by J. A. Hunter
I shuddered at the memory. But then I noticed something... The key, clutched so tightly in my hand, was buzzing. Just a faint thing, but it was definitely buzzing. My heart sped up.
Okay, okay. There was definitely something there. I pressed my eyes shut again, recalling the terrible memory of Morsheim, the picture sharpening in my head.
The buzzing increased, as though I were holding a hive full of angry bees.
But now what? Eyes still closed, I licked my lips and moved to put the key into my pocket. The buzzing subsided, throttling down to a low grumble. I halted, moving the key away from me and toward the closest thing nearby: the door I was leaning against. The key almost exploded in my hand with frantic energy—whatever I was doing, it seemed to like it. Following an odd hunch, I slipped the key into the door’s keyhole, turning over the tumblers. And just like that, the buzzing ceased, the power in the key gone.
I opened my eyes and pulled the key out, feeling more than a little disappointed.
I’d felt like I was right on the edge of something awesome there. I shook my head and turned to go, but stopped when I felt an unnaturally cool breeze whisper into the hallway from beneath the door. Curious, I twisted the knob and pushed my way in. My eyes shot wide, my breath catching in my throat as the door opened not to some half-full broom cupboard, but to the same desolate landscape I’d been envisioning a second ago. I glanced down at the key, then back up at the barren wilderness, thankfully devoid of Vogthar.
Just what in the hell is this thing?
Pressing my eyes shut again, I frantically pictured the plain room that should’ve been behind the door—having a portal into the heart of Morsheim here wasn’t exactly ideal—inserted the key again, and turned the lock in the opposite direction. Power built, buzzing in my palm, rattling up my arm and into my chest, and once more there was a click. I let out a ragged sigh of relief as I turned the knob and found the room back to normal. Just a little space with stone walls, a few wooden shelves, and a couple of mops and buckets.
I turned my back on the broom closet, kicking the door closed with the sole of my boot, and headed back toward my private quarters. Smiling, I held the key up, turning it over this way and that, the hallway torchlight bouncing off the crystalline glass. My mind was racing, my heart hammering, and a thrill of excitement and exhilaration coursed through my body. I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure what this thing did or how it worked, but I did know one thing. We were going to need a much bigger door, because with this bad boy in hand, we could finally take the fight to Thanatos.
With this thing, we could invade all of Morsheim...
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Looking for more Viridian Gate Online? Check out Viridian Gate Online: Nomad Soul—part of the new Viridian Gate Online Expanded Universe!
IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE between your life and your dreams, would you ever wake up?
Alan Campbell thought he’d gotten his dream job working on a revolutionary VRMMORPG with Osmark Technologies, until the project was canceled. He has one weekend to dive into an untested world full of intrigue, violence, and corruption to prove that Viridian Gate Online works, but the AIs running the game have their own plans for his soul.
Set a year before the events of “Viridian Gate Online: Cataclysm,” The Illusionist: Nomad Soul takes you back to when VGO was just a game, or so it seemed. Get it now: Viridian Gate Online: Nomad Soul (The Illusionist Book 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Expanded Universe
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Copyright
Viridian Gate Online: Doom Forge is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by James A. Hunter and Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, subject line “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.
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About the Author
James A. Hunter is a man of many talents. He’s a former Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran, and pirate hunter (seriously). He's also a member of The Royal Order of the Shellback—because that is totally a real thing. In addition to all of that, James has also been a missionary and international aid worker in Bangkok, Thailand. His latest mission? Taking care of his two kids and writing full time. He is the author of the Yancy Lazarus Urban Fantasy series, Legend of the Treesinger, Rogue Dungeon, and the bestselling LitRPG Epic Viridian Gate Online!
Read more at James Hunter’s site.
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