Desert

by Caiden Walker

  Louella followed the rest of them in, taking a deep breath as she crossed the threshold. She would be lying to herself if she didn't acknowledge the fact that a small part of her wished she were back at the Outpost safe and sound. Hopefully, this wouldn't be her final and very last stand. There was only one way to find that out, and that was through this open doorway.

  The room was much larger than the earlier cavern room, and the waterfall was noticeably absent. As they were much farther underground than before, there was no light coming from above, but that wasn't a problem at all. Every few feet, all along the walls were sconces with brightly flaming candles. In the center of the room, a line of ornate chandeliers hung from the stone room's ceiling. The effect was nice. No darkness to be found here.

  For now, the room seemed empty and Louella's eyes were immediately drawn to an odd contraption in the far back corner. It almost looked like a computer mainframe, complete with a keyboard and monitor. Unlike most computers, however, this one appeared to be made out of wood, vines and... pebbles? She wanted a closer look at the thing, but of course that moment was when the creatures decided to pop in.

  According to Cameron, they should only have had to face no more than four of them. But when they popped into existence, there were twice that number. Every one of them had their own personal enemy to face, including Striker.

  "There shouldn't be this many," Cameron said.

  "Talk later. Fight now," Nika said swinging her ax and heading to the closest bandit. Her BattleCry pierced the air seconds later.

  The others quickly followed suit and Louella cast a ShieldAll right off the bat. Then she turned to the enemy closest to her and cast Clone. Once there was two of her, she fired the Cyclone spell. It caught three of the nomads and lifted them off their feet and flung them several yards away. There, she thought. That would give the distance fighters a better chance to take them down.

  It wasn't long before the group had their monsters down to half-life and no one had taken any major damage. It looked like this battle was going to be as easy as Cameron had said it would be even with the additional bandits.

  Then Gaia showed up. Way early according to the plan that Cameron had given them. That wasn't the worst of it. She didn't attack them so that wasn't the problem either. What she did was fully heal her bandit minions. Judging from the damage amounts taken in the following attacks by the bandits, Gaia had also upped their attack stats.

  "This isn't supposed to be happening!" Cameron screamed.

  That didn't seem to matter to Gaia, who kept healing her warriors as soon as they needed it. The party couldn't keep this up for long. At this rate, they would run out of potions and the battle would still be raging.

  Louella fought her way to Nika's side. "I have a thought," Louella yelled over to her. "Can you distract the bandits and Gaia while I go into thief and hacker mode?"

  The Amazon didn't even spare her a glance. Louella could understand that as she was in the middle of an ax and sword battle that seemed to be never-ending. She cast a Cyclone that took Nika and Evan's opponents a small distance away. Enough time to make her plan clear to Nika.

  "I think that machine in the far corner is a computer of some sort," Louella told her. "I'm going to try to hack it and open the portal. If I can get it open, you and the others need to get through it as fast as you can. I'm not sure I can hold it open, and when it flares, Gaia will know what's happened."

  The bandit enemies were almost back to them. "Go for it," Nika said. "I have an idea of my own that ought to buy you some distraction time."

  With her leader's blessing, Louella cast another quick ShieldAll and used all her stealth points in making her way to that wooden mainframe. Gaia was far too busy keeping track of her warriors' health levels to notice her as she sneaked past the goddess. Just as she passed her, she heard Nika call out her critters, and she almost stumbled in shock. Glancing back, Louella saw the little monsters go into action, battling right among the rest of the party.

  She grinned. Yeah, that should be a bit of a distraction all right.

  Once at the mainframe, she paused, wondering how best to tackle the creation before her. It was the perfect form of computer, made entirely from nature. The whole mechanism was amazing, but she didn't have time to admire it. Not now. She needed to get her friends out of there.

  It took her a few minutes to figure out how to log in, but once she did, the monitor showed a nice easy to follow menu. Trying to ignore the fact that the monitor was nothing more than a vertical pool of water, which in itself was an impossibility, she searched and found a symbol that rather resembled the game's portals that they had been using right there on the... well, water top she guessed.

  Looking back at the battle, she realized that two of the party were missing in action. One was Striker and there wasn't anything she could do about that, but Evan she could help. Louella didn't want any missing members when that portal appeared. She cast Heaven's Blessings and as soon as he reappeared, she screamed out. "SunRay in three, two, one!" Immediately following one, she cast her brilliant SunRay, blinding everyone who still had their eyes open. Most of the team had taken her warning for what it was and had been prepared.

  Blake hadn't. Nika grabbed his arm as she passed him and drug him along behind her. "Move it!" she yelled to the others.

  Nika didn't have to repeat herself. While their enemies were wilding thrusting about, trying to hit a foe they could no longer see, the team made its way through the room and over to Louella and the portal.

  As the others went through, Nika and Cameron stopped beside her. "No time for long goodbyes," Nika said, drawing both her and Cameron into a fierce hug. "I'll see you soon. Keep safe."

  "Go!" Cameron shouted, pushing her through the still open portal just as it started to fade. The Amazon disappeared from view and Louella and Cameron were left to face eight extremely large desert nomads and a very angry Gaia.

  This wasn't going to be a long battle, but at least at the end of it, she would finally know the answer to the question that had been hounding her since her parent's email.

  Would she reboot? Because there was no way in hell the two of them were getting out of there alive.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Are We There Yet?

  When she had felt her father push her through the portal, Nika had immediately closed her eyes. She really didn't want to open them until she was firmly back in her body. It might be silly, but the slim thought of seeing her body there without her in it creeped her out. Even if it wouldn’t actually work that way.

  She shouldn't have worried.

  "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Dean shouted beside her.

  Her eyes flew open. No player's lounge, no nice nurse hovering over her, and most of all, no real body. Instead, they were in yet another large cavern room.

  At least Gaia and her minions were gone.

  This room was set up like the inside of a Trials arena. There was a sign at the entrance to a cobblestone pathway that led to three open stages for battle and then on to a fourth, larger stage for the Trials' boss battle.

  Damn it.

  "The game is making us finish both story lines," Ash said, suddenly appearing beside her. "I guess we should have expected that."

  "What does collecting and battling monsters have to do with restoring balance?" Dean asked. "They said we could exit once balance was restored." He hesitated. "I mean I know we didn't actually defeat Gaia, but the portal didn't know that, did it?"

  Nika thought for a minute. "No, I believe the game at this point thinks we are done with Gaia. Now we have to polish off these guys before getting the portal we really want."

  Ash looked worried. "That could be a problem, you know. And we don't have a hacker to save us this time."

  Dean stared at her. "You mean we can't beat them?" His voice was almost a full octave higher than usual.

  The mage lifted a shoulder. "It depends. If the Trials update allows players to choose which area to start with, then
this just might be the ending arena for Desert."

  "Then we could beat them, right?" Dean asked. "So that's what we're hoping for?"

  "Actually, no," Nika said. She chewed her lip thinking hard. "If this is only the ending battle for Desert, and not the full game's ending battle, most likely the portal that opens will lead us directly back to the start of Forest and we'll have to complete that area all over again."

  She was beginning to feel hopeless. They were trapped in here until Cora finally decided to pull their plugs. If she hadn't already. Could they even make it through a portal if they did manage to get it open? Or were they trapped in the game forever just like her dad and Louella?

  "How do we know the difference?" Evan's voice was steady and calm. She knew the man had to be as upset as she was, but he wasn't showing it. A show of confidence, that was Evan's motto. Even if the situation didn't warrant it at all.

  That didn't mean it didn't work. Nika felt herself calming and her brain began working again instead of fixating on the hopelessness of their situation. As long as there was a path forward, there was still hope. Slim hope, yes, but it counted.

  Ash shrugged and walked over to a counter at the right side of the arched entrance that now stood where the portal had been. Walking up to the NPC clerk standing behind it, she asked, "Excuse me, but can you tell me what we gain from winning this arena?"

  The beautiful NPC female gave her a brilliant smile with teeth so very white they were almost blinding. "Certainly. This arena is the Champion's arena. Here you will face the ultimate champions of each element. Should you be able to defeat all three elemental champions, you will be allowed to challenge the Grand Master, who is a recruiter and trainer proficient in all elements."

  Still didn't answer the important part of Ash's question. "And if we win the Grand Master battle?"

  "Confident are you?" the woman asked. "If you are strong enough to defeat the Grand Master, then you will have won the contest. All other players have already been through here and your group is the last to enter. That means you will already be facing the strongest recruiters the contest has. Should you make it to the end, you win and become the new Grand Master."

  "And where do we go if we win?" Dean asked. Nika was with him, there still wasn't any mention of a portal that would take them home.

  The woman was starting to lose her smile. It must hurt to have to keep it in place for so long.

  "We have a very fine facility here, and you would all be most welcome to stay here until the next contest starts. We will need a Grand Master to start that game," the woman said.

  "If we decline that offer and just want to go home?" Ash asked.

  The smile completely disappeared. "If that is truly your wish, then it shall be granted. Once the final battle is won, an entrance will be opened at the far side of the arena. There will be a raised dais there that will allow you to travel wherever you wish."

  "Could you by chance tell us exactly what those options are?" Ash was persistent, but she was probably feeling the same way Nika was. They really didn't want any more surprises.

  The NPC sighed and pushed some buttons on the computer at her workstation. After a minute, she looked back up at the team. "It says here that the options for the dais are six-fold. The platform will allow you travel to your choice of six destinations: Travis Town, Riser's Creek, Griffondale, Waterton, the Outpost, and a place called Player's Lounge." The woman frowned. "Though I've never heard of that last one before."

  "We have," Dean said. "That's the one we want."

  They left her counter, and Nika turned to Ash. "Do you think we have a chance?"

  Ash's face kind of told her all she wanted to know. Or, rather, didn't want to know.

  "Without the level push we would have gotten from completing both parts of the game, I just don't think so," Ash said. "In hindsight, we should have had Cameron up our critter's levels as well as ours." She made a face. "Not that upping our levels did us much good."

  Nika glanced back at the now closed portal. This may be even worse than she had originally thought. They couldn't go back through the portal to her dad, and there didn't appear to be any other exit to this place. Who knew where the archway behind them really led? It could take them anywhere.

  "Come on, gals," Dean said. "I have total faith in you. You can come up with something if you try hard enough. I know it."

  Evan gave them a small smile. "He isn't wrong you know," he said. "Working together, you all have accomplished some pretty amazing things in the last several days, even with the odds clearly stacked against you. This is just more of the same." His eyes met Nika's, pouring confidence and faith into hers.

  If only that worked. All it really did was make her feel guilty when she still couldn't come up with a damn solution to their current predicament. And what did it matter if they'd struggled and brainstormed and actually made it to the end game if they couldn't get through it and to the other side?

  Ash was chewing on her bottom lip. Nika took that as a sign of brilliant thinking about to emerge and felt a tiny spark of hope in the darkness.

  "Please tell me you have something," Nika said.

  The mage looked up. "I was wondering, actually," she said. "Thinking back to the Trials game, the monsters and players could go to level one hundred. But even with the update, we were still limited to level twenty, our ultimate max level, right?"

  Nika nodded but didn't speak. She didn't want to stop the girl's train of thought before it landed at their solution.

  "So my first thought is this: did it limit the monsters’ levels too?" Ash paused for more lip chewing. "If it did, and our monsters are around level nineteen, maybe even twenty with that last battle, then they might be max level, which would change our odds a great deal."

  Pulling up her screen, Nika quickly checked the stats for their critters. The good news was that they had gained two additional levels in the mass fight they had just left behind. Apparently, the critters gained experience even if they didn't win the battle. But even that didn't make up for the much worse news. They were now at level twenty-one. Their levels weren't capped.

  "Doesn't look like the cap applies to the monsters," Nika said. "Our critters are a level above us right now."

  Ash's brows drew together. "But back there in the battle, our attacks were a whole hell of a lot stronger than theirs," she said. "So the leveling system must take that into consideration. Your strength is proportionate to your percentage of max level." Ash frowned. "Man does that sound complicated for something fairly easy to understand."

  "So you're saying we are a lot stronger than our monsters," Evan said. "What good does that do us here?"

  Dean gasped. "Maybe everything!" he said, bouncing on his heels. "They helped us back there, maybe we can help them here."

  Ash and Nika both looked at him. In response, he grinned back.

  "The noob ranger just might have saved the day, right?" he asked.

  “If only the noob ranger didn't look so smug about it, I might be tempted to agree with that," Ash said. But her smile took away any sting the words might have had. Dean had grown into a fine gamer through this experience. He really didn’t qualify as a noob any longer.

  Nika was staring at Ash. "Would that work? Us against the elements? Our attacks aren't geared for battling elementals."

  Ash grinned at her. "Speak for yourself," she said. "My fire will rock against plants and nature types, and my lightning should do well against the water types too."

  "That leaves the fire type monsters," Evan said. "Which of us could help with them? Assuming the game allows our help that is."

  Dean puffed out his chest. "I think those would be for me," he said. "None of us have any water attacks, except for the small one that the pixie got and never used." He raised his arrows. "Fire might be a distance thing, and I'm thinking my arrows might be the key."

  Nika thought for a minute. "How many monsters are generally in battle at the same time?"

  "In boss
battles like these, generally two at a time," Ash said. "Sometimes three."

  "If a third spot is open, maybe Blake or I could stand in with our battle boosting abilities. My BattleCry will help the critters attack and my Intimidation should lower the enemies’ defenses. Blake's song could up their attack too," Nika said thoughtfully.

  Evan looked a little crestfallen. "Nothing for a tiger to do here, is there?"

  Ash turned to him. "I wouldn't exactly say that," she said. "Some Grand Masters favor flying types of monsters. A cat should do really well against them."

  The tiger-man blew out a burst of air. "Good," he said. "I was beginning to feel pretty useless here. I mean, the thought that Blake could help and not me? Pretty ball-busting idea, that."

  Nika could tell his words pissed Blake off, but the man didn't say a word. He knew better.

  "Any pointers on just how this all works?" Nika asked.

  "Pretty much like the arena, just on a grander scale," Ash said. "Each champion will have up to five monsters, so you need to have a few critters lined up to choose from too. They might put in one, two, or three at a time. You can put in an equal number of critters into the battle." She lifted a shoulder. "The strongest critter team wins."

  Evan frowned. "Do we count as critters if we are fighting too?"

  "On that one, your guess is probably as good as mine," Ash said. "I think the games themselves are creating the merge of story lines. I'm not really sure how a game would respond to that."

  "Well, we'll find out soon enough," Nika said, looking around the room once more. Finally, she spotted a small alcove in the corner with a sign above it that said Clinic. "We need to heal our critters and see what happens."

  It took only a few minutes to have all of their critters back up in tip-top shape. With Ash's help, Nika chose five critters to put into her lineup. As it wouldn't allow her to put the players in, they hoped that wouldn't preclude them from joining the battle.

  While the girls handled that, the men had paid another visit to the desk clerk. They came back with the news that the individual champions had monsters with levels of thirty-five to forty, and the Grand Champion had monsters of level forty-five to fifty.