by Rick Scott
“So, what brings you guys to my neck of the woods?” he says.
Maxis shares a quick glance with Val Helena, perhaps PMing her for confirmation that he’d be the one to speak, and then clears his throat. “Two things,” he says. “And one I’m hoping you can maybe help us with.”
“Oh?” Braxus leans back in his chair, folding his arms. “Do tell.”
“First, we need to head to the Vale of Sorrows,” Maxis says. “Got a friend trapped in the maze up there. And second, we need a way to find Citadel.”
“Citadel?”
“The place we all come from. Our city. Finding where it’s physically located is what I’m hoping you can maybe help with.”
Braxus scrunches his face up like he’s smelled something bad. “Why would you want to find where we’re from?”
Maxis gives him the rundown of the situation back home—the nano shortage, and what will happen to everyone in six months if we don’t replenish the stocks in time. I expect to see more of a reaction from him, but Braxus simply nods and says, “Yeah, sounds like a problem.”
“Yeah,” Maxis says. “A big one. You think you could help?”
He shrugs. “Don’t see a lot of value in it for me. So probably not.”
The table goes quiet.
Finally, Rembrandt speaks. “You do understand that we’ll all die unless we accomplish this, yeah?”
Braxus chuckles. “You mean our bodies will die. And trust me, they can send that old thing to the vats for all I care. I’ve transcended. This is the new world. And I’m king here now.”
The way he declares himself king makes my stomach a little uneasy.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Val Helena says. “If your body dies back there, then you’ll—”
“Become a Shard Wraith?” He breaks into a laugh. “Yeah, I’ve heard the stories. I think they’re bogus. Probably started by weak-minded idiots who couldn’t hack it out here. It’s a way to keep people running back to the Shards. Well, not me. I’m here to stay, baby. Forever.”
“What about the rest of the people?” I say. “There’s like a million people back home. You don’t care if they all die?”
Braxus shrugs nonchalantly as he nibbles on a lobster claw. “All got to die sometime.”
My face flushes hot with agitation. What’s wrong with this guy? “Don’t you have family or something? My mother is back there, dying—”
“Look, not my problem,” he cuts me off.
I fume inwardly. I feel like punching him in the face. But I restrain myself and send a PM to Gilly instead.
Me: Man, this guy is a real jerk!
Gilly: Tell me about it! D: Guess your big bro called it wrong.
I look over at Maxis. He looks equally miffed by Braxus’s response. We make eye contact, and Mike gives me a confused little shrug. Almost as if to say, don’t ask me.
“Okay, so, here’s the deal,” Braxus says. “Time to talk about why you’re really here.”
We all furrow our brows at that, looking at one another.
“What are you talking about?” Gilly says. “We just told you why we’re here.”
“No, you told me what you want to accomplish. I’m going to tell you why you’re here. Right here, right now. Having dinner with me.”
Okay. What the heck is this . . . ?
“Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is a reason I invited you all to dinner,” Braxus says. “Two reasons, actually. One was to get to know you a bit, which was fun, I admit. But more importantly, I needed to confirm something. Which you have.”
“Confirm what?” I say.
“That your teammate wasn’t lying.”
“What?”
“I’ve got a little surprise for you.”
I tense, not knowing what to expect, but I don’t feel my Awareness skill going off.
“Get in here,” Braxus says with a sharp snap of his fingers.
A slender elf woman walks into the room from behind us, wearing the same emerald-and-gold dress as Gilly and Val Helena. She has deep blue hair with sharp bangs, slender features, and a pair of violet-tinted eyes.
My own eyes widen when I see her, but it’s Val Helena who speaks first.
“Aiko?!”
She doesn’t respond to her name as she walks past and casually sits herself in Braxus’s lap. Her violet eyes stare back at us, but seem transfixed, as if she’s in some sort of a trance. She wraps her arms around Braxus’s shoulders and just keeps staring at us, saying nothing.
What the heck?
Val Helena launches to her feet, shouting in her big, booming voice: “What is this? What have you done to her?!”
King Braxus recoils, and the three knights take a step forward.
“Have a seat,” Braxus shouts. “Or I will make you!”
“Like heck, you will! You tell me what you’ve—!”
“Sit,” Xavier says, and Val Helena drops back into her chair.
Holy crap!
My heart rate doubles as my stomach knots with tension. I’ve got to figure out what the heck just happened. I look to Maxis, but he looks ready to perform a flying kick across the table.
“In fact,” Braxus says, “I think you should all just relax.”
As soon as he says it, the tension leaves my body and I feel numb.
What’s happening to me?
I share a look with Gilly and can see the fear in her big green eyes. “Reece?”
“Sorry,” Braxus says. “A little magic trick of mine. I had some special clothing made for honored guests from the Shards. Comfy, right? Let’s just say that while you’re wearing them, you will be very receptive to my commands.”
He flexes his fingers, and I notice a huge emerald ring on his right hand. I look to Xavier and see he is wearing one as well.
Your Awareness increases by 0.2!
Great. Wish that skill would have kicked in a little bit sooner. And here I was worried about my stupid weapons!
“The stuff’s cursed, too, so you can’t remove it. Not without my say so.”
“Why are you doing this?” Val Helena demands, her gray eyes piercing like daggers.
“Now, hold on.” Braxus raises his hands defensively. “I’m actually the victim here. This is for my protection.”
“Protection from what?” Gilly says. “We haven’t done anything to you!”
“Oh, but you will,” he says. “You think I don’t know about those quests you two ladies are holding?”
Oh Geez. This isn’t going to be good . . .
“Look, mate,” Rembrandt says. “If we wanted to bloody attack you, we would have bloody well done so already. So stop with the bollocks.”
Braxus smirks. “I don’t understand half of what you just said . . . mate. But the reason you didn’t attack me is because you couldn’t. I don’t fall for the same trick twice.”
“Same trick?” Val Helena says. “What are you talking about?”
“Your friend here came to me with the exact same story about needing passage through the North Gate to get to the Vale. So I invite her in, show her hospitality. Even offer to help. And what does she do in return?” He shakes his head. “Tries to put a knife in my back. Literally.”
I see Val Helena go from being angry to releasing an exasperated sigh, leveling her eyes at the zombified Aiko, angry at her now. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“It’s true,” Lady Diana says from behind us. “She attacked with no provocation.”
I feel myself sighing along with Val Helena. What the heck was she thinking?
“No provocation, but plenty of motivation,” Braxus says, stroking Aiko’s cheek. “Or so I found out, once I saw that quest she had. Nearly succeeded, too. Killed the head of my praetorian guard and his lieutenant. It was only thanks to Xavier’s enchantment, here, that I was able to stop her before she killed me. So, you can forgive me if I take some added precautions when her ‘friends’ suddenly show up two days later to either rescue her or finis
h the job. So which one is it?”
Holy crap . . . this can’t be happening.
“I just told you what we’re here for,” Maxis says with a growl. “We’ve got nothing to do with her!”
Braxus scoffs. “I’m finding that a little hard to believe.”
“So, this is what you’ve done to her now?” Gilly says, looking at Aiko, horrified. “Turned her into some kind of puppet? She’s a person! You can’t do this!”
“Hey, my city, my rules,” he says. “And I think the normal punishment for regicide is death. So she’s getting off lightly, in my book.” He then smiles at Aiko. She smiles vacantly back at him. “Besides, this is probably nothing she wouldn’t normally do anyway. Same for you two girls, I’m sure. Given the opportunity.”
He gives them a nasty leer that sends sickness coursing through my stomach.
Maxis’s knuckles crack as he clenches his fists atop the table. “Dude, I’m going to freaking bury you.”
“And there we have it,” Braxus says with a smirk. “Proof of what you really came here to do. Guess I was right.”
“You’re wrong . . .” Rembrandt says, shaking his head. “This has gone far enough, mate. Drop this already.”
“Hey, I’ll be the one to decide when this is over,” Braxus says. “Look, this is nothing personal. But I simply can’t trust you guys not to try to fulfill that quest. You’ve had a taste of the good life. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having it permanently.”
Red-hot anger swells within my heart. “We don’t want any of this! We’re here to save our friends. To save Citadel! We don’t care about your stupid city!”
“Whatever,” Braxus says. “You say that now, but what about a week from now? A month? A year? I can’t keep looking over my shoulder for that long.”
“What do you intend to do?” Val Helena says, surprisingly calm.
He shrugs. “What a king always does—let the help do the work.”
What the heck?
“But hey, I’m all for giving you a fair shot. You’ll get your chance to flex your muscles. Just not against me. And hey, if you win, you might get to fight another day.”
What is he talking about?
“You’re going to make us fight in that coliseum,” Gilly says. “Aren’t you?”
Braxus just shrugs, like it’s not his decision or something. “Hey, it is what it is.”
Blacktop was right. This guy really is a prick! Still, I’ve got to try to reason with him somehow. No way can we get thrown into that coliseum under his full control. I’ve got to think. Get inside his head. He’s a gamer, too, but not exactly like us. He’s a chair jockey. A strategist. A town builder. As such, he must see some value in making deals for the long term.
“Look, there’s no need for this,” I say, still not knowing quite where I’m going yet. “You help us, we help you. That’s how things are supposed to work, right?”
“Nah, I already tried that with this one.” He jerks his head toward Aiko. “Nearly got me assassinated. One thing I learned for sure: the most dangerous things out here are not the monsters. It’s us.”
That one sends a chill down my spine and makes me think about my brief conversation with the fake Wilbur. Maybe that Builder, or whatever it was, did see us as more of a threat to it than it was to us. Judging by my encounter with King Braxus thus far, I can totally understand why. I wrack my brain for a solution. There has to be something we can offer him to not throw us in that coliseum . . .
And then something clicks.
“You’re absolutely right,” I say, summoning as much sincerity as I can muster. “We are dangerous. And we can do things your guards and NPCs can’t. What you can’t do, either.”
This gets a puzzled look from him.
I’m on to something.
“Lady Diana mentioned the problem you’re having to the north. A power seized by the giants that needs to be put down. They weren’t able to do anything about it. But we can. And you know it.”
Your Barter increases by 0.7!
Skill Up! Your Barter skill is now 5!
He stares at me, running a finger along his bottom lip. “Go on . . .”
Val Helena: Reece, what are you doing?
Me: Trying to save us!
Geez, I hope I’m right about this.
“If we agree to go out there and eliminate this threat for you, will you let us go?” I look at Aiko. “And I mean everyone. Including her.”
I can see him hesitating. I need to grease the wheels some more.
“You realize that this is the only way you can remove that quest on your head, right? Without that power, things will go back to normal. The elves and giants will drop their vendetta against you. No more quest. No more problem.”
I’m totally making this up, but it sounds pretty good.
Your Barter increases by 0.7!
Skill Up! Your Barter skill is now 6!
“Okay. Say I go along with this,” Braxus says, clasping his fingers together. “There’s no guarantee that you all won’t just run away to this maze, or wherever you’re headed. So, if I’m to agree to any of this, I’m going to need some form of collateral.”
Crap . . .
“And seeing as these three chicks, here, are the main beneficiaries of that quest, it only makes sense that they all stay here with me, where I can keep an eye on them.”
Val Helena glances at me from across the table, and then sends me a message.
Val Helena: Please don’t trust this guy!
Gah! I think I just made things worse!
“Not the little one,” Rembrandt says. “She’s our healer, mate. We need her.”
Good ole Rem. Looking out for Gilly. And using good reasoning, too.
Braxus shrugs. “Not my problem. She stays with me.”
Darn it! I send another desperate message to Val Helena.
Me: I’m sorry, Val! I didn’t mean for it to go this way!
Now what are we going to do? The idea of leaving half our party here feels even worse than the coliseum.
“And if you fail the quest or decide to abandon it, well . . .” Braxus chuckles, looking over at Gilly, “they all look like they could make suitable additions to my harem. So they won’t go to waste.”
What did he just say . . . ?
My stomach boils with anger and disgust as he grins like an idiot. I feel like jumping over the table and creaming this dirtbag!
“Don’t you even think about touching them.” My brother beats me to it. “Deal or no deal. You’ll be paying for that one personally if you do.”
“Hey, don’t hate the playa, playa.” Braxus raises his hands, all innocence and slime again. “If you don’t want that to happen, then you know what you got to do.”
Gilly: Reece? ):
Me: Don’t worry, Gilly. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.
Somehow . . .
Braxus then shares a quest with me.
Braxus has shared a Quest: Defeat Jötunn
Travel to the mountains and defeat the Frost Giant Jötunn.
Rewards: 120,000 XP +500 influence in Northern Territories
Wow, he actually did have a quest for it? I was only bluffing.
“I guess this all worked out in the end.” Braxus gives me a grin. “And, now that that’s settled, I guess we can go back to enjoying our dinner.”
We all glance at one another. Is he for real?
Braxus starts chomping away at his lobster claws again, and we just look at him like he’s crazy. He looks up. “Come on. Eat.”
When none of us move, he says again with more force, “I said eat.”
Suddenly, my hunger gets the best of me—what the heck have I done?—and I continue my meal.
Chapter 23: Surf and Turf
Ire builds within me as I choke down the cold lobster against my will. Braxus is still trying to carry on a conversation like nothing is wrong. Every bone in my body wants to tear these stupid clothes off and go to town on that jerk with m
y fists. I look at Aiko, giggling away in his lap, and my soul comes undone when I imagine Gilly taking her place the minute we’re out the door.
I can’t let that happen.
I can’t leave this room without her.
I can’t leave her with this monster.
I honestly thought for a second that maybe Braxus could be reasoned with, but there’s no way we can trust this guy now. Not with what he’s said and done. The most I’ve accomplished with this “deal” is buying us a little time, and maybe giving him the impression that we’ll be true to our word. And that may just give us a slight element of surprise.
But what can we do with it? Both Braxus and Xavier have those emerald rings. One word, and we’ll be frozen in place or turned into puppets instantly. And once that happens, it’ll be game over. We’ve only got one shot at this, whatever we do.
I smile at another one of Braxus’s stupid jokes that I didn’t quite hear. I’ve got to keep up the charade, but my mind is thrashing within my body like a caged animal. I’ve never felt so powerless before. I’ve got to do something.
I try to dissolve the stupid green outfit, sending it to my inventory, but an error message appears.
That item is cursed and cannot be removed!
Guess he wasn’t bluffing about that part. How the heck do these things have effects on them, anyway? I don’t recall seeing any. I check each one again to see if I missed something.
Royal Emerald Tunic
Only the finest silk was used to make this garment fit for royalty.
Royal Emerald Slacks
Only the finest silk was used to make this garment fit for royalty.
Royal Emerald Slippers
Only the finest leather was used to make this garment fit for royalty.
