Rebirth Online 2

by Michael James Ploof

  “Hmm, well then, why didn’t you say so?” he said and moved to a table near the fire. “Come, and I will show you my power.”

  He led us to a round table set with a purple velvety cloth, and I almost laughed again when I saw the crystal ball sitting at the center of the table. Kit offered me a big-eyed glare that told me to keep my mouth shut, and I quietly took a seat.

  “Now,” said Bogmire. “What is the name of your friend?”

  “Tweak,” said Kit.

  Bogmire nodded and settled in to his high-backed chair. He cracked his knuckles and lit a long incense stick, then began chanting in a language that sounded like pure gibberish.

  I shared a look with Anna, who seemed to still be on the fence about the little dude. To me, he seemed like he was full of shit. Probably just preying on Kit because she tended to be a little too naive and trusting. But then he did something that changed my mind.

  “I call upon the spirits of the Underworld,” he said rhythmically. “I speak to those who dwell in the darkness and haunt the halls of the dark lord. Hear me!”

  The crystal ball began to glow and churn with mystical multi-colored light, and Kit let out a long purr. I glanced at Anna and she offered me a shrug.

  “I call the one named Tweak. He who was recently slain. Come to me, be not afraid, for mine is the power of the—”

  “Who said that?” came Tweak’s voice from the crystal ball.

  “Tweak!” Kit screamed.

  “Holy shit,” I said leaning forward. “That really you, dude?”

  “Kit? Sam? Where are you guys?”

  The swirling light in the crystal ball stopped churning and slowly morphed into Tweak’s face.

  “I am Bogmire,” the gnome said dramatically and offered me the stink-eye. “I am a very powerful medium, among other things, and I have created a link to the Underworld with my incredible magic.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

  “That’s dope,” said Tweak, and the image panned back to reveal our purple-haired friend, who appeared to be naked and covered in chains. Beside him was a naked red succubus with giant breasts and a whip in her right hand.

  “What the hell?” I said.

  “Oh my,” said Kit, covering her mouth in shock.

  Tweak was tied to a saltire, and the succubus was repeatedly whipping his bare ass. He looked more embarrassed than afraid, and I thought that I could see him blushing.

  “Sooo,” he said, glancing around the room and obviously unable to see us. “Can you guys like see and hear me?”

  “Yup,” said Ember with a chuckle.

  “Silence, sex slave!” said the succubus, seemingly oblivious of the rest of us.

  “Sex slave?” said Anna with amusement.

  Tweak let out a sigh as the whip fell across his ass again. “This bitch is freaky man, you have no idea what it's like down here.”

  “Doesn’t look that bad,” I said, admiring the succubus’s cherry-red nipples.

  “Dude, you don’t know the half of it.” Tweak let out a yelp when his mistress whipped him again, and he glared back at her. “Dammit, bitch, I’m talking here.”

  “You will address me as Mistress Orgasma!” the succubus screamed.

  “Any chance that you’ve got a plan to get me the hell out of here?” Tweak asked.

  “No, sorry,” I said. “We’re actually planning to join you.”

  “You crazy?” he said disbelievingly. “You see this bitch’s collection of strap-ons?”

  “It’s the only way to stop Kincaid,” said Kit.

  I flinched and glanced at Bogmire, but he looked all caught up with keeping the link to the Underworld open. Still, I knew that he must have heard her.

  “What can you tell us about the Underworld?” said Ember. “Any information will help.”

  “This place is nothing like I thought it would be. Sure, there’s fire and lakes of lava and all that shit, but it’s a real freak show. Everyone’s darkest desires come to life down here.”

  I glanced at the succubus, who was now strapping on a big floppy dildo.

  “Oh yeah?” I said with a laugh. “Well, looks like your dreams are about to come true.”

  He glanced over at the succubus and his eyebrows nearly leapt off his head. “Yo man, she didn’t come from my head.”

  “Sure,” said Ember with a snicker.

  “Tweak, focus,” said Anna, throwing me and Ember a scowl. “What do you know about Kincaid or the location of his lair?”

  “His tower is in the middle of the seventh level,” said Tweak. “Right smack dab in the middle of about a million dungeons. It’s crazy. I was free to roam for a little while before Orgasma here lured me into a dungeon, and I got a good idea of how big the city is.”

  “How big is it?” said Anna.

  “Like three times the size of New York City. Kincaid’s place is this huge onyx monolith that stands like a mile high or some stupid shit.”

  “Will it be hard to infiltrate?” I asked.

  Tweak laughed. “Is it hard to lick your own balls? Why the hell would you want to do that anyway…awe shit, you’re not thinking of taking him on again, are you?”

  I glanced at Bogmire. “We’ll speak about it more when we meet up.”

  “I cannot hold the connection much longer,” said Bogmire, and Tweak’s image began to fade.

  “Listen, Tweak, you’ve got to get free,” I said as the image began to fade. “And you’ve got to find us somehow when we die and enter the Underworld. Tweak?”

  The crystal ball went black, and I glanced at Bogmire, who looked tired from the effort. “Did he catch that last bit?” I asked.

  “Yes, yes, of course. Now…” he squared on me from across the table. “Are you still interested in purchasing my wares?”

  Bogmire told us more about what he was capable of, and after some negotiation we bought a blessing that he said would give us a resistance to dark magic, as well as one that he ensured would allow us to cast our spells normally in the Underworld. I had my reservations as to whether the spells would work, but I had to try.

  By the time we emerged from the smelly stalagmite abode, it was nearing sundown, and we strode to the front gates to join the other defenders.

  Soon the undead would attack.

  Soon, we would all die.

  Chapter 8

  Our small army stood before the doors as the undead horde tried to break them down. The dwarves of Aeorock had repaired the doors and the battlements with their incredible stone magic, but the undead made short work of the fortifications.

  Our army of real-world players were a thousand strong, but I saw nothing but grim resignation on the faces of those around me. They intended to fight to the bitter end, but they knew that none of us would survive the night. The dwarves seemed to understand this as well, but they stood unafraid, ready to defend their halls to the end.

  “You girls ready for this?” I asked and glanced at my women.

  “No,” said Kit in a shaky voice.

  “Bring it on,” said Ember.

  “You’re all nuts,” said Cecilia, who had joined us after we spoke to Bogmire.

  “Isn’t that why you love us?” Kit asked with a cute smile.

  Cecilia shook her head with amusement, but then jumped when a large blast of magic shook the giant doors.

  “Prepare yourselves, defenders of Aeorock!” said the stone guardian. He extended a hand and cast a single spell on the entire group, and a moment later a notification appeared on my interface.

  Blessing of the Guardian of Aeorock

  100% Resistance to Necromantic Magic

  Duration: 15 Min

  The blessing washed over me like a gentle Caribbean wave, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. For a moment later, a demon appeared in the doorway and opened its foul mouth and released a cloud of noxious green fog. The hell borne beast stood at least fifty feet tall, and his long, veiny wings filled the threshold. As the fog spread throughout
the chamber, wizards, mages, and druids cast spells that would repel the toxic plume and sent it blowing back through the mountain door.

  The undead horde poured through the threshold as the demon let out a terrible cry. A thousand multi-colored spells streaked from our army toward the advancing horde. But the undead army had magic users themselves, and they brought up powerful shields to protect the other casters and legions of skeletal warriors.

  While the casters among us were busy bombarding their counterparts, our tanks charged forth and tore into the frontline of sword and axe wielding abominations pouring through the door.

  As I unleashed my barrage of spells, numbers floated up from the heads of the undead that I had hit, indicating the damage that I was inflicting. Coins continuously floated through the air toward me from destroyed skeletal bodies, and my loot bags were quickly filling. But I wasn’t concerned with loot, I was focused on inflicting as much damage to Kincaid’s army as I possibly could.

  The monstrous demon that had gassed the chamber stomped through the hall and crushed everyone who got in his way, but then the guardian of Aeorock intercepted the hell spawn, crashing into it with his massive war hammer.

  I turned my attention to the demon and unleashed a streaking Magic Bolt, and other casters followed my lead. The monster staggered to the side as he took the hundreds of blows, which gave the dwarven guardian a chance to get in a clean strike with his massive weapon. The blow took the demon in the side of the head, snapping one of the curved horns and cracking the red skull like a pumpkin.

  The demon let out a haunted howl and suddenly fell into a million pieces. The guardian cheered for his victory, and we with him, until we realized that the many shattered pieces of the demon had turned into dog-sized scorpions.

  “Scorched Earth!” I heard a fellow mage among the crowd yell out.

  I cast the spell in unison with a dozen others, and the stone floor in the middle of the two armies suddenly burst into flames, creating a wall of fire twenty feet tall. Through the pyre came screeching abominations engulfed in flames, but our tanks and the dwarven NPC warriors made short work of them.

  A chorus of hellish shrieks announced the arrival of an army of winged demons, dragons, and massive bats. The dwarven halls erupted in chaos as the advancing horde overtook the dwarven warriors and charged toward us.

  “Fall back!” I yelled to my guildmates, but I could only find Anna and Ember in the tumult.

  “Kit! Cecilia!” I called out.

  “Here!” Cecilia yelled and shouldered her way through to us.

  The hall had turned into a mosh pit from hell, and I knew that finding Kit was going to be nearly impossible. I could only hope that she would know to fall back to Cecilia’s place.

  “Stay with me!” I yelled back at them and began racing deeper into the hall.

  The very flames of hell followed us as our army dispersed and the lines fell apart. Dragons were bathing the retreating players with green hell fire, while the demons shot white hot beams of death from their glowing eyes.

  I was hit in the left shoulder by one such beam, and terrible, searing pain shot through my arm. I glanced over at the wound and found that the edge of my shoulder had been shaved off like a slice of Thanksgiving turkey.

  “Sam!” Anna cried when she saw the grave injury. She placed a glowing hand over the wound, instantly taking away the pain, and we rushed through the crowd toward the pub.

  We had barely skidded inside when green fire filled the entire chamber, blowing in the windows and setting fire to the booths situated by the walls. A few dozen other players had retreated into the pub, but I didn’t see Kit among them.

  “We’re so screwed,” said Ember as she placed traps in the doorway and near the windows.

  “I can’t think of a better place to make a last stand,” said Cecilia. She grabbed a nearby tankard and guzzled down the contents.

  “I think Kit is dead,” I said.

  “Yeah, well, we’ll be joining her soon enough,” said Ember.

  Cecilia went behind the bar and pulled a lever on the wall, and a glowing energy shield came to life in the broken windows and doorway. Smoke, fire, and the screams of the dying filled the chamber beyond as skeletons and the minions of the Underworld fought to break through.

  I imagined Kit dying out there in the smoldering cavern, and anger washed over me that left my hands burning with fire. I had known this would happen, and I knew that she wasn’t really dead, but that didn’t stop the situation from being traumatic. The game was so realistic that the violence sometimes got to a person, and it was getting to me now.

  “You alright?” Anna asked as the murderous demons slammed against the energy shield, their demonic eyes filled with murderous glee.

  “No,” I said with a laugh.

  “Drop the shield,” said Ember. “If we’re going to do this, let's fucking do it!”

  Anna, Cecilia and I shared glances as Ember danced on her toes with twin daggers in hand.

  “On the count of three?” Cecilia asked from behind the bar.

  “Ok,” said Anna.

  I nodded, produced my fire shield, and unsheathed my short sword.

  Cecilia grabbed ahold of the lever and offered me one last smile.

  “Three…two…one…”

  Cecilia lifted the shield and the undead monsters poured into the pub. I unleashed Scorched Earth and engulfed a dozen monsters before unleashing a Fireball that blew a demonic minotaur back out the window. A dwarven NPC that had been risen by one of the attacking army’s warlocks charged straight at me with a big axe cocked back. My fire shield absorbed the blow, and I thrust my blade into the dwarf’s neck. Another monster, this one an elven zombie, extended a hand and hit me with a streaking green fireball that blasted against my enchanted robes and dropped my health to 75%. Anna’s buffs helped me to heal quickly, and I retaliated with a Magic Bolt that took off the creature’s head.

  My stats had gone up considerably since I entered the game at level 10, and my Fireball spell was now the size of a basketball. It ripped through the chest of three skeletons and slammed into a demon trying to climb through a broken window. Ember darted around the room as Anna and Cecilia bombarded the attackers with debuffs and curses that slowed their advance.

  We held off the demonic horde for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, and to my dismay, a notification soon appeared in my field of view that told me the Guardian’s buff had worn off.

  Ember fell first among us, overwhelmed by the army of skeletons that crashed through the burning wall and covered her in a mass of writhing bones. Anna ran to her aid as I blasted them with Fireballs, and she too was taken down. Cecilia and I stood back to back, and soon the monsters were upon us.

  I went down under the weight of my enemies and felt them tearing at my flesh with their wicked claws. Daggers and swords stabbed through my robes, an axe took off my right hand, and my skin was torn from my body by ravenous zombies.

  My health steadily ticked down as I endured the pain and prayed for a quick death. I was still at 20% when a demon pulled the skeletons off me and tossed them aside. He then grabbed me by the neck and raised me high. I clutched his massive wrist as he held me aloft, and to my terror, his mouth opened unnaturally wide, and he slowly pushed me into it.

  Then the jaws came down, and my world of pain was replaced by blessed darkness and eternal quiet. Three words appeared before me, and then I was falling, down, down, down into the void.

  You are Dead!

  Chapter 9

  When I opened my eyes and looked around, I found myself in a torchlit alley. Pain coursed through my body, and the wounds that I had sustained from the undead horde were still bright red and raw. My agony was unbearable, and I shakily brought up my interface and selected a healing potion. I guzzled it down like a man dying of thirst and groaned against the pain as my wounds slowly healed.

  I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to be unable to heal my wounds
, and to fester in agony there in the dark hall. But Bogmire had blessed us with a spell that allowed us to retain our gear and spells in the Underworld, and now his price of fifty thousand gold seemed like a steal.

  I stood shakily as the last of my wounds healed, and I took a moment to get my bearings. At first, I had thought that I spawned in an alley, but a closer look told me that wasn’t true. Rather than buildings to my left and right, there was a twenty-feet high wall that was smooth as glass and as red as blood. Looking up, I noticed that the walls didn’t reach to the ceiling, for there was no ceiling to be seen. Instead, blood red storm clouds churned a few hundred feet above the high walls, and silver lightning raged within.

  I looked left and then right down the long corridor and decided to go right. When I got to the end of the hall, two options lay before me, and I quickly realized that I was in a giant maze. I backtracked and went to the other end of the corridor, and again I was faced with two options: left or right.

  I decided to go left, and again took a left at the end of that hall. Nothing changed overhead, and there were no landmarks to help me navigate down there. It didn’t help that the smooth red walls were unchanging as well, and I must have traveled aimlessly through the maze for an hour.

  Frustration and dismay were beginning to set in as I turned yet another corner. I expected to find two more identical pathways branching out from the intersection, and was surprised to find a large, four-poster bed and seven scantily clad succubi lounging upon it. Their skin was crimson and their lips like blood, but what took me about them was their incredible beauty.

  “Hello Samson,” said the closest succubus. She crawled like a cat across the long bed, and I was hard pressed to take my eyes off her big hanging breasts. Her nipples were at least an inch long, and a slow grin spread across her exotic face as she watched my eyes.

  Despite my reservations, my manhood swelled to attention beneath my robes.