by Isaac Winter
“Can I come in?” Laurie whispered.
I stepped back. “Um, sure.”
She entered my room and closed the door. She had the same look as she always did at the Academy when she wanted something done: eyes narrowed, hands on hips. “What are we going to do, Cael?”
My face fell. She was the only person I had left from Earth here. Mabel was...well, hopefully she was okay. I’d lost my book, my powers, my friend.
“I’ve got something that might help.” I dug into my bag as her eyes widened. “I had a dream the other night, and somehow I ended up with this.”
She gazed at it with her Analyze skill and then back to me. “You think this will help us find him?”
“I think it will help us track down the Tears.” A ping on my HUD brought up the calendar and an icy bolt of fear struck through me. I’d lost track of time...Crane’s big event was tomorrow.
This was bad.
“Since when did it get changed to tomorrow?” Laurie cried, looking at her own calendar. “I thought for sure we had time...”
“He’s accelerating his plans,” I said, gripping the stone. “And that’s never good.”
I burst through the door just in time for the stone to start buzzing and glowing in my hand.
The door clattered on its hinges as I threw it open, but I barely heard it over the crackling sound ripping through the air like an electric current. The floor shuddered beneath my feet. It was happening again.
I rushed into the main room. This time, the Tear was here. And I had no way to stop it.
I saw the Academy again as I looked through the flickering rift.
Overture was burning.
Fear seized me in the chest. I was too late.
But then I saw her.
Mabel led the charge, holding the book I’d left behind and pointing toward us. My friends, my colleagues—they were all there. My heart swelled with pride, and I even saw Tanner in the mix.
She was okay. And they were fighting back.
I almost wanted to leap back through right then and there to help them fight, but we had a bigger problem. The Tear was growing wider.
I lost my footing as the ground continued to shake, and the din of crashing shelves and tumbling bar-goers drowned out everything else. What else would I lose this time?
A flashing notification appeared at the corner of my HUD:
> Runic Affinity Restored.
Wait, what? How?
I focused and the world came into view in brilliant orange all over again, the characters swirling their way through our reality and spilling into the Tear like a black hole.
It was back.
“Stop standing there and help!” Tris yelled as she grappled with a scaly, horned beast. It wasn’t a Reaver this time. It was larger, heavier, the teeth shining and dripping with glowing acid.
> Murkling. Lvl 15 monster.
> Known for their tough scaly armor and poisonous bite, Murklings generally keep to underground environments except when called by their master.
I gulped. Master?
Oh, so even worse then.
I snapped into action, drawing my knife and slashing it forward. It bounced off the scales and jarred my arm. No good. It lashed out at Tris’s face and cut a gash in her cheek as she screamed, her gun clattering to the ground.
Lunging to the side, I grabbed it and aimed as I landed on my shoulder, hard. Pain shot up through my shoulder as I lined up my target and pulled the trigger.
The shot shook me to my core as the blast rang in my ears. Firing at point-blank range, the shot from Tris’s pistol had blown the back of the creature’s head off, leaving it a shivering carcass on top of her. Black blood spilled out and drenched her clothes, making a puddle on the floor.
“Tris!” I pulled myself to my feet and winced as my shoulder complained. I offered her my good arm and yanked, freeing her from underneath the corpse. She lost her balance and tumbled on top of me, her flame-colored hair flying out all around us.
Breathless and on top of me, our eyes locked for a fraction of a second before she removed herself.
“A little help!” Laurie shrieked as her dragon swooped and snapped at the creatures, aiming for the weak spots between their scales.
I pushed Tris away and got my mind back in the fight. Right. The Tear.
I honed in on the shimmering rift, watching as Mabel, Tanner, and the rest of the Academy rose up to fight.
I couldn’t help but feel a little proud.
The runes wove their way through the air like a secret fabric, tendrils dangling at the edges of the Tear. This was the largest one yet, but the Academy was finally fighting back. They had the book. They had Mabel. Even Tanner had joined the fight. I felt a pang of remorse for the way I’d treated him before running away.
But I could fix this. I could end this disaster, once and for all.
I wove my hands through the air, stitching the sides of the Tear together. The slit in the universe narrowed and the ground steadied...I was nearly there.
The hulking mass of a Murkling nailed me on my right side and I faltered, losing my grip on the Runes. The Tear opened again, wider. Shit.
I grappled with the monster as it snapped at my face. Those poisonous teeth were so close...
Boom.
The crack of a pistol shot rung out and the monster fell limp on top of me, knocking the air out of my lungs. This thing was heavy!
I coughed and sputtered, pushing the corpse off of me. “As thanks,” Tris said, holding out her hand. She pulled me up and we stood back to back. “We’re even now.”
“Thanks,” I said, after I regained my breath. “Cover me.”
She launched into a spell, her fists glowing with green light. “Com’ere you stinky bastards!”
I refocused on the portal and wove the threads together as quickly as I could. My powers may have returned, but just using them took more out of me than I expected. The same dizziness came over me again and I fought to keep my breakfast from ending up on the floor. Just a little more...
> New Status: You are now Runesick.
Great. Just great.
I grit my teeth and pulled my hands together in a praying motion. The Tear folded itself together and closed for a fraction of a second.
But then it tore itself open again, like ripping off a bandage. A column of flame shot out of the portal and I threw myself to the side, narrowly missing the blast. I could still feel the heat of it rush past me. Behind me, Fel’s prized bookshelf went up in flames.
I froze, the fire filling my vision.
“We gotta get out of here!” Fel yelled, coughing through the flames. He dodged a falling shelf and fled for the stairs.
Then I heard the screams.
He burst out of the stairwell to a scene of chaos not unlike the one we’d seen in the tavern. “Come on!” He yelled, ushering the scared patrons toward the door. “It’s gonna blow!”
Tris, Laurie, and I followed in his wake. A scared little girl clung to my cloak and I held her close, guiding her toward the door. “Where’s my mommy?” She cried, looking around.
“We’ll find your mommy, don’t worry,” I soothed. But my mind was elsewhere. The Tear was still downstairs, and eating everything in its path. The basement was going up in flames, and if I didn’t stop it....
The forces at the Academy could hold off the Veil monsters for a while, but for how long? And at what cost?
I handed off the little girl to Tris. “I’ve gotta go,” I said, tilting my head toward the stairwell.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ll die!”
I chose to ignore that fact. “I’ve got to close it. Get the others out of here and don’t come back.”
Her eyes shone with fear as she opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it shut. She leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek. Heat washed over me, and I wasn’t entirely sure it was just from the fire. “For luck,” she whispered, and ushered the little girl out the door with her.
The door clattered closed, and I was alone.
I turned to the stairwell, and even now I could see smoke billowing out of the doorway. My hands balled into fists as I cast every enchantment I knew.
Taking a deep breath, I charged into the smoky abyss.
Time to finish this.
27
Laurie
We ran.
My lungs burned with the acrid taste of smoke and my eyes teared up, but I kept running. My throat felt like sandpaper and my legs were bricks as I pushed myself away from that place. A great moaning creak sounded behind us as the wooden beams gave out, and Fel’s House of Delights caved in under its own weight.
Cael was in there.
I stopped, staring at the grisly scene. I kept waiting for him to emerge, for some sign that he was okay. No sign came.
Fel tugged on my sleeve, though I could see the suffering on his lined face. “There’s nothing else we can do.”
As much as I didn’t want to believe it, as much as I wanted to stand and fight, perhaps he was right.
We turned away from the fire and pain, and we ran.
Colors, smells, scenery rushed past in a blur. None of us spoke. No, we were too shocked for that. I finally ran out of steam on the outskirts of town, and I wasn’t the only one. Fel huffed and wheezed, crouching with his hands on his knees.
He looked at the smoking rubble that used to be his inn and sighed. “It’s gone.” There was no more sadness in his voice, only tired resignation.
Tris sat on a rock and busied herself picking the leaves off a stem. She, too, had her jaw set in a firm line but her eyes to the ground. That was her way.
I felt like a hole had ripped through my chest and taken my heart. How was I still standing? The Hideout, Fel’s inn, all of it...rubble. And Cael had bought us the time we needed to escape.
“Do you think...?” I started, but everyone already knew what I was thinking. We were all thinking it.
“I can’t contact him,” Tris interrupted, clicking off her communicator. “Line’s dead.”
A solemn silence passed between us. I knew all too well what that meant, but I didn’t want to accept it. I couldn’t.
“We’ll continue his work,” I said finally. “His sacrifice won’t be in vain.” Aurelius perched on my shoulder and squawked his agreement. I reached up and stroked his snout. He let out a stream of hot air and I yanked my hand away. “Watch it!” I hissed at him, tossing him a grape. He munched on it noisily and decided not to roast my hand. Good dragon.
A world announcement flashed across my HUD just then with a ping. The sound echoed as it registered on each of my teammate’s displays.
> World Announcement:
The Festival of Fire is starting soon.
All members of the Veil are expected to be in attendance.
Please use the attached waypoint or use one of the community tele stands.
See you soon.
> [Waypoint attached]
See nearby Tele Stands? [Yes/No]
I dismissed the message and looked with wide eyes at my teammates.
“Expected, huh.” Tris ground her teeth. “Not so friendly as the last message.”
“With a name like the Festival of Fire...” I trailed off as a shiver rolled down my spine. “I’ve seen enough fire for one lifetime.” The flames consuming Fel’s house still played fresh in my memory. The image of Cael standing there, determined to go back and close the Tear. The scared villagers as they scattered in all directions. It would haunt my dreams, no, my nightmares.
“He can have his bloody festival,” Fel muttered. “I’ll have no part of it.”
“You know, this might actually be good,” Tris started, rubbing her chin. She strapped on her goggles and I saw a blue shimmering dialog appear in front of her eyes. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to test, and I just needed a message...There!”
“What?” Fel and I said in unison.
She lowered the goggles so they hung around her neck and a wide grin split her features.
“I know where he is.”
“Each of the messages we send has a digital signature attached to it. In techie terms, it’s called metadata. It’s usually hidden. Usually.” Tris’s face lit up. “But I figured out how to crack it.”
“And?” I asked.
“I traced the location of the message. It came from Crane. And I have the coordinates to find him.”
“No way.”
“I’ve been working on it in my spare time. Didn’t want to say anything unless it worked out. That, and...” She rolled her eyes with a sheepish grin. “It’s not technically legal.”
Fel laughed. “Are you kidding me, that’s great! Always knew I could count on your scheming ways.”
“Hey, it’s what I’m best at, after all.” She glowed with pride. “Here, let me send you the waypoint.”
> Waypoint added: Traegoria Keep.
“Imposing enough name,” I muttered. “You’re sure that’s where he is?”
“I’m sure,” Tris said, cracking her knuckles.
“I hate to be the voice of reason, but how are we going to defeat him without the Runes?” Fel spoke up. “He’s more powerful than all of us. They say he made this world. And now...” He trailed off, looking into the distance.
“So what? Are we just going to sit back and let him win?” A surge of adrenaline still rushed through my veins, and I remembered all too clearly Cael’s face, his mission, his spirit. I couldn’t let that die out. “I’m going to fight. I’m going to avenge him. And you’re welcome to come with me.”
Tris smiled at me. I think it was the first time I’d ever gotten a genuine smile from her. “You know I’m in,” she said, reloading her pistol. “Fel?”
“Cael brought out the best in all of us,” Fel admitted. “I will go with you to avenge him.”
Aurelius chirped in agreement on my shoulder.
“Then it’s settled. Everyone got the waypoint?”
We nodded.
“Get some rest, eat up. We’ve got a long journey ahead.”
The sky darkened the further we progressed along the road. It was eerily silent for this time of day. Fel suggested it could be the weather driving the merchants away, but I had a much more deadly theory in mind. Spikes of lightning shot through the sky like fire and a great rumbling came from the east.
“There’s a storm coming,” Fel pointed out. “And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out we’re going in the right direction.”
The distance to the waypoint closed, little by little. We stopped in the middle of a barren field, the waypoint suggesting we were basically on top of the target. But where was it?
“It’s got to be around here somewhere,” Tris said, scouring the perimeter. “Look for any hidden entrances or traps. Perhaps it’s underground?”
I set off in the opposite direction, keeping my eyes on the grass.
Nothing.
Then I ran headfirst into a wall.
I looked up. Nothing was there. I tried to move forward again and felt the same hard, unyielding barrier. What the heck?
“Guys!” I called. “Found something.”
They rushed over and found themselves up against the same invisible wall.
“Force shield.” Tris spat. “Shoulda known.”
“Can you breach it?”
“I can certainly try. You might wanna stand back, though.” She gave us a knowing smile.
We took a few steps back as she fished in her bag for components. Tris pulled out a small black box, a blue crystal, and a handful of wires.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked, eyeing the homemade bomb.
She glared at me and kept working, pulling the goggles down over her eyes.
“She might be a little erratic,” Fel leaned in and whispered. “But she’s the most creative Tinker I’ve ever met.”
I held my tongue and waited on her jerry-rigged contraption. I just had to hope she wouldn’t blow us all
up in the process.
“Don’t worry,” she said as if sensing our apprehension. “No one’s died...yet.” Tris gave us a wicked smile and took a few steps back, admiring her creation.
“3...2...”
The last digit was lost in the explosion that followed, the force of the blast throwing me back onto my ass. The force field in front of us flickered a few times then faltered out with a fading buzz.
> Force Shield disabled for 60 seconds.
> Welcome to: Traegoria Keep.
The barren field in front of us filled with stone towers and an old-fashioned drawbridge. Turrets reached toward the sky and atop the highest peak, the eye of the storm swirled.
“Come on, before the shield recharges.” Tris rushed for the door, waving for us to follow.
As we clattered over the bridge and up to the tall, yawning door, I couldn’t help thinking it was a little odd the drawbridge had been down in the first place. Almost as if he were expecting us...
Welcome, Seekers. It appears you’ve found me.
The message flashed on all of our communicators at once.
Crane.
Please, come in. I’ve been waiting for you. I thought we’d play a little game.
The idea of playing any kind of game with Crane left an awful taste in my mouth. But here we were.
> New Quest Unlocked: The Trials of Traegoria
> The Keep is a mighty labyrinth full of traps, puzzles, and mazes. Can you navigate each room and find me? If you can, you’ll get a reward. If you can’t, well, you’ll die. No hard feelings.
Accept?
[Yes/No]
** ERROR: This quest has been automatically accepted and added to your quest log.
I gulped as I looked around at my teammates. The door towered before us and opened with a slow, yawning creak.
“Doesn’t look like we have a choice,” Tris said breathlessly. “Everyone stay on your guard.”
I drew my staff, squared my stance, and proceeded into the belly of the beast.
