The Slayer

by Darren Hultberg Jr

  Boss

  Lvl: ???

  If these weren’t ‘monster men’, then I didn’t know what were!

  “Get this scum into a cell and get back to mining! We need more Aether! Gristlegrime’s hollering immediately sent the guards back into action. Slowly, methodically they approached me on all sides, my only line of defense being a measly short sword. I took a quick glance at my HP bar… I’d lost some health from the fall, but I still sat at 35 HP. I would have to make it last.

  The first guard grew impatient and charged in, swinging his mace in a looping vertical attack. I sidestepped the slow strike and countered with a double strike of my own, halving the guard’s HP and sending him reeling back.

  CRACK! Another guard stepped in and struck me hard in the lower back, dropping me to my knees and draining my HP by 17. I tried to rise but an armored boot pressed into my back, stopping my progression. “He’s done. Lock him up.” One of the guards said, cradling his mace in his hand as if he was itching to blast me with it again.

  The guard put more of his weight on me, forcing my face into the ground, filling my mouth with dirt. I wanted so badly to lash out and be done with this… then I noticed something. It was a sparkle just beneath the surface of the ground. The guards were too busy laughing at my expense, but I was sure there was something there. Quickly, I wiped away the soft earth and found myself hunched over a glimmering vein of Aether!

  “Hey, get away from that!” One of the guards said as he reached for me, but it was too late. I drew one of my throwing knives and stabbed it into the exposed magical vein.

  A sonic boom erupted from the vein followed by a wave of energy that cascaded through the complex, knocking foe and ally alike to the ground and tearing through anything else in its path. The click of locking mechanisms filled the air as all of the magical seals holding the cell doors closed were destroyed. In unison, the cells began to creak open and a myriad of prisoners began to fill the halls, taking their fight to the guards that had beaten them into submission. Mayhem ensued throughout the area.

  Surprisingly, the blast of Aether didn’t blow me away. Rather, it sent a jolt through my body that left my HUD scrambled and my mind in a daze.

  I shook it off then tried to rise but a swift boot caught me in the ribs, dropping me back to the ground. I looked up as several of the guards had climbed back to their feet and surrounded me, nothing but hate and contempt in their eyes. “You stupid fool.” One of them muttered through gritted teeth. “If this place is going down then we’re taking you with it.”

  A loud bang suddenly caught the guard’s attention. There gazes shifted as another bang echoed from inside the one place that they feared … the heavily guarded, heavily reinforced cell at ground level. With a third bang the large metal door slowly slid open. I waited to see a big brawny warrior emerge with waraxe in hand… but I was quite surprised to see the opposite.

  From the cell emerged a man short of stature yet full of wit. Physically, he seemed anything but imposing… thin, and at least a head shorter than myself. His hair was curly and black and unkempt, likely from being stuck in captivity, and his goatee had begun to grow into a beard. Still, the man smiled as he gingerly exited his cell, eliciting gasps of fear from the guards around him.

  The first of the guards pulled out a long, silver blade strapped to his waist and cautiously stepped forward, hoping to drive the man back into captivity. That was a mistake.

  The man lunged forward, snapping the blade out of the guard’s grasp and sliding it across his neck, depleting the guard’s HP bar and leaving his pixelated remains to the wind. What I witnessed next made my jaw drop.

  The man charged in to engage the several remaining quarry guards. Though clearly outnumbered, he still wore a sly grin on his face.

  His form began to blur as he approached the first of the guards. In a flash, he phased behind his foe and drove his borrowed blade into the guards back. A second guard approached, but the man phased away from the coming strike once more, appearing at the guard’s side with enough time to deliver a killing blow across his exposed neck. This dance of death went on for several seconds as the man phased in and out of his corporeal form, singlehandedly eliminating the troupe of quarry guards as if they were mere practice dummies!

  As the last guard fell, the man phased in front of me, holding his blade to my neck. The cold steel was so tight against my throat that I dared not exhale, for it likely would’ve been the last breath I’d taken.

  “Freed, and by another slayer, no less.” The man said in his charming accent. I didn’t dare reply, so I just met his gaze. He grinned before tucking something into my tunic. “Many thanks! I must take my leave, but if you survive this ordeal then come find me… I might be able to show you a thing or too.” And with that, the man dropped his blade and dashed into a nearby doorway. Could that really have been another slayer? I looked up to give him a quick inspection, but he was already gone from my view. Damnit! Amidst all the chaos I hadn’t even gotten his name!

  I quickly dismissed the thought… there were bigger issues at hand right now. Just above, I spotted Hilda using the wall to support her weight. The guards around her were gone, the only thing left of them being the blood stains that covered her armor. She was alright for the moment. I then searched for Vic, but he had gone missing in the chaos. No matter, I would find him after this was through.

  Finally, my gaze settled on the objective, the entire reason we’d came to this wretched place. The cell door was still shut, though the gold notification still glowed just inside the door. Immediately I raced up the nearest set of creaky stairs, the thought of completing our quest (then escaping) the only thing on my mind. Around me, guards continued to do battle with the escaped prisoners, bludgeoning each other with extreme prejudice in a bid for supremacy over the prison. For just a second, I thought I was home free… that is until the clicking of spiny appendages echoed off the stairs behind me. I turned to see the long, spiny body of Gristegrime beginning his pursuit.

  “I’ll make you suffer for this! How dare you bring chaos to my prison!” he yelled, swiping a clawed hand at my ankle. I leapt forward, barely dodging the attack as I darted for the cell. I grabbed the metallic handle and peeled open the door, the footsteps of my pursuer just inches behind. I managed to slam the cell door shut just as a clawed hand smashed through, coming just inches from my face as Gristlegrime cried out in frustration.

  Frantic, I threw down the metal latch and turned about, eager to see why we had come all this way. Standing in the corner of the cell was a man heavily wrapped in chains, his mouth tightly gagged. Another clawed hand smashed through the door, sending me into a panic. I rushed over to the man and yanked away his gag.

  “Step back.” The man said calmly. “And watch… for the raven takes flight.”

  10

  Year of Rebirth 0002

  This was it… the reason we’d risked our lives in this hellish prison. Stooped in front of me, wrapped in chains, and babbling of ravens… this feeble looking man… was it really worth it?

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to contemplate. Behind me, a loud crash signified that the door to the cell had been fully ripped apart. I turned just in time to see Gristlegrime bearing down, his dripping mandible coming straight for my relatively soft neck. Instinctively, I rose my blade, blocking his bite as he lunged in. One of his many sharp appendages swung around, stabbing into my thigh and dropping me to a knee. The deadly prison warden pressed on, forcing me down even further until my back hit the stone floor. I flailed, trying to create some space between the creature and I, but two more spiked appendages stabbed into my side, holding me in place as the beast planned to enact its killing blow.

  My health bar blinked dangerously low as Gristlegrime poised his mandible to strike. He leaned in close… then very suddenly stopped. The grizzly warden’s eyes peered up in horror as the chained man began chanting in a visceral, deliberate tone.

  “Feathers fall from shadow, />
  Wings of steel fill the skies.

  The flock has come for vengeance,

  Heeding the call of the Raven’s cry.”

  The man’s dull grey eyes suddenly illuminated in a bright violet. He stood as the chains once entrapping him fell harmlessly to the ground. In a swift motion, the man threw his arms into the air, producing several black feathers that slowly drifted towards the stone floor.

  Gristlegrime let out a howl of terror before releasing me and turning to flee… though he wouldn’t make it far. The falling feathers quickly began to take form, expanding, growing, even multiplying until they’d taken the shape of long black cloaks. From within each cloak emerged a man clad in black, face partially concealed behind a mask, hands tightly gripping fine silver blades.

  They charged forward with grace and precision, surrounding Gristlegrime and causing the warden to recoil in fear. The beast lashed out with one of his sharp appendages, but it was quickly amputated by the swing of a blade. Desperate, the many-armed warden tried to charge through the group, only to meet the tip of several more blades. He let out one final screech before bursting into a violent display of light.

  The cloaked assailants turned to the violet eyed man, quietly awaiting orders.

  “Go, fetch this boy’s comrades and get us out of this damned place. The cloaked men nodded, then led me out of the cell and into the main complex.

  “Her!” I said, pointing to Hilda as she struggled to stay on her feet. Two of the cloak men ran over, hoisting her up on their shoulders just seconds before she collapsed.

  My eyes darted across the complex, searching everywhere for Vic. Bodies of guards and prisoners alike lay scattered across the ground, barely clinging to their life, many nursing vicious wounds. Suddenly, I spotted the blood-soaked young warrior, his unconscious body dangling precariously close to the edge of the quarry.

  Another one of the men clad in black retrieved his body, then as a group, they led us to the control room. We stepped through one of the blown-out windows and approached a circular gate, glistening with magical energy from the Aether.

  An ear-piercing screech echoed form within the bowels of the prison as Grimmire stumbled on the pixelated remains of his companion, now just a sparkling pile of ash. “You’ll pay for this!” he screeched.

  “Go.” The violet eyed man instructed, and even though I didn’t know a thing about him, I felt compelled to listen. With a deep breath, I stepped through the portal, unsure of my destination, yet hopeful it was someplace better than here.

  ><><

  I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as I watched my hit points slowly replenish. The violet eyed man had used the portal to transport us back to Karrihdan, into a large room hidden away in the city’s clocktower. The cloaked warriors gave the man a nod, then to my utter surprise, leapt from the closest window and into the night. I hopped to my feet and ran to the ledge, curious to see what had become of the them, but they were no longer there… instead what I found was a flock of raven’s disappearing into the night.

  “I thank you for saving me.” The man said, causing me to turn about. “I fear that if I was held captive for much longer… then I likely would have fallen in with some much more sinister company.”

  “Your… welcome.” I replied cautiously. “If you had soldiers lying in wait like that… then why didn’t you use them to escape?”

  The man chuckled. “Those were hardly soldiers… more like powerful illusions.”

  “But. I saw them fight… I saw them kill!”

  “Illusions are only as such if you believe them to be. Those men in the prison saw them as real, and so they suffered a very real demise.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t completely convinced. Still, I let it pass as I pressed him on more important matters.

  “Your daughter sent us… to find you.”

  “Ah, yes. My daughter.” The man grinned, but I could see a profound sadness in his eyes all the same. “Even in this form, she somehow finds ways to impress me.”

  I gave him a puzzled look, unsure of his meaning or even how to respond. In the opposite corner of the room, Hilda began to stir.

  “I suppose you’re looking for your quest reward.” The man continued. “But first, answer me this.”

  ‘Yes?”

  “Why did you make the choice to come find me? There were plenty of quests available in town, and yet you decide to come after me with no foreseeable benefit, but on the whims of a little girl?”

  I stood there with my mouth open, unsure of how to respond once more. This violet eyed man didn’t speak like an NPC. In fact, he didn’t sound like an entity of the game at all.

  “Because it was the right thing to do.” Hilda interjected. She rose to her feet and joined us by the window. “Born of flesh or not, as long as we’re trapped in this world, that little girl is as real as you or I.”

  I ogled at Hilda, impressed with her profound display of wisdom. The man just gave a slight chuckle. “If only she were real.” The man said, peering out the window and into the night sky.

  “What do you mean?” I prodded.

  The man turned to address me directly. “What I mean, master slayer, is that the girl you call my daughter is in fact not real. I created her.”

  “You… what?”

  The man extended out is hand to me. “My name is Wesley… and I helped create the entire world of Aether Gate Online.”

  ><><

  “Let me out of this game!” Vic yelled, suddenly springing to life. Apparently, he’d been biding his time, awaiting an opportunity to get out of AGO. Wesley put a hand up, effortlessly staving off the young warrior.

  “I would if I could.” Wesley said, a tinge of anger in his voice.

  “What do you mean?” Vic went on. “You helped make this thing! Can’t you shut it off?”

  Wesley snapped, turning to Vic and shoving him to the floor, eliciting a look of fear from the young fool. “I’m trapped here just as you are!”

  Silence lingered in the air for a moment as all our eyes drifted to Wesley. He breathed in deeply, then calmly motioned to a small cluster of stools. “Have a seat and I’ll explain.”

  We rushed over and took our seats around a small wooden table. Wesley took a deep breath before he began. “Seven years ago, I signed on to a small development team employed by the Axion Corporation. Our goal was to create the most immersive VR experience ever imagined. We were a small team, led by our passionate dev leader Corbin Castermire. He was a passionate man with a vision to create a game like the world had never seen… and we did!” Wesley sighed. “I just wish I had known about Corbin’s ulterior motives. You see, before becoming a game developer, Corbin was actually a board member for the Axion corporation… just before the onset of world war III. When war broke out, Axion profited by using its technology to develop military grade weapons which it sold for a very hefty profit. Corbin was against such involvements, but he was outnumbered by the other board members, and thus forced to comply.

  Eventually, the enemy discovered the source of these new weapons and began targeting Axion facilities across the globe. One of the destroyed facilities happened to be connected to living quarters… that housed Corbin’s family.

  I didn’t know it then, but that day Corbin swore revenge on the world. He was powerless to save his family, powerless to stop the production of his company’s powerful weapons of war. He was utterly helpless, forced to watch a war unfold that he unwittingly found himself right in the middle of. The day that his family died, Corbin vowed to change the world… vowed to create a place where people like him had the power to stop things like that from happening. That day, Aether Gate Online was born.

  I helped Corbin develop the game, but by the time I figured out what was going on, it was too late. The game had launched, and I was trapped inside, trapped away from my beautiful daughter El… not the computer program you interacted with, but a living, breathing person.” A tear began to run down Wesley’s cheek. �
�I fear the game has done something to Corbin. His mind has grown dark, his ideals have begun to slip…. I, I just want to get out of here, to hold my daughter once more… and I think that the only way to do that is to kill Corbin Castermire.”

  I sat there quietly, taking everything in. My mind drifted back to my father. He was a bastard at times, but I knew deep down that he needed me. With mom gone, we were the only thing that each other had. I didn’t want to admit it, but just maybe… I needed him too.

  “We’ll do it.” I said defiantly as I rose from my stool. “As amazing as this world is, I know that most of us want to return to our flesh. If killing Corbin will free us from AGO, then I’ll do it.”

  Wesley grimaced. “That’s all well and good, but it’s not going to be that easy. Luckily, Corbin didn’t make himself immortal. In fact, he’s oddly quite vulnerable. But getting to him will be the hard part. You see, Corbin is constantly guarded by a group of very powerful knights… knights that he has been power-leveling since his creation of this world. The Cinderguard.”

  Hilda gasped. “You mean-“

  “Yes. I thought it quite obvious, but Corbin Castermire Is Lord Vazryn.”

  I immediately thought back to the last time I saw that smug lord and his vicious guard execute a fellow player. “How will we possibly be able to get to him?”

  Wesley grinned. “Corbin is holding a contest of champions in the arena to the north. He'll be personally spectating the matches. It will be there you'll likely find your best chance.

  “Very well.” Hilda said.

  Wesley rose to his feet. “Now before I forget…”. He snapped his fingers. Above our heads in gold lettering illuminated the words…

  Quest Completed

  +2000 Exp.

  I felt my body and soul grow in strength as I watched my level slowly rise… 5… 6…7! A small reserve of skill and attribute points awaited to be allocated. I was eager to use them, but I let Wesley continue.