Relics

by K. T. Tomb

  “I have to insist that we get moving,” Simon pleaded. “We have no idea where we are and if Phoe is right, then we will have to have our guard up, no matter where we go.”

  Phoe looked up at the hole they fell through. “I agree with Simon. Though I am a little curious as to why no one has called down to us to see if we are alright.”

  ***

  After everyone made it safely to the alcove, Peter noticed a small hole in the back wall. “Hey, everybody. I think I’ve found the source of the blue light.” A bright blue light shone through the hole and practically lit up the entire area they had dropped into.

  Simon pushed through the wall. It was brittle and fell to pieces. Phoe gave him a look of caution. “No offense, Simon, but I’m better at the fieldwork. I wouldn’t—”

  Two of the assassins acted before Phoe could finish her statement. They pushed through the wall into an alcove that looked like a mirror image of the one they were in. Phoe managed to get her arm up, stopping the others.

  All anyone could do was look on in horror as something impossibly huge rose from the depths of the water where the two assassins entered the adjoining alcove. It was humanoid in appearance, but the features were twisted and grotesque, as if it had been badly burned or somehow had its skin melted. It stood with the water line reaching its waist.

  The creature’s crooked mouth opened. Mucus and blood dripped into the water from its gaping jaws. The two assassins froze in terror as the creature leaned over and totally engulfed one of them with its mouth. It started to chew as the sound of bones being crunched echoed throughout the underground cavern. Blood spewed from its mouth as it grabbed the other assassin with its deformed hand and proceeded to slam the assassin again and again onto the ground of the alcove. Blood sprayed toward the others with each slam. After the creature was satisfied with its conquest, it gurgled up something similar to a laugh and started to walk away in the opposite direction.

  Phoe, Peter, Simon, and the remaining two assassins stood for several moments, not knowing what to expect next. Phoe crouched down near the water line on her side of the wall and proceeded to wash off the blood that had sprayed on her.

  “Phoe?” Simon asked with astonishment. “I understand that you are accustomed to things in the field, as you previously stated, but I would classify this as something I would never expect to see in my lifetime.”

  Phoe continued to clean off the blood on her arms. “I agree,” she said nonchalantly. “In fact, it’s seriously creeping me out. I figure I can do one of two things. I can scream like a little girl and run in the other direction from the big bad monster, or I can suck it up and prepare to kick its ass. With a little help from my friends, of course.”

  One of the remaining assassins approached Phoe. “You act like you know what that was.”

  “Don’t you?” she replied with a condescending tone in her voice. “That, my dear friend, is Grendel.”

  “Grendel?” Peter added. “As in Beowulf’s Grendel?”

  Phoe nodded. “Remember, we’re somehow inside of Kadan’s game. I don’t know a lot about gaming, but I do know two things. I believe that we need to finish this game, if we are ever to see the real sun again, and I also believe that if we die in here, it’s for keeps.”

  ***

  Jonathan had just finished getting rid of his lunch in a nearby trash can when he turned and said, “Kadan. I think you need to watch your game for a while.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Phoe walked over to the two assassins left in their group. “Before we continue on our suicide mission, I need you to come clean. Did the Armettes hire you to kidnap Kadan Alexander?”

  The two men looked nervously at each other. One of them spoke up. “Yes. We were hired to kill everyone with him when we found him. There were different factions assigned to various locations seeking him out. We weren’t involved with the Sweden faction, as you already know. We heard about what happened, though.”

  “Is this a trap?” Phoe queried. “Are you going to kill us when we’re not looking?”

  “No,” the assassin answered. “We had no idea that we were going to be inserted into the game. After what I saw that creature do, employer loyalty is out the window. It’s more than obvious that we’re expendable. Symone and Hamilton wanted Kadan kidnapped so that they would have control over the game. It was also just in case they needed to fix something or make improvements.”

  Simon tried in vain to hide his embarrassment. “And I thought she just wanted me for my money. Ha!”

  All of a sudden, an intense pain surged through Phoe’s, Peter’s, and Simon’s abdomens causing all three of them to double over. The assassins stood in shock as they both started to disintegrate into thin air. The procedure seemed to be painless, but the look of horror and confusion on the two men’s faces as they disappeared from existence would forever be etched into the memories of the remaining adventurers.

  ***

  Kadan and Jonathan stood silent as they stared at the monitor that showed them the continuing events within the game. Kadan looked as if he had just had his heart ripped out by a trusted ally.

  Jonathan put a reassuring hand on Kadan’s shoulder. “The price of genius. I just want to know two things. Why did those guys disappear? And what’s wrong with Phoe, Peter, and my father?”

  Kadan tried to collect his thoughts. “It’s the game. It’s the first time any humans have ever been this far into a computer. In real life, anyway. It’s almost like getting the bends while your body adjusts to the pressure of surfacing too fast from incredible underwater depths. Same thing. The bad thing is that it appears the people with weaker minds succumb to a more consuming effect than those with stronger minds. I need to get back to the virus. If I don’t stop the world’s hackers from figuring out the game, then nothing will matter anymore. We have about an hour and a half before all hell breaks loose. If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay focused on that.”

  Jonathan nodded. “What can I do in the meantime? I feel helpless just watching all of this going on.”

  Kadan pointed to the game’s manual. “Look up the section on cheats. There might be a way to help Thalia and the others. I wouldn’t worry too much about her, though. She has an ace up her sleeve.” Kadan forced a smile.

  ***

  “What the hell was that?” Peter yelled, as his abdominal pain subsided. “Those men just… I mean… what the hell?”

  Phoe stretched and looked into the cavern where the creature had been seen. She saw something shimmering at the opposite end of the water. It was almost like a wavering curtain hiding something either valuable or terrible. She pointed to the shimmering curtain. “Look. That’s where we have to go. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “You just might do that,” Simon added. “I have to agree, though. We can’t stand here and wonder about what’s happening. We have to make things happen. Off we go. Let’s try not to get eaten.”

  The trio walked cautiously into the adjoining alcove. Phoe grimaced as she stepped into some blood. She looked carefully into the water and could see nothing that might eat her or anyone in her group. “Okay. Good luck everyone.” She slowly entered the water in an effort to cause as little disturbance as possible. She didn’t want to shake the web and watch the spider come out to play.

  Once she was treading water, she tried not to breathe as Peter and Simon entered in the same manner. They then proceeded to swim toward the unknown.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The trio got to the edge of the shimmering curtain.

  There was what appeared to be a beach that extended out about five feet from it. Simon got out onto dry land and started to stomp on the sand to make sure it wasn’t a trap of some kind. He nodded as Phoe and Peter got out of the water as well. At closer inspection, it looked like it was a curtain made of air. It was too blurry to see through, so Phoe took a deep breath and walked right through to the other side. Once she disappeared from view, Peter, then Simon followed suit.


  When Simon walked through, his mouth dropped and his eyes widened at what he saw.

  As far as they could see, gold coins not only covered the entire floor, but there were ten- to twenty-foot piles of coins placed every few yards. There was no pattern to the placement of the piles. It looked as if whoever had all that gold, just didn’t have enough room and threw them anywhere they could. The cavern ceiling was easily 200 feet high. At closer inspection, there were also various metal weapons, shields, and pieces of armor scattered among the coins.

  “Now it’s a damn video game!” Peter exclaimed.

  “What now?” Simon asked Phoe.

  Phoe looked disgusted. “Why do I always have to have the answers? What am I, the encyclopedia of shit that isn’t supposed to exist?”

  A loud gurgling, grotesque, yet familiar, sound came from deeper in the cavern.

  Peter looked optimistically toward the noise. “Okay. Who wants Grendel? Any takers?”

  Phoe the saw wisdom in Peter’s statement. “He’s right. One of us has to take on Grendel.”

  Simon laughed nervously. “You’re not serious. Tell me you’re not serious.”

  “Think about it, Simon,” Phoe replied. “We have no idea if there’s anything after Grendel. If we’re going by the poem, then we will probably be fighting Grendel, his mother, and a dragon.”

  “Three of them. Three of us,” Peter said. He was no longer optimistic.

  “I’ll take Grendel,” Simon said, with an almost heroic tone in his voice.

  “Look around for a weapon or something that can help you,” Phoe said. “You don’t want to go hand to hand with that thing. I figure it to be about thirty feet tall… give or take.”

  Simon smiled. “How many people get to say they have died fighting the Grendel?”

  “No one,” Peter added. “All of the people who have fought him so far are all dead.”

  Simon lost his smile. “I’ll distract him while you two get past him to whatever other lovelies await.”

  Simon looked around the floor and saw an old sword with a shield lying beside it. “Just my size. Just in case I don’t make it… it has been an honor and a pleasure to be acquainted with both of you. If anyone makes it out alive, talk to Jonathan. He will take care of you.”

  Phoe had a knowing smile. “I don’t need any help, but thank you.”

  “Did you sell the Head of Olmec?” Peter asked suddenly. “I would have bought it back from you.”

  “No,” Phoe said calmly. “I didn’t need to sell Olmec. I sold something else. I gave the Head of Olmec away.”

  Simon was disgusted. “If we can stop figuring out who will die with the most toys, I have a Grendel to destroy.” He picked up the shield and ran his arm through the strap. He then picked up the sword. “If anyone sees any headgear, let me know.”

  Simon walked around one of the piles of gold as Peter and Phoe followed from behind. The gurgling became louder and louder, until the disfigured head of Grendel leaned over the closest pile of gold near the trio. “Go! Now!” Simon ordered.

  Phoe and Peter tried to run around the side of Grendel, but he was quicker than either of them imagined. With one backhanded swat of his huge, twisted appendage, Grendel slammed into Phoe, sufficiently knocking her several yards away. She tenderly felt bruised ribs and her lip was bleeding. Peter ran to her aid as she struggled to get up.

  Grendel moved with an impossible speed as he dove for Phoe to finish her off. Phoe screamed as Simon barreled into the monster with both feet. He managed to sway Grendel’s course away from Phoe and into a pile of coins. Peter helped her up as Grendel turned his attention to the defiant Simon, who was holding the sword like a baseball bat ready to strike. “Eat this, asshole!” Simon swung with all of his strength as the sword sunk into one of Grendel’s thighs. The monster let out an inhuman shriek as Peter and Phoe took one last look, then moved on.

  ***

  “Dad!” yelled a frustrated Jonathan. “Shit!” He thumbed quickly through the game manual and finally got to the page he needed. “Alright, monster. Your days are over!”

  Kadan smiled as he overheard Jonathan’s battle cry. He continued his mission to get the virus taken care of. He knew that his job was never more important than at that moment. Everyone in the world counted on him and they didn’t even know it.

  ***

  Phoe gritted her teeth as she and Peter ran forward and closer to who-knew-what. Peter helped her, but she wouldn’t quit. She never did. That was one of the things that he loved about her.

  After making it around many more piles of gold, the area started to feel warmer. Phoe looked at Peter. “I think I’m up next.”

  “Why don’t I get Grendel’s mother?” he whined.

  “Because she wants me,” replied Phoe.

  The heat in the area increased rapidly all at once as Phoe pushed Peter down. A swirling flame came out of nowhere and singed Phoe’s legs, just as she jumped out of the way. “Shit, that hurts like hell!” she exclaimed, as Peter picked up a large shield from the coin-riddled floor.

  “Hey, idiot!” Peter yelled, to distract whatever it was away from Phoe. Actually, he knew what it was. He hoped he was wrong, but he wasn’t.

  The sound of powerful wings flapping was heard just overhead as coins were being blown around. Phoe and Peter had a hard time standing in the wind generated from the wings. He looked at Phoe as if it would be his last time. He wanted to say so much to her, but only had time for four words. “I love you, Phoe.”

  With that said, a pillar of fire separated Phoe from Peter. Peter looked up to see the mouth of a dragon open and fire shoot out of it. He managed to get the shield up just in time as the flames hit it with the force of a hundred fire hoses going off at once. Peter was knocked back into a pile of gold, but the shield took the brunt of the attack. When he realized he wasn’t dead, Peter started laughing hysterically.

  ***

  “Eat it, Grendel!” Jonathan yelled, as if he were actually playing and winning against a video game.

  Kadan didn’t want to worry Jonathan. He only had forty-five minutes remaining before hackers from all over the world received their pirated copies of The Lair Of Beowulf video game. It wouldn’t be long after that time, the hackers would figure out what to do with it. Kadan was sweating; he knew time was not on his side. He had two hours of programming to do in less than an hour. He didn’t want to ruin Jonathan’s day any further. After all, if he and Phoe failed, they would be able to play the game for as long as they lived. That wouldn’t be long at all.

  ***

  Phoe’s legs were barely burned, but it still hurt. Every time she breathed, her ribs hurt too. She had a job to do and even if it was her final adventure, she had to finish it.

  The sound of a woman’s laughter echoed all around her, as if it came from everywhere in the cavern at once. She braced herself as she noticed different weapons to choose from lying all around her on the floor. She chose to use what she brought with her. Nothing.

  “Thalia Phoenix!” The words hit her from every angle. She had no idea of the point of origin.

  “Come on out… Symone!” Phoe said confidently.

  Before Phoe could react, something long and wiry wrapped around her leg, picked her up with ease and tossed her into a pile of coins just as easily. Once she hit the coins, she was attacked so fast that it looked like a blur to her. She felt a barrage of fists hitting her. She had no chance to fight back. She was being beaten to death.

  ***

  As quick as Grendel was, Simon was that much faster. He easily predicted the monster’s moves once he saw the pattern. He also noticed one other thing. It appeared that Grendel was inebriated.

  Simon knew it for sure when the monster’s mouth got too close to him at one point. He smelled blood and alcohol, which almost made him vomit. Simon was slowly gaining control. Grendel had grazed Simon a few times on the left arm and right leg, but he really couldn’t get ahold of the billionaire.

  Simon
waited for the creature to lunge. Then, he dodged and swung the sword down on whatever body part was available. Simon started to tire each time he dodged and especially each time he swung the sword. The monster seemed to be tireless as he swung his arms and continually bit at Simon.

  After one attempt from Grendel, Simon dodged the attack, but was completely unprepared for an immediate follow-up strike. The monster’s punch fully connected with Simon’s body. He heard bones crack as he flew backward against a hill of coins. By some miracle, even though Simon lost his grip on the sword and shield, the sword was still within a foot of his reach. He made sure that nothing but death would separate him from the only thing that had kept him alive so far.

  Simon tried to move his right arm and nearly cried out when he realized that it was broken. The sword was near his right hand and Grendel was on the move again. The monster appeared to smile as he ran toward Simon one last time.

  Simon gritted his teeth and knew what he had to do. Grendel leapt up and angled himself so that he would land right on top of Simon. His only thoughts were of Jonathan; he didn’t think he would ever see his son again. That was all he needed as he saw the giant, disfigured monstrosity arching toward him. He didn’t want that to be the last thing he ever saw. Without looking at the sword, Simon moved his right hand as quickly as he could toward it.

  Grendel let out a triumphant gurgling yell as Simon tried to reach for the sword. Simon screamed from the pain as his right hand grabbed hold of the weapon’s hilt. He rolled slightly and used his left hand to assist the right.

  He was holding the sword in both hands again. In spite of the searing pain, he pushed himself up a little further with his feet to position himself for what he had planned.

  Grendel couldn’t stop his descent, and Simon yelled again in pain as he timed his roll perfectly. He rolled over with the sword up in the air. With all of his effort and all of his strength, Simon Kessler sliced through Grendel’s neck. He managed to roll clear as the monster’s head and body hit the ground in two different places. Simon started to laugh despite the tremendous pain he was in.