Avatars Rising: SILOS I

by David R. Bernstein

  “What are these?” I ask.

  Lucas stands beside me. “Let me help you.”

  A smile touches his lips as he opens the circular pieces, fastening them around my wrists. His breathing is slow and purposeful, and I wonder if his heart is beating as fast as mine. I wasn’t expecting another fight so soon.

  “You can throw them, and they’ll come back to you,” Lucas says, backing away from me. “Try it by flicking your wrists. Like this.”

  I throw one of the daggers and it falls to the ground. Cheeks burning, I turn my wrist the way he showed me. The chains recoil as they re-attach to my wrist while the dagger slowly moves back to me. How? No clue.

  I glance over my shoulder at Myco. Rohan’s helping her grip the crossbow. For a moment, I wonder if we’ve both bit off more than we can chew.

  “Go with your gut,” Lucas says, drawing my attention back to my new weapons. “The upgrade orbs also seem to supply you with more knowledge of weapons.”

  “Okay,” I say, trusting that he’s right.

  After a few more tries, I start to get the hang of it. He’s right. It’s all about the flick of the wrist.

  “We should go inside now,” Rohan says, scanning the area. “We’ve been without the device for too long. The game and Moderators are bound to find our code sooner or later.”

  “If we act like a clan, then the game might not recognize the bug in our code,” Lucas says.

  Myco grins. “What are we waiting for, then?”

  If three orbs flipped her attitude, I wonder what will happen when we reach Level 10? I’m happy for her, but I can’t help the rolling feeling in my stomach.

  We step toward the gate. I grip the daggers in my hands, expecting the absolute worst to be on the other side.

  The gate opens, the pulleys at the top creaking with the effort. Rohan bounces on his feet as if energy is whipping through his body. Myco stares at the gate as if it’s the enemy. Lucas is the only one who I think feels the same way I do. His eyes are slits and the corner of his mouth tugs downward.

  I turn to the gate and draw in a deep breath. There’s no going back now.

  Rohan leads us into the arena. The battle zone is much larger than the previous boss’ arena, but dingier. It reminds me of the bleak merchant island: desolate and void of life.

  Blue lights from the center of the arena grab my attention. The light illuminates not one, but two fierce-looking females—twin monsters. Both possess long, flowing hair the color of red-hot flames. The strands whip around their heads and bodies as if alive.

  Rohan lets out a small grunt. I guess he wasn’t expecting this.

  “Two bosses?” Myco whispers.

  “The higher-level bosses can spawn into two or three,” Rohan says.

  I can’t take my eyes off them. The blue light emanates from their blades. Weapons that, strangely, jangle and clang with their every movement. Then I see why. The short blades are connected to chains. They move around each other in perfect synchronization. As they near us, the details of their faces become clearer. The twins are thin and strikingly beautiful. I risk looking at the guys to make sure there isn’t any doubt that these women are the enemy.

  Running my gaze over the bosses, I try to find weak spots. Their gilded armor reflects the glowing light from their weapons. The golden plating covers their chest, stomachs, and spills down over their long, graceful legs. But, their shoulders are bare. At least that’s a start.

  The gate slams shut behind us and I jump from the massive door. Turning around, the twins are gone. My stomach lurches.

  “Over there!” Rohan shouts, pointing to the other side of the arena. One of the twins lets out a piercing laugh. The other is on the opposite side of the arena. Without much time to strategize, we quickly move into the game floor’s center.

  The twins race toward us, whirling their chained weapons in the air around their heads. Myco shoots off several of her bolts, but the small charges explode into the ground behind one of the twins. Lucas attempts to hit the other one, but she moves too quickly. I can’t even blink before they’re somewhere else. Their feet barely touch the ground.

  Rohan swings his blade while a twin throws her chain at him. The clanking metal wraps around his weapon, and she pulls his blade from his hands. Then, in one fluid movement, she brings the chain around again, hitting him in the gut. He crashes to the ground as the twin reels back her weapon, ready to strike once more.

  She’s close enough that I throw one of my daggers at her, but it ricochets off her chest plate. I pull my weapon back as quick as I can.

  Myco groans from behind me. She’s on the ground. Her back arches as if she took damage from a hit I didn’t see. I need to keep a better eye on her.

  Lucas is shooting bright blue plasma charges at the other twin, but the beams don’t come close to her. The female bosses launch into the air, somersaulting over our heads. Their victorious laughter strikes my core. I snap my wrists and release the daggers, hoping that I hit one of monsters.

  No such luck.

  Myco scrambles up from the ground, reloading her weapon. Blood leaks out of Rohan’s side, but when I try to go over to help him, something sharp digs into my leg.

  I fall to the ground. Heat sears inside my shin. The blade slides out of me, and I stare into the emotionless, otherworldly green eyes of my enemy.

  A blast of plasma nearly hits her, but she jumps away in time.

  “Esa, are you okay?” Lucas asks.

  The twins are on the move again. They’re preoccupied with Myco and Rohan. Myco barely dodges a blow from one of the twins.

  My heart thunders against my chest. “We’re no match for them!”

  “Don’t lose hope,” he says, pulling me up from the ground. I groan as a sharp pain pulses through my leg. “We need to get you away from them.”

  “No.” Rohan is much more damaged than me. I’m not giving up that easily.

  Rohan goes down again, and both twins turn toward Myco. She fires off several bolts. Only two remain in her quiver, and her supply doesn’t replenish as fast as I had hoped.

  An idea comes to mind, but I can’t share it. Lucas would never allow it.

  “Help Myco,” I say. “I’ll be fine.”

  He presses his lips together, but nods, jumping into action, his gun at the ready. Rohan uses his sword to prop himself up, but he’s too hurt. Blood trickles down his face, and his eyes narrow as he grimaces. Remembering the blind rage Rohan, Lucas, and I felt when Myco was critically hit by the first boss, I try to channel those feeling again. We need to even out this fight, and the only way to do that is to take out one of the beautiful beasts. Other than Myco, I’m the weakest member of our group. The twins will see me as an easy kill.

  I limp toward the middle of the arena, making myself look as pathetic as possible. Dragging my leg behind me, I try to play up my injury.

  “Hey!” I call out to them.

  Blood pumps down my leg, pulsing out of my severed veins. I’m trying to avoid Lucas’ notice. But I catch his eyes anyway, which now widen in fear. I wordlessly convey that I’m trying to help, but his frown doesn’t communicate confidence.

  Both twins look over at the same time and stand straighter. The effect is unnerving. My hands tighten around the handles of my daggers. I silently dare them to come after me.

  They charge, and I position myself with my uninjured leg forward, steadying myself. I need all the help I can get.

  With each heartbeat, the twins get closer. I won’t be able to take them both down. But, if I can attack and deliver significant damage to one boss, my friends will stand a chance.

  A high-pitched wail rips through the air. A twin falls and her face smashes into the ground with the impact. One of Myco’s arrows sticks out of her back, singed flesh cracking around the bolt. The other twin is too focused on me to notice.

  Numbness spreads through my legs as she approaches. There’s nowhere I can go to get out of her line of fire. Her weapon slashes throug
h the air above her head. The cut in my leg burns with the memory of when she sliced me.

  Rohan’s blonde hair blurs as he bolts toward the remaining twin. She throws her blade at me. The chain stretches out, almost in slow motion as the deadly end carves through the air, but Rohan is quicker. The front of his blade meets the middle of her throat, and her forward momentum assists his weapon. A pulse of energy appears around his sword as blade cuts through her neck. Her body continues running toward me while her head spins through the air before landing on the ground with a sickening thump.

  I dodge the chained blade right as her body skids to a halt at my feet. I let out a relieved sigh, stagger back, and crumple to the charred earth, gasping big gulps of air.

  It’s over.

  A second passes, and then eight red orbs and four yellow ones appear in the air above the nearest fallen body right before both bosses fade into nothingness.

  “Esa!” Lucas runs toward me. I barely glance up before he’s at my side. His breathing is ragged and his shoulders heave with effort. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

  I shrug one shoulder. “We didn’t have a strategy, so I made one up.”

  His eyebrows mash together. “You could have been killed.”

  “But I wasn’t,” I say. “There’s no more time to play it safe.”

  “She’s right,” Rohan agrees. “We should get our reward and leave this place.”

  We shuffle toward the orbs, all of us more damaged than the previous fight had left us.

  Myco drags her crossbow behind her. Her face is bruised and cut up. “Should one of us take more and reach Level 10? So we can see what happens?”

  Rohan’s eyes widen, the red glow from the orbs reflecting in them.

  “No,” Lucas says.

  Rohan blinks as if coming out of a trance.

  “We should stay close to the same Levels,” I say.

  “If we separate, then the Moderators will have a better chance of finding us,” Lucas adds.

  Without another word, Rohan divides the red orbs. As if I’ve taken a magic pill, my aches and pains disappear within seconds of absorbing an orb. Confidence blooms within me, and I experience the warmth as hope spreads across my chest. We’re more than halfway to Level 10. The end is within reach for us.

  “What are the yellow ones for?” I ask as I absorb one.

  “They help with speed,” Lucas says. He’s still not happy with me about my plan, but he’ll have to get over it. We won, didn’t we?

  Walking with our heads high and our bodies healed, we stride out of the arena. Fully loaded with weapons that we now know how to use and with newly increased Levels and confidence, there’s no reason why we can’t reach our goal.

  “Does anyone else think we should definitely go all or nothing?” I ask. “We should go for a big boss.” It’s the effects of the orbs talking, but we can’t risk multiple smaller fights. More room for error.

  Rohan smirks. “You all know what I think.”

  “Isn’t that a little risky?” Myco asks.

  “I don’t think the twins were the highest level,” Lucas says. “But if we can get a stash bigger than that one, we should only have one more fight to get us all to Level 10.”

  “We should go for it,” I say with potentially deadly confidence. And, after exiting through the arena’s gate, we’re all in agreement.

  “If we’re going for a top-level boss, we need to head up there,” Rohan says, pointing at the tallest volcano in the island’s dead center. Fire spits from its caldera.

  I instantly second guess this decision.

  CHAPTER 20

  I COULD KILL for a refreshing, cool breeze to fill my lungs with air that doesn’t taste like sulfur. The closer we get to the top, the denser the air becomes. Dark, ashy smoke engulfs the trail. The rhythmic movement of our feet across the charred ground lulls my mind, and it wanders to another place.

  The face of the red-haired woman in the farmhouse pops into my vision again. I briefly enter the memory and the desolate island disappears before my eyes. Her presence feels warm somehow. I want to know more about her, but something new grabs my attention.

  Behind the woman, an open window draws me in. Two men who wear the same dreary outfits as the Moderators strut up to the cottage. When I turn back to the woman, her smile is gone, and she mouths the words, “I’m sorry.”

  “Esa,” someone calls from a distance.

  I’m brought back to the bleak, present moment.

  “Esa?” The voice morphs into a familiar one.

  I stare at Myco for a moment, my vision blurred. All I can think about is how I felt betrayed by the woman from my memory.

  Her thin eyebrows knit together. “Are you okay?”

  “Um, yes,” I say, blinking to refocus.

  “Where did you go just now?” she asks. “You were pretty zoned out there.”

  I glance at the guys. They’re far ahead of us. Without the device, there’s no need for us to stay within a certain proximity anymore.

  “I was thinking about a memory I had.”

  “You had a memory too?” she asks. “Why didn’t you mention it?”

  “We haven’t had a lot of downtime since I experienced it.” Before Rohan mentioned his, I just assumed mine was nothing more than a dream.

  “Can you share?” she whispers, as if these memories are secrets. “Or is it as confusing as mine?”

  “Maybe,” I say. “It’s not horrible. Or maybe it is. I just don’t know what it means.”

  “I’m won’t force you,” she says. “Rohan doesn’t seem to think they’re real anyway.”

  “Yeah.” My chest tightens with guilt. I suppose there’s no harm in talking about my vision, especially if we’re all equally unsure of what they mean. It’s not like we have anything better to do while we walk.

  “The night we slept on arena island,” I begin. “I dreamed or remembered something. An older woman was with me, and we’re inside a small cottage. She was just standing there, watching me. I felt at ease around her. Before I could say or do anything, I woke up. But I remembered something new just now.” I swallow and say one word, “Moderators.”

  “Wait, you saw Moderators in your memory?”

  I nod. “I mean, I think so, but I’m not sure. My vision skittered by so quick.”

  Myco opens her hands out in front of her. “All of this is crazy. I don’t think you should dwell on it too much. Maybe when we get to Level 10, these things will start to make sense.”

  “Do you think these memories are just code to make us more life-like to the Grips? Or could they be experiences we’ve had outside of the game somehow?”

  “The first makes more sense,” Myco says. “But I haven’t had an experience in the game that felt as real as the memory I had.”

  “Exactly.”

  Rohan may not believe the memories or visions are more than code, but I do. Between the voice that saved us from the Moderators and the memories we’ve all experienced, it’s hard to believe we’re just sentient avatars. There has to be more to our existence than character backstory.

  Lucas drops back from Rohan and waits for Myco and me to catch up. “You had a memory?”

  My cheeks heat up. How long had he listened to our conversation? “Yes.”

  “When?” he asks.

  “The night that Myco and I arrived on the arena island.”

  His eyes narrow and he takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Don’t you think you should have said something? We shared ours.”

  I glance at Myco, curious if she understands why Lucas is so bothered by me not sharing previously.

  “We haven’t had a lot of time to talk in-between dealing with the Moderators and coming to this fun island. It didn’t seem important.”

  He shakes his head. “We’re in this together. There’s no reason for us to keep secrets.”

  “Sorry,” I say. “I wasn’t keeping it away from you on purpose.”

  Lucas locks his han
ds in front of him as we walk side-by-side, his rifle strapped across his back. I recount my memory for him, filling in some of the finer details about my surroundings—the warm breeze that carried a pleasant smell I can’t identify, the cozy home that seemed inviting. All of it just felt right until this new revelation.

  I’m not sure if talking about the visions will help drag up other memories. Maybe we’re only allowed to have one. The more I talk about my dream, the more my gut twists. These memories may lead to nothing but trouble. I just can’t fight the sinking sensation that the truth might be worse than all the wondering.

  Faint rumbling sounds in the distance. Up ahead, Rohan slows down and peers up at the mountain ahead of us. I step back on instinct, fully expecting the thing to explode and shoot lava everywhere.

  Thankfully, after a few moments, the rumbling subsides.

  I wipe a bead of sweat off my forehead. “Is the path stable up there?”

  “Probably not,” Rohan says. “If that boss is the top one, the game won’t make it easy to get to him.”

  “Great,” Myco mutters.

  “Over here.” Rohan locates the beginning of a trail at the base of the mountain. It’s even narrower than the path we traveled to the twin bosses, almost a ledge more than a trail. Thin tree trunks stick up from the ground in random locations along the way, giving us something to hold on to. We barely avoid slipping off the ledge but, the higher we get, the more barren the terrain is. The rumbling sound heightens my anxiety. As if we don’t have enough to worry about with the boss at the top, we have to think about getting burned alive, too.

  Halfway up the mountain, the trail widens, and I’m finally able to see how high up we are. The path’s start at the base of the mountain is barely visible through the haze. I hug the edge, not wanting to take a chance at falling to my death.

  None of us say much during the remaining ascent up the mountain. Needing a distraction from the ticking time bomb under my feet, I’m the first to break the silence.

  “Do we have any idea what type of boss to expect?” I ask Rohan.

  “I’ve never been this far before,” Rohan says. “And I’ve never seen anyone come out alive.”