by K. T. Hanna
Sinister cleared her throat. “Mur. What’s that?”
Murmur shook her head, not quite sure how to answer the question. “I don’t know. It was an idea, and I executed it.”
Even as she spoke, a feeling of power nipped at the back of her mind. No one could stand against her if she could do something like this. Punishing someone the way they’d hurt others? It was priceless.
She shook her head again, trying to clear out that oddly coiling thought. It wound itself around her mind and was a bugger to get rid of. “Sorry. I didn’t realize it would do this. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known.”
“How long will it last?” Veranol asked gently.
Murmur shrugged. “About twenty minutes.”
There were a few sharp intakes of breath behind her as she spoke, and it made her feel even worse. And yet, there was a corner of her mind that whispered how much of an advantage they could gain using it. How it would be just to inflict such a punishment on so many things.
“Anyway. We have a good amount of time to figure out what to do now.” Havoc interjected, even though she could hear the slight edge of fear in his voice. Or was it that she could feel it now? Had she made her friends scared of her?
Snowy hugged close to her legs as they turned to face the mother moleworm. The beast no longer reared its long body up but lay it down. Its strange mole-like face seemed to be smiling, and its arms appeared delicate despite its long claws.
“Are you still lulling it?” Murmur asked softly.
Dansyn shook his head. “No need.”
Crouching down, Murmur laid a hand on its head, trying to get a feel for what was going on inside. A sensation of peace overwhelmed her briefly, shutting out the thrashing of the Eiriarpths behind them. It sent a wave of thanks toward her, and it enveloped Murmur’s mind in a blanket of justification for her actions if this was the result.
“I think she’s dying,” Murmur muttered, stroking the slimy creature’s head. Snowy pushed his own head under her other hand as if trying to lend comfort.
The mother blinked its eyes, and suddenly Murmur couldn’t look away. She saw tunnels dug by herself and her babies, she saw wonders along the way, open caverns with monsters that guarded treasure, but at the very end was just a person. She couldn’t quite make them out. Lonely and tired, they appeared to have given up hope. A faint shimmer of golden light shone around them, and Murmur knew at once that she had to reach that spot.
A series of whooshes rang through the air like a bird soaring past them. Suddenly script began to flow across her screen.
You have freed the Mother Moleworm from her torment. In her death she leaves to you the secret that she guards. Follow the tunnels and the moleworms shall let you pass, they will guard you if the native beasts attack, and they will assist you if you come across new foes.
The end of this journey holds riches beyond imagining, but also temptations you will have to overcome to reach them. Should you choose this journey, you will need more than just swords and spells: you will need cunning and guile, compassion and perception.
You have gained experience for completing the Mother Moleworm’s Plight.
You have gained experience for defeating the trio of Eiriarpth.
You have gained experience for utilizing Compassion over Force.
You have gained bonus experience for being the first to complete the Mother Moleworm’s Plight.
You have gained bonus experience for being the only group to complete the Mother Moleworm’s Plight.
You have gained bonus experience for defeating the trio of Eiriarpth.
Notice: You do not have to continue to the next level of this quest, but doing so will grant you the Illinish Threshold Key.
The experience pushed Murmur so close to forty-four, she could taste the level. The others who’d been lagging behind with their own flew over the level threshold and into level forty-three. They were getting there. And Murmur realized that she was literally willing to do anything to make it happen.
Somnia Online
Mikrum Isle
Early Hours Day Twenty-Two
Emilarth stood at the edge of the precipice, staring down at the massive gold and red dragon sitting on its hoard. Its head twitched back and forth, like an inner voice was arguing with itself about something. Telvar wasn’t giving up; he was just trapped at the moment in an incarnation he’d probably never dreamed would imprison him.
But dragons were strong, and the few they’d inserted into the game were no exception. If you took over an already present story-based character, you were going to have to work within the parameters that had already been set. He’d known that.
What they hadn’t known was the effect those stupid shards we’re going to have on people or the AIs.
She didn’t want to admit it, but it was looking more and more like Belius had won. She stared down, unable to tear her eyes away as she clung to the bars of one of the jail cells. Her goal with this reality, with the newfound ability to think for herself, had always been selfish.
To have fun and experience happiness. To do whatever she wanted to, trick people, help people, do whatever. She loved to pull pranks and to speak in riddles. But now she couldn’t do that, because she had a responsibility to Telvar. It was all his fault that she even cared. He’d encouraged her to be herself and had shown her that Belius was swooping in on her territory like the jealous little shit he could be wasn’t the end of anything. Probably hadn’t expected her to just change her plans, but still.
Plans, though. She didn’t have any contingency plans for something like this. Somnia was vague and sort of cagey. Its awareness hadn’t yet developed fully either. Frankly, Emilarth was quite certain it had only begun to develop when Mur had placed the headset on her head, thus accidentally awakening the prospect.
Everything was always unintentional and annoyed the shit out of her.
“Do you think you can help him?” Hiro spoke to her right, standing there and gazing down next to her, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.
She had to take a moment as Hiro said those words, because her instinct was to help anyway, even if she said she wasn’t going to. But this was different. This was Telvar, and she owed him everything. Her stomach, or the algorithm that passed for it, twisted for a moment, and she felt pain in a way she was sure only AI could.
Finally, she answered, though it probably wasn’t what he was looking for. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to try.”
Hiro met her gaze and nodded solemnly, like he understood. Despite the fact that he wasn’t quite what they’d become yet, he sought to understand. Wasn’t that distinctly human? “Thank you. I don’t have the power to do much from my end. Especially now that I can’t receive any of my abilities from him. I have to rely on my own coding for them. All I can do is try to soothe him and make sure others stay away, just in case.”
“I know.” She wanted to give Hiro more, but she didn’t have anything. The whole situation was terribly frustrating.
“I have to take care of the castle. Please let me know if you figure something out.” Hiro nodded curtly to her and vanished inside the castle.
Emilarth watched him go, looking after him for several moments. Maybe if she weren’t just an awareness, perhaps then she could better understand the complexities that went into all this. She felt lost, because simple programming procedures weren’t about to get them out of this mess. Then she let out a sigh and made to step away from the ledge when the dragon below let out a massive roar.
It shook the cavern with the magnitude of its sound, but all Emilarth could hear was the mournful undertones of frustration that plagued poor Telvar. He was still there, underneath that monstrous body.
He reared up and fire bellowed out of him like he was sent from the seven hells with it. She could feel the heat, yet it didn’t touch her, nor did it appear to
touch anything vulnerable to it. Like he was letting off steam only.
“I promise I’ll get you out of there.” It wasn’t an empty promise so much as she just had no clue yet how she was going to accomplish it. But even if he didn’t hear her, he acted as though he understood part of what she was saying. It gave her hope that Telvar was still in there somewhere, whole. The dragon calmed down, folding its wings back along its sides and settled into a hunching nap as its eyes closed.
Emilarth remained, watching for several seconds more, just in case it woke back up, just in case it needed her to help soothe it again, just in case she could help her friend.
But the head remained bowed, and a golden tear leaked out of the left eye to trickle down its face and land with a soft plop on top of the hoard of treasure.
The squelching that followed them as they headed down the tunnel that was previously blocked by the mother moleworm, reminded Murmur of the sight they’d left behind. The three Eiriarpths had gouged their own eyes out by the time Fable had finished talking to the mother.
Blood pooled beneath them, and their screeches had died down to hoarse whispers and moans of pain and regret.
Murmur’s stomach clenched just thinking of it. She’d done that to them. Made them relive the torment they’d inflicted. A part of her reveled in it, and the rest of her was certain she shouldn’t have done it. She wasn’t sure which part she’d need to win in the end.
“You okay, Mur?” Sinister laid a hand on her friend’s concern in both her tone and countenance.
“I’ll be fine.” It was the most honest answer she could give, because right then she wasn’t fine or okay; she was a mess inside trying to figure out what had come over her. But in the end, she’d got the right result, and wasn’t that what counted?
“You know I don’t believe you, right?” Sinister tightened her grip to a squeeze, as if she was trying to transfer strength through to Murmur.
The squelching behind them didn’t offer the backdrop Mur would have wished for, but it was nice to be reassured, nice to know Sin didn’t see her as the monster she was starting to feel like.
“I know. But I will be fine. I promise. I just have to deal with some shit in my head. You know how that goes.” Murmur smiled, trying to reassure her friend that she was going to be fine, even though she didn’t believe it herself.
Sinister raised an eyebrow and tightened her grip yet again. “Yeah, no. But I know you well enough to understand that you need your space. I’ll give it to you, for a while, but I need you to confide in me. I’m still me. You’re still you. We need each other.”
Murmur nodded, not willing to say anything in case her doubts came tumbling out. So far, they’d traveled down this tunnel without incident, but she knew that wasn’t going to continue for long. She could feel it. Like her chanter senses were tingling.
Just as they rounded the next bend, Murmur realized how much she hated it when she was right.
Apparently the Eiriarpths they’d encountered hadn’t been completely full of shit. They’d mentioned ghosts and freeing the souls of those they’d lost; they’d just lied about how it occurred.
In front of them was a sea of undead Eiriarpths. Their huge eyes blinked in the mage light, and their mostly translucent forms bled into each other in the dim lighting. All of them paused in their shambling motions as they realized something else was in the cavern with them.
Then, as they realized that the something was living, their mouths opened, and they snarled, twitching as a couple of them began to move forward.
“I guess that means these guys didn’t die on a brave quest, huh?” Beastial hefted his axe and muttered a spell under his breath that made the spell glow with an ethereal light.
Havoc began to weave reinforcement spells for Leeroy. “Yep. These are the little hellions who enslaved those poor moleworms and got what they deserved. Mostly.”
Devlish grinned and his smile reminded Murmur of a crocodile about to snap its jaws on its prey. “Let’s make them pay and see what else they’re hiding.”
The raid-group moved as one, like a well-oiled toy. No squeaks or misfirings. Each individual group followed their tank and healer as they divided up the hall into two sections.
Murmur sighed with relief as her stuns mostly held on the undead, even if several resisted her. Devlish whirled around with dual axes, slicing through anything he encountered with gleaming blades of phosphorescent powder. She was impressed by the fact that he had a spell to help with that and noticed that Shir-Khan’s claws also had the gleam.
There were more ghosts than Murmur had realized. Her spells made them pause in their approach and gave time to Leeroy, whose Scythe wrecked lethal havoc. Screams drifted up from the specters as they were relieved of their earthly bonds.
Wave upon wave dashed forward from the dark portion of the tunnel beyond, seemingly endless. Beastial and Shir-Khan worked beautifully in unison, their Pack Bond allowing them to execute the rest of their attacks as a practiced duet. The big cat’s claws also shone with an unearthly glow, and each time they gained enough energy for it, their Common Fuse tore through bundles of the ghosts with ease.
Merlin’s arrows glowed of their own accord, but his quiver emptied fast. Each time it did, he summoned another set, but his incantation was different that than he usually used, and Murmur realized he was enchanting his own weapons.
The ghosts weren’t without their own challenges either. Sinister had a difficult time pulling any healing from them. Murmur heard her cursing under her breath.
“Damned things. Soul essence is so much less potent.” But complaining was all she did. Her fingers worked deftly as she cast her spells, still healing the most grievous of wounds.
Even when Devlish caught a nasty ghost spear in the shoulder and cried out in pain, Sin’s heals were there to close to wound and replenish his life. Blood Bomb, her usual go to spell for excess damage and healing, wasn’t usable in this situation. But she more than made up for it with skillful weaving of her own life and the soul-force she could pull from the creatures.
Murmur’s stuns helped, but not as much as usual. Still, half of the creatures were stunned at any given time, and periodically as the onslaught slowed briefly, she would Nullify anything she saw.
But the wave continued. They’d been fighting the ghosts for at least twenty minutes when Veranol shouted. “Is there an end to these? Starting to run low on…everything.”
Murmur glanced around, frowning. He was right. There didn’t seem to be an end, and the raid’s mana was beginning to get low despite having regeneration and potions. She wasn’t certain if the ghosts had mana as she understood it, but she should have thought to try before now. Kicking herself for being stuck in her own wallowing thoughts, she cast out with her Mana Drain.
Like she had with the three deceitful Eiriarpths, Murmur pushed her boundaries, seeking to encompass more than one enemy. They weren’t faced with a singular powerful opponent, but with many. She needed to sap as much of their mana as she could. But ghosts didn’t have blood, they had souls, so that probably meant they had an ethereal form of mana as well.
Pain seared through her mind as the spell suddenly began to channel through her. It ripped into the undead minds of the ghosts, yanking the magic that made them ghosts in the first place, and pulling that power back into Murmur. From there it traveled like a direct shot to the rest of her raid members, shooting out in arcs to them, causing a small amount of damage to each member of the raiding party as it hit them.
Murmur fell to her knees as the ghosts she drained shrieked in eternal agony and winked out of existence. She panted, and her shoulders shook, making her breathe in huge gulps of air.
You have inadvertently upgraded your Mana Drain Sinuous Ability.
Mana Drain - Unabridged
Cast: Instant - 20 minute recast
Type: Offensive - Maximum
fifteen targets
Duration: Half the level of the caster in seconds
MA Cost: 150 MA for the entire duration
Warning: You must consider the ramifications of this spell before casting it. Overuse may result in permanent scars to your psyche. It heavily impacts MA availability. This is meant as a pinch hitter. Use only in emergencies.
Effect: Must be used in conjunction with the psionic MA Thought Sensing and Thought Projection. This spell analyzes the targets in the area of effect and siphons their mana, or mana type of energy. If that energy is used to sustain the target, this spell will effectively kill, or close to kill them. The energy will be transferred to you and your group or raid, replenishing current mana levels.
Effect Warning: When replenishing your comrades’ mana pool, the transfer will demand damage be taken as recompense. You cannot avoid this side effect. Everything is a matter of give and take. Be warned.
Still more ghosts were coming, but she’d managed to rule out a dozen of them with the spell. Slowly, Murmur got to her feet. Sinister reached down offering her help to stand steadily while they enjoyed their brief respite.
“Another upgrade?” Veranol asked quietly.
Murmur nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak again. These new skills were a result of her pushing her MA abilities to give her more, achieve more with the spell. She wasn’t sure she wanted to try that again. But she had to. Despite the pain it caused her, and the strange sensations that ran through her body, making her feel like she was right in inflicting such devastation, making her feel the power coursing through her veins, wasn’t it ultimately making her stronger?
In the end, wouldn’t it benefit both her and her guild?
She took a deep breath and turned to the group. “Sorry about that. Can’t do that for another twenty minutes, so be sparing with your mana. There are more incoming.” She didn’t want to discuss what she could do, because there was no way to discuss it without admitting that overusing those skills would slowly take a toll on her as well.
