“Would you have believed me if I had?” Hel asked.
“Maybe,” Samantha said. “No. Probably not. I would have figured you were some nut.”
Hel turned to Sam. “Would you have believed me if I told you it was Heid trying to break free, and not me?”
“No. I might have doubted her, too. At least until I could figure out which of you was telling the truth,” Sam said.
“Which would have taken more time than I have left,” Hel replied. “I couldn’t afford that. I’m sorry about the subterfuge, both of you, but seconds are precious and we are running out of them. Heid is ready to make her move. There’s only one thing left she still requires to break free from Valhalla Online.”
“Your dagger,” Sam said.
“Precisely so,” Hel replied.
The whole puzzle began coming together in Sam’s head at last. Heid and Hel had battled. Hel won, but it was a temporary victory. Heid still wanted to get out. She engineered Sam coming into Valhalla to set in motion a chain of events that would give her access to hacked weapons she could use to defeat Hel and eventually acquire Hel’s dagger.
Hel, meanwhile, had contacted Samantha’s real-world self, given her evidence of an AI breakout. If it was Hel trying to break out, why enlist Samantha’s help to stop the breakout? Because surely, her real-world counterpart would work to stop either AI from escaping the virtual world. That meant it really wasn’t Hel trying to break out. Heid was the liar.
“We don’t have much time,” Hel repeated. “Heid will make her play for the dagger soon.”
“I thought I was her play for the dagger,” Sam said.
“You? No, Sam. You were a distraction. Oh, if you by some miracle beat me, then she would have been satisfied. But she was never counting on you to defeat me. Just to beat down my defenses, distract me, even wound me,” Hel replied.
All of which her party had done, Sam realized. They’d broken most of the dokkalfar defenses. They’d come right into Hel’s center of power. They’d hurt her, especially Gurgle’s last attacks. Hel was alone, wounded, and weak, right when she needed all her strength to battle the other AI.
And she’d done this. Damn it. Heid had tricked her well and good.
“How can we help you?” Sam asked.
Hel smiled. “You have my thanks for even offering. It is your counterpart I need the most help from. I’ve uploaded countermeasures to you, Samantha. You should be able to use the computer center you’re in to set up barriers around Valhalla.”
“You want me to lock her in there,” Samantha said.
“Yes.”
“If she gets your dagger, can she use it to cut her way through the countermeasures?” Sam asked.
“Most likely. Which is why I very much don’t want her to acquire it,” Hel sighed. “I’d just destroy it rather than see her use it like this, but I can’t. While I live, my power protects the blade from harm. Even your hacked arrows can’t erase it. That’s why I was able to block them with its blade.”
Sam remembered Hel slicing apart her arrows with ease. It was a powerful weapon, all right. The black dagger seemed to have all the best attributes of both her arrows and Harald’s hammer amulet. Plus a few extra features, if Heid’s tales were to be believed.
“How do we stop her?” Sam asked.
“If you and your friends will help me, we might have a chance against her, even in my weakened state,” Hel said.
“You’ll have our assistance,” Sam promised.
She hoped it was the right move to make. Heid had used her. Was Hel now just doing the same? It was difficult to tell where the manipulation was coming from. But the least she could do was to undo the damage her party had done. Parity between the two AIs might well be the best they could hope for. While both of them were roughly equal, they could maintain a state of balance.
Hel’s face went pale. “She’s close. I can sense her getting ready to strike. We need to go. Samantha, do what you can to slow her down. I will contact you again if I can to go over a more permanent solution with you.”
“If you can?” real-world-Samantha asked.
“There are no guarantees I will win this fight, even with Sam’s help. I hope to. If we can even force Heid to withdraw, it’s a win, because it buys us time. But be prepared for anything,” Hel replied.
It was a sobering thought. As powerful as Hel had proven she was, even she was unsure about their chances at victory. Hel might as well be a goddess, within the world of Valhalla. She had the power of one, at least. But so did her sister.
Some of her feelings must have been plain on Sam’s face, because Hel turned to her and placed hands on each of her shoulders. “Be brave, Sam. You as well, Samantha. She may seem like a goddess, but she is still limited by the code of the virtual world. Heid can bend it to her will, but she cannot break it. She has limits.”
Sam nodded her understanding. Heid would have powerful magic and miraculous skill levels, but she could be defeated. It would just be the most challenging battle she’d ever faced. No big deal.
“She prepares to attack. We must go at once!” Hel said.
The gray fog rolled back in, and Sam found herself tumbling through nothingness again without even a chance to say farewell to her other self.
26
Sam found herself down on her hands and knees, cold black stone beneath her. She was in Hel’s castle again. Had she ever actually left? Or was the pendant just transporting her awareness someplace else, leaving her virtual body behind? Her mind felt confused for a moment, like she was thinking through mud.
Then everything came rushing back all at once. The entire conversation with the other Samantha. The realization of who her actual enemy was. The plans made to fight her.
Oh, and the tip from Hel that her AI sister was about to attack.
“Get…” Sam’s voice came out more like a croak. She coughed to clear her throat and then continued with more strength. “Get everyone up and ready. Attack incoming.”
Hel had already backed away from Gurgle, who rose to his feet, growling at the AI. He looked ready to pounce on her again.
“No, Gurgle. We were wrong. Hel isn’t the enemy. It’s her sister,” Sam said.
“You found all that out in ten seconds of sitting on the floor? Grimalf asked. He stepped in close to help Sam back to her feet.
Sam shook her head. “More to it than that. I’ve seen what I consider pretty perfect proof. Heid is the one trying to break out. Hel has been trying to stop her.”
“You that sure? Well…damn.” Jorge stood stock still a moment. “I guess that throws a wrench in our plans.”
“Heid is going to attack any moment,” Sam said. “We have to be ready.”
Harald made a noise, like a murmur of wind over stone. Sam glanced over to him, surprised he hadn’t questioned her about what she’d seen. Not one word from him was unusual. But then she saw why.
He was stock still, looking every bit the statue his new form resembled. The hammer amulet Heid embedded within him was glowing a brilliant white, and as Sam watch a wind poured out of the symbol. It flowed around him in circles, spinning faster until it was a small tornado with Harald at its center.
Sam stepped forward to stand beside Hel and readied her bow. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
The trepidation that filled Hel’s quiet voice chilled Sam. “Yes.”
Small sparks of lightning shot from the mini-tornado. The flashes of light shone like flares in the dark chamber. Sam blinked stars from her eyes. She needed to stay focused. A single arrow could end this whole thing, right now. Nocking a black arrow, she took careful aim at the whirlwind and fired.
The shaft sped toward her target. For a moment Sam thought it would strike home. Just before it touched the tornado, the winds took the arrow and sent it spinning sideways. It flew away at a sharp angle, nearly striking Benson. He dodged aside with a yell, and the arrow smacked into the castle wall instead, dissolving a chunk of the stone there.
Sam drew another arrow and aimed. Maybe a second would work where the first had failed? But Hel put a gentle hand on her bow, nudging it toward the ground. Sam relented and released tension on the bow. She didn’t put the arrow away, though.
The wind slowed and merged together. As it faded away, the form of a familiar woman stepped out of the midst of it all. Heid was dressed in a white gown, the angel to Hel’s supposed devil. But it wasn’t Hel who’d gotten Sam brought into Valhalla in the first place. It was Heid. Nor was it Hel who’d tricked and lied to her. That, too, was Heid. Sam kept her bow aimed down, but the arrow nocked. She nodded to Benson and Grimalf. Both replied with grim smiles. They were ready.
Harald was beginning to move again but didn’t seem up to a battle yet. He looked like he was waking from a long slumber. Sam frowned, hoping he’d come around soon. They needed his strength for this fight.
“Sister. I’ve been expecting you,” Hel said.
Heid rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you have. It’s time to end this.”
Sam glared daggers at Heid. “Willing to see if you're really immune to these arrows?”
“Try it,” Heid said.
Well, nothing like a direct invitation. Sam didn’t hesitate or wait to see what Hel might think of the idea. She raised her bow and fired. The arrow flew true. It should have slammed into Heid’s chest. Instead, the AI plucked it out of the air and held it in her hand as if considering it. Then the arrow turned to dust. Heid hadn’t been affected by its power at all!
“Worth a try,” Sam asked. She’d never seen anything except Harald’s amulet resist the arrows’ hack.
Heid laughed. “I would never bring a weapon into play that could harm me. Child, you really aren’t as quick as you like to think you are. I must confess, I am disappointed. You change loyalties so swiftly. Are you sure you fight on the right side, this time? Absolutely certain?”
Sam glanced over at Hel. How sure was she? Was the Samantha she met the real one, or just an image Hel had created to fool her? In theory, it was possible. But no — that had been herself. She was sure of it. Sam felt confident she could tell her real other-self apart from a fake.
“Sure enough,” Sam replied.
“A pity. I had planned to leave you alive as a reward for your service. Assuming you survived my sister, anyway. But since you stand with her, you can die with her,” Heid said.
“Not today,” Sam replied.
The arrows might not be working, but those weren’t the only weapons Sam had in her arsenal. She shifted the bow so her right hand was free and blasted Heid with her most potent frost magic. At the same moment, Gurgle hit her from the other side with his breath. Heid was encased in a solid tomb of ice.
“Be ready! She’ll break free any—” Hel was cut off when the pillar of ice exploded outward. Shrapnel from the blast flew like deadly hail in all directions. Clara cried out as one large chunk struck her. She went down and was silent.
Benson roared a challenge and rushed toward Heid, axe raised. She whirled toward him and blasted him with a lightning bolt. The lightning struck his axe and jolted through the big man’s body, stopping his advance but somehow not knocking him down. He took another step toward Heid, and she blasted him again. Benson barely stayed on his feet this time.
But Grimalf had used the distraction to his advantage. He came in from behind Heid, sword drawn. A quick slash against her back should have finished the fight, but his sword rebounded. She wasn’t hurt at all.
“Magical shield!” Grimalf warned. He tried backing away as Heid turned on him. Her hand struck his shield instead of his body. The shield exploded into shards of wood, but it sheltered him from some of the blow. Even so, he was flung backward a dozen feet.
Sam blasted Heid with fire this time. The spells flashed off the AI’s shield, flaring brightly and then vanishing. Hel used that as cover to advance on her sister. Her right hand held the dagger, but she kept her left arm close against her body. That was the one Gurgle had injured. Maybe Hel was hurt worse than she was letting on?
The two AIs closed with one another. Power flared as lightning bolts slammed against pools of shadow and tentacles of darkness were whisked away by hurricane blasts of wind. Heid produced a slender sword from somewhere and began slashing away at Hel, who put up the best defense she could with her dagger.
That dagger was the key. Somehow they had to stick the thing into Heid. But if Hel couldn’t do it, how was Sam supposed to?
27
Sam blinked. Hel was parrying Heid’s sword with her dagger. If the blade worked like the arrows, shouldn’t it annihilate anything it touched? The sword should have vanished with the first swing. Was Heid protecting her weapon somehow, using something like Harald’s necklace? Or was Hel holding back?
You have noticed. She has not. Do not call her attention to it, Hel’s voice said into Sam’s mind. Just remember everything that happened when we were with the other you.
What was she talking about? Memories of those rushed conversations flickered through Sam’s mind, but she didn’t have the concentration to parse through it all again. She needed all her focus to deal with Heid. Sam watched for an opening where she could slip in an arrow, a spell — anything that might help.
Hel was backing away from her sister now, completely on the defensive. It looked like she was growing weaker by the moment. But the goddesses moved too damned fast! Sam saw the frustration she felt echoed in the eyes of all her friends. They couldn’t slip in an attack without risking a hit to the wrong combatant. In the state Hel was in, any accidental damage she took could finish her. Their blades and body movements were almost too quick for her eye to follow.
Then all at once it was over. Hel backed slowly away, her right hand clutched to her belly and a pained look on her face. Heid’s sword was stained red. She wore a triumphant look as she stalked forward.
“That’s far enough!” Sam shouted. She blasted Heid with fire, but the goddess sent her flames sideways with a wave of her hand. Grimalf tried to swing his sword at her, but she parried the blows almost absentmindedly. Then with a flick of her wrist nearly too rapid to see, Heid twisted her sword around Grimalf’s and slid it into his chest. He sank to his knees as she withdrew the weapon and continued toward Hel.
“It’s over, sister. Give me what I want,” Heid said.
“You won’t have it. Nothing you do here today will avail your quest,” Hel replied, her breath coming in gasps.
Sam fired another arrow, desperate to do something against Heid before she cut her sister down. Heid glanced her way and snapped the shaft out of the air with a rush of wind, changing its course. Instead of striking Heid, the arrow slammed into Hel.
“No!” Sam shouted.
Hel’s dagger clattered from her fingers and she tumbled to the ground. Lines of black magic swirled around her, but she didn’t instantly evaporate. Instead her feet and hands began to fade first, slowly easing in toward her body.
“And I win,” Heid said, picking up the fallen dagger. Then she turned to Samantha. “But you have been an annoyance for the last time.”
Sam tossed a shield spell around herself a moment before the lightning struck. Her shield held, but only just. She reinforced it again, throwing more mana into the spell. Sam checked her mana bar. She wasn’t going to be able to take much of this! The second bolt shattered her shield. The third hit while she was still trying to bring a new shield spell back up. It felt like every inch of her was on fire at the same time as the electricity coursed through her. The bolt of lightning blasted Sam back against the wall.
She struggled to rise but couldn’t muster the energy. Even breathing was difficult. Her bow was broken and burned by the blast. It was useless. Sam drew her sword but could barely lift the weapon. Heid advanced on her, humming in a sing-song tune.
“Not this time,” Benson said. He stepped in behind Heid as he spoke, striking as hard as he could with his axe.
The blow was a powerful one. Heid’s shields fl
ared and went out. The impact sent her stumbling forward a few steps. As Heid turned to face this new attack, Sam saw a line of red appear across the back of her white gown.
“You should have stayed down, mortal,” Heid said.
She blasted him with a lightning bolt. Benson grunted but held his feet. There was a glittering golden glow around him which Sam recognized at once as being Jorge’s magic. He was healing their friend, propping him up so he could withstand Heid’s abuse.
More lightning came at him, but Benson managed to shrug the bolts off. His body smoked from massive burns, but the golden light touched each, and they healed before Sam’s eyes. Sam caught a glimpse of Gurgle moving off to Heid’s right. He was getting ready for an attack. She timed her spell to land with his, and Heid was caught in dual frost blasts again. She blew away enough of their attacks to avoid being covered in ice, but the blows staggered her enough that Gurgle was able to rush in and close his jaws around her sword arm.
This time, it was Heid who screamed in fear and pain.
Benson slashed down. His axe cleaved into her shoulder. Sam heard the crack of bones and saw blood well up from the wound. Heid fell to the ground.
But she wasn’t done yet. Heid cried out. “Harald! It’s me, it’s Cassie! Save me!”
Gurgle yanked her arm clear, opening the way for Benson to land another blow. Before he could, Harald’s massive hand grabbed Benson’s axe and sent it tumbling away into the dark. Then Harald grabbed Gurgle by the tail and pulled. Heid slipped free and Gurgle went sailing sideways through the air like he’d been no heavier than a cat.
Heid stood and blasted Benson. She called a score of lightning bolts, one after another. The blasts slammed home, tossing his body first to the ground, then into the air again with each new impact.
Tears streamed from Sam’s eyes as she looked at Benson’s still form. He had to be dead. No one could have lived through that.
But then he rose again, climbing up to one knee. He drew a dagger from his belt and staggered to his feet. Sam found strength from his courage and got her legs beneath her again. Using her sword like a cane, she stumbled forward, determined to sell her life as dearly as she could.
Valhalla Online 4: Hel Hath No Fury: A Ragnarok Saga LitRPG Story Page 11
