by KJ Harlow
“Thank you.” Cal stepped out and stretched. He cricked his neck and reached towards the sinking wind moon. Man it was good to be free.
“My weapon. Now.” Kai had his hand out at Col.
“That wasn’t part of the–”
Kai lunged at Col and a dozen swords were drawn.
“Kai!” Cal yelled. He strode over to him, grabbed him by his furred shoulder and yanked him away.
Col straightened his chain mail. “We can end your life right here, right now.” Kai leered at the soldier but said nothing more. They put their arms behind their backs, had them bound with wiry, rough rope and continued walking towards the capital of Dresham.
Cal finished allocating his points. He flicked open his screen, sliding across to Kai’s. Good, his points were allocated too. He hadn’t spent the entire time raging at the soldiers.
NAME: Callahan Rogers
AGE: 29 (Earth)
CLASS: Orc Fighter
LVL: 28
HP: 295/295
MP: 397/397
AFF: Earth (x1)
STR: 70+9%+50%
DEF: 70+5%
AGL: 74+11%
INT: 87+3%
ABILITY: Examine, Verdant Whisper
SKILL:
Earth Wall – Level 9 – Next Level in 35%
Earthquake – Level 7 – Next Level in 18%
WEAPON: Axe – Level D – Next Level in 45%
He was a bit bummed that his Skills didn’t level up, but he hadn’t really used them to disable the sentries at the exit to the Gale Cliffs. More grinding and bad guys needed, stat. He scanned through Kai’s stat page:
NAME: Kai
AGE: 48 (Terrafaytum)
CLASS: Werejaguar Warrior
LVL: 29
HP: 288/288
MP: 241/241
AFF: Fire (x15)
STR: 84+8%
DEF: 77+10%
AGL: 81+4%
INT: 69+11%
ABILITY: Examine
SKILL:
Flaming Spear – Level 11 – Next Level in 94%
Fireball – Level 5 – Next Level in 20%
WEAPON: Lance/Spear – Level D – Next Level in 43%
“You should really put more points into Intelligence,” Cal murmured. “You’re using Flaming Spear and Fireball more and more.” Kai didn’t say anything, staring ahead.
He was probably angry with Cal for getting him into this situation. Someone like him most likely had never been captured and bound before. Plus, he didn’t have his spear. He clung onto that thing as if it was his lifeline.
“Col.”
The soldier at the front of the group turned his head slightly but didn’t respond.
“Supreme Commander Col.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“How do you like being trapped in ValorVale?”
He stopped walking for a moment and everyone else stopped too. He lifted his boot, flicked some mud off and kept walking.
“That was the reason I wanted to find Fetter in the first place,” Cal continued. “I met one of your comrades, Hector and he was all like, ‘hail King Fetter!’ Before I beheaded him.”
“Hector’s a pussy.” Col spat into the mud. “He doesn’t deserve to be commander.” Looked like he had touched a nerve.
“I seriously thought you were commander.” Cal turned around and looked at Parsh. “You’ve got the stronger eryn after all.” Parsh stared listlessly at Cal.
“How the hell did you get stuck in the game anyway?” Col asked. Good, he was dropping his guard.
“Same way you did. I was playing then the ‘Exit’ button grayed out. I got a prompt saying I couldn’t participate in some ‘Battle of Urath’. Guess I missed out, huh?”
Col didn’t say anything.
They continued walking. In the distance, Cal could start making out a castle a few hundred yards away. At its front was a dark, round fortress with a drawbridge at the front. Hyten was directly behind the castle, mostly obscured by the wide turrets that charged into the clouds.
“Do you think Fetter’s going to promote us this time, Col?” Cal twisted around and looked at Susanna to his left. This earnt him a reprimand in the form of an eryn blade slapping across the left side of his face.
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Col responded curtly. Susanna shut up and looked down.
“You don’t look like much of a gamer, Susannah,” Cal said. She threw a shy glance up at Cal.
“I… the headset was my brother’s. I played it when he went out to work.” She smiled at him, her brown bangs partially covering her eyes.
“Must have been scary realising you were trapped in ValorVale.”
She shook her head. “At the start, yeah. It all feels so real you know. Then I–”
“Shut up Suse,” Col snapped.
“Dude, what’s your problem?” Cal snapped. “You’re no bigger than us. You’re just some guy who got stuck in the game like the rest of us.”
The party stopped again. Col’s hand hovered at his waist where his sword was holstered. “The Battle of Urath sucked me in. Sucked all of us in.” Cal looked around at the other soldiers. They either around or were looking down at their feet. “‘In exchange for epic loot, fight for a kingdom of your choice! Raise a winged defender to fight for you!’” Col scoffed. “Sounded good at the time. Should have read the fine print.”
“So you guys chose to fight for Fetter then.”
“Worst decision of my life.”
“Yeah I’ll say.”
Cal blinked and looked up. Fortress-like walls were built up 40-feet high. Water gurgled and rushed in a long moat that extend around the walls.
“State your name.”
A guard posted at the top of one of the fortress walls yelled out to the party.
“Colin Greaves, Sub-Commander to Lord King Fetter’s army.” His mouth twisted as if he mashed a piece of dog shit against his teeth. “I bring prisoners. An orc and a werejaguar.”
The guard disappeared for a moment. His head popped back up half a minute later. “You may proceed.”
The drawbridge clunked and lowered, kicking up a puff of dust as it landed on the dry earth. The party walked over the moat, multiple feet clopping on the wood.
Thaylia City
More guards were there to meet Col and company, searching each individual before allowing them to proceed.
“This isn’t the orc that…”
Col nodded. “Yeah, the same one.”
The guard finished frisking him and turned to Cal. He had a complicated expression on his face, as if he felt for Cal but wanted him to suffer at the same time.
“Welcome to Thaylia City.”
Thaylia City was at least three times larger than Bracewell. Buildings with thatched roofs sat unoccupied, their windows darkened or boarded up. Every fourth or fifth house had been left with just the blackened frame standing, completely stripped of bricks and walls. Old dressers and cabinets stood open and forlorn, raided empty.
Wind whistled through the winding streets, sending a chill prickling down Cal’s spine. He thought he could hear moans intermingled with it. He turned to look a window to his left. Strange, he could have sworn that he saw a pale face from the corner of his eye.
Rats the size of labradors scampered from house to house. One stood in the middle of the path for a second, its whiskers twitching as it tasted the air. That was all it took for Col to skewer it. It screeched, flailed and died painfully.
“What’s happened?” Cal asked, mouth agape. “Why is Thaylia like this?”
Col smirked. “Our fair king is why.”
“Where are all the people?”
“They’re here somewhere.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, not really my problem.”
A young woman no older than 17 or 18 stepped out from a house that still had four walls. She grasped one arm and slipped on the cobblestones, bruising her face. She turned and looked at the party. Her baggy, faded dress couldn’t hi
de the large bump over her abdomen.
“What are you doing?” Cal said, taking a step forward. “Help her!”
“Relax dude,” Col said. “She’s just an NPC.”
Cal somehow managed to escape the clutches of the soldiers and eryn and bounded across to the young woman. He scraped his knees on the cold, wet stone.
“Hey are you–”
“Aaargh!” The woman screamed. She bolted up and pushed herself back. “Orc!” She got up, slipped and ran away. Cal stared after her then felt a gauntleted hand slap onto his shoulder followed by a kick behind his left knee. Parsh’s sword rested on the same shoulder an inch from his neck.
“Why do you care so much?” Col asked. He walked around, bent down and stared at Cal. “They’re NPCs. Non. Playable. Characters. Made of 0s and 1s.”
“Isn’t that what we are now too? Just lines of code in a game?” Cal looked up at Col. “This is all VR, I get it, but it’s a reality I chose to accept. Sounds like you haven’t yet.”
Col put his hands on his hips and stood up straight. “I’m never going to accept this as my reality.”
“Oh and was your life so much greater in real life then?”
Col glared at Cal then smirked. “Why am I even bothering talking to you.” He turned around. “Come on it’s not much–”
He stood there, arms hanging by his side. Parsh shoved Cal back to where Kai was.
“Colin?” She walked around and looked at his face. Her eyes went wide.
“Lightblades!” She drew her sword and buckler just as Col crumpled to the ground. He twisted awkwardly and fell onto his side. A knife stuck out of his neck right in the middle of his jugular. There was a flash in the air and the knife flew out, back into the darkness. Blood spurted out of his neck and he gulped like a fish out of water, clawing at the remnants of his life.
More blades flew out: from the roofs, out of windows, between buildings. The soldiers panicked and drew their swords, slashing wildly at the air. One by one they crumpled to the ground, gurgling as knives either stuck out of their throats or eyes. Flashes of light as fine as fishing line cut through the air and blood sprayed out of necks. It took those soldiers several seconds before they realized that they had just been beheaded. The eryn were completely disoriented, turning this way to look for an invisible enemy.
Kai spun around wildly. “Who’s throwing those knives?”
Cal’s heart thudded in his chest. Blood trickled between the cobblestones, creating a rune traced in scarlet. Then the inevitable happened: the soldiers started respawning. Light surrounded the beings lying on the ground, their bodies exploding in a small puff of light that streaked up towards the heavens. Parsh turned around and sheathed her sword. She stared at Cal, looking like she was about to say something. Light surrounded her and she looked skyward before disappearing.
Where there had been panicked cries and suppressed death gurgles there was now a heavy veil of silence. The shadows ahead shifted and someone materialized. His dark gray bandana was neatly tied on his head and wrapped around to also cover his nose and mouth. He moved with a litheness that matched his lean frame, his steps making no sound on the cobblestones. Cal wasn’t sure if his feet were touching the ground at all.
He seemed relaxed and ready to strike at the same time, a right hand hovering over a squarish satchel on his right side.
“Examine,” Cal whispered.
“Don’t bother – my name’s Cist.” His voice was deep but light, like a moonbeam cutting through air-borne dust.
NAME: Cist
CLASS: Lightblade Assassin
LVL: 53
HP: 605/605
MP: 666/666
“Are you sure that’s wise, boss?”
There was more shifting in the shadows before another assassin emerged. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded them. Kai growled then stopped. He brought his hands to his front and spun around. No one was there. Cal’s bindings had also been cut. He rubbed his wrists and looked up at Cist.
“Why didn’t you kill us too?”
“The enemy of our enemy is our friend.”
Cal raised an eyebrow. “We aren’t enemies to Fetter.”
Cist remained relaxed. “Then why were you brought into Thaylia in bindings?”
Cal stared at Cist, not sure of what to say. Being in his presence was a lot like facing C. He knew Cist could easily kill him, as he just witnessed with the Dresham soldiers, so there wasn’t much point trying to fight them. Ironically, this made him feel braver; if he was going to die, then he might as well do it not pissing his pants.
“Do you know who else is an enemy to Fetter?” Cal asked slowly. He watched Cist’s shrewd eyes for a sign. They remained flat and dull, almost as if he wasn’t alive. “Mayor Javal of Bracewell.”
Kai gave Cal a perplexed look. “Orc, what in Karst are you doing?”
“Your orc friend has just allied himself with the most fearsome freedom fighters in all of Dresham.” Cist pulled the dark-gray covering over his mouth down and flashed a set of perfect teeth.
Cist had thrown bags over their heads and led them down twisting paths. They descended a ladder that seemed to go down for 15 minutes; Cal counted 300 rungs. Cal was convinced they were in a sewer except it didn’t stink and there weren’t squeaks from gigantic rats being knifed. Cal and Kai blinked several times, letting their eyes adjust to their new surroundings.
“Javal said that you would find us.” Cal sipped at a warm broth that had been given to him in a bowl. Kai was already on his fifth, which seemed to please the matron serving the soup up.
Cist sat on an upturned crate next to Cal. He held the bowl to his mouth and drank soundlessly, regarding Cal. “Is that how you knew to trust us?”
“It was a gut feeling.”
Cist handed the bowl to a comrade that was walking by and nodded in thanks. “Javal is an old friend of mine. We go back several cycles. I was there when he started establishing the early foundations of Bracewell. Now look at it.” He gave a warm smile and the corners of his eyes creased. “What brings you to Thaylia?”
“If Javal told you to find us, wouldn’t he have told you about us?”
“That werejaguar’s plate is pretty full at the moment, unlike his,” Cist eyed Kai, who choked and started coughing. “All he told us was to look out for an orc and a werejaguar.”
“I’ll save the early part of the story for another time. What I can tell you is that we’re interested in rescuing Fairshade.”
Finally, there was a flicker of life in Cist’s eyes. “What is your grievance with Fetter?”
Cal paused. Where did he begin? “He murdered my girlfriend.” The flutter in his chest was offset by the nerves that crept in as he tried not to wilt under Cist’s stare.
“My condolences.”
“Thank you. So is it true? Fairshade lives?”
Cist dipped his head. “Aye. He’s been held deep in the heart of the Catacombs. That’s where our most violent, demented criminals are incarcerated so that they may never feel the comfort of moonlight on their faces.”
“Why did Fetter put him there? Why didn’t he just kill him?”
Cist stood up and stretched. “One does not simply understand the workings of a madman, especially one who seems to possess the intelligence of stonecritter.”
Kai spat out his broth all over the ground, earning him a reproachful look from the same matron who earlier had been batting her eyelashes at him.
“We have had men, good men, make it deep into the Catacombs and not make it back out alive. Our intelligence is several moonshifts old, but we are relatively confident that Fairshade lives.” He turned and looked at Cal. “It is my hope that we will be able to rescue King Fairshade and reinstate his position on the throne.”
“You seem rather loyal for an assassin.” Kai said, standing up. The Lightblades that had been going about their work all stopped and stared at Kai, their looks as sharp as the knives that they wielded. Kai froze, eyes wide.
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“You speak your mind, I like that.” Time resumed and the Lightblades continued where they left off, as if the filthy comment hadn’t left his jaws. “Yes I–we –“, he gestured around with open arms, “are assassins by trade. We don’t see ourselves as such though.” He turned to Cal. “Like I said before, we are freedom fighters. We aren’t mercenaries who kill for money.”
He gestured to a boy who scampered over to them. He looked up at them, a smudge of dirt on his face. “We have lived in the shadows of Thaylia for generations and it is there that we thrive.” He patted the boy’s head and he ran away. He sat back down.
“For a long time, Thaylia was at peace. Besides the odd skirmish with neighbouring countries, there wasn’t danger. For example, whenever we caught wind of orcs heading towards the the city, we would meet them in the fields and take care of the problem. We did this so that the king could take care of the big issues.
“I’m sure Fairshade knew about us; he publicly summoned the Lightblades several times but of course, we never appeared. Shadows can’t exist in the moonlight. That for us was thanks enough and recognition of our services.
“Then something went wrong: Fairshade disappeared. It took us a few moonshifts to realize something was wrong. He didn’t go for his walks through the market anymore. People started disappearing. Soldiers and eryn appeared in droves. None of it made sense.
“The day Fetter made his first public appearance, hundreds of people died. Everyone opposed a king who hadn’t won the right to the throne the Dresham way, by fair combat. He crushed everyone with his earth craft. Over time more and more people disappeared, slayed in the streets in front of woman and child.
“Of course we couldn’t oppose him; we weren’t even meant to exist.” Cist shook his head. “Having a usurper for a king is worse than having no king at all.”
Cal put his hand on the assassin’s shoulder. “You do have a king. We’re going to rescue him and do whatever it takes to help him take his rightful place back on the throne.” Cist looked up at him. Cal gripped Cist’s shoulder slightly harder to try and seem more reassuring. Fact of the matter was Fetter was triple Cist’s level. Even if they formed a party and were miraculously able to defeat him, there was also the matter of C. Cal wasn’t sure what her real intentions were, but if she partnered up with Fetter, they would be impossible to beat.
