by Natalie Grey
They had watched videos of this run, so when the demon gave an unearthly shriek and threw back its head, beginning to pulse, Gracie leapt away at once with the rest of the melee team.
“Get ready!” she called. “Freon first.”
The demon was invulnerable as it began to grow, and once it was done growing, it had a quick combo that would devastate anyone it was near. It never got a chance to get close, however. Freon’s bolt of ice, loosed just as the pulsing stopped, rooted it in place.
“Magic ho!” Gracie called, and the rest of the ranged attackers let loose with their heavy cool-down spells.
“Who you calling a ho?” Alex shouted across the group.
Laughter rang out, including Gracie’s, but she didn’t spare the time for a comeback. “All right, melee, let’s own this bitch.”
With the demon down to a fraction of its health and its quick combo-rotation done, the melee fighters darted back in to take it down. It exploded into a shower of sparks and another gem, which Gracie placed in the carved depression at the far end of the island.
She took a look around before stepping onto the stones this time.
“Anyone else get the feeling this place has seen some serious shit?”
“Oh, yeah,” Dathok agreed. He’d made himself short for an Ocru, but his muscly frame added a considerable sense of threat to his healer’s robes. His healing, Jay knew, came with a side of corruption magic, and even if Dathok didn’t roleplay someone with the power of life and death, he certainly played his role well.
“There’s something uncanny about gods worshiping death,” Alex agreed as they set off. “And something tells me that when it comes to cruelty in live sacrifices, humans got nothin’ on deities.”
A few people muttered in various grossed-out ways and Jay smiled. One of the things that was true of all the group members was that they really took an interest in the lore of the game. As someone who’d weighed in on that lore and watched it take shape, that made Jay happy.
Of course, it also made him feel guilty and sad, but he tried to ignore that part. Sam had left him a voicemail yesterday that Jay still hadn’t listened to. He was too busy trying not to think about his coming job search.
After working at your dream job, everything was a step down.
He was on autopilot as they cleared the rest of the islands. Some of the demons dropped lore hints, and others needed to be defeated with certain kinds of magic or brought imps and skeletons into the fight. In the end, it all came to the same thing: the gods had come here with plenty of unwilling sacrifices, and the demons were used to a certain amount of food. They were grumpy about not getting it.
Gracie did not seem impressed by their grumpiness.
By the time they reached the final boss, everyone was panting, and Gracie called a break. They had a luxurious amount of time before the instance would spit them out, so people drifted off to take bathroom breaks or get snacks, leaving their characters in a huddle. The game had anticipated this, so the characters moved around in idle animations rather than being statue-like.
Jay headed over to where Alex and Gracie were in close conversation.
“Planning?”
Gracie flashed him a sharp-toothed Aosi smile. “Yeah, planning second dinner. All this working out is making me hungry.” To Alex, she added. “Either hamburger or pepperoni; I don’t care.”
Alex looked at Jay for a moment, then laughed. “I was going to offer you tie-break since I don’t care, either, but then I remembered we aren’t all camped out in the living room. I’ll be right back.”
There was the scuffling sound of his headset coming off, and his character went to idle animations as his panther prowled around the edge of the island. In the distance, they could see the last island, devoid of any altars or features.
Jay knew why, and he suspected the rest did, too—the final island was entirely an altar. The gods, being immortal beings, feared and respected death in a way mortals could not understand.
Of course, the same might be said for the mortals they’d sacrificed here over the eons, he supposed.
“How goes research?” he asked Gracie.
“Well.” Gracie sounded pleased. “I believe I’ve gone about as far as I can. Don’t think much of some of the analysis blogs since they’re missing really obvious mechanics, but whatever. Everyone’s acting like they know what the next month-end one will be, but there’s no way to be sure. I have statistics, but nothing solid.”
Want in on a secret? Jay wanted to say. Sometimes we cued up two, waited to see what the rumors were, and decided how much we wanted to mess with people before picking one to release.
He wasn’t going to admit that, though.
“I’ll tell you what we could really use,” Gracie continued, amused.
“What’s that?” Jay tilted his head to watch the dark surface of the lake and reflected that it was too bad he couldn’t skip stones on it.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe that would wake whatever was down there. The game was saving him from himself.
“A source on the inside.” The gurgle of laughter in Gracie’s voice told him that she was joking. “Statistics can only take you so far. What we really need is some espionage.”
Jay laughed but felt a deep stab of guilt. They’d have had a source on the inside if he hadn’t talked back to Dhruv and Dan. If he’d just had the good sense to keep quiet and…
What? He wasn’t quite sure. Maybe he could have pretended to be researching while secretly—
No. That wasn’t how his brain worked. He’d just have been lying for the sake of lying.
Still, he was quiet as the other members of the group came back one by one. They headed through a final ready check as Gracie explained their strategy.
“All right, most of you know some of what we’re dealing with here. Hrakkun is pretty fast on his feet, so we’ll need to work on containment, first of all. Freon’s on point with that. Dathok, keep him alive no matter what.”
Dathok and Freon nodded. As the story went, Hrakkun was a cunning demon who took advantage of the gods’ worship and brought his demons here to feast on the sacrifices. The gods had believed they were communing with Death, and the demons had reaped the rewards. Hrakkun could whisper in your ear as if he knew your deepest thoughts, and also make the ground shake as if he were a god, but he was nothing more than a tiny demon, barely bigger than an imp.
It made targeting obscenely difficult.
“Let’s go,” Gracie said. She set the last gem in place and they started, one by one, over the stone bridge. The waves were stronger now, lapping over their feet, and Jay had the absurd feeling that his feet would slip out from under him on the slick surface and he would go tumbling into the dark water.
On the far side, a highlighted line made it clear where to cross to start the boss fight. The group waited until everyone was across, then stepped over the line together. Blue-white flames sprang up behind them, cutting off any hope of escape. The chamber was sealed.
But instead of Hrakkun’s taunting monologue, which Jay had heard a thousand times, water broke across the island and a shape reared above them.
The lake monster hissed, revealing a mouth like a lamprey’s, and thudded heavily onto the ground. Water rushed toward them and pooled around their feet, and some of the group bit back reflexive yells of alarm.
The beast slithered out of the water, coil upon coil, its body easily as wide as Jay’s character was tall. The thing was massive, and he felt every bit as overwhelmed as the game designers had intended.
Well, whoever had designed this.
“Guys?” Dathok sounded a bit wary. “This is, uh… This is not Hrakkun.”
Jay laughed. He couldn’t help it. It was funny, he thought. Really funny. He hoped someone at HQ was watching Gracie’s character and realizing that things were still spiraling out of their control.
“Yeah,” he told Dathok. “This sort of thing tends to happen when Gracie’s around.” He looked
around to rally the others. “Ready for a mystery fight, everyone?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Uh, Jay?” Gracie asked worriedly. “Thoughts?” The beast was still moving, its body leaving the water in a rush of deep green scales glistening wetly in the dim light. It encircled the platform, trapping them.
Jay stared up at the beast’s head, which was rearing into the darkness above. He could just see the gleam of its eyes.
Unless those were its teeth.
It hissed, and a ripple of apprehension went down his spine. “Uh, you’re the mastermind. Right? Please?” He looked up higher, his voice a squeak. “Mother, please don’t let the mean ugly monster use my shinbone as a toothpick!”
Gracie snorted. The sound was a little nervous but also exhilarated. “All right, we go for the front there, and hopefully it’ll try to get that part away from us, which will keep bringing its head down to the ground. Then we go for the head.”
“The Gracie classic.”
“Hear me out, I do have new ideas sometimes.” She was chuckling, but it was fleeting; they only had a few seconds before this thing attacked. She jerked her head at Lakhesis. “Lakhesis will head up a second group fighting the tail. I feel like there’s something going on where it might compress and keep squeezing us in, you know? Like fish in a barrel.”
“Good call,” Jay said at once. “Who’s with who?”
“You and Teef come with me. Fys’ demon and Chowder go with Lakhesis,” Gracie decided. “Squishies, spread out. Anyone sees anything going for the squishies, they tell us. Dathok, you’re on backup healing until we know what we’re dealing with. Ready? Go!”
They charged. Gracie slammed her sword down for a shock blast as she skidded into place, then whirled up to slash at the lake monster’s pale, slimy belly as Teef lashed out with his claws. Jay came in a moment later with one of his own attacks, a double-punch that normally looked epic but in this case, looked more than a little futile.
Video game physics being what they were, however, the beast howled in pain. But instead of thudding down, as Gracie had predicted, it reared up, its head disappearing into the mist with a menacing hiss.
The team looked at one another.
“It’s going to come crashing down on us at some point, isn’t it?” Gracie asked wearily.
Jay flashed her a smile and a bow. “I see you’re getting the hang of this. Shall we?”
They attacked again in unison, their battle cries mingling with the rest of the team’s. Gracie was glad to hear from the voice chat that Lakhesis was conducting her little group superbly, watching threat and maneuvering well with Chowder and Kevin’s demon familiar.
It only took a few hacks and slashes before the lake monster would rear up, exposing a new part of its belly. Gracie’s group was on the third segment when they heard a yell behind them. Spinning to look for a moment, Gracie saw that part of the tail had “died.” As she watched, it melted into lake water, leaving only the bones and a few straggling weeds, while the next piece of the tail became pointed.
“Definitely going to try to close us in,” Gracie said as she turned back to her own task. “My guess? Hem us all in and throw its head at us like chowing down on fish in a barrel.”
“I have a sneaking suspicion you’re right,” Jay agreed, “and I just know it’s going to haunt my nightmares. Can you imagine those teeth plunging down toward you?”
“I don’t have to; it’s going to happen, and I just know I’m going to look up.” Gracie managed to hold her shudder until after she’d executed a strike. “And I’m going to regret it. That does remind me, though… Everyone, listen up! When anyone thinks that the head is coming down, try to get out the hole Lakhesis’ group is making for us!”
Everyone chorused back a yes to that.
“How are people doing?” Gracie asked.
“There’re no return hits on this end, so it’s pretty easy,” Lakhesis called.
“Eerily easy,” Alan agreed. “Too damned easy.”
A prickle on the back of Gracie’s neck told her that her experience with Dragon Soul’s game design was telling her to run. “Everybody out!” she yelled. She hadn’t seen any signs, but after watching so many fights and seeing so many enemies, she trusted her instincts.
The group fled, and despite the pound of adrenaline in her blood, Gracie smiled to hear Alex calling for Teef. That panther might be all pixels and controlled by different commands, but humans were what they were. Maybe she should get him a dog.
Not the time, Gracie.
Gracie was toward the back of the group, so she just heard the shrieks of her team members as the head began to come down. Luckily she was spared their looks of horror, but a few of them did point.
She tumbled through the fast-closing gap between the end of the severed tail and the rest of the body and her character rolled, haptics shaking, in time for Gracie to see the lake monster’s head smash into the place she’d been standing a few moments ago.
The breath went out of her in a whoosh.
“That was close,” Jay was saying when Freon’s voice echoed through the group chat.
“Fuck!”
“Yeah,” Gracie said, resignedly. “I saw it. What happened, buddy?”
“Just didn’t get moving quickly enough,” Freon said, resignedly. “Got caught on the end of the tail, and it dragged me back in. Let me tell you, that head coming down at you is something you definitely don’t want to see.”
“Ugh.” Gracie had seen the teeth glittering in the darkness. Lampreys were terrifying enough when they weren’t several stories tall. “Mirra, can you— Oh, shit.”
The lake monster wasn’t just attacking once. Its head had reared into the darkness once more, and now it plunged down again. Freon gave an undignified shriek.
“Close your eyes!” Jay suggested.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, this is fucking terrifying!” Freon was laughing. “I don’t even watch horror movies, and now I’m in one!”
Gracie stood with her hand over her mouth as the head tore at Freon’s body and emerged dripping with blood each time. When it had plunged down the first time, the group had given a sympathetic gasp, but now they were laughing and cheering each time it attacked. As far as Gracie could tell, they were just sad they didn’t have popcorn. Even Freon was laughing now.
Finally, the attack ended. The snake’s head reared back and its coils opened, leaving Freon’s body limp in the center of the circle.
“Mirra,” Gracie said at once.
“Dathok is already on it.” Alan sounded pleased to have another healer on deck.
Gracie smiled. She was also happy to find people who were ready to swing into action and help out. “Thanks, Dathok. Everybody else, attack.”
“Anytime,” Dathok rumbled in his Ocru voice as the others streamed into place with calls to one another. “Although I’d be happier with fewer unexpected bosses.”
“Think of it as unexpected loot,” Gracie said pragmatically, and she smiled when people made more enthusiastic noises. There was a hiss above them, as if the lake monster objected to being referred to as a piece of loot.
Well, don’t attack me, then, Gracie thought with an inner toothy grin. I’ve got a giant sword. What did you think would happen?
This time, the fight seemed to progress at double-speed. The head and tail lashed, the body shuddered, and more than once, Gracie heard Lakhesis’ shouts for her group to get out of the way. She didn’t intervene, not yet; she wanted to let Lakhesis handle things if she could.
Not long after, however, Lakhesis’ voice came across the voice chat, panting. “All right, boss, it’s been a good experiment, but I think we need more DPS on this one.”
“On it,” Jay said after a nod from Gracie.
Which left Gracie and Teef staring down the head on their own.
“Gotcha covered, Callista,” Freon called. Several ice bolts landed, and the section of body Gracie was fighting slowed to a lazy waver.
“Doing what I can for the cause,” Ushanas added, and several fire bolts whizzed by as well, landing with crackles, the fire spreading under the ice like an armor-piercing round. “Eat sparks, slimeball.”
“You know ice is superior to fire, right?” Freon said good-naturedly.
“Oh, hell no, I don’t.”
Gracie rolled her eyes as the good-natured bickering continued. As long as they kept trying to outdo one another, she was just going to sit back and enjoy the insults—or hack and slash and enjoy the insults, as the case might be. She kept herself in motion, reflecting wryly that getting into a video game had resulted in her being in the best shape of her life.
She could just picture the July vacation now: You look like you’ve been working out, Gracie. What do you mean, it’s from a video game? Is that your job now?
Her lips twitched with humor.
With Jay on board, the melee team was making good progress with the tail. A cheer went up as they killed another section, and Gracie redoubled her efforts on the neck.
“We’re almost there!” she called to the others. The lake monster’s overall health bar was dropping down lower and lower. “Maybe one more coil up and we’ll be home free.”
“Then we can get on the forums and figure out what the crap we just fought,” Dathok said.
“Bets that it’s not going to be on the forums?” Kevin asked aloud. His tiny summoner hopped and gave an overblown gesture as she leveled a corruption spell at the lake monster’s head. “The last time this happened, there wasn’t any record of it.” After a moment, he added, “And for now, I’m keeping it quiet. I’ve started writing it up, Gracie—er, Callista—but I figured I’d wait until we finished the quest line to post anything.”
