by Skyler Grant
“Can you teleport the skins, have Ashley shoot them, and get us all out of here the way we came in?” I asked. “We can come back down after everything is dead.”
Walt spun his staff with a flourish, trying to fend off a corpse, and cried out as it got a hand on his arm. The skin looked instantly withered and a fifth of his health bar dropped off. Ashley moved in at once to drive at the corpse in a flurry of blows. It staggered back and poofed into dust.
“No, it would be close, but I won’t have the mana to pull that off,” Walt said.
That was a good idea down. It left only one option that I could see although I didn’t much like it.
“Then we trigger them and you all pile beneath me, and I shield you. It will be awkward and you’ll get hit some, but I should take the brunt of it.”
“Are you fire immune now?” Walt asked.
“Resistant. It must do. It’s that or we withdraw.”
“This much trouble means this place is hiding something good,” Ashley said. “We aren’t running away. Do it.”
I extended the water skins to Walt who focused.
Teleport
Teleport
Teleport
The three spells triggered in sequence as the skins materialized far overhead. Ashley meanwhile loaded her crossbow and dropped to one knee, aiming towards the ceiling.
Triple Shot
Three bolts flew out in unison, each moving with unerring accuracy towards the skins.
Walt dove to the floor and, as soon as the last shot was fired, Ashley was moving to sprawl on top of him. Shifting my shield to my back I threw myself over the both of them.
There came a familiar roar of flames overhead and then it began to rain holy fire. Droplets of fire colored blue, white, and red with different levels of heat began to shower down. It was almost like fireworks, at least until the droplets hit the corpses and they flashed brilliantly, and created a most fearful hissing.
Equal to the initial effects of the rain was the way, thanks to my abilities, the fire spread. This was holy water created with my magic, triggered by a smite spell. The fire spread to nearby corpses, which then spread it to others, until soon we were surrounded by a sea of burning bodies.
I wasn’t unaffected. My shield grew heated upon my back and droplets of fiery water easily found their way between the chain links of my armor, which wasn’t designed to prevent anything like this.
Resistant to fire is not immune. I burned slowly—but I burned all the same and my body was wracked with agony as each drop found their target. Walt and Ashley didn’t go unscathed either, the occasional drop slipping past me to sizzle on a leg or arm. Apart from that the sheer quantity of fire elsewhere in the chamber was like standing right before an open fireplace. Waves of heat radiated around us and each breath we took seared our lungs.
Outside of the game a situation like this would have been fatal, but in the game we healed more quickly. Even grievous wounds would knit themselves back together given enough time.
I triggered a health potion and waited it out. When the rains finally died off we all stumbled back to our feet. I was down about one quarter of my health bar. Although I’d taken most of the droplets, Walt and Ashley were each down to around half of theirs.
Despite the sheer hell that we’d unleashed not all of the corpses were dead. A few were at the very edges of the chamber and had escaped the rain, and were too distant to be caught by the fire spreading from the others. I saw one was dressed differently, ornate jewelry adorning its frame. I checked its stats.
Imais the Master of Wishes
Level 17: Type: Undead HP: 150/180
Having once found a magic lamp, Imais for a long while became a hero of the Tikati people for being able to make their dreams come true. When his wish that they would never again know starvation murdered almost all of his civilization he wished that nothing, not even a wish would ever be able to fell him. He survives to this day in a rotting corpse, long since driven mad by long confinement in darkness with only his fallen people for company.
Backstory. That is why it was important to read things like that, it often gave some clue about how to deal with them. It didn’t take long studying his frame to spot the magical lamp at his waist, secured by a loop of leather.
“You see what I’m seeing?” I asked Ashley.
“I’m seeing the reason we’re here. Doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to kill him, but that doesn’t mean we can’t rob him blind,” Ashley said, before she charged forward. She was brutal with her daggers, scything cuts taking him in the knees, the feet, the elbows as she all but dismantled him before our eyes. The severed body parts didn’t remain that way for long, already starting to wriggle across the floor in an effort to reintegrate themselves.
Ashley cut the cord and grabbed the lamp from him, before rushing over to me and Walt. She reached for our hands. “I think it’s time we made an exit.”
Walt nodded.
Group Teleport
We were back above ground near the pyramid, and we each took a deep breath. Fresh air was welcome after the horror show down below.
“We got a magic lamp,” Ashley said, excited.
“We have one that apparently murdered every one down below,” Walt reminded her. “Trust me. I know a bit about dangerous technologies and this qualifies.”
“Yvera? Got a Goddess opinion?” I thought.
“Magic is wild, unpredictable, powerful and generally out to make your life miserable in exciting and sometimes satisfying ways. It’s a lot like me. We both know that’s a risk you’re willing to take.”
That was both encouraging about anyone using the lamp and utterly terrifying at the same time. Talking with her always made everything so incredibly unclear.
Still, her vote really didn’t count amongst the three of us. Mine did. “Let’s find out just what we’re dealing with. It might have wiped out all those people, but nothing says we have to make a wish. We can just have a conversation and go from there.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
First, we took some time to eat and drink from our supplies, and let our health and mana replenish. The fight had consumed a lot of our resources and we wanted to be fresh, before facing whatever the lamp might unleash.
Ashley pulled the lamp from her backpack. It was brass and looked ancient. “Anyone know what we need to do here?”
“Don’t you usually rub?” I said.
“Not every problem is solved by rubbing, Liam.”
I had always found it a solution to many things, but maybe that was just me.
“Just try it, okay? It is what you do with magic lamps,” I said.
Ashley carefully rubbed the brass a few times with her fingers and we waited expectantly. Nothing happened.
“Let me see it,” Walt said.
Ashley passed him the lamp and he turned it over a few times.
“Here,” Walt said, tapping at the lamp near the handle. “There used to be a rune here. I think it was once clearly visible, but it rubbed off a long time ago. The magical imprint is still on the lamp though.”
“Show, don’t tell,” Ashley said.
Walt handed it back. “You can be the one to trigger the insanely dangerous magical artifact, if you’re that eager to do so.”
He sat back and had a teleport ready to go.
Ashley rubbed at the rune mark. This time there was a reaction. Thick green smoke billowed out and a woman materialized.
She had dark hair and eyes, features almost pretty but for a nose that was too sharp and made her look a bit like some kind of predatory bird. She was surprised. I wondered for a moment where that awareness of her mood came from, but it was becoming familiar enough now that it didn’t take me long to figure it out. We were lovers. I didn’t have the slightest memory of her, but we were lovers. It must have happened during the time that I was trapped in the palace. That meant she was not actually bound to the lamp them but rather than it had summoned her.
“Liam,” the woman said, looking around our little assemblage. “And people I don’t recognize and who most certainly aren’t Imais. Don’t tell me someone finally found that loser?”
“You two know each other?” Ashley asked.
Awkward. It was best to be honest about such things, it’s not like my friends would really be surprised. “We’ve kind of slept together.”
The woman said sharply, “You have to go right there? You can’t just say we met or are old acquaintances?” A moment later she was all charm, turning back to Ashley. “I’m Gina. Djinni of the lamp and granter of wishes who can make all your dreams come true.”
“If your dream is to be an undead monster buried deep beneath the sands,” Walt said with a frown.
“How did you manage to sleep with her?” Ashley said. “I mean, we were with you the whole time. Did you stick your dick in the lamp while you were on top of us? Is that what all the grinding was?”
“I wasn’t grinding. I was burning alive. It hurt,” I said.
“Yeah. I’m well aware,” Ashley said.
“Sticking one’s appendages into the lamp really wouldn’t accomplish much,” Gina said. “It is more of a summoning device for me and doesn’t actually bind me to it. So, it is not like I’m lurking around inside all itty bitty when not out giving wishes.”
“Could we please stop talking about lamp fucking,” Walt said in a pleading tone.
I seconded that. I really seconded that.
“We met in the palace awhile back,” Gina said.
“While we were being tortured? How many girls did you manage to sleep with?” Walt asked.
Deep breaths. Now he was doing it too.
“Could we please focus on wishes and not who or what I may have had sex with while anybody here was being tortured.”
“My favorite subject,” Gina said. “So you get them—wishes, I mean. You aren’t limited to three, that is just a myth. A word of caution is that they almost always have unexpected and terrible consequences.”
“Then why would anyone make one?” Walt asked.
“Why do people play dice?” Gina asked, shrugging. I wished I could remember her.
“Is there a way not to get horrible consequences?” Ashley asked.
“You can try,” Gina said with a beaming smile. “Usually people do that by trying to be smart about what they wish for. Fence it in with so many terms and conditions and specific ways of carrying it out that nothing can go wrong.”
“A mental challenge. I do like that,” Walt said.
“It’s pretty much destined to fail. It’s almost impossible to make the perfect wish, and the hidden bits that are going to destroy you can sometimes have a long tail. Patient, you know,” Gina said.
“So, is it you fucking people over or does it just happen?” Ashley asked.
“It’s totally me,” Gina said, not seeming fazed at all by the admission. “There are a few nice Djinni out there that play things straight, but I’m not one of them. I’m big-time power and an even bigger bitch.”
Well, at least she was honest about it. I suppose I’d prefer that to hidden consequences waiting to bite me.
“Any other ways?” I asked.
“Sucking up,” Gina said. “We had fun. That might give you a pass on a wish, if you strike me on a good day and in the right mood. Or it will make it extra funny for me when I crush your dreams and destroy everything you love. It’s pretty unreliable.”
“So, what possible use are you?” Walt asked.
“Did you miss the part about big-time power? I can do amazing things. Full on miracles,” Gina said.
“I kind of already have a Goddess,” I said.
“She pops in unannounced all the time,” Ashley added.
“It’s really annoying,” Walt said.
Yvera didn’t take the bait. Good.
“And how often have you seen them? Listen, Gods and Goddesses are feeding from a pool of faith. They can do some big-time things, but it takes a lot of work behind the scenes,” Gina said.
“And you are what, magic from nothing?” Walt asked. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Not from nothing, but what I do has a cost as well. I just spent awhile telling you about it,” Gina said. “Things balance out in the end and that makes it all good. You don’t have to make wishes, and if you are smart you’ll be cautious about it, but when you absolutely need something big and you can’t get it any other way, I’m your girl.”
I guessed that was fair. I wasn’t exactly about to go wishing for anything off-hand, but it was nice to know that we had the option.
“Well, you can get back on your way then and we’ll get back to looking for Mela,” I said.
“Almost destroyed the world Mela?” Gina asked, intrigued. “You are already way more interesting than Imais. I’m coming along.”
“No, you’re not. We only have so much water and supplies, and the carpet is already crowded,” Ashley said.
“I can take care of that. Just say the word,” Gina said, hopeful.
“We’ll pass on the wishing,” Walt said firmly.
Gina pouted. “Fine. No oceans then, or burying the entire desert beneath a carpet. Or a wet carpet! That would have been amazing. Everyone just suffocating away and unable to move.”
She was fitting the mold of most of my lovers so far. Creepy and scary. I wondered what I had done to have the game decide that this is how I needed to live my life. A part of me feared that it was karma and I was finding exactly what I deserved. What did that say about me, if so? I didn’t go out of my way to be the good guy, but I wasn’t going out of my way to be a bad guy either. That seemed like it should count for something.
Despite our protests Gina took a place on the carpet and after a bit of grumbling the rest of us did as well. Soon we were on our way. Hopefully the remainder of our trip would prove more uneventful. For all that finding hidden treasure was supposed to be a good thing, I wasn’t altogether certain we’d not doomed ourselves in a most terrible way.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
It was another day through the desert heat until we finally spied the landmarks that Aria had told me about back in the dungeons.
I had been worried about how to find the exact location, but as we got closer the metal gear marked on my hand began to pulse sending tiny waves of pleasure through me.
“My hand is happy,” I told the others.
“I do not want to know what you and Gina are doing with it,” Walt said.
“Hey,” Gina protested. “It’s not me he’s touching.”
I really wasn’t. That might be a bit of a surprise, but I found that after the palace I was simply exhausted. Whatever sex drive I had, it seemed it wasn’t an inexhaustible reserve. I’d had enough for the moment.
“It’s the key,” I said, not addressing their line of speculation. “I think we must be near.”
You couldn’t tell it. While mountains were visible in the distance the desert otherwise looked much like it had for the past several days.
“Let’s have a look around then,” Ashley said.
We disembarked from the carpet and I began to pace the sands. It took only a few minutes to find that the sensation of pleasure seemed faintly more intense in one direction.
“This way,” I told the others. Using the mark on my hand as something of a compass I began to guide the way, following that feeling of pleasure.
It was an odd way for magic to work, but I remembered that the palace did seem to have those two aspects. I had been bound by the pleasure aspect, while Walt and Ashley got the pain. Mela too must be in a similar sort of prison.
I led the way over the dune. On the other side we came upon what looked to be almost a road buried beneath the sand with smoothly polished stones underfoot.
“A river bed?” I asked the others.
Shrugs answered me. None of us were especially proficient in the outdoors.
Letting my hand guide the way we finally arrived at
a massive stone door that seemed to cut a dune into half. The surface was adorned with intricately carved gears.
“Pretty prison,” Ashley said.
“They don’t seem to do prisons like we’d expect,” I said. “The magic that held us was meant to be broken. Aria was the only cell I saw meant to hold someone against their will.”
“You hang around with Aria?” Gina said. “You shouldn’t. I’m scarily dangerous, but someone that knows that many secrets? You don’t want to be anywhere near her. Something terrible is always coming for that girl, and the last place in the world you want to be is between her and it.”
That made sense. Unfortunately we did have that agreement to always rescue her when she got into trouble. I didn’t intend to renege on that deal. Sure it was dangerous, but it was also a huge opportunity. It was amazing how much of my life lately revolved around thoughts like that, weighing danger against utility.
“Well, I guess we should get ready and open this thing up,” I said, gazing up at the doors. “We have no idea what’s waiting on the other side and so we should be ready.”
“Why are you planning on letting her loose?” Gina asked.
“We’ve got an undead army rampaging and kind of need a horde of murder bots to put them down,” Ashley said.
“Not to play Devil’s Advocate, but why would you do something like that? Gina asked. I started to speak and she waved me to silence with a sharp gesture. “Just hear my pitch. In her, you have a Goddess sealed away for almost destroying the entire world. A known threat to deal with a problem that possibly has no chance of destroying the world. Or is this army that big a threat?”
“It’s not,” I was forced to admit. “But it is pretty scary and bad for our Kingdom.”
“Bad for Liam,” Ashley said. “The guy in charge really just wants his daughter on the throne. Have that and it’s probably fine for Galea.”
