All four of us started jogging out of town, angling toward the remains of the sandcastle. “How is something the size of the goddamned bubble only level 10?” I asked. “Seriously, will he die if I punch him in the leg?”
“You’d probably get an awesome achievement for that,” Gwen said.
“I think that’s the point,” Katia said. “They make the puppy fragile so he dies. And then this Emberus god gets extra angry.”
I looked at the pair of legs rising out of the ocean and had a horrific thought.
“Do you think the lightning is going to hurt it?”
“Oh no,” Katia said, bringing her hand to her mouth. “We should disconnect the tower.”
“I ain’t touching that electrical line while the storm is going,” Gwen said.
I’d had Gwen attach that long lead from the drain mechanism to the still-standing lightning tower. I’d also had her turn off the drain so some water remained in the temple. The theory was that the moment the tower was hit with lightning, it would electrify the interior waterways. And since Quetzalcoatlus was vulnerable to lightning, it’d kill her, and we’d hopefully win the quadrant. Each one of these four quadrants had a “cheat.” A quick way to kill everything. The knock-knocks on the bottom of the Wasteland. The hidden drain on the side of the sandcastle. I wasn’t sure what the easy-win scenario was for the Akula, but I suspected it had something to do with Lusca the octo-shark. And for the final castle, this lightning tower attack was the fast way.
I didn’t want to disconnect it. We didn’t have time to deal with yet another mystery and storyline and puzzle. We needed to be done with it. If the lightning killed the dog, then we’d simply have to deal with grandpa. At least the quadrant would be done.
But the moment I thought that, I knew I was kidding myself. Emberus wasn’t doing anything to us directly. He was doing it to other crawlers. That was by design. They knew it was something that would get my hackles up. It was bait. Obvious bait.
It was the same goddamn bait Hekla had used to get me to go along with her. It had been a trap then, and it was a trap now.
I thought of Lucia Mar, sobbing on the recap. I hadn’t seen the episode, but it was clear they’d done something deliberate to torture her. She was their most popular stream, and they were milking it for the drama. That’s exactly what they were doing here, too.
You will not break me. Fuck you all. I will break you.
A thunderclap broke the sky directly over our heads. The wind picked up further. Suddenly it was blowing harder than it ever had. The sand took flight, lowering our visibility to nothing. We were actually running with the wind, which was good. I could no longer see the dog. The sand felt like needles against my skin. I took my new bandana, and I pulled it over my face like a mask. I pulled up the hood on my cloak.
Lightning flashed again, and the puppy yelped.
New Quest. Where the Red God Glows.
THIS IS A GROUP QUEST. All Crawlers currently within bubble number 543 will receive this quest.
Your party has been designated Host of this Group Quest.
No parties may opt-out of this quest.
Did you ever read the book Where the Red Fern Grows?
Oh, it’s great. It’s about this kid who saves up his money to buy a couple of coonhounds. Little Ann and Old Dan. And there’s a naughty cat involved. A bunch of stuff happens.
Anyway, did you ever notice this strange phenomenon when it comes to earth books about dogs? They always die in the end. Always. What kind of sick, sadistic fuckers are you?
Puppies shouldn’t ever share a world with pain. Yet here we are. Thanks, earth culture.
Orthrus the giant puppy is getting shocked in the ass by a constant barrage of lightning. He’s also getting bitten over and over in the ankles by a bunch of tenacious sharks. It’s starting to hurt. Poor little guy. His health is going down.
His death will be the fault of all of you. Especially Crawler Carl, who callously shoved the poor puppy into a bubble much too small and much too dangerous for him.
If Orthrus dies, the full-powered god Emberus will turn this bubble into a kiln. Good luck getting to a stairwell if that happens.
If the puppy survives the lightning storm and escapes the sharks, odds are pretty good you’ll die anyway. But at least you’ll die knowing you shed this world without ever causing harm to a defenseless puppy.
Oh, except Crawler Maggie My. She once ran over a baby Labrador with her Chevy Tahoe. What a bitch!
Reward: It’s a surprise.
“Oh shit,” I said as lightning struck again. The dog howled. If there was a health bar over the thing, I couldn’t see it. I felt sick all over again. I sent a note to Donut.
Donut: WHAT DID YOU SAY?
Carl: You heard me. Do you have those invisibility potions I gave you? Use them, but only if you absolutely have to. Keep the Mordecai potion ready too. It saved me last time.
Donut: ARE YOU DRUNK?
Carl: I’m sorry. I can’t do it myself. You’re the only one with the spell. You can do this. I believe in you.
Donut: I LIKED YOU BETTER WHEN YOU WOULDN’T LET ME GO INTO DANGER.
Through the driving sand, I could see our destination. I watched as the towers were struck by lightning. They glowed like a beacon before fading away. Nothing seemed to happen.
“It’s not working,” Katia said.
“I think the earthquakes might’ve dislodged the power cable,” I said.
The Quest Chat notification popped up on the side of my interface as we pushed through the remains of what had once been a group of walls protecting Ghazi’s castle. I could see the stairwell on my map, sealed and buried in the blowing sand.
I realized the quest chat suddenly gave me an opportunity I didn’t have before. It was a special chat room that only appeared during group quests, and it included everyone in the bubble. I pulled it up. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the list. It listed all of us from the air quadrant, Gwen’s team, Britney, and the tomb raider guys. But amongst the tomb raiders, there were only three left. It was Low Thi the D-bag geek, Morris the spider guy, and Bobby the trap finder. All three had Possessed after their name.
But there were also two more names at the bottom of the list. Separated. Maggie My and Chris Andrews 2. After Chris’s name it said Enslaved.
Despite the possessed and enslaved markers, it appeared all of them still had the ability to chat.
Donut had already discovered the chat, and she was absolutely ripping into Maggie My, who hadn’t yet answered.
Tran ran off along the side of the castle to see what the problem was with the electrical line while Katia hesitantly approached the tower. Above, Orthrus whined, the dog’s voice carrying over the wind. The world rumbled as the dog lifted a leg, trying to gain purchase on dry ground. We all stumbled. In the distance came a mighty crash as part of the temple collapsed.
Donut: …AND JUST BECAUSE YOU KILLED A DOG DOESN’T MAKE UP FOR WHAT YOU DID TO CHRIS. BRANDON DIED THINKING HIS BROTHER WAS MAD AT HIM, AND THAT WAS YOUR FAULT. YOU’RE THE WORST PERSON WHO HAS EVER LIVED, AND I HAVE KNOWN SOME REALLY BAD PEOPLE.
Chris: Donut.
Donut: I ONCE KNEW A LADY WHO USED TO MAKE A HIMALAYAN CAT NAMED PEANUT’S SPLENDID FLAVOR EAT NOTHING BUT A WEIRD DIET WITH NO MEAT AND THEN PEANUT GOT REALLY SICK AND SHE GOT ALOPECIA.
Chris: Donut.
Donut: AND ANOTHER LADY TALKED HER DAUGHTER INTO SELLING A PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL AND LOYAL CAT AFTER SHE WON GRAND CHAMPION JUST SO THEY COULD PUT HER IN A CAGE AND HAVE BABIES WITH HER OWN UNCLE WHO WAS REALLY SCARY AND MEAN AND MAKE A PROFIT OFF IT.
Chris: Donut. Please.
Donut: AND YOU’RE WORSE THAN ALL OF THEM COMBINED! FRANK GOT REALLY SAD AND WAS DONE BEING A MURDERER, AND HE GAVE CARL THE RING BUT YOU CAME ALONG AND JUST MADE CHRIS KILL HIM AND NOW CHRIS IS BANNED FROM THE DESPERADO CLUB. THAT’S JUST AWFUL. HE’S PROBABLY NEVER GOING TO DANCE AGAIN. MISS BEATRICE USED TO DANCE WITH ME WHEN WE WERE BOTH SAD, AND IT ALWAY
S MADE IT A LITTLE BETTER, AND YOU JUST TOOK THAT AWAY.
Carl: Donut. You have something you need to be doing.
Donut: I’M RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN, CARL. I CAN RUN AND CHAT AT THE SAME TIME.
Carl: Chris, are you guys still trapped in that room?
Chris: We’re out. We went down a long ladder and disconnected a wire in the water, and then we attacked a group of crawlers and killed one. Now we’re moving back up to the top. Don’t know if she reads this chat.
No. No, no, no.
Low Thi: He killed Tyler! We were moving down, and he came out of nowhere and ripped him in half! We ran, but we tripped a trap, and now we’re all possessed by ghosts.
Morris Sp: We’re not even together anymore. We’re wandering aimlessly. Janice walked straight into one of those crushers, and she exploded.
Bobby: I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. I’m done. This is too much. This is too much.
Carl: Can you move your hand? Scratch it against the wall. If you damage yourself, I think the ghost will leave your body.
I regretted posting that the moment I hit send. It was a mistake. But what else could I do?
There was only one way I could possibly know how to get out of being possessed.
Tran returned. We all scrambled back as lightning struck the double towers again. The whole thing lit up. It hummed for about ten seconds before fading away.
“The wires are still attached,” Tran said, breathless. “I don’t think there’s a break in the line.”
Carl: Chris, look we don’t have much time. I’m really sorry we didn’t listen before. I promise we’ll…
Chris: Unimportant. We’re back atop the temple. Maggie is cheating. She has outside help. A cap…
Chris has been muted from chat.
His previous notes disappeared from the log.
“Goddamnit,” I cried. That was the second time that had happened. I looked up in the air. “This is bullshit!”
“Oh, crap,” Katia said, turning. Her riot shield appeared on her arm. “Now? Seriously? Guys, monsters coming.”
Gwen’s spear appeared in her hand. A wave of red dots materialized, coming through the sandstorm. Feral pazuzu. Gwen and Katia moved as if one, like a pair of pack hunters as they rushed away to meet the new threat. Tran pulled a curved sword and moved to fight alongside them. I continued to juggle multiple chats. In addition to the quest chat, I was talking to Imani and another crawler who was relaying messages for me to a few other crawlers I couldn’t yet talk directly to. I simply couldn’t do both at the same time.
Morris Sp: It worked. I’m free!
Low Thi: Me too!
Carl: Good. I once had to break my finger to get away from a charm spell, and I figured that would work here, too.
It was a lame and desperate excuse, and it didn’t explain how I knew they still had control of their left hands. There was a whole chapter in the cookbook that dealt with circumventing debuffs. Hopefully nobody would question my unusual knowledge.
Tserendolgor: If anyone can hear us, the interior doorknobs in our saferooms are literally melting.
Carl: We’re working on it. We’re doing the best we can.
A frothing scorpion man flew through the air and landed with a crunch right in front of me. These guys were huge, bigger than the normal versions who lived in town. Gwen and Katia had spent days fighting these mobs together while Donut and I were in our time out. This one was still alive, and I activated Talon Strike and kicked him in the head, finishing him off. I pulled a banger sphere and tossed it at another, and the ball curved in the air with the wind. It still clipped him in the side of the head, and he went down.
Donut: IT WON’T LET ME. IT SAYS I’M TOO FAR AWAY. HIS HEALTH IS HALF DOWN.
Carl: Louis, Firas. I’m gonna need you guys. Get out there and to the Twister. Donut, meet them at the house. Hurry.
Louis: In the goddamned storm?
Firas: Are you drunk?
Donut: ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME KILLED?
I sent a quick message to the tomb raider guys.
Morris: The side ladder. I know where that is. An entrance isn’t far. We cleared it before, but it just leads to a weird electrical panel thing that didn’t do anything no matter how it was connected. It’s still submerged. You can’t get to the crypt from there. Believe me, we tried.
Carl: Look, guys. We need that connected. I’m pretty sure that’s the last piece. But it’ll be dangerous. The moment it’s hooked up, the next lightning strike is going to zap everyone still underwater in the tomb. You’ll have to get out of the water as quickly as you can.
Morris: It’s like a mile down a ladder, but I can use my silk ability to get to the water level quickly. Bobby is still possessed. Low is too far away. It looks like it’s me. I can be at the connector in five minutes. But last time we went down there, Quetzalcoatlus started screaming and moving toward us.
Low Thi: I’m on pterodactyl duty. I’ll distract her. Let’s roll.
Carl: Godspeed.
I turned toward the wave of feral pazuzu, and I joined in the fight.
Gwen vaulted over a pazuzu, twisting in the air. Her spear flashed as I caught a face full of bloody sand. Katia’s crossbow appeared, and her magical bolts pelted into a pair of the scorpions. The wind screamed, and our visibility was next to nothing. It was like they were coming up through the sand.
One lunged at me out of nowhere, stinger dripping with poison. I caught the jagged point in my hand. I was immune to the venom, but my hand was pierced, and I cried out in pain. I formed a fist around the barbed spike as the feral creature struggled. The thing was frothing at the mouth like it had goddamned rabies. My gauntlet appeared, ripping the end of the tail off. Gore spewed from the wound as I kneed the monster in the chest. I hit him in the jaw with a left cross, and then I stabbed him in the neck with the point from his own stinger.
Donut: WE DID IT. I CAST HEAL CRITTER, AND IT WORKED. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. THE HEALTH IS STILL GOING DOWN THOUGH. THE STUPID DOG DOESN’T EVEN APPRECIATE IT.
Louis: The house is breaking up. The balloon is slamming back and forth. We’re getting whiplash. It’s like riding a bull.
Firas: I did that once. I fell off.
Carl: What about lightning?
Louis: It’s mostly below us. I’m more worried about the dog. We’re trying to keep behind the heads, but they keep moving and howling. If it sees us, we’re in trouble.
Carl: You have to keep that dog’s health topped up. Do your best.
Firas: Holy shit! Half the bowl just broke away! The side with the Bactrian village is just gone!
A huge chunk of rock slammed onto the beach nearby. The ground trembled. The other side of the island had probably just been buried in an avalanche. We didn’t have much time. Above, the dog howled anew. I kept my eye on the map of the necropolis. The dot of Quetzalcoatlus was moving toward the room with the connector, but suddenly it veered away.
Morris: Bobby is gone! Oh god! I think he was crushed.
Carl: Stay on mission.
Morris: Almost there.
Low Thi: It’s chasing me! I have it distracted. Do it!
Warning: This message is from a deceased crawler.
The boss, which could move through walls, barely paused as it apparently ripped through the crawler. It rocketed back toward Morris’s position. Oh, god. I sent them to their doom.
Morris: It’s connected! I did it! Going back up…
Warning: This message is from a deceased crawler.
The same moment the message appeared, the towers in front of me lit up with a lightning strike.
The sound was like that of every branch on every tree in the universe cracking at the same time. The sand under the tower, including the sand I was ankle-deep within, flashed. Pain ripped through me, and for a horrifying moment I thought both of my feet had been ripped off. My health went down almost half way. I was suddenly frozen in place. I stumbled, but I couldn’t fall because I couldn’t move m
y legs. The entire beach around the twin lightning towers for about two hundred feet in every direction had turned to glass.
Katia, Gwen, and Tran were all equally stuck. Tran’s health was almost zeroed out, but it moved back up as he healed himself. I pulled my leg, and the glass splintered. I pulled myself free just in time to punch down a charging pazuzu who hadn’t been caught in the glass. It was the last one.
I didn’t know if Quetzalcoatlus or the sudden electrification of the interior of the temple was what killed Morris Sp, the final crawler within the subterranean quadrant. It didn’t matter.
I wasn’t sure how many people started in the necropolis. They all died. Each and every one. I was pretty sure they’d been dealt one of the worst hands they could’ve gotten this entire floor. And that really sucked. I took a moment in their honor.
But in the end, their sacrifice meant something. They completed their job.
Bubble Notification. The guardian of Anser’s tomb has been successfully destroyed. The Subterranean Quadrant has been liberated!
All give congratulations to the crawlers who successfully liberated the throne room. All hail crawlers Gwendolyn Duet, Low Thi, and Morris Sp.
All crawlers who originated in the Subterranean Quadrant may now freely travel to the other quadrants.
Oh, wait. They’re all dead!
Bubble Notification. All four quadrants have been successfully liberated.
Congratulations.
Psst! The sound was like a can of beer fizzing after it opened. For about ten seconds, the wind turned even stronger, so much so it was hard to breathe. My ears popped. The temperature plummeted, and a strange, ozone-like stench filled the world, followed by the distant smell of something burning. And then the sandstorm just stopped, much the same way a storm within a snow globe would stop the moment you broke the glass.
A moment passed, and then a new wind filled the beach, slow and constant and cold. It was still dark, but the starless sky took on a red hue. Above Orthrus continued to whimper, his shadow taking up half the sky.
Bubble number 543 has been popped. All four stairwell locations are now open. See? That wasn’t so hard. All that whining and dying was a bit dramatic, don’t you think?
The Gate of the Feral Gods Page 44
