She turned and left. No one else was at the crafting stations yet, so she decided to check in on her shop and see if there were any new orders for items she already had available and just needed to mail out. After she stepped inside and the door closed behind her, she rested her back against it and stared blankly around her shop. All she saw was her and Bishop together, the times they had spent in here to get away from everyone else. The sweet moments they had had.
And now he was trying to kill them all.
“Get a grip, you don’t have a lot of time,” she scolded herself and pushed off the door to get to work. They could use the extra gold, so she could check out the Auction House and stock up on much needed supplies.
There were ten orders she could fill right away. She quickly pulled up her mailbox sitting on the counter to attach the item, along with the amount it would cost for the player to access the item she sent. Once those were finished, she made notes in her crafting log for the other items and hoped to get a few of the simpler ones knocked out that day. Hammering on hard steel would keep her mind busy at least and she wouldn’t have time to think about—
A creaking of floorboards drew her attention and her hand fell to her side.
“Hello?” She hadn’t heard the door open and couldn’t see too clearly through the racks of weapons in the center of the shop. “I’m only here for a few minutes, so if you’re looking to place an order make it quick.”
She moved to the hammer and ax at her hips, cursing when she remembered she hadn’t re-equipped her mace. She stepped out slowly from behind the counter, peering into the shadows.
“If this is some kind of prank, it’s not amusing,” she snapped. “Show yourself.”
“Is that any way to speak to an old friend?”
A shiver shot down her spine at the sound of Bishop’s voice, tinged with a growl now he’d given over to his Demonic half. He peeled away from the shadows concealing him, his bow slung across his body, blackened and glistening with new power.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped. “Get out!”
“I can’t visit you? Come now, Calista, this is folly and you know it. We were together once. We can be again,” he said softly, offering her his hand. “I know you miss me as much as I long for you.”
“Do you even hear yourself? You’re talking like one of them now!”
“Talking like whom?” he asked, brow furrowed. “I speak as I always have.”
“No, you’re not a part of this game! You’re human, like me. You need to log out, Bishop. Please.”
His eyes flickered and his hand recoiled. For a moment, she saw the man in there, saw Harrison’s fear and anger, but then Bishop shook his head and her hope was dashed.
“You speak nonsense. I come offering you a chance to survive this war and fight by my side.”
She hoisted her weapons higher and glared at him. “No. I won’t abandon our family, and I will not give up on you. Not yet.”
He sighed in aggravation as his eyes narrowed on her weapons. “Do you truly wish to fight me?”
“If that’s what it takes, yes.”
“You will lose. You will all lose. I came here to give you a choice and a chance. Leave Hillside and do not return.”
Calista’s hands relaxed slightly. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly as I say. If you and the others wish to survive, you must leave quickly. Your window of time is closing.” He held up his hand to stare at his palm and she saw what looked like a mirror in it. “They are coming and they are massive in number. You cannot hope to defeat them.”
“Who? Who’s coming?”
He tucked the mirror back in his jerkin pocket and, when he lifted his head, a grin that stretched far too wide to be natural met Calista’s gaze. “My army of course. They will rampage through this town and they will claim it as ours. Any and all left inside will be killed and I would hate to watch you suffer the pain of dying.”
“I’ll just come back and, when I do, I’ll kill you.”
“Yes, all you heroes and your grace of being reborn,” he said as he turned his back on her. “Very soon, that will stop as well.”
“What? You can’t, it’s part of the game…part of who we are as heroes,” she said, needing to understand what he meant. Was he saying he could kill them in real life or actually kill off their characters? She gulped at the idea of the first one happening. No one would fight then and she couldn’t blame them. Being killed in a game was not the way she saw herself going out.
“All things must come to an end, even you,” he said and started to turn around, but Calista had heard enough.
If there was an army marching on Hillside, she needed to warn the others.
Quietly as she could, she snuck up behind Bishop, fueled her fury with her Focus ability, and swung both her weapons back over her shoulder. Bishop turned in time to see them collide with his chest. The force of the hit sent him flying out through the front window and into the street with a ferocious growl. Calista followed, hopping out after him and, muttering an apology, bashed him over the head. He wouldn’t stay down long, but hopefully long enough she could find the rest of their guild and stop this attack.
“Jimmy!” she bellowed as she ran through town. “Maverick!”
“What’s going on?” another player asked at her screaming in the town center.
“Attack, there’s an army of Demons headed for Hillside,” she panted. “Spread the word.”
“Again?” one of them groaned and rushed off, yelling at the top of his lungs about an attack.
Calista needed to get to the front gate and shut it, but Bishop was already inside. How many other Demons were already here? She narrowed her gaze and stared around intently, but all she saw were regular NPCs and hero players. No one’s name was red.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Jimmy yelled as he rushed to her side. “Some player’s screaming about an attack.”
“Bishop, he was in my shop,” she explained. “And it’s his army coming to take Hillside.”
“Asshole,” Jimmy muttered. “Why would he do that?”
“He didn’t say, but I sort of threw him out a window, so I’m not sure he’s going to be in a cooperative mood.”
Jimmy’s mouth fell open, but then he barked a laugh. “Serves him right.”
“We need to get to the gate, seal it the best we can.”
He nodded and they took off, yelling warnings to the players and NPCs alike as they went. A few transported themselves out and Calista couldn’t blame them. Bishop had no visible level anymore and the army coming could be anything from low level players to level 60 or higher players and Demons. They reached the gate and, with a few other players, pushed the heavy iron doors closed, dropped the beam, and then lowered the portcullis behind it. She took off up the stone steps to stare out over the wall and cursed.
“We’re not going to survive this one,” she whispered.
“What do you—oh come on!” he ranted. “Seriously?”
A vast army mixed with Demons and players alike marched towards Hillside, a few hundred at least. They didn’t have nearly that amount of players in Hillside able to take on such an attack.
“Jimmy, Bishop told me something else,” she said, wondering if now was even a good time to bring it up.
“Well?”
“He said something about bringing our resurrections to an end.”
Jimmy’s face paled and she heard him gulp. “As in our characters die for good or we…you know…” He drew a finger across his throat.
“I don’t know. He thinks this is real so I’m hoping it’s the first choice.”
“Is it happening soon?”
She shrugged, fiddling with the hammer at her hip. Before she forgot, she switched it back out with her mace and tossed the weapon easily in her hand, end over end, her mind racing with possibilities.
“I don’t know, but either we run and abandon Hillside
, or we try to fight and maybe subdue Bishop enough to get him to remember.”
“Oy!”
Calista and Jimmy peered into the town square to see Trajan, the rest of their guild, and what appeared to be the remaining players in Hillside, most level 50 or higher. They sprinted down to join them and Calista told them what stood on the other side of the wall.
“Well now, this is not how I had envisioned this day going,” Trajan said, leaning on his hammer.
“It gets better,” Jimmy chimed in. “Bishop is already in the city.”
“What?” Benji snapped and whirled around as if expecting to see him standing right behind him. “That changes things a bit, doesn’t it? How are we supposed to keep his army out if he’s already here?”
“I don’t know if we can,” Calista admitted. “But if we can capture him, drag him somewhere where we can talk to him, maybe we can get him to come back to us.”
Jimmy and she exchanged a glance. She could tell he wanted her to reveal what else Bishop had told her, but she hesitated. The players had a right to know, but the army was going to be here any second. As soon as she said there was a chance of people actually dying, or their characters, they could lose the majority of their number.
“Talking about me are you?”
Calista hung her head and the others turned as one to see Bishop standing up the road, bow in hand, fingers on the string, and a shot ready to fly. “You don’t have to do this,” she yelled. “You can choose to come back to us. Don’t let that bitch control you!”
Bishop’s eyes flared green. “Maybe not the best choice of words,” Jimmy whispered.
“You dare insult my Queen?” Bishop snarled and leveled his first shot towards Calista. Jimmy gasped and tried to step in, but she held out her arm to stop him. “You will be the first to die.”
“I know the real you is in there,” she shot back. “You would never hurt me. In fact, you haven’t actually hurt any of us since you crossed over to join your so-called Queen.” He had stopped them, disrupted their questing, but he had not actually killed any of them in a fight.
His bow lowered slightly and his eyes narrowed to slits. “Do not try my patience.”
“This isn’t you,” she went on and took a few steps closer. “You are a hero. You are our leader. You brought us all together to stop Valenastrious, remember?”
“Things change.”
“Do they really? Or did you just let yourself be drawn in by her because you were afraid of where this path lead you?” Usually, Calista had a hard time getting into the role-playing aspect of this type of game, but there were lives on the line, potentially real ones. “You were afraid of the destiny set out before your feet. You are special, Bishop, but Valenastrious doesn’t want you for who you are. She’s using you to get what she wants. In the end, you’ll be left with nothing.”
The bow lowered even more and Calista took another step closer.
“Come back to us. We’ll forgive you for what you’ve done and you can help us end this war. King Godfrey still needs to be taken care of and there are many people in Samar who need our help.”
“You forgive me?” he repeated, so quiet she almost missed it.
“Yes, of course we do. We’re family, remember?” Another step, then another. “That’s what family does. Please, Bishop, take my hand,” she said, holding it out towards him. “Take my hand and we can make this right.”
He let go of the string and the shot disappeared from his bow. Calista held her breath as he hesitated then took a step closer. Hope bloomed within her that they could end this before it got too far and they had to beat the whole damn game to get him back.
But then he stopped and hung his head. His shoulders shook and at first she thought he was sobbing. She was ready to embrace him, but then a harsh cackle resounded in the town square and, when he lifted his head, his eyes flared green with power and he was grinning like a madman.
“I’m sorry, so sorry. That was a very nice speech, but it’s not going to work on me.”
Calista’s hand fell limp, but she remained rooted to the spot. “Bishop, please.”
“You know the part about family though? That was touching, very touching. So touching in fact, I’m going to enjoy watching you perish right alongside this family you hold so dear to your heart.”
“Bishop, wait,” she tried, but then everything happened in a blink.
Bishop drew back on his bow and released the arrow before the next words were even out of Calista’s mouth. The white hot arrow shot past her ear, so close she felt the fletching cut her skin, and the shot blew through the gates. Debris and rubble exploded in all directions, sending the players flying off their feet from the blast. Calista landed in a heap, sound muffled except for a high-pitched ringing. She shook her head, trying to clear it away, but the world spun around her. Players staggered to their feet and, all the while, Bishop remained where he was, watching in glee. Calista heard yelling and lifted her head enough to see the gate swarmed.
“Calista!” Two hands dragged her to her feet and she let them pull her along. “Can you hear me?”
She managed a nod, but couldn’t seem to make her legs work to hold herself up.
“Retreat! Get out of here, go!” Trajan ordered, as he and Jimmy carried Calista between them. “Fall back!”
“No,” she tried to yell, but the word came out as a strangled sound.
“The city is lost! Retreat!”
Calista tried to fight and get herself loosened from their grip, but they held her fast. Zoe and Giles waved at them, eyes wide in panic as the yelling worsened and screams ripped through Calista’s mind. The ground trembled beneath her feet and she watched in horror as a fire ball smashed into one of the structures nearby, destroying it. Catapults. The bastard had brought catapults to destroy the city. She twisted, trying to see Bishop, and when his gaze locked onto hers, she no longer saw the man she had come to like so much. She saw only the Demon ready to bring destruction to this world.
Another hand held onto hers and her gut twisted as they were yanked out of Hillside.
When her feet hit solid ground, she stared up at their guild house in Weston. The rest of the guild shimmered into view around her, sinking to the ground with looks of disbelief.
“Hillside, it’s gone,” Jimmy whispered. “How could this happen?”
“I’m going to kill him,” Calista swore, pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. “I’m going to tear him apart until he finally remembers who he is.”
“Tell them,” Jimmy snapped. “Calista, tell them what else he said before this goes any further.”
She bit her bottom lip hard, hands on her hips, as she glared intently at the grass at her feet. “He told me there was a way he could stop us coming back after we die,” she muttered. “That he can kill off our characters for good.”
“And what about our physical bodies?” Maverick asked. “What would that do to them?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not giving up on him.”
“Calista, he might actually kill you!” Maverick argued. “We have to find another way to stop this!”
“I don’t think it will actually kill us. There’s no way to do that. Dennis said so himself.”
“Dennis is also the reason we’re in this mess in the first place,” Maverick reminded her. “This is insane. All of this is insane.”
Calista could do nothing but agree. “We need to log out for a bit. I can’t do this right now.”
Everyone nodded and trudged into the house to log out for the day. Calista was the last to leave. Her eyes lingered on the chair by the fire Bishop always used to sit in, with Willy curled up at his feet. They hadn’t seen the wolf since Bishop had turned. Bishop always seemed so peaceful here in this world. Free of the cares of the real world and his past. Was he truly happy, or was that just the game speaking? She doubted she could tell the difference and logged out.
Chapter 2
Bishop looked around at the destruction of Hillside, grinning in amusement. For the hell of it, he pulled back another Assassin’s Tear shot and let loose on the Crafting Hall. As it exploded in a ball of white light, he giggled with glee and sighed, resting his bow on the ground.
“The city is cleared,” a Demon announced as he approached Bishop. One that did not appear as the others in his army. Valen assured him these soldiers would fight just as hard, though they were of a different origin with strange bars hovering over their heads.
“Good, very good.”
“We have a few prisoners as requested, but most of them are NPCs. Not sure what you want with them,” Darien, the Demon, asked confused.
Bishop frowned at the term, but Valenastrious had informed him if anyone said NPC, they referred to anyone who was not a hero. Strange. He couldn’t recall that term from before, but no matter. “Nothing with them. All I need is a hero.”
“Oh well, we have about four of them. Found them holed up in the tavern. Couldn’t get out.”
Bishop slung his bow over his body and clapped Darien on the back. “You have my thanks. Now, tell the others to prepare. We have much work to do and little time to do it.”
Darien nodded and ran off, leaving Bishop to rub his hands together in contemplation. Hillside was a good fortified position, perfect for setting up a base closer to Weston. He wondered why they needed it when they could just take Weston, but Valenastrious said they weren’t strong enough yet. Their numbers were too low to take such a grand city. Though King Godfrey was being influenced by her, she hadn’t been able to take him over completely. There was a chance he would turn on her and they would lose their eyes and ears in the capital. For now, Hillside would do.
Bishop meandered through the streets, kicking random stones aside as he reached the sanctuary of the priests. Now, it would be used for something much greater.
His army had done him proud, bringing down the city in mere moments. He laughed again, remembering watching the heroes flee in fear at his might. They had been fools to doubt his resolve. Fools to think they could change him back to the man he was. He shuddered at the idea of falling back in line with them and walked into the sanctuary. The soldiers in his army were busy setting up the totems around the large space. Once they were aligned, he would cast the spell Valen have given him and summon a portal that would lead straight into the heart of her world.
The Final Chapter Page 2
