1-Up

by Dean Smith

  ‘We need to find something to light the candles because normal and magical fire isn’t cutting it.’ Mordoom informed the others.

  ‘We must need a special item, a lamp of sorts perhaps to light the candles. We should explore while we can.’ Suggested Nina but their options for exploration was as limited as their options in how to progress beyond this hall.

  ‘If there is no way to get through here, then we must make one.’ Mused Nina as she felt the walls, perhaps hoping to find a hidden mechanism. Mordoom followed her lead and Valiant had planned to as well but the shattering of glass rang out as shards fell upon them and winged reptilian monsters burst through the windows. They fell upon the group as the music pounded with the sound of heavy drums. As they descended, red markers appeared on the ground followed by arrows and magical blasts.

  ‘To arms!’ Sabine rallied as a textbox appeared above her head, ‘Valhalla’s Ascent’. She leaped into the air as she did outside and with grace ill-fitting of her large sword, she twisted like a ballerina while spinning her sword like it was lighter than a feather, decimating all the monsters in her path. Not willing to leave her to it, Mordoom stepped forward as his own text box appeared, ‘Dark Thunder.’ Whilst Sabine gracefully descended back to the ground, a storm cloud had formed around several monsters and within it, flashes of lightning struck out at the monsters, their death rattles letting the heroes below know every time a bolt struck true.

  ‘I can’t hold them off, keep looking for a way out!’ Mordoom focused on his storm cloud, his fingers moved with a strange rhythm as he conjured lightning within the cloud. Mordoom was so focused above he did not see he was standing in the radius of a large red circle and it was only when Valiant glanced downwards he noticed himself.

  ‘MORD!’ He reached out to pull Mord out of harm’s way but the surrounding air exploded with the monsters’ magic. Valiant couldn’t see through the smoke and he tried to call out Mordoom's name but he couldn’t hear his own voice through the music’s latest deafening crescendo, never mind any response from Mordoom. The smoke stung Valiant’s eyes but he willed them to stay open, in his mind’s eye he saw Mordoom’s broken unmoving body and he let out a groan of fear he could not hear over the surrounding din. Mordoom had become a friend unlike any Valiant had before and the thought of losing him tore Valiant’s insides apart.

  ‘Please be okay!’

  When the smoke cleared, Mordoom was sitting up against a black metal candelabra, he looked worse for wear but still alive. The sounds around them had quietened as Sabine had taken to the skies once more to take care of the stragglers, when she was done, a blissful quiet descended upon them.

  ‘We’re safe for now.’ She spoke as Fabian ran towards the injured Mordoom.

  ‘Just in time.’ Mordoom smiled as Fabian used his healing skills. ‘I only had a a tiny bit of my health bar left.’ Fabian’s music rang through the hall, restoring everyone’s health. The colour had returned to Mordoom’s face as he broke out into a smile.

  ‘Thanks Fabian.’ He stood up, reaching for the arm of the candlestick for leverage when it collapsed under his weight and slide down the pole just in time for the rumbling to start anew.

  ‘What the-.’ Mordoom let go of the candlestick as though he wanted to hide the fact he broke it but Valiant saw it wasn’t broken. The arm had slid down and Valiant had noticed that the surrounding rumbling that began when Mordoom pulled it down was different to that caused by a Hypernova.

  On either side of the door, parts of the wall had slid to the side to reveal two separate passages which appeared just in time for another wave of winged monsters to arrive from the broken windows above.

  Knowing he was needed to fight the monsters and that he required Sabine and Fabian’s help to do so, Valiant looked at Nina and Mordoom.

  ‘You two need to find whatever we need to open the door while we hold off the monsters.’

  Mordoom looked as though he wanted to argue against the idea, the determination to stay was lit within his eyes but the realisation he was needed for another task dampened the flames.

  ‘We’ll be as fast as we can.’ Nina spoke. ‘Good luck!’ She turned on her foot and bolted down one of the opened paths and Mordoom reluctantly did the same with other.

  ‘Be safe.’ Valiant wished out loud as he drew his sword and met the monsters above in battle.

  ***

  The sounds of the rousing battle theme and the battle itself became muted as Mordoom ran down the secret passage. In this corridor, there was no background music to distract him from what lay ahead or amplify the atmosphere of panic he felt. There was just a dark path that seemed to stretch on ahead for an eternity which did little to calm Mordoom’s anxieties. Mordoom did not enjoy fighting, he hated it when he was powerless and he felt no different with his powers restored. At first it was because of fear, Mordoom didn’t want to die and without his magic he was certain he would but even then, it didn’t hold him back from fighting anyway. Now, it was because when he saw his enemies, he could only see the potential lives they could have lived if things had been different. To defeat an enemy was to take away their freedom and future and after living so long in servitude to the game and having experienced freedom from his pre-determined fate, he struggled with the idea of robbing his enemies of the chance to experience that freedom for themselves.

  He knew it was necessary; he remembered the Ogre’s words in the forest and believed in them. No hero could save everyone and the weakest among them had to be protected from harm no matter the source of that harm. Mordoom kept that knowledge close to his heart for it allowed him to press on but that determination was under threat with every step he took.

  As unsavoury as it was to admit, it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be to destroy the enemies that rose against them at the gates and in the main hall. It hurt to defeat them but it felt manageable. The struggle came with the prospect of fighting the monsters he considered friends who, when they all awoke, helped Mordoom come to terms with the reality of their world. The last time he came to this castle, he stood by and watched as two of those friends were cut down and if Rita was throwing everything at them like it seemed, it would only be a matter of time before he was faced with watching and even aiding in the demise of another friend. He only wished that, out of all of his friends, he wouldn’t have to fight her.

  Those feelings came to a head when the long corridor ended with a silver door encrusted with black diamonds, the means to unlock the door in the hall was likely behind this one and Mordoom just knew that it would be guarded and what he would be expected to do. He took a moment to collect and steel himself as the latest tremors to rock the castle reminded him they were all against the clock.

  ‘I’ve got to do this.’ He muttered to no one in particular. Trevor was decimating whole armies, Valiant, Fabian and Sabine were defending the hall and the passageways from hordes of attackers and Nina would be facing her own trial. Everyone was doing their best to overcome incredible odds and Mordoom knew that he had to do the same, he couldn’t turn away and rely on anyone else but himself in this task. This had to be done for the sake of everyone.

  Feeling scared but inspired by his friends, Mordoom seized the moment and opened the door. Inside was an empty circular room and in the middle was a pedestal which held an ordinary looking gas lamp alight with a purple flame. Mordoom surmised that it was what he was looking for and not wanting to waste a moment, he reached out and picked up the lamp.

  The sound of mechanisms echoed around him as he did so and he saw the small depressed platform the lamp was standing on rise as a metal gate fell upon the doorway, locking Mordoom inside.

  Above him he heard movement and a sinister rattling he once found soothing,

  ‘Oh no, anyone but you, please.’

  She fell from the ceiling, a ten foot humanoid creature with reptilian green skin and hair comprising of snakes that extended beyond her waist. Her face was beautiful and monstrous and Mordoom remembered the d
ays when it was warm and kind but now it was twisted in rage and aggression. A life bar appeared above the creatures head just like all the other times he and his friends had faced off with a powerful monster and just like those creatures, this one also had a name. Gedea the Gorgon.

  The red markings of her opening attack had stretched out towards him in a line and he threw himself to the side as her snake hair sprung to life and lashed out at him, extending all the way across the room to his location. He had dodged the snakes, but he heard the mechanisms of the room spring to life again as he saw that the snakes had made contact with a trap panel on the wall. Small circles opened up all around the room and fired darts into the centre where Gedea stood, guarding the now empty pedestal and the mechanism to the door it held. She screamed viciously as the darts laid into her while Mordoom watched from the floor in safety as the darts flew overhead. When the barrage was complete, the panel reset, Gedea had lost a third of her life bar and she returned her gaze to her prey and snarled, every single snake on her head rose to hiss at him. Her eyes glowed threatening with blue sparks.

  ‘Oh no!’ He turned away and covered himself with his cloak as the room became a sea of blue light and he wrenched his eyes shut not daring to open them until he could see the light fade through his eyelids. When it did, he uncovered himself. Several of Gedea’s snakes had inadvertently looked her in the eyes during her gaze and they had turned to stone. She roared in frustration and broke off the stone snakes. Wasting no more time, she ran at Mordoom with her long claws outstretched. It was a sight that could have turned him to stone without Gedea's powers but Mordoom couldn’t allow himself such inaction. He opened his menu and unleashed a spell, ‘Dark Winds’.

  ‘I’m sorry!’ He called out to her whilst watching vicious winds blow her off her feet and lash into her with agonising squalls. He knew she couldn’t hear him, that the code’s hold on her was too strong but he spoke the words, anyway. When the spell ended, Gedea returned to her snake attacks and Mordoom was forced to dodge the extending biting snakes. Knowing what he had to do, he moved to the spot with the trap panel and baited her snakes to activate the dart trap again.

  Gedea’s screams of pain were difficult for him to hear and he worried even more when they had stopped before the darts had finished firing. He looked to the middle of the room and saw the dart strewn Gedea on all fours below the range of the darts. Orange blood poured from her wounds as she pounced at him, striking true with a clawed hand that ripped into him. It was his turn to scream as his life bar was reduced by half. He tried to crawl away from her before she could attack again but she was faster at crawling than he was. Desperate, he selected another spell, ‘Dark Thunder’.

  Like before, storm clouds gathered around her and struck her with lightning, holding her in place while Mordoom used a potion to restore some health but not enough to survive any more of her attacks. All he could hope to do was put space between himself and the gorgon and so he crawled and got back on his feet when the darts finished firing. He bolted to the opposite end of the room and onto another trap panel in the floor.

  Countless holes opened in the room and this time Mordoom could see no safe haven as within each hole there was a spark that grew bigger if Mordoom lifted his foot off the panel. Mordoom understood what was happening. It was a flame trap, if he stepped off the panel, he and everything else in this room would be burned to pixels. He couldn’t move from this spot and his spell had ended, allowing Gedea to advance on him once more. There was nothing more he could do, his only options were how he would die.

  His breath caught in his throat as he gazed into the eyes of his approaching end.

  ‘I’m sorry Val, I tried, I really did.’ Unable to watch as Gedea was moments from ending his life. He closed his eyes and waited for her claws to make contact but they never did. After a few moments of waiting in silence and darkness, a voice spoke. It was raspy, familiar and warm.

  ‘Mordy?’

  Barely believing his ears, he opened his eyes and saw Gedea looking at him with an expression of love and confusion. Bits of static crackled around her and faded as she looked around the room and the position Mordoom was in.

  ‘Did I? Oh no.... No… I hurt you?’ She held her clawed fingers to her mouth and backed away from him.

  ‘I’m so sorry Mordy! I didn’t want to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you.’ Her eyes were misty and Mordoom’s was no different. He didn't know how Gedea had broken free of Rita's control and in this moment he didn't care, he just wanted to hug her and wipe away her tears. He hated seeing Gedea upset. He wanted to go to her, to hug her and tell her it was okay but he couldn’t move from the spot.

  ‘You did nothing wrong, it wasn’t you.’ Mordoom explained everything to her and their current predicament, Gedea dried her eyes after he finished speaking. ‘Right, no time for tears, we’ll cry when we’re out of here and Venturis is safe.’ She spoke with a determination that made Mordoom feel like it would all be okay.

  He couldn’t go to her so she came to him and gripped him in a tight hug. When he and the other monsters awoke in the castle, Gedea took charge to keep them safe and calm. She above anyone else, had taken care of him and helped him come to terms with the world. When everyone else was confused about their previous natures and roles and what it meant in the face of free will, she helped them understand what free will was, what freedom entailed. It was because of her that Mordoom and the monsters chose a different path and Mordoom loved her for it.

  When he looked at Gedea now, he was reminded of that mother and daughter that Valiant was fond of, when he saw Gedea, he saw Erica. He had never had any parental figures, no one in this world did aside from a few who had been created with family had but to him, Gedea filled that void.

  ‘How are we gonna get out of here? I can’t move from this spot.’ Mordoom was lost for answers but Gedea smiled at him like it would all be all right in the end and he believed her.

  ‘I will get you out of here, I swear it. Do you trust me?’ She asked him and he answered without a second thought.

  ‘Always.’ Her smile remained as a snake extended towards the pedestal and activated the mechanism to lift the gate from the doorway. Several more snakes held their heads down upon the panel that Mordoom stood as more wrapped around him and lifted him from the panel.

  ‘This might hurt.’ Gedea warned before throwing him through the doorway and stepping on the panel he previously occupied. He groaned and got back on his feet and waved for her to join him.

  ‘Come on! You can turn the snakes to stone and use them to keep the trap occupied!’ He held out his hand to her, and she looked at him with serenity in her eyes.

  ‘I’m not leaving, Mordy. I can’t, I don’t know if I’ll lose control again and if I do, I can’t stand the thought of hurting anyone or god forbid, you, any more than I already have.’

  ‘No... That’s... That’s stupid. Come on, we need you, I need you. You won’t lose control, I promise!’ Mordoom felt as though the floor falling below him. ‘I can’t lose you again.’

  ‘You can’t make that promise and I’d rather die on my own terms than live as a mindless monster. Let me do this, please.’

  Mordoom shook his head and stepped forward but Gedea let go of the pedestal mechanism, causing the gate to come crashing back down. He gripped the bars as his tears fell.

  ‘No tears, not until it’s all over and Venturis is safe.’ She said, her warmth overcame the fear of facing her own mortality. She sent another snake to gently wipe away his tears with its head. ‘This is my choice, I don’t want you to fall apart over it, okay? I want you to be the hero I know you are. I need you to do something for me and I know it’s easier said then done but don’t hate Rita for what she’s done.’ This took Mordoom by surprise and he didn’t believe he could do as she asked. Rita was the one who had forced him to fight Gedea and watch as his friends perished.

  ‘I can’t, she ruined all our lives!’

  ‘But she put you on a
better path, did she not? Would you have considered Valiant a friend if she didn’t send you his way? Would you have had the chance to do any of the good you’ve done had it not been for her?’

  ‘You did that, not her. If it hadn’t been for you...’ He couldn’t empathise with Rita, too much had happened.

  ‘You would have been no different to her, you had me and the others to help you find your way but Rita was burdened with a power that no one understood, in a situation that would drive many to madness. When I think of Rita, I think of you. I know you hate her now but please try to help her. There’s been enough death for one day, let’s save a life instead.’

  ‘I don’t deserve you.’ He said as his voice cracked with emotion, he knew there was nothing he could say to change her mind and he didn’t want to accept it but Gedea wouldn’t give him a choice.

  ‘Remember to be kind, even to those who you think don’t deserve it. Kindness and empathy can save the world, you’ll see. Now go, go help your friends and do what you're meant to do. Save the world, save Rita.’ Gedea contradicted herself by shedding tears. ‘I love you Mordy, so very much.’ The snake that wiped away his tears pulled the door shut and as it closed, Mordoom took one final look.

  ‘I love you too, I’ll make you proud, I promise.’

  ‘You already have. Goodbye, sweetheart.’ The roaring of flames began as the door shut and Mordoom was forced to say goodbye to the mother figure he had loved dearly. He wanted to fall apart, to grieve but her words stuck with him. He could cry later but now was the time for action.

  'No more death.' He said with conviction before taking off towards the great hall with the lamp in hand.

  ***

  Nina gasped upon entering the room at the end of her corridor, the room so tall that she could not see the ceiling and the walls were glittering with gold, gems and diamonds. Scattered around the room were piles of coins and treasure chests and other luxurious items that, just one of which, could allow Nina and her friends to live in luxury for the rest of their days. Forgetting her task for a moment, she ventured over to one treasure that caught her eye, a crown encrusted with diamonds. She saw her reflection in the diamonds’ surfaces and the compulsion to pocket the crown grew like a wildfire within her to the point she could no longer control it.