Dream Storm Online

by Jareth Stark

  “We’re in love,” Lily butted in. She kissed Henry slowly as if to prove her point. “I refuse to stay behind while he goes off on some dangerous mission to save us all”.

  Rizon responded by giving Lily a dirty look. He’s clearly not fond of public displays of affection, thought Henry. Although it was making him slightly uncomfortable as well now.

  “Our mutual friend will be looking out for you tomorrow,” he said. “When you get to Thornforest, go to the Bite U Like cafe in the centre of town and order something. She’ll meet you there”.

  “Okay,” Henry nodded. “We’re going to leave early, before anyone realises we’re gone. I have the merchant’s supplies in my Stormcom so we have nothing to hang around for”.

  Rizon was silent.

  “Henry. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I really need you to succeed with this. Sara means a lot to me and I want her to escape. If you can’t come back for me, it’s okay. I know there’s a risk. But get yourself out of here, and get Sara out too”.

  “…and Lily,” said Henry. “I’m not leaving without her either”.

  Lily held onto him more tightly.

  “If Nellie’s plan works as intended, we should be able to save all of you. But as she hasn’t told me any details that’s all I have to go on. I’ll do my best Rizon, I promise”.

  Rizon winced as Henry spoke Nellie’s name out loud. “I know you will lad, I know you will”.

  Rizon got up to leave, but left a small package behind on the picnic blanket underneath them. “Take this with you,” he said. “It’s not much, but it might help”.

  Henry stood up with Rizon and embraced him awkwardly. “I promise I’ll try and get you out of here”.

  Rizon flinched from the embrace and resorted to patting him awkwardly on the back. He whispered: “I hope you know what you’re doing with that girl”. He then straightened out his coat and began to make his way back to Eelry, not once looking back.

  Henry wasn’t sure what his comment about Lily was about, but he saw no point in dwelling on it. She hadn’t appeared anything but trustworthy to him, and she’d just admitted that she loved him. Okay her declaration of love could have been made at a better time, but no-one said those words unless they truly meant them. Seconds later, Henry was out of his clothes and back inside Lily, building up to orgasm number five.

  19

  Mist covered the town of Eelry as Henry and Lily prepared their horses for the trek ahead of them. The package Rizon had given to Henry turned out to be some horse feed. There was a note with the package too. Scribbled in hard to understand writing were the words Feed this to your stallion before you leave. You’ll make quicker time. Henry had split the food into two, hoping that it would be enough for two horses, and mixed it up with some hay to encourage both his and Lily’s horse to eat it. Whether he needed to have bothered or not he didn’t know as both wolfed it down.

  As usual at this time of night in Eelry, the roads and marketplace were deathly quiet. If anyone had been following him the day before, there was definitely no-one there now. Leaving in the middle of the night had been a good idea.

  Lily placed a few potions into the bags on her horse, while Henry filled his with food and water. He positioned his staff safely over his shoulder, placed his left foot into the stirrup and climbed onto the back of his stallion.

  “Are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” Lily replied. She clambered up onto her own horse, took one last look at the monastery, and set off with Henry in tow.

  By the time they were well outside of the town of Eelry, they seemed to be making quick speed, and Henry felt himself relax. He knew he faced a lot of danger, but the Eelry fog was clearing, and he was with the woman he loved. If he didn’t have a death defying quest ahead of him, this would have been an awesome start to the day. He hoped that, whatever happened, he would find a way to be with Lily. Despite what Rizon had said to him, he loved her and she him.

  “What did you put your skill points into?” Lily asked as they trotted down an old abandoned road, the light from the moon helping them onward.

  “A couple went into my armour and I used the rest to boost the power of my magician’s skills,” Henry replied. He hadn’t slept when he got back to the monastery; instead, he’d gone over and over his plan to get Lily to Thornforest safely. He’d also levelled up his skills, taking the time to really consider what he needed to invest in. When playing the game in the real world, he often spent early points on things like charisma, but there was no time at all for that now. He’d get maybe one or two skill points for finishing the merchant’s quest and that would be it. Whether it would be enough to fight the developers of the game, only time would tell.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were preparing for battle,” Lily mocked.

  Aye, don’t remind me, thought Henry.

  The abandoned road they were following meandered past a stream and soon after, into a thick forest. Although the sun had begun to rise by the time they reached it, very few rays were able to pass through the thick bush, and it became harder and harder to see where they were going. Vines covered the floor, bushes blocked their path, and Henry could hear creatures scuttling about on the ground below them. It unnerved him, and the second Lily’s horse stumbled, almost throwing her from it, Henry called her to a halt, suggesting they walk until they reached the other side.

  “Have you been through here before?” Henry asked, exasperated. He was surprised the developers had created something so difficult to trek through out in the open. Aside from the mountains, which were a royal pain to get around, he’d never encountered such difficult conditions between towns.

  “No. I hadn’t levelled up much before I died,” Lily replied. “I’ve been stuck in the monastery ever since. I guess this explains why the merchant was willing to pay 10,000 coins for your trouble”.

  “Hmmmmgh,” replied Henry, “I suppose so. I should have asked for something a bit better than a bloody mammoth’s tusk”. The quest marker on his Stormcom showed that they were over half way to the town, but if the remainder of the trek was going to be like this it would take them hours to arrive.

  “Hey, look over there,” said Lily pointing to a glowing light in the distance. “Is that a light faerie?”

  “A light faerie? I’ve not heard of those before?”

  “They’re rare apparently. They only appear when people are in trouble and are supposed to be able to guide you through to safety. I’ve only seen one once, but it was when I was playing in the real world. They’re funny creatures, we should go take a look”.

  “Are we in trouble?” asked Henry, his voice apprehensive.

  “Well, I don’t think we’re going to get out of here without its help. Not any time soon anyway. Come on, let’s go speak to it”.

  Lily jumped back on her horse and began to ride towards the light before Henry could stop her. Fucking hell, he thought. He was trying to protect her; what if this was a trap.

  Henry straddled his horse and tried to reach up to Lily, but his stallion had run out of steam. Try as he might he couldn’t gain pace on her. “Lily,” he shouted. But she didn’t stop. Sweat dripped from his forehead and his heartbeat quickened as anxiety pulsed through his veins. Please don’t let anything happen to her, he prayed to anyone who was listening. The game was out to get him, and possibly Lily too.

  As the light grew larger the closer Henry got to it, so did Lily. She seemed to be okay… or at least she wasn’t screaming for help. A few moments later, he pulled up beside her, and jumped from his horse, angry but relieved.

  “Don’t run off from me again,” Henry admonished as he took Lily into his arms. “I’m trying to keep you safe! Anything could have happened to you”.

  “Alright mate, what have we here? An orc I see, well isn’t that queer. I’m a light faerie, my name is Pete. I’ll lead the way, now won’t that be sweet”.

  “Oh for fucks sake,” Henry said irritated. The
‘faerie’ in front of him was knee high, bright yellow, and wore a crooked crown on its head. When it talked, Henry noticed it was missing its two front teeth, giving it a lisp and making it sound doubly annoying in rhyme.

  “I told you it would help us Henry, didn’t I tell you?” Lily said, jumping into his arms, a huge beaming smile stretched across her face.

  “You didn’t tell me it would be an annoying rhyming faerie with a speech impediment. Can we just leave, I can get us out of here. We don’t need any help”.

  “We do need help Henry. Look how far we’ve come and how far we still need to go. Trust me, if we follow Pete, we’ll be out of here in no time. He’s really funny too, you just have to give him a chance. Please, for me?”

  “The orc has no trust, I see that now. If he were not such a baby, I’d call him a cow”.

  “What the actual hell Lily?! His rhymes don’t even make sense”

  “I think he’s funny,” Lily replied, exasperated at Henry’s reluctance to accept help from anyone. “I’m going with him, you can follow us or not, but I promise we’ll get through these woods in a much quicker time… and we do want to find time for you to level up before we meet your friends don’t we?”

  “I’ll lead the way orc, you just see. And then you can pay me with sweet honey tea”.

  “Ugh, whatever Lily, but you can talk to it”, replied Henry. He clearly had no choice in the matter, and was too tired to argue.

  Henry rode behind Lily and Pete, keeping as much distance between them as he could without losing his way entirely. No matter how far back he was, though, he could still hear the stupid light faerie’s rhymes. He had even begun dancing midair, much to Lily’s amusement. The way Lily laughed at him wasn’t impressing Henry one bit. He’d never seen her so giggly before and it made him jealous. The faerie wasn’t even funny, it was just stupid.

  It did, however, seem to know where it was going and at least the light emanating from its body made it easier for the horses to know where to walk. Henry still couldn’t wait to get out of the trees, though, and after another couple of hours of trekking, he was relieved to see rays of light starting to come through the hedgerow, suggesting that the forest was coming to an end. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  “And here we are, you’ll be pleased to see. Now where is my payment of sweet honey tea?”

  Henry looked at Lily and shrugged his shoulders. He hadn’t brought any tea along for the journey and he doubted she had either.

  “Erm…” said Lily, her face flush with embarrassment. “I’m sorry Pete, I don’t have any honey tea on me”.

  “Please little elfling, I hope you’ve not lied. Not unless you want to make Pete the faerie cry and cry”.

  Henry thought it would be funny to see the stupid faerie cry. If he’d known the lack of tea would have set him off, he’d have told him they didn’t have any before they started walking.

  “I didn’t think you were serious!” Lily begged. “Since when do light faeries request payment?” She looked at Henry for advice but he hadn’t wanted to get involved with the stupid faerie in the first place. Plus, there was nothing he could do. The only liquid he’d brought along was water.

  “I’m not a bad faerie, I’ll take a chai. That is, unless you want to die”.

  At the sound of the threat, Henry’s blood began to boil. Who the fuck does this stupid faerie think he is? “No-one threatens my girlfriend,” he bellowed.

  “Stupid orc, are you high? Give me the payment or you both die”.

  “Right, that’s it,” shouted Henry. Lily was in tears and he wasn’t going to sit listening to the faerie’s stupid rhymes any longer. In one quick movement he jumped from his horse and, using his Stormcom, set his ice spell in the active tab. With Nana Lurgi’s teachings clear in his mind, he opened his arms wide, pushed his hands together until they were almost touching, and then flung the spell directly at Pete. It hit his wings, rendering him unable to move.

  “Stupid orc, you’ll regret that. How about you just stop and chat?”

  Henry had had enough of listening to Pete’s voice. His idiotic rhymes had brought on another headache and chatting was only going to make things worse. If death by rhyme was a possibility, he wasn’t far off. Henry formed the spell of ice again, and directed it at Pete’s face, freezing his lips, rendering him unable to speak.

  How long it would be until the spell wore off, Henry didn’t much care. With a satisfied smile, he jumped back onto his horse, grabbed hold of Lily’s reins, and led them both through the remaining trees and into the sunlight.

  “I’m so sorry,” Lily said when they were out of the forest. “I shouldn’t have come”.

  Henry didn’t respond, but he was beginning to agree with her. The town of Thornforest was within sight and he desperately wanted to arrive, finish the merchant’s quest, and get something for his headache. The bright light, instead of helping, was now making his head feel worse, and the pain felt like a thousand razor blades digging into his brain.

  “Please Henry, talk to me,” Lily begged. She took hold of her own reins and appeared, to Henry at least, like she was trying hard not to cry. He didn’t buy it.

  “What did Rizon mean when he told me not to trust you?” Henry asked. After saying the words, he instantly regretted it, but it had been playing on his mind.

  Lily looked like she’d been smacked in the face. “What?” she replied, her voice feeble.

  “Rizon. He said ‘I hope you know what you’re doing with that girl’ before he left. Is there something you’re not telling me? Were you trying to get me killed?”

  “No, of course not,” said Lily, tears now running freely from her face. “Why would you even ask me that? Are you tired? Do you want one of my potions?”

  “Why do you keep offering me potions Lily?” Henry said exasperated. Christ knows what they contained. Maybe Lily had been working for Arabella all along.

  “I’m just trying to help you,” Lily replied, her response sullen.

  “Well stop it. You’ve seen what happens when you try to help. I told you not to go after that faerie but you ignored me, and then look what happened. If I wanted to spend my time being irritated by a dickhead, I’d go to work. I wanted to spend my time on that trek with you, but you had better ideas”.

  “Henry I…” Lily trailed off.

  Henry didn’t respond. He was being mean to her and he knew it, but she’d pissed him off. He dug his heels into his stallion and galloped quickly towards the town of Thornforest, leaving Lily trailing behind.

  20

  The town of Thornforest was buzzing as Henry and Lily arrived, and it had a much more welcoming feel than Eelry. The sound of music was everywhere thanks to all the buskers hovering around the city gates, children ran around barefoot, chasing cats through the streets, and the smells of delicious pastries and cooked meats drifted over from the marketplace in the centre of town. The happy feel of the place almost improved Henry’s sour mood. Henry and Lily stowed their horses at the stables, and, still not speaking, walked over the bridge that led into town.

  Henry noticed the Bite U Like cafe within seconds, but finding the drop off point for the merchant’s shipment was harder than he would have liked. The man expecting the shipment, a Mr Jackal Shimees, seemed to keep moving around on Henry’s map, not that he could see him in any of the locations where he apparently was. When Henry finally caught up to him, hovering close by to the storm drains set behind a large church, he couldn’t help wondering how the merchant from Eelry had come to know him. Despite wanting to ask, Henry had hardly managed to say two words to him before he’d disappeared back underground. The quest had updated to ‘Pending Completion’ though, so at least that was another thing completed.

  Lily had followed Henry all over Thornforest as he looked for Jackal, but neither had said a word to each other since their argument. Henry’s headache was beginning to slowly abate, though, and despite his doubts, he was getting a bit fed up with the tension between
them. If she had to follow him everywhere, she could at least stop looking like he’d slapped a wet fish over her face.

  “The cafe’s in the centre of town,” Henry said to Lily, hoping to break the ice.

  Lily merely nodded.

  Henry turned towards her and tried to look sincere. “Look Lily,” he said. “You scared me when you rode off. You had no idea what you were riding towards. What if he’d killed you?”

  Lily didn’t reply, but she was listening to him.

  “I was trying to protect you,” he continued. And I’d rather have found my own way here than be stuck listening to Pete the damn light faerie for hours. I mean, if he could actually rhyme it might have been a little less horrendous, but the guy was insane”.

  Lily laughed a little at this and Henry felt relieved that she was coming around.

  “I know,” she replied. “He acted like the faerie I met in the game before - although to be honest, I used to skip past all the speech screens so I don’t know if they were that annoying, - but I didn’t realise he’d be a psycho. I just don’t know what’s real and what’s not anymore”.

  Henry took her into his arms, and enveloped his body around hers. He still had a lot of questions he needed answering, Rizon’s words still hanging in his mind, but they could wait.

  “You know,” said Lily. “You need to level up before we can meet your friend at the cafe. I saw an inn on the corner. Shall we rent a room for an hour?”

  “Why not,” Henry replied.

  Lily giggled, and led Henry down a cobbled pathway and through a dark alley to the inn she’d seen. Henry couldn’t help wondering how she’d seen the inn from the market square, and as they crossed the threshold, his feeling grew even more uneasy. It looked exactly like Arabella’s inn in Eelry. He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind, but he wasn’t comfortable. And when the woman at the inn said they needed to rent a room for a night rather than by the hour, he was even less convinced that the place wasn’t part of Arabella’s plan. She wants to know where I am. Lily has to be in on this.