by Isaac Winter
I called to the others and they looked up from their respective tasks, waiting for the next stage of the plan.
"We need to leave this room and press on," I said, nodding toward the fountain. "I don't want to be around when this thing blows, do you?"
There was a murmur of agreement, and with careful steps we plodded over the kobold corpses and fallen weapons. Tris, Fel, and Mabel led the way, leaving me to bring up the rear. I surveyed the fallen bodies one more time, looking for anything we might have missed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shining metal sticking out from under a kobold's leg. Stooping low, I grabbed it and pulled it free. Might as well get something too, right? A souvenir?
> You have found: Kobold Scimitar.
Quality: Above Average.
Deals 9-12 damage.
Durability: 8/10.
Enchantment: Unknown.
Wow, my first enchanted weapon! Not bad, not bad at all. I secretly stuffed it in my pouch and hurried forward, leaping through the hole the kobolds carved out in the wall. This would just be my little secret until I had time to figure out more information about it.
The way forward was hardly an easy path. Even more littered with stones and what looked eerily like bones, we had to watch our footing each step of the way. I was lucky to have my Night Vision ability. The others weren't so lucky. After a time, I took point and made sure to point out the pitfalls ahead. I kept my eyes peeled for traps, but didn't see anymore. If this was a path well-traveled by kobold tribes, perhaps they wanted to avoid trapping themselves?
I tried to avoid thinking about their screams as they flinched and bled and died.
It didn't work very well.
I occupied my time by playing word games in my head. It was a trick I learned long ago at the Academy to keep an idle brain busy. And it kept me from thinking of more dire things, like the situation I was in right now.
A is for Attack.
B is for Blood.
C is for Crushing.
D is for Death.
No, this was all wrong...
"I hear something!" Mabel hissed, drawing me out of my thoughts. I stopped dead, straining to hear.
Footsteps.
"Do you think?" I whispered.
Mabel nodded and motioned for us to follow.
The warm flicker of flame danced off the walls ahead and around the corner. It was a welcome sight after being in total darkness for so long, but I had to squint to see. Another drawback of my race. Too much light at once, and I'd go sun-blind. I drew in a breath.
This was it.
No one spoke. We crept forward, weapons drawn, not knowing what to expect when we crossed the corner.
As I crossed the threshold, I caught a glimpse of shrouded figure for only a fraction of a second. I tried to call out, but with a flash of orange light, he was gone.
A piece of parchment fluttered to the ground in his wake.
We were too late.
"What is all this?" Tris asked, walking ahead of me and looking around.
"Don't touch anything," I warned, and surveyed the room for magic or traps. Couldn’t find any. It was a small, circular room, bored out over a long period of time if I had to guess. A desk and a flickering torch sat at one end of the room, with a row of bookshelves opposite. I felt immediately drawn to them. You can tell a lot about a person by what they keep on their bookshelves.
What I found even more interesting, though, was the fading runes right where the man had vanished.
They were nearly gone, seeping into the dirt like water, but I managed to read a few words before they dissolved completely:
Respelltis.
Escape.
"This is incredible," I heard Fel say as he pored over the bookshelves. "I've been looking for some of these tomes for years!"
"Is this really his hideout, then?" Mabel asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Sure looks like it."
"Bastard got away though." Tris frowned and kicked at a rock on the ground. "We were so close."
I tried to stay positive. "But hey, we know he exists now, right?"
"We knew that before." Tris rolled her eyes. "And how do we know if that was really him?"
"The runes," Mabel and I said in unison and our eyes met.
"It was him," I said. "I'm sure of it."
"Well, he's gone now," Tris sighed. "All this way for nothing."
"It's not for nothing," I reminded her. "Look at all these books! I'm sure there's all kinds of knowledge in there for both Fel and I to look through. And it looks like there's a chest over there..." I nodded toward a dark corner and her eyes lit up.
"He appears to have left a note." Mabel pointed at the center of the room where the man had disappeared.
I stepped forward and picked it up.
I wished I hadn't.
> So you found me. Two can play at this game. What about it, Winston? Let's go to the next level. We've much to discuss...
Winston.
It said my name. My real name.
That meant...
He was here.
I gulped at looked at the party, still reading or looting or resting. I looked at the note again. For a moment, I considered sharing it with Mabel. She would understand, right?
But the note had been addressed to me. No one else. I felt the same pull as I had my first night here. The pull that made me think there was more to the story. That there was more to my story. I flipped over the paper, and there it was.
One shining, orange rune. I knew immediately what it said.
Graeltis Egra.
Take me there.
The parchment grew hot beneath my fingertips, a low sort of buzzing sound shaking the walls as I looked around in alarm.
I tried to drop the paper and realized I couldn't. By what I wasn't sure, but it was stuck. Magic super glue, for all I knew.
The others looked at me with alarm, but I already felt myself fading away. Curtains of black edged themselves over my vision, I felt like I was floating, then spinning, then nothing.
I was gone.
20
I caught my breath and looked around, still clutching the note in my palm. I couldn't see anything but white. Pure white.
I took a step forward. Then another. Whatever I was standing on, at least it was solid.
"Tris?" I called out to the void. "Fel? Mabel?"
No response.
I spun around, looking for any signs of life, of movement. Nothing.
I was alone.
> New Area Unlocked: Author's Quarters.
A chill ran down my spine. Did that mean...?
"Hello, Winston." A familiar voice came from behind me. "Or should I say, Cael?"
I turned, knowing who I'd see. I needed the proof, though. I needed to see it with my own eyes.
Crane.
Tobias Crane.
Alias: The Author
Level: ???
It was true. It was all true. He was here. He was The Author.
He stole us away.
I grit my teeth and stared at him. He looked different than the last time I saw him. A hood hung over his face similar to my own, and the darkness beneath the hood chilled me to my core. What had this place done to him?
"Welcome to my little experiment," He said, waving an arm. At his command, splashes of color appeared in wide swaths, painting strokes of blue and green. Color spilled across the blank canvas, flowing from his hand to the ground beneath my feet and beyond.
My mouth sagged as I watched the world fade back into view. But wait...was this the 'real' world? Or was I just in his imagination?
"What did you do to me?" I said finally. My hands balled into fists and shook as I stared at him.
"Why, I wanted to see you again, that's all. I already had a chat with Mabel, you know. She's been most helpful."
I stopped cold. Mabel? She was in on it the whole time? "You're bluffing." I tried to keep my voice steady, but a small quiver gave way at the end.
"What reason would I have to do th
at, Cael?" Another flick of his wrist, and two chairs appeared beside us. "Please, take a seat."
I narrowed my eyes. "I'd rather stand."
Crane's lips twitched up, and he flicked his wrist again. "It wasn't a request."
The chair flew forward and hit me right in the back of the knees. I yelped as my legs buckled and I fell heavily into the chair.
> New Status: Paralyzed for the next 7 minutes.
My mind raced with alarm as I tried to move my arms, my legs, my face. Nothing. I was frozen. I could only scream silently as Crane approached, steepling his fingers as he observed me.
"You've done well for a new Traveler. But God, you were an idiot at first, weren't you?"
I could do nothing but sit there and watch as he continued.
"Did you think you ran into Tris by chance? Do you think anything that happened to you was really of your own doing?"
My heart thrummed in my chest as I sat frozen in the chair. This couldn't be happening! Everything that had happened to me...everyone I'd met....all the memories I'd made....
They were just fake?
"Yes, yes," Crane said, as if he'd been reading my mind. "I suppose you thought yourself rather clever. Now tell me, Cael. Would you like to help me?"
My lip curled at his casual tone of voice. "I'm not helping you with anything. What do you think you're doing here, anyway? Yanking us all away like that?"
Crane gave a simple smile, as if it were obvious. "Playing God."
I've never wanted to punch anyone so badly. "That's not right!" I yelled. "You're kidnapping people to your freak-o fantasy world!"
"Kidnap?" Crane put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Oh, no. While I may control a lot of things here, you all came of your own accord. I simply...helped pave the way."
I ground my teeth. "I didn't choose this."
"Didn't you?" He asked, his grin turning vicious. "Perhaps you remember this?"
A piece of parchment appeared, only inches before my face. It bore a very familiar signature:
Would you like to see what I have seen?
Yes.
That was my messy scrawl, all right. He snapped the parchment away, rolling it up and stuffing it within his robes. "You signed the contract. That means you agreed."
"That's hardly fair!" I blurted. "I didn't know what I was getting into!"
Crane shrugged. "Not my problem. Now if you're done having a temper tantrum, I need to talk to you. As much as you may want to gnash your teeth and entertain fantasies of stabbing me while I sleep, I did have a reason for bringing you here. And it wasn't just for a bit of fun, either. I need you, Winston. And I need Cael, too. Both of you. Mabel too. I'm collecting a team, you see. All the best and brightest. You should be honored."
Man, a year had really changed him. Last time we spoke, he was a little eccentric, but not malicious. Not like this.
"And just what, pray tell, is this team supposed to help you do?" I spat in his direction, but my mouth was so dry, it didn't do much good.
"Escape this world. Go back home. Isn't that what you want?"
I blinked. Well, that was unexpected. I was expecting some evil plot like in the movies. Go home? That was it?
"Why can't you go home yourself? Why do you need us?"
"In my time here, I've learned a lot about how this world works. Built a lot of it myself, you know. But there were a few rules of nature I couldn't change. And one of those has to do with the transfer of energy in and out of the Veil."
I sat still, waiting for Crane to explain. I still couldn't move my arms or legs, but at least I could breathe and speak. The pressure on my body had lessened slightly; I could wiggle my toes and stretch my back, but I still wasn't going anywhere. I was a captive audience, both literally and figuratively.
"When you came into this world, you saw a message about a new Traveler in the Veil, correct?"
I tried to remember way back then. It seemed like forever, but in reality it was only...what, a few days? Time flies.
"Yeah, I think I remember."
"Well you see, with your arrival, you brought with you a large amount of energy. People give off a lot of it, you know. And a new body in the world offsets the delicate balance of things here in the Veil. We have to keep the energy levels stable, else all kinds of weird stuff starts happening. Ask me how I know."
I didn't want to, but what else was I going to do?
"When I first came here, it really threw things out of whack. It wasn't until I got the hang of this creation thing that I was able to get things under control. Really, you came at a beautiful time in the Veil. I hear the Flower Festival is starting up soon. Lovely parade, and the delicacies...!"
I cocked my head. Even in the Veil, he made a habit of wandering off into unrelated conversations. "The energy balance," I prompted, trying to stay patient.
"Ah, yes," He said, pacing back toward me. Crane held out a finger and wrote some numbers and letters in glowing orange script. They floated in midair in front of us like fiery fingerpaint. "Now as you see," He said, pointing to the left side of the equation, "This number refers to the energy output of all the things in the Veil as it is now. And this number," He gestured to the other side, "Is the energy upkeep. What it takes to keep everything up, running, and alive." He saw me staring and added, "Yes, even you."
"So you see," He continued, "The amount that comes in and the amount that goes out must balance. Otherwise, the monsters start going off-script, the weather gets all freaky, the maps change themselves without telling anyone...it's a mess, basically."
"But what do we have to do with any of this?" I asked, still not sure I understood.
"That's just it!" Crane exclaimed excitedly, drawing another diagram. There was the old Crane I knew. Always excited about a new prospect, a new idea. Always writing notes and ideas and equations wherever he could find the space. From napkins to old business cards to even a folded bit of toilet paper once, I'd seen it all. His new diagram involved a stick figure of a person with an arrow leading toward a sphere with several landmasses dotting the globe -- Earth.
"In order to send people back, we need to bring more energy in. It's a give-and-take, you see? And by bringing you all here, we've created a surplus. Sure, things will get a little wonky, but we'll be able to send someone back. Isn't that great?" He grinned with a wild expression and nodded at me expectantly. Even in the Veil, where he had all the power one could imagine, he still wanted to chase the next big theory.
I squirmed in the chair, trying to get a bit more movement back into my limbs. The effects were fading, but slowly. "Come on, man, let me go," I growled. "It's not like I've got anywhere to go! You've got my attention, okay?"
"Are you finished?" Crane sniffed, giving no notice to my request.
I took a deep breath in, then back out slowly. Getting angry wouldn't help here. But god, I wanted to throttle him.
"Let me get this straight," I said finally. "You brought us here, you trapped us here...just so you could go home yourself?" The implications were maddening, and sparks of anger lodged in my chest and gut the more I thought about it. This wasn't right!
Crane shrugged. "Well, it's not like I have to kill you or anything. And you can do the same thing, you know."
I wrenched forward, breaking free as the paralysis spell expired. We collided, the air whooshing out of Crane as we tumbled to the ground. He flailed about, arms windmilling as he tried to find purchase. I wouldn't let him. I reared back and punched, my fist making a solid impact with his face. I grabbed his head in both my hands and slammed it into the ground, shaking as I did so. A wild fury came over me and I couldn't stop it. Couldn't control it. I just wanted to make him pay.
"You're a fucking monster!" I spat. "You can't just use people like that! We're not disposable, and we're not your playthings! What's to stop me from killing you, right here and now, huh? Let's see how much 'energy' that gives off. Maybe I'll be the one going home. Maybe I'll bring an army with me. Maybe we'll fucking
destroy you."
I thought Crane would be scared. Hell, I would be. Instead, he laughed. Laughed!
The cackling filled my ears and drove me even more mad. He was mocking me! I growled and reared back to punch him again. Suddenly, I felt a spike of pain in my back. Crane had wrested a hand free and stabbed me in the back! Literally!
"If you want to go home so bad...so be it. You really just needed to ask." Crane smiled evilly beneath me. This couldn't end well.
The searing hot pain flowed through me, and my vision grew hazy. Spots danced in my vision, and I thought I could see the outline of the all-too-familiar runes covering Crane's body. But then again, I was probably hallucinating at that point. I tried to scream, but no sounds came out. I saw my hands disintegrating into dust, my legs, my face. Flaps of skin sloughed away and I could do nothing but watch. A final batch of notifications floated in front of me before I lost it:
> Runic Conversion Process: Initiating...
> Please Wait...
> Transdermal stimulation interruption in 3...2...1...
I awoke with a gasp, my whole body screaming in pain. When I opened my eyes, I saw the star charts plastered to my ceiling. I heard the quiet patter of rain outside. I felt the once-familiar texture of the carpet beneath me.
I was in my living room, with the book sprawled next to me. Blank as any other.
I was home.
Goddammit.
21
Seeker's Log, Day 1.
This one goes out to you, Crane. I may be back in the 'real world', but don't think that's going to stop me. You thought you could get rid of me just like that?
Well, you were wrong.
Now that I'm back, I'm going to go public. I'm going to tell everyone at the Academy what really happened. They'll know the truth. I'm going to gather my forces, just like I promised. And we're coming back, to take what you stole from us.
A reckoning is coming. One where the very fate of our souls will be at stake.
