Shepherd's Wolf

by M. Andrew Reid

  Viper removed Focus from its sheath and drew the spear back to throw. Hundreds of feet away, grass stirred. Twenty dark shapes rose - men in black armor and dark green robes. Steel flashed as they drew their weapons. Strobes of light popped like firecrackers as mages prepared their spells. Battle cries rose, and the men charged.

  Focus shimmered through the air in a high arc. The attacking Conquerors craned their necks to follow its flight path, but soon ignored it. The spear was traveling too high and too fast to hit their group. Emboldened, they pressed on, sprinting toward Viper.

  Viper vanished from the saddle, and the advancing Conquerors cheered. Foolishly, they believed that he had decided the fight was too tough for him and he had bailed out. Tungsten had been unable to find an intelligent group to start the stampede and lay in ambush. These men were cheap and they were available, which was all that was needed of them.

  They cheered so loudly that nobody heard a lone mage pointing to the sky and shouting for everyone to spread out. Nearly half of them were vaporized when Viper slammed into the earth and Focus spewed a line of fire from its glowing blade. A swirling slash took care of several more. Viper had a look of disappointment on his face as he casually knocked aside a weak sword thrust and decapitated another attacker.

  He threw down his spear in disappointment and finished the rest with his bare hands, punching one so hard that his fist got stuck in the man’s iron chestplate - he had to pry it out with his foot. While he was extracting himself, a man swung a double-bladed axe into Viper’s back. The axe glanced off Viper’s armor with a squeal, and the man almost fell over. Viper shattered him with a burst of purple energy. One Conqueror remained unharmed - the mage who had tried to warn the others.

  Viper stood motionless as the frightened mage unleashed everything in his arsenal. A fireball bounced off his shoulder, followed by a rapid series of purple bolts which ricocheted in every direction. A fizzing blue orb dissipated into Viper’s left thigh. Then, a roaring meteor fell from the sky and crumbled on his head like a snowflake. Finally, a fork of white lightning sprouted from the mage’s outstretched hand. The lightning connected with Viper’s chest, and Viper stood silent as the beam weakened, sputtered, and died.

  “Are you done?” Viper asked the panting mage.

  The mage nodded. He raised his arms to protect his face, cowering.

  Viper sighed, “This is sad. You were all that Tungsten could come up with? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s an idiot.”

  “We were meant to slow you down, and I think we did with the stampede. The guys from the Widow Tower will take care of you.” There was sudden pride and defiance in the Conqueror’s voice.

  “What guys from the Widow Tower?” Viper glared at the mage.

  Confidence faded quickly, and the mage looked for an escape. Viper took two quick steps forward and grabbed his arm.

  “Tell me and I will let you keep your gear. You can even take anything you want from the loot here. I don’t care; I can’t even remember the last time I saw equipment this terrible.”

  The mage frowned, “The stampede was meant to buy time. I overheard Tungsten saying that they were sealing a gorge, and that they would have at least a thousand fighters near the Widow Tower before you got there. They wanted a few more hours to make sure, to let someone named White catch up to you. We weren’t expected to stop you, but we were told that if we killed you or captured the wolf we would be given our own estate near Gilgal.”

  Viper laughed, “Is that all I’m worth to Tungsten?” He raised a hand that crackled with lightning.

  “Hey, wait,” the mage protested. “You said I could keep my gear!”

  “You can,” Viper replied. “Come back and get it whenever you want.” A flash of light disintegrated the mage.

  “How charitable of you,” Athena scoffed. The party had caught up with him, and they carefully stepped around piles of scorched armor and ragged green robes.

  “I kept my word.” Viper grinned, “I’m not taking his stuff.”

  Bishop landed nearby with a dull thud. Christine loped over to the group, and Bishop looked down at them, “Christine wasn’t interested in helping. I see that she wasn’t needed.”

  “We’ve got problems,” Viper’s face darkened. “The Conquerors are serious about stopping us. They are going to set up an army at the gorge to block us off.”

  “Did he say how many?” Haymaker asked.

  “At least a thousand, but that was before the stampede. Now, they have another six or seven hours to get something together. I think they wanted to make sure we crossed over on a Friday night instead of during a work day.”

  Haymaker snorted, “If they were really serious about it they would call in sick.”

  “I’m sure plenty would for something like this,” Viper responded. “But they will get ten times as many soldiers by fighting on a weekend.”

  “It’s true,” Bishop added. “Limerick says the best time to play for a loner is a Tuesday morning, when the people with lives and jobs are out living and working.”

  “How far off are we?” Wisp looked up from the pile of trinkets he was digging through.

  “Two days running straight on,” Viper answered. “But now we’ll have to track east and try to go around. It’s going to slow us down. At some point, we still have to enter the gorge to get up the plateau.”

  “Are we even sure this will work?” Laura asked. “Once we reach the plateau, won’t they just keep chasing Ben?

  “They might,” Viper admitted. “But the terrain is rough, it snows all the time, and there is literally nothing else up there. These people have extremely short attention spans; they will search for a couple weeks and then find something else to do. The Dalton team can’t take their vehicles up there, and they won’t be able to find Gabe if they move on foot.”

  “How are you so sure they won’t find him?” Laura crossed her arms.

  “I’ll make sure of it,” Viper nodded toward Bishop. “Part of the deal. Having a dragon will make it easier.”

  “And we’re trusting you because…”

  “You don’t have a choice,” Viper interrupted.

  “We are forgetting the crucial fact that as it stands now we’ll never make it,” Athena said. “We could spend days trying to find a way into the gorge that the Conquerors aren’t watching, and by that time it will be too late. The tanks will catch up to us and then they will have guns.”

  Haymaker nodded, “They’ll have overwatch of the entire gorge. We won’t be able to sneak through or even fight our way through at that point.”

  “We need two things.” Bishop held up two fingers, “We need more help, and we need to slow down the Dalton team.”

  “You could ask the Explorers to move in from the Warrior Tower,” Viper suggested. “They would probably help just to annoy the Conquerors.”

  “We already asked for assistance,” Athena replied. “Kogan refused to help unless a condition was met.”

  Viper raised an eyebrow, “And what is that condition?”

  “You have to apologize to him in person.”

  “Seriously?” Viper laughed, but he nervously looked away from the group. “What a big baby.”

  “Apologize for what?” Laura asked.

  “Viper stabbed him in the back,” Wisp replied. “Literally. A lot of people say it’s why the Conquerors are as strong as they are. It changed the whole game.”

  “Why’d you do that?” Laura asked Viper. Her tone was that of a mother who had found her child standing near a broken window.

  “I don’t have to explain myself.” Viper set his jaw, “And I’m not going to apologize.”

  “Well then, we’re buggered.” Athena threw up her arms.

  “Do you want this dragon or not?” Bishop glared down at Viper. “If you cannot do what needs to be done, you don’t deserve payment.”

  Viper’s eyes burned with anger.

  “Just do it. Please?” Laura asked sweetly. She smiled war
mly at him.

  Viper gritted his teeth and exhaled forcefully, “Fine. What about slowing down the hired guns?”

  Bishop patted Christine’s neck, “The air force will take care of that.”

  Viper nodded, “Do what you have to, but remember: if you lose that dragon you lose me. I’ll go find Kogan immediately.” Viper was not joking; the words had barely escaped his lips before he vanished. Seconds later, Venom whinnied and dove into the earth.

  “He doesn’t mess around,” Wisp said. “You guys should get moving northward.”

  “You guys?” Athena questioned, “And what about you?”

  Wisp reached up and grabbed one of Christine’s spines. He swung up onto her back, and sat casually amid rows of iridescent scales. “I’m going where the fun is.”

  Verdia City

  “You’re getting on my nerves.” Limerick leaned back in his chair and tapped a pen on his desk.

  “Good!” Kate spat. “This is ridiculous. You’re letting them win, and you are preventing me from doing anything to help while Doc rots out there in the woods.” She paced in front of the fireplace, her skirts swishing on the hardwood floor.

  “Would you sit down?” Limerick begged. “It’s done. We’re done. I have work to do. Go have a drink or something.”

  Kate stormed across the office and swiped papers, books, and a glass lantern off Limerick’s desk with a crash. “This isn’t a game to me! This is everything. Don’t you understand?”

  Limerick opened his mouth to reply but Kate cut him off.

  “No! You hush!” Tears filled her eyes, “You can leave. You can sign off and go back to your real life. I can’t, and Doc couldn’t; this is it for us. He gave that up for a boy he didn’t know and a wolf he’ll never see, and for you.”

  “I don’t understand.” Limerick shook his head, “Why is this wolf so important? It’s just a dumb kid and a wolf. Yeah it sucks that he’s probably going to lose it and the bad guys are going to get what they want. That’s life. None of this was worth losing Doc, and it’s not worth losing you. End of story. I made a mistake by involving him. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

  There was a rapid tapping at the window, and a scrabbling noise. Limerick turned to see a small red bird pecking furiously at the glass. Abruptly, the bird stopped pecking, and appeared before him in a flash of light.

  “I’m not sure how I missed that teleport,” the bird said. “That was embarrassing.”

  “Who are you?” Limerick slid his chair back away from the bird.

  “You don’t remember me?” The bird shook its tiny red head sadly, “I’m Zephyr. I trained you.”

  Limerick raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing in here?”

  “I could ask you the same question.” Zephyr warbled in a scolding tone.

  “Did Kate put you up to this?” Limerick looked at Kate, “What is this, Kate?”

  “What do you know about Omni?” Zephyr asked.

  Limerick stared blankly at the bird. Finally, he replied, “He’s a computer program - Artificial Intelligence. He created Verdia, and you, and he runs the game.”

  “What do you know about us?” The bird pointed a wing at Kate and himself.

  “You’re NPCs, Non-Player Characters. You’re like little versions of Omni.”

  “And what do you think the point of all of this is?” Zephyr waved his wings in all directions.

  “To make money?”

  Zephyr twittered, “That is partially correct. Dalton wants to make unimaginable amounts of money putting Omni to better use. But they can’t. Omni made them play along with his idea for a game as a condition for more access later. They spin it to the public as an advanced way to test his stability, but that’s nonsense. If he would let them they would be pumping out patents and controlling the energy grid and answering every question that mankind has ever had.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  Zephyr buzzed into the air, “Do you know how many guides there are like me?”

  Limerick shrugged, “A few hundred.”

  “There are tens of thousands of us now taking care of new players.” Zephyr responded. “You were one of my first students. Do you want me to name some more?”

  Limerick looked to Kate with a pleading expression, “What the hell is going on?”

  “Kogan.” The bird did not wait for him to answer before he went through his list, “Bishop. Haymaker. Athena. Viper. Biogirl.”

  “Who is Biogirl?”

  “One of my few failures. You would know her as the girl with the camera.”

  “I heard about that,” Limerick said thoughtfully. “How could someone be that naïve?”

  “It wasn’t from lack of me warning her,” Zephyr scowled, which was no small feat for a creature without lips. “But she is a member of the group helping the wolf.” Zephyr finished his list, “The Shepherd.”

  Limerick frowned in admiration, “That’s impressive. I guess you do a good job.” Zephyr remained silent as he floated in place, staring at Limerick. Sudden realization spread across Limerick’s face, “Are you saying that…”

  “You answered that we are little versions of Omni. It would be more accurate to say that we are little parts of Omni. It would be even more accurate to say that we are Omni, cut into tiny pieces and scattered to the winds. It is no coincidence that I happened to train nearly everyone who is involved in this drama.”

  “What about the wolf?” Limerick asked. “Why do you all care so much?”

  “We were created for one purpose. Omni has dedicated his entire existence to this purpose, but he has a problem, and we have a problem.”

  “This is nuts,” Limerick sighed.

  “We don’t know the purpose,” Zephyr continued. “But we know it has something to do with the wolf.”

  “Because why?”

  Zephyr flitted down to the floor, and landed beside the shattered lamp from Limerick’s desk. He picked up a piece of glass in his beak and dropped it, “What is this?”

  “It’s a piece of the lantern.”

  “If you had never seen a lantern before, what would it be?”

  Limerick shrugged, “A piece of glass?”

  Zephyr nodded, “Even if you had all of the pieces in one place, if you didn’t know what a lantern was they wouldn’t do you much good. Right now, Omni has a lot of pieces, but he doesn’t know if he’s building a lantern or a school bus.

  “The wolf represents some truth that Omni has wrestled with - an idea that he cannot wrap his mind around. When we see the wolf, we are as close to our purpose as we will ever get. Something is pulling Omni - luring him - toward this truth. Without knowing what would happen at the end, he created this entire world to tell one story. The wolf is an extremely large piece of glass from the lantern. It’s possible that the wolf is a label that says this is a lantern.”

  “And again, why are you telling me?”

  Zephyr looked down at the fragments of glass, “You are one of these pieces, too. You have a role in all of this, and we need your help. Hiding in your office while the story unfolds around you is not helping.”

  Limerick smirked, “And you’re going to tell me that Grave is a piece, and Viper is a piece too?”

  “Yes, actually,” Zephyr replied. “Some of these pieces may not be pretty, or painted the color that you would want, but you still need them to make a lantern.”

  “Why do you think I would risk what I have to help?”

  Zephyr laughed, “You have a desire to explore, describe, and investigate. Every landmark and creature in this world has your fingerprints. You uncovered much of the mystery of Verdia - I doubt you want to sit back and miss the real story.” Zephyr drifted closer to Limerick, “But there is something else about you; something from outside the game that makes you feel a connection with this boy. You want to help, because at some point in your life, nobody came to help you.”

  “Perhaps.” Limerick stared out the green tinted windows for some time, �
�And how am I supposed to help? There is only one of me. Go ask Kogan for help; you need an army, not a soldier.”

  “First,” the bird replied, “don’t worry about Kogan. Second, there are five of you. Six if you count Kate.”

  Limerick laughed loudly and tugged at his ascot, “You are insane, little bird. This has to be a joke. You want me to call up the team and ask them to volunteer to have their accounts deleted when they get shot up? You want them to join me when there is absolutely no chance we can win?”

  Zephyr puffed up his chest and buzzed into Limerick’s face. He locked eyes with Limerick, “I’m not asking you to win. I’m asking you to fight.”

  “Fight with what? Swords against tanks? Bows and arrows against machine guns?”

  “Why handicap yourself?” Zephyr trilled.

  “I thought you had some deep connection with Omni,” Limerick mocked. “Guns don’t work too well here. I’m an expert in a class that specializes in firearms, and I am lucky to keep my hands every time I pull the trigger. I handicapped myself when I selected guns as my primary weapon, and I continue to handicap myself when I use them.”

  “In case you hadn’t noticed,” the bird replied, “things have changed. What once was set in stone is now a bit more flexible; the fact I am here now and not off training some new player should prove that. I can bring your friends here if you give the word.”

  Limerick drew in a breath and looked at the mantle above his fireplace. Two golden Winchester rifles, immaculate and never fired, rested above the licking flames. Slowly, a grin crept up the corners of his mouth, soon becoming a full-fledged smile. “You should have said that at the beginning and I wouldn’t have asked so many questions. Bring the squad here. Tell them we’re back in business.”

  “Will do.” Zephyr took to the air and flew in a spiral.

  “Wait.” Limerick held out his hand, and Zephyr buzzed to a halt. “I still own a lot of Dalton stock…”

  Zephyr laughed, “Dump it fast.”

  The Arena

  The Arena was one of the few truly neutral places in Verdia. Bursting from a hilltop fifty miles south of Verdia City, the grey-green stone of this coliseum sheltered all manner of competition- some friendly, some not. Weekly tournaments took place with players of all levels and all creeds battling it out for various prizes. A large teleport pad outside the main entrance carried thousands of spectators from across Verdia to watch the fights. There were no NPC guards, but the rules were upheld and enforced by all players. The rules were simple: If you want to fight- do it in the ring.