by Jake Bible
Kip grunted.
“No offense,” Trish said. “That shit was delicious, but you know it ain’t gonna get us through the day.”
“Yeah,” Kip replied and nodded.
“Wait, hold on,” I said to Trish. “You transported us to Castle Lormillion when you found us?”
“Nah, I cheated,” Trish said. “That was a yo-yo spell tied to the castle. It wasn’t a real transportation spell.”
“What we need is a village,” Sandra said. She pointed to a far-off haze of smoke that clung to one of the larger hills. “There. I believe that is called Howerby.”
“Yes, you are correct,” Ming said. His eyes were unfocused, and I could tell he was accessing his display. “Howerby is a village with a population of approximately thirty-eight. They are farmers with a few tradesfolk. If we are lucky, we can find shelter for the day and night there so we may rest and eat and continue on our journey to Jackal Mountain.”
“Who named that mountain?” I asked. “Was it like your great grandfather or someone, Ming?”
“It was part of the original game design,” Ming said. “Names were simple and descriptive back in the late 20th century. Jackals have been associated with death and sorcery since the dawn of man. The Egyptian god, Anubis, was a jackal and considered the lord of the afterlife and mummification.”
“Mummies?” Coz asked. “First we have to deal with the undead and now mummies?”
“Mummies are the undead,” Ming said. “It is why so many of the evil ones chose the mountain as their power base. At least until the Creator drove them off.”
Ming sighed.
“You still don’t believe Bubby, do you?” Sandra asked. “That the Creator might be a part of this?”
“That is impossible,” Ming said. “The Creator died decades before immersion tanks and full mental integration was even close to achieved. If anything, it is the game reproducing what it believes the Creator to be so that Jeremy’s chaos may be countered with omnipotent order.”
“Omnipotent order?” Coz asked. “Dude, way too early in the morning for shit like that. Let’s go find this village and get some lunch and take a long nap in a soft bed then we can talk about Creators and jackals and Jeremy’s chaos. Cool?”
“Cool with me,” I said. “I didn’t sleep worth a crap last night. A nap sounds awesome.”
“Yeah,” Kip said.
Trish waved her hands and the protective energy dome she’d created around the thicket of trees dissipated.
“You punk-ass bitches owe me for that,” Trish said. “I lost ten percent of my Magic to keep that thing up all night.”
“Thank you, Trish,” Sandra said. “Your effort is appreciated.”
Sandra glared at the rest of us.
“What? Oh, sure, totally appreciated,” Coz said.
“Yeah,” Kip said.
“Better than getting eaten by whatever is hanging out in these hills that eats people,” I said. “Kudos to you, Trish.”
“Kudos to…?” Trish shook her head. “There’s a reason we all stopped even asking you to come to EverRealm.”
I should have been offended, but I was too tired to give a shit.
Sandra started off first, her long stride setting a pace that we all had to struggle to keep up with. I wasn’t sure if Sandra was just in a hurry to get to the village or she was making sure that the two of us didn’t have to walk too close together.
Yes, I kind of screwed up by interpreting her invitation to sleep as an invitation to sleep with each other, but it wasn’t like I said anything. I was surprised, and even in the moonlight, there was no other way to interpret the look on my face, I admit that, but come on, it was pretty harmless. Sandra and her tight-ass ways would have to learn to chill soon or our friendship was gonna go down the tubes fast.
I stumbled and fell as my foot caught in a gopher hole, nearly snapping my ankle. Or I think it was a gopher hole. Being EverRealm, it could have been a magic gopher or maybe some pixie creature thing. But it looked like a gopher hole when I was done cursing and rubbing my ankle and got a better look at it.
“Hole in the ground, dude,” Coz said. “It’s not gonna change into anything if you stare harder.”
“Funny,” I said and held out a hand. “Help me up.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I tested my ankle and it held fine, although it was a little sore. All my plans of being a champion marathon runner would have to be put on hold. Bummer.
“You good?” Coz asked.
“I’m good,” I replied, my eyes instantly going to Sandra’s receding back. “She sure can cover some ground when she wants to.”
“Yes, she can,” Coz said, his voice thick with sarcasm. “I wonder why.”
“It was completely innocent,” I said. “There was no reason she should have gotten offended.”
“Dude, are you that stupid?” Coz asked then waved a hand. “What am I saying? Yes, of course you’re that stupid. You always have been. Steve, pal, brother, friend of mine, Sandra has been into you since she first arrived at the Center. That girl has it bad for your lame ass.”
I stopped in my tracks. My ankle protested the sudden jolt I gave it, but to hell with my ankle.
“What?” I asked, stunned.
“Dude, she has the hots for you bad,” Coz said, keeping his voice down, which I appreciated since sound seemed to travel across those rolling hills fairly easily. “How can you not have noticed? Her eyes are on you all the time.”
“They are?” I asked. “Even back at the Center?”
“Especially back at the Center,” Coz said. “Come on, walk. We’re getting left behind.”
He was right. The others were way ahead of us. I started walking again, and Coz pushed our pace so that we’d get back with the group.
I was going to ask him a couple more questions, but I decided that quiet was the best. Particularly since quiet was all I was hearing. Like I said, sound travelled well across those rolling hills. And villages made a lot of sound. Except I wasn’t hearing any sound. Not even simple bird calls or any of that nature shit.
“Dude?” Coz asked, saying everything that needed to be said in that one word.
“Yeah,” I replied, channeling my inner Kip.
We caught up with the others just as they reached the crest of the next hill. Trish was shaking her head, Sandra had a hand to her mouth, Kip only stared, and Ming seemed to completely deflate.
“Well…shit,” I said as we looked down at the smoking ruins of Howerby. “Jeremy?”
“It does not appear to be overrun with undead,” Ming said. “If it was Jeremy, there would be murdered and risen villagers shambling about. I see bodies within the smoke, but they are still.”
“What did this?” Sandra asked. “Howerby isn’t a threat to anyone.”
“But it is in our path,” I said. “Between us and Jackal Mountain. If someone wanted to make sure we couldn’t rest and eat, then wiping out the village would be a good idea.”
“One problem, genius,” Trish said. “No one knows where we’re going except us.”
“And Bubby,” Coz said.
“What does that mean?” Ming snapped.
“Hey, dude, no offense, but the Oracle is off her rocker,” Coz said. “She ain’t all there. Maybe her programming is glitching and she’s actually trying to stop us from getting to Jackal Mountain.”
“Why would she do that?” Sandra asked.
“I don’t know,” Coz said. “I’m not even saying she is doing that. All I’m saying is she was the only other person to know where we are going.”
“Holo!” I exclaimed.
“What? Dude, you think your dog is behind this?” Coz asked. “That’s some paranoid shit right there.”
“No, I don’t think Holo is behind this, asshole,” I said. “But Holo is with Bubby, which means if she is behind this, then he’s in trouble.”
I looked back over my shoulder in the direction we had come, my mind on my b
est friend and whether I had left him in the clutches of some psycho Oracle. I was instantly distracted by the sight of a dust cloud rising from several hills back.
“Come on,” Trish said. “Better get this over with.”
“You see that?” I asked Coz, but he’d already started walking down the hill with the others.
I watched the dust cloud for a little longer then shrugged and joined the group as we made our cautious way into Howerby.
The distances in that landscape were deceiving, so it took a little longer than we thought before we reached the edge of the village. Ming held up a hand and turned to us.
“Stat check,” he said. “Know your limits before we proceed.”
I brought up my display and frowned at what I saw.
Character class: Ranger
Character alignment: Chaotic Good
Character level: 12
Health: 38%
Strength: 68%
Agility: 62%
Magic: 15%
Armor: leather, no bonus
Coin: 200 gold pieces, 155 silver pieces, 0 copper pieces
Inventory: Long bow with 14 regular arrows, 4 magical. 1 long sword of Breaking (Level 16). The Dark Blade, inactive (level unknown). 2 tunics. 1 pair of breeches. 1 hooded cloak. 1 satchel with 1 wine skin, empty.
My Health was crap and my ankle had lowered my Agility. Strength was so-so, but if we really got into a bad fight, I was gonna go down fast. Despite the negative issues I had with the sword, I really wished the Dark Blade was active so I could use it if we were about to walk into an ambush. Flaming swords tend to scare off attackers. The best fights are the ones you can avoid.
Sandra caught my eye and I gave her as warm of a smile as I could. She didn’t smile back, but she didn’t look away instantly either. Progress.
“Remain wary and cautious,” Ming said. “Enemies may lurk in every shadow, ready to strike when you least expect it.”
“We’re walking into a smoking village with dead bodies all over the fucking place, Ming,” Trish said. “I’d say we’re expecting it.”
“I had to say something,” Ming muttered to himself as he began moving his fingers in elaborate patterns, preparing some sort of spell.
Trish brought her staff up again, and Kip snapped his fingers so those green spots or orbs or whatever they were appeared over his open palms. Sandra had her dagger out and Coz disappeared into the smoke and shadows at the edges of the village. He was gone from sight before I even had my sword drawn.
The Dark Blade.
Maybe it wasn’t flaming, but it had to be a better weapon than my long sword of Breaking. And there was no way I was going to figure out how to activate its abilities if I didn’t use the damn thing. Also, somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped I’d become attuned to it or whatever and it would unlock some secret of whether or not I was actually stuck in EverRealm.
No, I didn’t think the sword would speak to me or anything. But, maybe a vision or premonition? Was that too much to ask?
We walked into the village and all thought of anchors and flaming swords left my mind.
It was a nightmare.
Twenty-Three
The bodies were brutalized. It was bad.
I’d seen a lot of dead bodies, in the real world and in the Domains, but I’d rarely seen bodies as mangled as these were. It was like someone had run them over with a combine.
Limbs were severed and strewn about. Torsos were crushed. Heads were turned 180-degrees on necks. Bits and pieces of flesh littered the dirt like confetti. Intestines hung from doorways, blood coated the walls of houses and buildings. Even ears were lying scattered about like some serial killer flower girl had gone to town tossing them this way and that.
Needless to say, I put my hands on my knees and puked. Mostly because of the smell.
That was the worst.
“Is that shit?” Trish asked, pointing her staff at a particularly disgusting pile of body parts. “That’s shit. Something shit on all these bodies.”
“Yeah,” Kip said through tight lips. He was struggling not to throw up too and was doing a much better job than me.
“My Lord,” Sandra whispered as she walked by me, one hand covering her nose, the other patting me absentmindedly on the back as I let loose with another spew of puke. “These poor, poor people.”
I got myself under control and searched in my satchel for water to rinse my mouth out. Nothing in there. A water skin hit me in the side of the head, and I caught it before it landed in my puke.
“Thanks,” I said and drank.
I took two swigs, spitting them both out before drinking long and hard. I gasped for air when I was done, instantly regretting that as the stink of the place filled my mouth which was almost worse than the taste of puke.
“Hey, guys,” Coz called from a couple of houses over. “Can you come here a sec?”
We looked at each other then carefully made our way through the scattered remains to Coz. He was standing by the burnt-out shell of a house, pointing at something inside. As we got closer, I could see a weak light coming from the floor of the house. And there was a smell that was almost stronger than the smoke and putrefying bodies.
“Is that what I think it is?” Coz asked, jabbing his finger towards a pool of light green goo that was the source of the weak light. “It is, right?”
“It sure smells like it,” Trish said. “Why do they have to stink so bad when they travel?”
“What are we talking about?” I asked, ready for the looks of disdain, pity, and outright annoyance. I got all three and more. “Just tell me what I’m looking at, will ya?”
“Ectoplasm,” Sandra said as she moved closer to the pool of goo.
“Hold on,” Coz said, grabbing her arm.
Sandra flinched, but gently removed his hand with hers and kept moving. She got as close as she could get in order to crouch down and dip the tip of her dagger into the goo. Lifting it up, she brought the blade close to her face and sniffed it. Why she did that, I don’t know. You could smell the stuff just fine from a few feet away.
The first sniff brought a puzzled look to her face. The second sniff made her flick the goo off her dagger and stand up fast. She whirled around, her eyes searching the smoke and the ruins of the village.
“Sandra? What is it?” Trish asked.
“He followed us,” Sandra said. “Or got ahead of us. Either way, he knew we’d come to this village.”
“He who?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Kip said.
“The Beast,” Sandra said. “The Ghost of the Beast, to be precise. He came up out of this house and destroyed this village.”
“He came up out of the house?” I asked. “How the hell did he do that?”
“There must have been an item from the underworld in there,” Ming said.
“There’s an underworld to EverRealm?” I asked. “Seriously?”
“Of course,” Ming said. “Otherwise, the Domain would not be able to support the ghosts, haints, poltergeists, and other spectral beings that fill the modules and campaigns.”
“Haints? You from the Ozarks or something now, Ming?” Coz chuckled. Kip gave him a sharp look and the chuckle died away. “Sorry. Ghost of the Beast. Right. Focus on that.”
“The underworld item, whatever it may have been, was most likely part of a minor side quest that players could find,” Ming said. “Within the side quest, it would have been an innocuous item, but because of its underworld nature, the Ghost of the Beast was able to use it to move directly to this village without having to expend the energy that we did to cross the distance.”
“It headed us off at the pass,” I said.
“In a way, yes,” Ming said.
“Is it still here?” I asked.
Ming’s eyes widened and he looked at Sandra.
“Priestess? Can you sense the specter?” Ming asked.
“I don’t need to,” Sandra said as she turned and looked at me. “The Dark Blade does.�
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It was glowing that blue again that it did the last time I’d been around the Ghost of the Beast. Still no flames, but glowing was better than nothing.
“This means it’s close, huh?” I asked.
“Yes,” Sandra said.
“Any idea how close?” I asked.
“Does it matter?” Coz asked. “Any kind of close is gonna suck with that bastard.”
“You insult me, Thief,” the Ghost of the Beast said as it appeared from out of the rubble of a large house, its spectral body rising from a collapsed chimney. “I will kill you for that insult.”
Its glowing eyes met mine.
“Then I will kill you, imposter,” it snarled. “And take that blade from your cold, dead hands.”
“I don’t think you should be the one pointing fingers about having cold, dead hands,” I said and gripped the Dark Blade two-handed. “But, I guess if we’re gonna do this, then we should get it over with.”
“Jesus, Steve, why do have to say shit like that?” Trish asked as she sent a wave of magic flying at the Ghost of the Beast. “All you do is make things worse!”
The magic slammed into the Ghost and sent it flying across the rubble. It collided with what was left of the house’s front wall and shattered the still-smoking wood.
“Whoa, nice one,” Coz said. “You made it solid.”
“Corporeal is the correct term,” Ming said. “And while she accomplished that, it will not last long. Come, adventurers, we must attack now!”
Ming raced through the rubble, his hands spitting spells at a furious pace, and set about attacking the Ghost like I’d never seen him attack anything before. Not even the undead. He was like a man possessed.
I really hoped he wasn’t actually possessed.
We joined Ming and gave the Ghost of the Beast everything we had. Trish and Kip were firing spell after spell. Ming was slamming some sort of energy hammer against the thing’s head. Sandra skirted the Ghost and slashed the back of it with her dagger. Coz was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn’t unusual.
I tried to find an opening so I could stab the shit out of it with the Dark Blade, but the others were in the way. That was probably the only reason why I noticed that the ground was vibrating. Not like an earthquake vibration, which I had experienced a few times in the real world, but like a train was going by.
