by Jakob Tanner
Floating in the center of the beginner zone was a massive airship. It was a double-decker ship with two unique hulls separated by four tall wooden pillars and a spiralling staircase in the middle connecting them. Half of the upper platform was made of blue glass. Purple mana coursed from behind the back of this deck. The ship was mesmerizing: a 19th-century frigate crossed with a dragonfly.
Walking beneath the ship’s shadow towards the loading bay, I asked, “Where the hell are you taking us?”
“To Land’s Shield,” said Sir Archades. “The king wants a word with you.”
3
They threw us in a prisoner’s cabin on the lower deck. They removed our handcuffs and sealed us behind steel bars flaked with rust. There were no other prisoners in our cell, only empty barrels and a porthole window. I shook the bars and kicked the door when it wouldn’t open. I pulled up my mini-map on my HUD and selected Arondale for fast travel.
Fast-travel disabled while aboard airships.
“Goddamn stupid—”
I fell on my ass. The ship tremored. The trees outside disappeared from the window’s view. The vessel hovered in the air. Footsteps of sailors clattered on the decks above us; woodchips rained down from the ceiling. Shouts and yells rang out. Orders were barked. The ship’s engine thrummed and roared. My ears popped and my stomach lurched. We were seconds from flying off. Three. Two. One.
We shot off towards the clouds in the sky.
I slid down towards the back of the cabin. I grabbed hold of a railing. The whole ship shook. The room spun.
“I'm going to throw up,” said Serena, clutching her stomach.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
The turbulence eased off. The tremors vanished.
I stood up, cautiously. No wobbles.
I moved over to the glass porthole and peered outside. A beautiful blue sky stretched in every direction. Illyria’s two moons were visible, milky and translucent spheres hovering far in the distance. Below us was a valley with a mountain range lying ahead.
I watched the stunning beauty of the skies until I got bored. I turned around and slumped on the cabin floor.
Serena stood on the other side of our cell, swaying her arms in different directions and patterns.
“I didn’t take you for a yuppie mummy doing tai-chi in the park,” I teased.
Serena turned her head and made a cute but disapproving face at me. “First off, we’re not in a park, we’re in a prisoner’s cabin of a floating airship. Secondly, I’m not doing tai-chi, these are warrior stances. They help improve my stats amongst a whole host of other things; one of which is yes, being very calming and relaxing like tai-chi.” She stuck her tongue out at me. “Also, are you calling me old now?”
I grinned, shaking my head. Better not dig myself deeper on that one. I let her continue with her stat building. It was easy to forget when you looked at Serena—a gorgeous warrior knight—that she was once quite bookish and awkward. Her face always used to be hidden behind a massive tome, a pencil always lost within her bushy brown hair. She had changed so much of herself upon entering A.K.O. What was less easy to forget was her type-A personality. Here she was imprisoned, our fates unknown and out of our hands, and still preoccupied with improving her stats and practicing her fighting stances. She always loved working and studying, and A.K.O. hadn’t changed that one bit. She had simply swapped 18th-century literature for deadly swordcraft.
Watching her train, her stats appeared in my HUD.
Serena Wharton
Level 16
Race: Haeren (Laergardian)
Class: Blade Soldier
HP: 295
MP: 20
ATKP: 54
MTKP: 3
TGH: 32
SPIRIT: 3
LUCK: 3
I closed my HUD and noticed a dark furry tail whoosh past the porthole. The tail wiggled and waved behind the glass.
No way.
A dagger smashed into the window. The glass cracked and shattered onto the floor. The figure slipped through the window and into our cabin cell.
Shaking off the broken glass was a tall navy-furred man with cat ears, whiskers, and a tail. He offered a big mischievous grin. “Guys, we really need to stop meeting this way.”
The furry thief, one who belonged to A.K.O.’s humanoid cat race known as the Lirana, went by the name of Shade. A thief, an NPC, and the first person I met in this blasted virtual world. He loved drinking, stealing, fighting, and gambling; and had a penchant for getting us all into trouble.
“Are you insane?” I said, glancing over to the broken window.
“Not the grateful reaction I was expecting, but you are a funny one Clay so I’ll forgive you.”
Serena shook her head in disbelief. “How did you get on board?”
The thief smiled. “Let me start from the beginning.” He cracked his fingers and twirled his hand. “I was having my third morning pint when those two knights came around the Crow’s Heart looking for you two. Figuring we were closest of pals—‘Homies’ I heard you say once—I followed them to make sure nothing bad happened to you two. Once you were captured, I stowed myself on board the ship and waited for my moment to climb the side and come rescue you.”
The hubris of the thief had my jaw dropping, not to mention how unnerving it was to hear a renaissance rogue use the word, “homies.”
“I mean, you could’ve come down through the cabin but sure—the more insane option is always best, I feel you.”
Shade crossed his arms and sniffed. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks for coming to our aid Shade,” said Serena. “But do we even want to escape right now? The freaking king of Laergard wants to see us. Is this an opportunity in disguise?”
Shade shook his head while his tail wagged behind him. “The current king is a bit of a shut-in from what I hear. I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. But since you’re clearly already on it, I’d say we better steer clear of him.”
I rubbed my hands together, considering our options.
We didn’t have any.
“What are we debating here? Shade, let’s say you got us out of this cabin, where do we go from there? We’re still stuck on this airship heading straight to Land’s Shield.”
Shade grinned and raised a finger. “You’re wrong, my friend. On the deck above us are two smaller ships. Lifeboats. In case of an emergency.”
He rubbed his chin and peered thoughtfully in the air. “I wonder if any will come up?”
I turned to Serena. “How much stock can we put in a king who sends two knights to murder us, raise us from the dead, and then imprison us? I say we get out of here.”
Serena shrugged. “I won’t fight you two on it. Let’s go.”
Shade ran over to the porthole. “This is easy, watch how I do it!”
I grabbed his tail and yanked him back.
“Oi! What are you touching my tail for?”
“Are you crazy?” I said. “I don’t want to jump out the porthole. You’re a bloody thief. Can’t you pick the cell lock?”
Shade glanced over to the caged door and sighed. “I suppose so. But it’s certainly the less exciting way to get out of here.”
He waddled over to the cell door and pulled a lockpick from his breeches. He squinted his eyes, held his tongue at the side of his mouth, and gently inserted the lockpick into the keyhole. He twisted and nudged the pick with subtlety and grace. A satisfying click whispered through the air.
A massive tremor knocked us over. The wooden walls cracked. A powerful force bashed against the ship. A long serpentine tail with hardened purple scales slithered passed the window. A muffled yet horrifying shriek came from up above.
The cell door creaked ajar, daring us to continue our escape.
4
The cabin shook like a jackhammer. Soldiers yelled. Gunshots echoed. The whiff of smoke and burning mana exhaust swirled from the cabin door towards our prison cell.
“What the hell
is happening outside,” said Serena.
“I don’t know,” I said and turned to Shade, sending him a group invite. “It’s time to party up.”
“Sure thing, homie.”
A message popped up in my HUD.
Shade has joined your party.
Shade’s stats came into my vision and I quickly glanced at them before shooing them away.
Shade
Level 11
Race: Lirana
Class: Thief
HP: 165
MP: 18
ATKP: 30
MTKP: 3
TGH: 14
SPIRIT: 4
LUCK: 48
The wood cracked and splintered, pockets of air blasting through our cabin. I gripped the metal bars of the cell to keep balance. Serena led the charge and exited the cell as our cabin took another bashing.
Rifle blasts fired all around us on the lower deck. The ship platform was a cacophony of chaos: gusting wind, roaring engine, yelling soldiers.
“FIRE!”
Bright laser beams flew past our heads.
We ducked to the ground.
“What’s happening?” I yelled. I held my arm up to shield my eyes from the fierce winds blowing across the platform.
Serena pointed across the deck to a giant purple snake flying through the sky, three times the size of our ship. The creature had a winding tube-like body made of purple scales with jagged edges running along its spine. The back of its tail had a pointed spear-like end, perfect for impaling multiple foes. But the most fearsome thing about the sky serpent was its face. It may have had the body of a snake but its face was a dragon’s. Spiraling blue horns jutted from the upper side of its head while its lower jaw edged outwards to catch any falling victims with its deadly sharp teeth. It had angled slits for eyes, flashing red with anger and destruction.
The creature’s level made me shudder.
Sky Wyrm
Level 65
The crewmen were running up the spiraling staircase and climbing up ropes to get to the upper platform of the ship. One shouted to us, “Get off the deck!”
The Sky Wyrm sucked in air and unleashed a horrible shrill shriek. The high pitch wail pierced my ears, bringing me to my knees. The ship wobbled, making a tight turn, dodging the creature’s pummeling attack. A pole snapped. The lower platform tilted. Loose barrels rolled across, falling to the cloudy depths.
I got back to my feet and moved towards the stairs.
The first step I took made me move backwards. I turned to the left and ended up looking to my right.
What?
Shade fell to the floor and Serena wobbled her hands in the air. A debuff prompt flickered in my HUD.
Confused (Debuff): Left is right, up is down, what the hell? You’re confused! (Duration: 3 minutes).
Shit the bed.
Snap!
Another pole cracked in half. Only three more structures still held our deck to the rest of the ship, the platform bouncing with turbulence. The Sky Wyrm twisted its tail, twirling it in the air and gathering up a swirl of deadly wind. Flicking its tail, a tidal wave of ferocious air rushed in our direction. The blast knocked me off balance, flinging me across the deck into a wooden platform.
Fuck.
Pain rippled through my entire body. The blast took me down to 6% HP. My HUD flickered with new notifications.
Broken Leg (debuff): You’ve broken your leg! Your movement speed decreases by 90%.
Bleeding (heavy) (debuff): You have an open wound. You will lose 3 HP every ten seconds. You cannot regenerate health until you stop bleeding.
Shock (debuff): You’ve fallen into a state of shock. Symptoms include blurry vision, nausea, and panic.
My whole body went numb. Time slowed to a crawl. Adrenaline pumped through me. I had a new spell to deal with confusion: status cure. I worked my hands on the floor and they ended up conjuring flames. I attempted fire blast next and—as I hoped—a ray of diamond-like sparkles appeared and shimmered around my body. The confusion debuff flickered away.
Now I had to deal with the shock, heavy bleeding, and broken bone debuffs. I took a deep breath. Inhale, exhale. Relax. You have HP potions and healing magic. You can do this. The shock debuff disappeared as I gained more composure. Next I triggered healing mist: a curative cloud of healing vapor surrounded my person. My open wounds closed and my HP returned to 40%. I materialized an HP potion and chugged it down. As I hit 75% HP, the cracked bone in my leg mended.
I stood up, my body shaking from the swirling gust of wind and the trembling surface of the airship. Serena and Shade were both on the floor, failing to do anything but writhe awkwardly. I ran over and shot my hand out towards them. Bright luminescent crystals cascaded across the deck and filled them with light.
They rolled over and got back on their feet.
I ran towards the staircase, the Sky Wyrm pummeling towards us. It headbutted our deck, smashing its horned face through the cabin walls, cracking and destroying the wooden bindings of the ship. Its massive teeth chomped towards us. I scrambled up the staircase, Shade and Serena behind me. Arms of the crewmen pulled me up and tossed me to the side.
A rip came from below. The staircase broke in two. The lower deck, along with the two smaller escape ships attached to its side, tumbled and fell in the sky towards the distant ground.
“Close call,” I said.
“You talk like we’re in the clear,” gasped Serena, pointing across the deck towards the sky.
Another two Sky Wyrms slithered through the clouds towards us.
“HOLD YOUR FIRE,” yelled Sir Archades, standing at the front of the deck, clenching his gauntleted fist.
The soldiers held their positions along the crenellated deck walls, mounting their mana rifles. They each closed one eye and aimed at their target.
The new Sky Wyrms charged us from one side while the original one came from the opposite end.
“KEEP HOLDING,” yelled the Kingsblood captain.
The Sky Wyrms were going to smash into us at any moment.
“THREE…TWO…”
The sky snakes were meters away. The upper deck was about to smash into a million pieces.
“FIRE!”
A bright flash of light blocked my view. The mana rifles unleashed their laser blasts at the sky beasts. Beams rushed through the air, slicing through the Sky Wyrms’ scales. Pink blood rained across the clouds.
The damage didn’t slow them down. They pummeled through the air towards us, milliseconds away from ramming the ship on either side.
The ship made a sharp downward lunge. My body lurched forward, my face slamming into the wooden deck, sliding downward to the bowsprit and edge of the ship. Soldiers groaned. More bodies smacked against the wooden deck. I scrambled to my feet as the ship shot back up through the sky, sending me sliding down from where I came.
The ship plateaued and took a steady course straight through the clouds with the three Sky Wyrms chasing behind us.
The soldiers ran back to their positions and readied their rifles again.
“FIRE!” bellowed Sir Archades.
An onslaught of laser light shot through the sky at the Wyrms. The ship turned to the right while another barrage of bullets hit the side of the serpents’ tubular bodies. They each hovered around 70% HP.
The three Wyrms abruptly stopped rushing towards us. The soldiers cocked and aimed their mana rifles. The Wyrms twirled the back of their tails, readying their powerful air attack. They created a cluster of swirling tornado-sized winds.
The soldiers unleashed a wave of bullets. The Wyrms retaliated with three roving cyclones. The swirling gust nullified the beams of energy and headed straight for our deck.
“COVER!” yelled Sir Archades.
It was too late. The tornado blasts knocked our ship over. The wind hit me like a punch to the gut. My feet no longer touched the wooden surface of the deck. I twirled down the side. I tumbled and crashed into panels. I scrambled, searching for somethi
ng to hold onto, falling through the sky. My hands grasped at nothing but air.
5
The air whistled sharply around me. This was it. I reached out. The wooden deck handle of the ship slammed into my hands, burning my fingers upon impact. I flapped and dangled in the wind like a kite. Don’t look down. I ignored my own advice. I lost strength, shivering in terror. We were so high up there was no ground to even see.
I gripped harder on the wood and pulled. The airship zoomed through the air at an intense velocity. The wind smashed into my face, rippling through my mouth and jaw, doing everything in its power to make me release my grip. I shut my eyes and gripped the deck handle.
“HELP!” I screamed.
The warmth of a hand wrapped around my arm.
“Hold on,” said Shade. Squirming and groaning, he yanked me back onto the deck.
I held my stomach, hyperventilating.
The Wyrms shrieked. I clamped my hands to my ears, muffling the shrill cry and avoiding the debuff.
The whole front line of soldiers collapsed to the deck’s floor, dizzy with confusion. Trained mages hurried towards the fallen soldiers casting status cure but they weren’t acting fast enough. I ran across the deck towards a soldier squirming on the ground. His pale face was drenched in sweat. He was struggling to breathe. I put my hand out to his chest and conjured the glowing crystals. The luminescent spell seeped into his body. He coughed in relief.
“Thanks,” he said, jumping back on his feet and running to his shooting station.
A cry rang out.
It was Serena. She was swaying back and forth, stumbling around on the other end of the deck. I ran towards her, arms outstretched, fingers twirling, triggering status cure. Bright healing crystals shot out from my hand and zoomed through the air towards Serena’s body. She glowed as the crystals reached her.
