fascinated by the scimitar dangling from Neo’s sword belt — the scimitar that used to belong to the gang’s ex-leader Count.
“Give it back!” Baron snapped, making a dash for the boy.
Neo didn’t move.
A black figure in full armor stepped forward from behind his back. A tiger-shaped helmet covered his head; his pauldrons were shaped as lions’ heads baring their teeth. A thin sheen of darkness seemed to float over his armor, surrounding the knight and adding power and swiftness to his imposing figure.
Prince Julian.
The Champion of the Order of the Black Phoenix.
The swing of his two-handed sword was so swift that Baron had no chance of dodging it. The sword’s blade sliced through the vampire’s light armor, knocking him off his feet. Black blood squirted everywhere.
Marquis was smarter than his partner. He didn’t even try to engage in a fight he knew he couldn’t win, but darted toward the portal.
Another dark paladin I didn’t know stepped out of the pillar of darkness. The air wailed as he lobbed another curse after the vampire, a spell which only managed to add to his desperate speed, literally sweeping him into the portal.
Julian took another swing with his sword. Despite his crippling wounds, Baron rolled aside and scurried away. He might have escaped had it not been for Scarecrow who straddled the midget, sinking his terrible claws deep into his shoulders. The vampire wailed and began swinging his dagger in the air, trying fruitlessly to get to the monster tormenting him.
His left arm hung listless. Blood gushed in pulsating bursts out of the terrible wound in his chest. I jumped at my chance, microported behind his back and struck him thrice with my Elven dagger.
Twice its blade went through the thick leather of his jacket, puncturing his lung. The third time it screeched against his ribs and sank into his heart, dealing a mortal wound. Baron shuddered, tried to turn round, then collapsed to the floor. Dead as a doornail.
“I’ll get the other one!” the dark paladin shouted as he rushed into the vampires’ portal. Prince Julian, however, didn’t seem in a hurry. He just turned quizzically to their leader.
Neo pointed at the innkeeper. “I want you to take care of him.”
I breathed a noisy breath, shaking the viscous drops of black blood from my dagger blade. I was still shuddering but my fear had already subsided. A wave of great relief surged over me.
I’d survived. I’d cheated fate again and I’d survived. I’d even gained a few levels.
Even though the game had skimped on XP, giving the lion’s share of it to Prince Julian, the killing of the vampire had brought me up to level 24.
I wanted to look into my stats but reconsidered and stepped toward Neo instead. “Thank you.”
The Commander of the Order of the Black Phoenix beamed with a toothy grin. “It’s my pleasure, Uncle John! Call me whenever you need me!”
He appeared neither angry nor even annoyed by my refusal to help them take the Tower of Decay. I felt a bit better. I liked Neo too much to have a vendetta with him too.
A piece of program code? But was it really so little if even my own mind was, putting it plainly, digitized for the time being?
The white mist had dispersed but the doorways and windows were still blocked by solid masonry which showed no intention of disappearing. A shiver ran down my spine.
“Neo, I know you’ve saved me…”
The lad nodded. He sniffed, then said in a faltering voice,
“I’d like to ask you for a favor… No! Not a return favor. It’s something we could both profit from.”
I heaved a sigh. “Oh, Neo…”
“Uncle John!” the boy commander raised his voice. “Will you please forget about the Tower of Decay? You were absolutely right. I would have never been able to keep the entire Kingdom of the Dead under control. I would have just killed myself, that’s all. It’s not what I want to discuss with you right now.”
I just shrugged. Neo was full of surprises. I’d only been AFK for six months, but look how much he’d changed. Had he matured? It wasn’t about his levels or the powers available to him even — he just seemed to have this down-to-earth clarity of mind.
“What is it, then?” I asked.
Neo picked up an upended chair and sat down. He waited for me to seat myself opposite him and then said, “It’s about the Grand Master.”
My skin erupted in goosebumps. At the time, I’d added my two cents to overthrowing the nasty ghost. Meeting him again was the last thing I wanted.
“Is he back?” I asked, preparing myself to hear the bad news.
Neo shook his head. “That’s exactly what I’d like to ask you about.”
“Meaning?”
“We need to get him back.”
I must have looked a sight, judging by his happy laughter. To add insult to injury, Scarecrow hopped onto the table, opened his beak wide and squawked right into my ear,
“Craaah!”
I very nearly went deaf. Still, the sight of the deep scratch marks left by his awesome claws on the tabletop stopped me from pushing him to the floor.
“Uncle John,” Neo continued, still giggling. “The Order of the Black Phoenix has three temples: in the mountains, in orc lands and also a new one built specially for me. I know I now can defeat the Grand Master and take over his powers. It won’t be too difficult, trust me.”
“Very well,” I said. “And?”
“If you destroy his grave, the ghost will have to come back, and I’ll kill him. That’ll give us another temple, allowing me to combine the powers of both Black and Silver Phoenixes and make the cult united again.”
“Wait, wait,” I frowned. “You don’t need me to dig out the Moon Grail. Anyone can do that!”
Neo’s face darkened. “They can indeed. But you can’t trust a mission like this to anyone.”
“Well, how about Prince Julian?”
Neo shook his head. “We’re both Dark. The lighthouse is on Chaosite territory. The Shadow Puppeteer would view our trespassing as a declaration of war. He can’t just ignore it, it’s against the game’s rules. I could have asked Auntie Bella but she wouldn’t want to antagonize other Chaosites. We need someone who’s not affiliated with either side.”
“You mean me,” I said slowly. “You want me to penetrate the underground dungeons…”
“Not at all,” Neo stopped me. “No one can get inside now. After the last attack, the Disciples of the Silver Phoenix blocked all the exits. They’re all waiting for the Grand Master to return and bestow on them the powers he promised them. You’ll have to fight and defeat them, I’m afraid.”
My jaw dropped. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“You hire some mercenaries, stupid!” Prince Julian broke his silence. “We’ll give you the money, don’t worry.”
He’d already finished tending to Mark the innkeeper who was now busy gulping whisky straight out of the bottle.
I nodded. “Okay. But what about the Shadow Puppeteer? Won’t he interfere in the case of an open attack? It’s one thing to sneak inside undetected, but to storm the place properly is something entirely different.
“If we do everything quickly, there won’t be any problems,” Neo assured me. “The Puppeteer is angry at the Grand Master who keeps his own company and shows no intention of helping them. You’ll have an hour to pull it off.”
“Why an hour?” Such exact timing set my alarm bells ringing, but then I realized who was behind i
t. “Did Isabella make an agreement with them?”
The boy flashed me another toothy grin. “A bit of cooperation doesn’t hurt.”
The mind boggles! The Commander of the Order of the Black Phoenix liaising with the top witch of the Mistress of the Crimson Moon! Darkness and Chaos rubbing shoulders!
Then again, this was a game, after all. Stranger alliances had been struck online.
“We could do it without you, Uncle John,” Neo said, “but I’d feel much better if you helped us.”
New Quest Available: The Capture of the Citadel of the Order of the Silver Phoenix.
Accept: Yes/No
After a brief hesitation, I firmly pressed Yes.
Neo beamed and even clapped his hands. Then he laid a black dagger onto the table. I took a closer look at the weapon: this was the dagger Baron had lost when he’d died in the vicinity of my crypt.
“My crypt” sounded a bit uncomfortable…
“Take it, Uncle John,” Neo said, climbing to his feet. “This is a gift. You’d better speak to Julian now. I gotta split!”
Just then the dark blob of the portal rippled, releasing the dark paladin.
“He got away,” he said grimly, stepping into the room.
“Rob, we need to go,” Neo called.
Robert Yard
Dark Paladin
Rob was considerably shorter than Prince Julian, his armor admittedly plain compared to that of the Champion of the Order. Then again, Rob was only level 59 so he had his future still in front of him. Also, some players preferred rational minimalism, and Rob’s gear, despite its inconspicuousness, had very decent stats.
This man was an interesting addition to Neo’s entourage. “Who is it?” I asked.
Prince Julian turned round but the lad and the paladin had already disappeared into the portal.
“Just a stray we took in,” Julian grumbled, removing his helmet. “Mark, you okay? Fit enough to fix us a drink?”
Julian didn’t seem to mind the bloodied bodies of the NPC patrons at all. But that wasn’t what surprised me: I was quite baffled by the fact that he would want to share a drink with me. He used to hate that dead rogue, didn’t he? Having said that, the feeling had always been more than mutual.
Still moaning, Mark brought us a bottle and some glasses, then walked gingerly around the gutted room. By then, the magic stonework had begun to crumble, releasing the doorways and then the windows.
“You can keep the loot from that vampire,” Julian said magnanimously, pouring out the whisky. He looked up at me. “You don’t mind, John, do you?”
I shook my head, and we drank.
Julian had changed a lot since our last meeting. He was much more relaxed now, not so jumpy anymore. No idea what might have caused it: whether it was his leading position in the clan or his relationship with Isabella. Then again, he might simply need me. Also, I was now off the list of his potential adversaries which was another important thing to consider.
Level 24! That wasn’t even funny!
We sat in silence for a while. By then, Mark had already picked up all the loot and hobbled back toward the bar, throwing us a bone amulet with a bright-red stone at its center.
“I don’t need this filth,” he grumbled, apparently happy with his pickings.
Julian waited for him to get out of our earshot and refilled our glasses, but didn’t drink any of it. Instead he gave me a precise and unsentimental rundown on the lighthouse defenders. The situation wasn’t the easiest but by the same token it wasn’t hopeless, either. After the Grand Master’s disappearance, the cult of the Silver Phoenix had gone into decline as most players recruited by the Grand Master had defected, with the exception of a few particularly stubborn disciples. The lighthouse guards were made up of about a fifty soldier orcs who’d camped out there. Their shamans and paladins still managed to receive a fraction of the Silver Phoenix’s mana, so they were a power to be reckoned with.
“I’ll leave it to you to decide who you want to hire,” Julian finally said, gulped the remaining whisky and rose from the table, picking up Baron’s bone amulet. I didn’t protest: he’d stripped the vampire of most of his XP, anyway.
“What budget do you have in mind?” I asked, taking the last sip of my own glass.
“A hundred grand, hopefully less. And you’ll have to get in and out within an hour tops. If you don’t make it, Shadow Puppeteer will have your balls for breakfast.”
“Is he so big?”
“You’ve no idea.”
“Really?”
“Really. He’s already taken over all the orcs right up to our temple and secured non-aggression agreements with both the Darks and the Lights. In the pantheon of Chaos he’s now the third God after the orcs’ Great Rgah and the Drow Spider Queen.”
“Bigger than the Mistress of the Crimson Moon?”
Julian snorted. “No comparison.” He slammed his posh helmet on and added, “Once you have a cost sheet, PM me.”
I nodded and reached for the bottle as I remembered something. “Tell Neo I’ll need Scarecrow!” I shouted.
“Scarecrow? What for?”
“For air recon.”
“Okay, I’ll tell him,” Prince Julian stepped into the portal which flickered and disappeared, leaving Mark and myself alone in the room.
I finished my whisky, rose from the table, picked up the dagger and walked over to the bar.
The innkeeper gave me a meaningful look. “John, it would probably be better if you leave now.”
He didn’t say I was trouble but that was pretty self-explanatory.
I didn’t protest. In any case, staying here was too dangerous now. Sooner or later, the vampires would be back, and next time they wouldn’t need a certain Garth to hire them. They’d be back under their own steam, impatient to get even with a certain rogue and take him apart — repeatedly, if possible. So I had to make myself scarce.
Muttering an awkward goodbye to Mark, I hurried across the room. The front door creaked its protest as I swung it open and walked outside. My head was buzzing; a pleasant warmth spread over my body as if the alcohol had been real. My heartbeat had slowed down. I suddenly wanted to take a stroll around the city, to visit its islands and admire the fancy facades of its palaces and the smooth curves of its temples reflected in the clear water of the many canals. Even the depressing Tower of Darkness that dominated the city had ceased to annoy me.
But no, I had no time for sightseeing. Even though Neo hadn’t said anything about the mission’s deadline, I shouldn’t be procrastinating: taking the lighthouse ASAP was in my own interests, after all. It would give me some XP, not to mention all the trophies. Talking about which…
I opened the stat window and invested the three available characteristic points into Agility and another one into Perception. While I was at it, I brought Dodge up to 9. I sighed. This particular skill was still way below the requirements needed to get the status of an Apprentice of the Dance of Darkness. My penalty to health was still there, too.
That’s when I turned my attention to the dagger Neo had given me: the one lost by Baron.
Rotten Tooth
Damage: 8-12
Accuracy: +10%
Stabbing speed: +15%.
Vampirism: 5% of damage dealt.
8% to your chances of dealing a bleed and blood poisoning
+3% to your chances of dealing a critical hit or a crippling blow
Status: unique
I studied its matte black blade, chuckled my approval and replaced my Elven dagger with this one. This Rotten Tooth was definitely a better toy to play with.
My depression finally lifted, I hurried to Mr. Lloyd’s shop. I’d never worked with the mercenary guild directly before. Last time, it had been Lloyd who’d helped me recruit them, so it was probably wise to use his services again. I’d never planned an operation on this scale before and could use an expert’s advice. His commission wasn’t that high, after all. It wasn’t even my gold to begin with.
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The whisky filled my body with its soft warm glow. Now I felt well and truly alive. The contrast with my previous gaming experience was stunning. I could finally breathe freely; I felt like singing. I felt like finding Isabella and reminding her of a certain canceled quest…
“Hey, John!” a voice called behind me.
