Projectiles fly towards us and I raise my shield at the last moment. The heavy rock dings the shield and falls to the side. My battalion is not so lucky as I witness three of my men take lethal hits and fall to the ground.
Anger courses through my veins and I rush the closest goblin. He parries my blow with his crude blade, but I persist, dealing slash after slash until one makes contact. Once he is slowed, I have no problem driving my blade into its throat.
A sharp pain runs through my shoulder and I turn to find a small goblin about to stab me again with a dagger. I step back and the blade slices inches from my face. I kick out, connecting with its ribs. The goblin hunches over just as an arrow pierces its eye.
Thank you, Kindra. Wherever you are.
Screams ring out to my right and I notice the abatis on fire. The flames spread, jumping from brush to brush, nullifying all our hard work. Both men and goblins retreat from the flames. That’s when I notice the source of the fire.
A tall, thin goblin with blueish-gray skin holds out a scepter. A white cape drapes from his shoulders. Flame pours from the scepter like a torch, engulfing everything in its path. It was stupid not to expect the goblins might have a mage as well.
The abatis turn to ash and crumble as the goblin army pushes forward.
“Fall back!” I yell, but the men are already retreating to Carter’s defenses. The goblin army is overwhelming. We’ve only taken out maybe a quarter of their numbers.
Kindra’s archers continue to fire volley after volley. They are by far the most dangerous part of our army right now. With their next attack, she aims all twelve arrows at the goblin mage, but they splinter against an invisible barrier inches from the goblin’s skin.
Carter’s trident glows a bright green as the goblins march through a patch of field. The grass shimmers and a pink, powdery substance flutters through the air. The goblins begin to sway and then one after another, they collapse to the ground. Did he just put them to sleep?
Florian rushes in, arms flailing wildly, and stomps the goblins to death with a sickening crunch.
The goblin caster pushes forward, burning the grass and everything else in his path, even his own sleeping comrades. Florian reaches for the caster just as another flame erupts from the scepter. Fire runs up Florian’s arm. He tries to swat the flames, but they spread to his hand and up his other arm. Carter rushes to Florian’s defense, but there is nothing he can do. He casts a spell, trying to smother out the fire with a barrage of leaves, but they only ignite the flames bigger, spreading like wildfire across his body.
Knowing there is nothing that can be done, Florian rushes into the goblin army. He stomps and punches, grabbing goblins and throwing them into the air. He smashes two together and their heads burst like tomatoes. The mage hits him with a fireball that explodes upon his chest. Goblins chop at his feet and legs. Wood splinters from his flaming figure until Florian tumbles to the ground, unable to stand. Carter’s screams carry over the chaos. Florian was the child he never had. We all watch in horror as he becomes nothing more than debris on the battlefield.
It’s heartbreaking, but I can’t for the life of me look away.
“Everyone! Behind the plants!” I shout with all the authority I can muster. Carter’s plants are scary, but they won’t attack us, only our enemies.
We fall back into their temporary safety as the last of the abatis burn to ash.
The goblins push, and the plants come to life. The giant flytraps attack with vigor, severing arms and eating some of the smaller goblins whole. The only problem is that they can’t keep consuming. Once their mouths are full, the flytraps are useless and the goblins can cut them down.
The goblin mage continues to pour fire on the battlefield, burning everything in his path. If we are going to have a chance, we need to stop him.
The giant flowers Carter planted shoot leafy projectiles that deal magical damage to the goblins. They are our last row of defense before we have to fall back behind the walls. In the chaos of the battle, I’ve lost sight of Kindra and most of the others. Tarence swings his mighty warhammer into a crowd of goblins and takes a sword to the throat. So many of our soldiers are bloodied and bruised. Far too many are dead.
Somehow, Carter finds me in the battle. “Esil.” Hhis voice is strained. “We have to retreat behind the walls. It’s the only way.”
I know he’s right. We are losing the battle.
“I’ll create a distraction,” he says. “When I do, gather as many men as you can and fall back.”
Carter points his trident into the air and it glows a vibrant green. An aura surrounds him and spreads out around the battlefield. For a moment, the smell of blood and death is replaced by something more fragrant. Like a spring morning. The flytraps and flower cannons grow in size and attack with increased speed. Petals of every color soar across the battlefield, ripping through the armor of the goblin warriors. It’s the enchantment I added to his trident.
“You’ve got thirty seconds!” he yells.
I run back to the gate and notice the slat is open. Some of the women have been watching the battle unfold.
“Open the gate! We have to fall back!”
A moment later, the gate opens and I usher our people through the opening. Many more are still engaged in battle.
Not everyone is going to make it inside. Jacob passes me, his eyes wide with terror. Buzz runs past, blood flowing from a cut on his head. Grayson is nowhere to be found. Carter is still fighting and when the plants shrink back to their normal size, he turns for the gate. That’s when I see Kindra coming from the edge of my vision, a handful of bloodthirsty goblins chasing her.
“Close the gate!” she screams.
I step inside and hold the gate open just enough for her to be able to fit inside. She’s several feet away when she turns, places both hands to her head, and the goblins that chase her go flying back as if hit by a wrecking ball.
Kindra collapses to the ground, but not before I pull her through.
Inside the wall, everyone is in a panic.
There are no archers, and we’ve lost more than half of our fighters.
“They are going to storm the walls any minute now. What do we do?” asks Jacob.
For the life of me, I don’t know.
“Take the elderly and children and hide them in the dungeon.” If we’re about to fight in the streets, then we need to move them to safety.
“They’re climbing the walls!” a woman shouts from the guard tower.
I can’t let this city fall. I just can’t. There has to be something I can do.
A bold, dangerous, and completely idiotic idea crosses my mind.
“Everyone, stand back. You—” I point to the woman in the guard tower, “—get down now.”
“Esil, what are you doing?” asks Buzz.
“Whatever I can.”
I discard my weapons and my mana pool returns to full. I approach the wall, where the grunts of the goblins can be heard on the other side. I know I don’t have much time, so I place my hands against the wall. It vibrates beneath my touch. I’m certain Carter’s thorns are ripping through goblin flesh trying to ascend on the other side.
There’s a thud as the first goblin jumps from wall and lands in the courtyard behind me. Swords clash and I hear a grunt of pain. Someone falls to the ground.
Closing my eyes, I feel my mana coursing through me. Taking every ounce of it, I focus it into the front wall. Using my innovator skill, I try for something that shouldn’t be possible. I channel my HP into mana. I pray that this works, because if not, I’ve just sentenced everyone in town to death. With one last mental push, the wall explodes around me and everything goes black.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Flesh rips from my bones and an unimaginable heat courses through my body just before I die.
The next thing I know, I’m in the warm gel of the immersion capsule.
“Did it work? Did I save them?” It’s the first thing I ask when I e
merge from the capsule.
Marty sports a wide grin as he detaches the receptors from my body.
“You saved the town. Between your blast, the crumbling wall, and the remaining soldiers on the other side, it was just enough to stop the goblin army. That was some real ingenuity, by the way. Converting your health to mana for a more powerful blast. The viewing deck went wild when it happened.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I wish I could have saved them all, but at least all was not lost. It will take time to rebuild Carolton, time they might not have with other threats now looming. There’s no way of knowing if there were other goblin settlements. It could have been but one of many.
The worst part is that there are so many children without mothers and fathers now. That is a feeling I know all too well.
The battle replays in my head and I almost don’t notice Grayson sitting in a chair by the wall, visibly shaken.
“What happened to you?” I ask.
“Stabbed through the heart. I can remember the feel of the blade going through me.” He shivers at the thought.
I can only imagine. The pain I experienced was brief, but excruciating. Feeling a blade being driven through your heart and looking at the killer as it happens, that’s scarring. It’s just another reason why The Broken Lands feels like more than a game.
Looking back at the immersion capsules, I notice Buzz is still inside his.
“Why isn’t Buzz logged out?” I ask Marty.
Benjamin is the one who answers. The viewing deck opens with a swoosh and he steps out. He looks a lot better than the last time we talked.
“He’s still alive. The system only boots players if they die in game. You did really well in there. Really stuck it to the man,” he says with a smirk.
“So what now?” I ask.
“There is a mandatory lockout period for players once they die. Or, there will be. We can bypass it for the testing phases, but I think it might be best for you to get some rest. You were in there for a while.”
I don’t understand why Benjamin is all of a sudden so chipper. For the past week, he’s seemed like he was on the verge of losing his mind, and now it’s like everything is back to normal.
“Just one thing, though. Once you’re cleaned up, come to my office. There is something I would like to show you.”
A holographic brain hovers in the air on top of Benjamin’s desk when I walk in. It’s eerily similar to the dreams I experienced during my time in the game.
“Have a seat.” He motions.
Benjamin smiles and raps his fingers against one another.
The brain in front of me slowly throbs as electrical currents run along its surface.
“Do you know what that is?” he asks, nodding at the hologram.
“A brain?” I say it as a question, not sure what he is getting at.
“Not just any brain. That’s your brain.” He pauses.
“Okay, what’s the big deal?”
“You’re a smart kid, Esil. I’m sure you know there was more to this game than just full-immersion. I mean, why go through all of this trouble when Pangea is great just the way it is? Why rush you back in?” His blue eyes pierce into me.
“I suspected as much.”
“Well, here’s the good news. Everything I’ve had to keep under wraps, I can finally talk about. We weren’t sure if it was working. If we had given the AI too much freedom and it had wandered off to do its own thing. We were right to let it go, though. You see these tiny sparks here?” He points to one of the curls of my brain matter. “Those weren’t there when you first started playing.”
“Are you saying you’ve been messing with my brain without my knowledge?” I don’t even know how to respond to that.
“Not at all. As you have played the game, it has unlocked areas of your brain that were cut off from one another. It has repaired broken connectors. Don’t you see what this means? Dementia, Alzheimer's, neurological disorders that have plagued the aging for hundreds of years might finally be curable if this works out.”
“So what now?”
His smile grows even wider. “We’re constructing one hundred more immersion capsules as quickly as we can. Once we noticed the effect taking place in your brain, we needed more data. Buzz and Grayson were the perfect match. And lo and behold, they each had a new synapse form within one day of game time. There is still so much to learn and study, but it’s working, Esil. Don’t you see?”
That’s when I notice the picture that stands on Benjamin’s desk. An elderly lady with a kind smile and gray hair stares blankly at the camera. She has the same eyes as Benjamin, only they don’t seem so aware.
“You did this for her?” I ask.
Tears brim around his eyes.
“If only. She passed away last week. She didn’t even remember my name the last time I went to see her. Who knows what would have happened if this had been discovered several years ago? But as it is, we are on the verge of making sure no one else has to suffer through something like that again. And even for those who have gone down that path, there is a chance for recovery.”
Maybe Benjamin isn’t the elitist that I thought he was. We all have our own causes that we think are important. If he needs one hundred more people to continue this project, then I know exactly where to find them.
The End
Pangea Online: Vials and Tribulations
Chapter One
One year after the events of Magic and Mayhem.
A flaming arrow whizzes by my ear. There’s a warm pulse as my haptic suit attempts to mimic the sensation of the imbued arrow Aleesia just fired. The arrow lodges in the eye socket of the orc before me, cutting off his battle-cry mid-grunt as he falls forward and his HP drops to zero.
“Nice shot!” I tell Aleesia as I bury my axe into the skull of the nearest orc.
The broad-jawed, green-skinned barbarian’s eyes stay wide, even in death, as I pull my weapon free and kick the body to the ground. Another arrow sails by me. This one explodes upon impact and bolts of lightning arc from one orc to another, stunning four of them in place.
I take a step back and equip Staff of the Water Ancients, which boosts all my magical abilities. I cast Haunted Earth, and roots rip through the ground, rooting the stunned orcs in place for even longer. Next, I use Binding Thorns. Leaves and vines sprout from the roots, entangling the orcs further. Aleesia continues to barrage the orcs that funnel down the narrow pass with arrows imbued with fire and ice. The vines cinch tighter as thorns erupt, ripping into orc flesh and dropping their HP in chunks.
Using my last bit of mana, I cast Sunbeam, and a wave of light engulfs the orcs. They scream as they struggle against the vines, trying to escape the burning light.
“Finish them off!” I yell as I work my way up the pass, switching to my mace and smashing orcs off the narrow, snow-covered pass into the depths below.
Aleesia’s red eyes flare with intensity as she nocks her next arrow. Her dark, charcoal-colored fingers wrap around the bow string, and she pulls it back. Purple energy pulses through her ornately-carved ivory bow, working its way down the string and onto the arrow itself. The tip of the arrow glows purple, then black, and dark energy coils around the shaft.
She releases the arrow, and it soars toward the orcs as Sunbeam’s last ray fades away. The orcs turn to run, each one with only a sliver of health remaining. The arrow morphs into pure dark energy and separates into four smaller arrows. They track down the fleeing orcs like homing missiles.
Each arrow hits, and dark tendrils wrap around the orcs, sucking the last of their HP away. Tiny orbs of darkness fly back to Aleesia, dissipating into her body and healing her for the small amount of damage she took earlier. With her dark skin and purple cloak, she stands out prominently against the snowy landscape.
She tucks a strand of black hair behind her elven ears and winks at me. “Bring us home, Esil.”
The last of the orcs trudge down the pass carrying massive shields formed out of crude i
ron. The jagged edges function as bludgeoning weapons. Three orcs walk side by side, their shields pressed firmly together in a barricade.
I only have a few moments to make a decision. With their current formation, my mace is practically useless. I cycle through all my weapons, but none of them can pierce the shield wall. With my mana depleted, magical abilities are a no-go as well. I need to get behind them somehow.
“Aleesia, sweetheart, can you shoot a Gravity Arrow overhead.” There’s no shame in relying on my partner to finish the job.
“Sweetheart? Really, Esil? Are we that couple now?” She laughs, and the arrow clicks slightly as she nocks it.
There’s a thrum as she releases. The air shimmers slightly around the arrow as it soars overhead. An unlucky bird gets caught in its gravitational pull and is sucked in. It squawks as the arrow’s magical properties keep it pressed against the shaft at an awkward angle.
I equip Grappler, one of my most unique weapons that I bought on my first day in Steamworld. It has served me well over the years.
Item: The Grappler. Raygun. +7 strength. Ability: Grapple, fires a grappling hook and attaches to the first object it hits. 30 second cooldown. “You’ll not get away that easy, Bucko.”
It’s a beautiful weapon with a rotating barrel. One barrel shoots ray beams and the other fires a grappling hook. A small tube on the top swirls with lime green smoke.
The ray gun doesn’t work here in a fantasy world, but the grappling hook does. I fire the hook and it wraps around Aleesia’s arrow. The arrow’s properties mean that my weight doesn’t pull the arrow off course. Instead, it jerks me forward. I activate the grappling ability, and the chord retracts, launching me into the air and over the three orcs.
I let go of Grappler and land with a thud in the packed snow behind the orcs. The orcs attempt to turn, but their shields are lodged together. Before they have a chance to disengage, I equip my Elvish Battle Spear. I have just enough mana to use Rapid Strike, allowing me to place three attacks in quick succession at the base of their necks. The critical strikes are enough to one-shot the three orcs.
Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy Page 47
