Slynx elbowed me awake. Or maybe it wasn’t Slynx. It was dark—dark enough to be underground.
A quiet voice whispered in the darkness. “Players, hear me!”
Mac did the talking. “We hear you, Hen’Darl. What can we do for Hearthstead?”
A throaty sigh. “What more could you do that you have not done, bringing us salvation and ruin in a single day?” the orc asked.
“Yes, yes," she replied, before we could object. “We believe you to be honorable, but your presence in Hearthstead represents a great danger nonetheless.” She paused. “It is clear you understand little of our world, and still less of your place within it.
“There is a book,” she began. “History and prophecy both—at least it was. What you must understand is that our world has anticipated the arrival of players for millennia. We knew that they would come, and that they would be immortal and grow quickly in strength, but would be as babes in our world.
“For those in power, the lure of controlling such beings was irresistible. If a king could supplement his armies with ranks of immortal soldiers, he would be unstoppable. If an empress could press them into her service…” I heard her swallow to suppress her fear.
“After it became clear that others would follow this path, every ruler was behooved to follow suit: to claim the greatest part of these players and bring them under their dominion. Each of the great nations has done so, and even now they enslave thousands of your kind, readying for war. Every treaty will be moot, every agreement postponed, as countries wait to see what numbers their neighbors might raise!
“Huth'Ga committed treason to procure the cursed rings and bracelet, and committed treason again to bring you here. Such is her love for her people. She could not wait for Leonald to send troops to forestall the Grey. She made the decisions she could for her people, and if not for this unfortunate business with the dungeon, Leonald might never have known.
“And now, Hearthstead has hard choices to make. If you stay, and we offer you to Leonald, it will become clear that Huth'Ga stole you from her king. If you were released, Leonald’s anger at being denied the dungeon heart would be turned on our people.
“You have behaved as friends to the people of Hearthstead, even though you were brought to him as slaves. You have done more to protect him than could have been asked. Because of this, there is only one option left to us. Huth'Ga extends her deepest regrets for her actions earlier, and hopes you understand their necessity.
“Here, take these and destroy them. Never tell a soul how you came to possess them.” She pushed a familiar pouch and a rod through the bars to me. The extra rings and the cynosure. “And finally, this.” Our stats returned to normal as she pushed the control bracelet through as well. This was the moment of no return for her. Now all her hopes were on us.
“The patrols tonight are sparse to the west. Please, be gentle with our guards. It is necessary that this look as if we made every effort to keep you.”
We murmured our gratitude into the dark, and she answered, “All of Hearthstead thanks you in return. Go as friends.”
Ever so slowly, the darkness eased. The torches came back into view from two yards away. I made good use of the cover, casting Flow by touch as the night pulled back. Guards that hadn’t made a sound continued to keep a silent vigil. Then light was restored, and the guards became animated again, acting as though no time had passed.
The fire was Katz’s idea, and as a distraction you couldn’t beat it. Two of our guards raced away once the calls for help started. As the third guard turned to watch the others run to the fire, Me’Almah reached through the bars I’d weakened and pulled her inside the cell. The women struggled with each other, made equal by the plurality of debuffs we piled onto the guard.
It took a final blow from Mac’s staff to end the struggle, and then came a flurry of tying, gagging, and binding.
Katz led us through the tunnel and into a familiar library. Discovering that the temple was close to our cell had saved me considerable time in hollowing out the stone, and we raced for freedom through the halls that had held such fear just that morning. We didn’t dare scout ahead this time. It would take too long.
Instead, we trusted Hen’Darl’s assurances that west was best, and made our way through the shadows as quickly and quietly as possible. Those who didn’t have the Stealth skill acquired it in no time. We had only minutes, so speed was the priority.
As we left the village following the western road, Varba stopped us. “Wait!” she whispered. “That sounds familiar.”
She led us through the underbrush at the side of the path to a small clearing, where three of the giant insects we’d rode into town waited. Entosects, according to the UI. A little on-the-nose to my bio-geek mind, but I was much too concerned about those mandibles to quibble.
“A bit on the nose, no?” Varba quipped, stealing the joke. I laughed anyway, and she looked at me with surprise.
“A.P. Bio," I informed her, pleased.
“Nerds," Mac muttered loudly behind her hand. “Well, let’s mount up! The old fogies, the twins, and… the awesome people,” she announced, pointing to each mount. Clearly Varba and Slynx were the fogies, but Katz and Me’Almah? They were anything but twins.
“Is Zen even old enough to get that reference?” Katz complained philosophically. “Can he be considered awesome if he doesn’t?” He clambered aboard his mount behind Me’Almah, and motioned for Slynx and Varba to precede them. “Ah, well—age before beauty.”
Varba heeled her mount forward, nose high in the air as if smelling something unpleasant. “Pearls before swine!” she announced haughtily.
“Hey, now!” Katz cried reproachfully. “We don’t know Almah’s heritage!”
We skittered out of the clearing in high spirits, happy to be free and heeding the call of the open road. Katz and I worked to keep full stacks of Wind at Your Back on the party, though my Mana Regen was dismal.
About five minutes later came the horns. Mac took the reins, and asked me if I could ward off pursuit—or at least give Huth'Ga a plausible excuse to turn back.
“I can’t use Ether, remember?” I reminded her.
She was silent for a moment. “Well,” she responded, “could you at least drop a few trees?”
It wouldn’t be until dawn that we rested.
At Mac’s request, I tentatively set the auger on the ground. Grey began to spread beneath it, but slowly enough for what needed to be done. I spent ten minutes retracing our progress on the forest track, moving back in ethereal form as far as the trees I’d downed. It seemed Huth'Ga had called off the pursuit.
We slept four to a shift, the other two taking the time to eat the food prepared in the saddle bags and keep watch. When one of the entosects began chewing on a tree beside the road, we simply let it. The other two quickly joined in, making short work of the trunk and toppling it. Seeing those churning jaws tear through the wood brought me great comfort. It meant I wasn’t riding a mount that considered me to be lunch.
Once everyone had rested, Mac gathered us together. “So," she asked, “what now?”
Slynx responded first, “Seems like most of our options have left us, doesn’t it? If every country is looking for players to do their fighting for them, we’re up shit creek.”
“We could keep to smaller villages," Katz suggested.
“And bring the same trouble we brought to Hearthstead?” Me’Almah challenged.
“It’s not like they’re real people," Katz retorted. “They’re just NPCs. I’m sure Hearthstead will reset so someone else can fail the quests just like we did. I say we just find the nearest village and see what quests they can give us.”
“And if they try to trap us like Mjorn did Zen? What’s to say we don’t end up sold right back to this King Leonald?” Varba responded.
“Well, who’s to say they’ll even know we’re players?” Katz asked. “Why couldn’t we just be regular travelers, out seeking their fortunes?”
&nbs
p; “Did you guys see what I saw when I got the dungeon heart?” I reminded the group. “It’s obvious Huth'Ga did. Anyone who saw that announcement could turn us in.” Heck, I’d gotten my very own mention. It might as well have been a bounty flyer.
“Which makes us outlaws," Mac summarized, looking thoughtful. “That was quick. Still, there have to be some disreputable factions in The Boundless. Huth'Ga must’ve had someone steal these.” She shook the bag containing the cursed rings. “I wish we’d had a chance to ask more questions during Hen’Darl’s cloak-and-dagger visit.”
“Whoever Huth'Ga got them from seemed fine with capturing players," I reminded her nervously. “How do we know who to trust? We could end up being sold to the highest bidder by her contacts as easily as by anyone. We could end up just like the rest of the players in Kalsip.”
Thinking of Kalsip, my stomach suddenly plummeted. If all the players in Kalsip were being herded into involuntary conscription, that meant my dad was there too! I’d seen him heading toward the portals to complete The Mayor’s Request. If he’d put on that ring... Would he be able to get tech support? Would he be able to get out of the game? My stomach missed the floor and kept dropping. My mom would be alone. My siblings. My dad had probably intended to enter the game, find me, and drag me home. If he had been captured though, if that scenario was being allowed to play out within the game...
The other party members were looking at me expectantly. I shut my mouth, but tears came to my eyes. I was unsure if they were tears of panic, shame, or just abject horror. “My dad," I whispered. “We have to save my dad!”
Reactions ranged from surprise to disinterest, but one by one each member of the party got a faraway look in their eyes. Mac came back first. “How’d you do that?” she asked, clearly excited.
“Do what?”
“Give us a quest," she responded. “We all got it.”
I stammered. “A quest? I’ve never heard of a game that allows players to create quests for each other.”
“Let me try it!” she answered. “Zen, if you make me a wand, I will give you my dagger!” she announced expectantly.
Nothing.
“Zen, will you make me a wand?”
Nothing.
“You have to kill 5 rabbits!”
Still nothing.
“Please?”
Not even the magic word worked.
By that time the others were all clamoring, discussing the possibilities. If players could give each other quests, we might be able to exploit that fact for extra XP and give each other a few easy quests for things we might have done anyway. It didn’t work for any of the others though. Try as they might to replicate the circumstances around the quest I’d made, they were unable.
“I need you all to kill 5 rabbits," I announced, trying it out myself.
The group went silent again as they read the quest.
I received notifications as they each accepted. When I looked up, they were staring at me.
“Again?” I cried. “What is wrong with my character?”
“It’s a pretty convincing show," Katz commented to Mac, eyeing me in an oddly dispassionate way.
Mac’s face was white. “I don’t believe it. I can’t!” The way she was looking at me had turned from curiosity to confusion and… horror?”
“What?” I asked, unnerved by the sudden silence. “What did I do?”
The silence stretched on until Mac broke it yet again. She looked almost sad, but inquisitive. “Might as well get this over with. Zen, when did you start playing the game?”
“What? What do you mean? Right before you did. We started at the same spawn point. What are you talking about?” I was beyond confused. Something was going on here that I didn’t understand.
“And what were you doing before that?” Mac continued.
“That’s kind of personal, don’t you think?” I countered, not wanting to answer. I was afraid that since I didn’t understand what was happening, I might give the wrong response.
“Please answer the question," she asked—almost commanded.
“Mac, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”
“Just answer the question please,” she repeated. Katz seemed to be getting excited about my responses.
“Fine! I was living life! I was going to high school! I was fighting with my dad! What do you want to know? What is this about?” I complained.
Katz jumped in. “Why is a raven like a writing desk?!” he crowed.
I stared at him. Riddles? And an unanswerable riddle, at that?
Suddenly, the clouds parted. I instantaneously saw the situation completely and wondered at its complexity. Wonder gave way to joy at the beauty of the problem, then amusement at the absurdity, then outrage, then laughter at the impossibility of a resolution.
“Oh, this game is going to screw. Us. Up!” I proclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger. “You think I’m an NPC!”
Apparently Katz hadn’t been expecting that answer, but Mac didn’t seem surprised.
“Well, are you?” she asked simply.
I thought my answer through and quickly saw the folly of it. “If I weren’t, there’d be no way to convince you, would there?”
“He’s right!” Katz butted in, clearly enjoying the catch-22. “What could he do? He’s already passed the Turing test—we all believed he was human—but if NPCs in this game are as realistic as those we’ve seen, how could we ever know?”
“Well, I can respawn," I offered. “And I level up the same as you.”
“But you could be a plant by the designers!” Katz argued. “Just think about it," he addressed the rest of the group. “He’s just waiting around for Mac to show up, ‘follows’ her because he’s got no quests of his own. He leads us out into the woods and into this ‘Marami’s End’ storyline. And now he’s got a dad that needs saving. What better hook to get us into things?”
“Or his character is just glitched," Mac responded.
“Look," I interjected, “if you think this all out, there’s really no way to know. Eventually it just comes down to whether you trust me or not. I’m a player, my real name is Nathan Hill. I have three sisters and two brothers. I’m a bit of a nerd. You either believe all that or you don’t.”
From the rear of the group, Me’Almah spoke up. “If it looks like a duck," she rumbled. “It doesn’t matter to me what he is.”
Varba agreed. “He could have the same question about any of us—about all of us. We’d still have to learn whether we can trust him, whatever he is.”
Slynx just shrugged.
Katz shrugged nonchalantly, but then grinned and gave me the “I’m watching you” fingers.
Mac took a deep breath and sighed, then smiled at me sheepishly. “Sorry, Zen,” she said, and moved to stand beside me. She clapped a hand on my shoulder. “So now that that’s out of the way, how are we going to rescue his dad?”
Chapter 27
“Why have you returned?” Hen’Darl hissed, fear in her eyes. “The troops from Kalsip could be here by morning. You must go!”
“Great Sister, we have a plan; one that might better please the king and better serve Hearthstead," Mac announced. “Please hear us out!”
***
When we set out early the next morning, it was clear that something was up in Hearthstead. Two days before we had assumed the bustle to be that of a village eager to whip itself back into shape after a tragedy. What we found now was a village preparing itself to run. Even in the early morning light, orc men and women were moving through the town with purpose, filling carts, wagons, and any other wheeled vehicles with personal belongings.
“What’s going on?” I asked Huth'Ga, alarmed.
The war mother turned to gaze stoically at her village, taking it in as though she might not ever see it again, then looked down to me.
“Truth be told, there was doubt in my mind that Leonald would spare Hearthstead regardless of your ‘escape.’ Not after the sleight it dealt him. There has lo
ng been tension, having an orc colony so near to Kalsip, and Leonald is loath to see us as true citizens of Cogneid. This matter with the dungeon heart will likely turn our village from a minor annoyance into a direct assault on his sovereignty, to his mind.”
She sighed heavily, and continued. “In my heart, I knew Hearthstead was dead the moment I saw the dungeon destroyed, but I was unable to face it. He has been my home my entire life, as he was my mother’s, and her mother’s before her. I will miss him.
“Still, this new plan of yours will—with luck—delay the inevitable. So long as Leonold has the heart and the players who stole it, his wounded pride will take time to bear fruit. Perhaps enough time to see my people safely to a new home.”
“Will Hen’Darl know where to find you once she returns?” Mac asked.
“She will," Huth'Ga nodded. “Good luck.”
With that, the orc turned and strode back to her people, stopping only to pass a few words to Hen’Darl and to clasp the old woman in a long hug. Hen’Darl’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she made her way to the front of our column. She and the three orc women serving as her guard were mounted on the fastest entosects the village had to offer, and if she ever saw her home again, there wouldn’t be time to stop.
As we rode through the morning, the guards skittered ahead on their mounts, scouting for other travelers. We players passed the time talking to Hen’Darl about the world of the game, meditating, and casting spells for practice, though at a considerably reduced pace compared to what we were used to.
Seeing the others waiting minutes to cast their spells, I again considered smashing the auger. Not seriously though, since it was our only potential bargaining chip with King Leonald. So, I contented myself with shuffling mana on request, and on practicing the meditation exercises Hen’Darl had taught us. I couldn’t cast Ether, but I could cast Flow, raising Static Casting to Rank 8, Dual Casting to Rank 3, and Muscle Memory to Rank 4. I could still hover at the limen as well, and at long last my Concentration skill maxed out at Rank 10.
Auger & Augment Page 21
