They didn’t even stop to go over what the trials everyone had faced were. There wasn’t any time now; they had to get this done before the Reapers crashed down on their heads. Only Sasha and Elijah knew what the other had faced, and Elijah had to suppress thoughts about how intimate it was that they alone shared a secret.

  Elijah wondered if Sasha had a secret like his secret about the kiss with the dryad, something she was too worried about sharing with him. Had the AI spoken to all of them, or just to Elijah?

  The party pushed forward to the last door, the Door of Death. They knew this was going to be the hardest challenge of them all, and that it would end with the death of the Mother Dryad.

  They arrived once more in a clearing. It was nighttime when they arrived, but somewhere in the distance a wildfire burned. Ash drifted down from the sky, bringing with it the smell of smoke on the wind. The Mother’s voice carried through the trees, loud and commanding.

  She flew into the clearing, surrounded by her children as they fled the fires. The vines and branches of her wings smoldered as she moved. Her every movement fed the flames that threatened to burn her up. The dryads continued past the party, paying them no attention, as if they couldn’t even see the players, but the mother stopped.

  “Mother? Why are you stopping? We must continue on.” The Guardian’s voice was strong and powerful, but the tremble in his words gave away the fear he must be feeling.

  The Mother’s eyes teared up slightly as she looked over the players, then she turned to the Guardian. “Go. Continue leading your sisters to safety. I must stay.”

  The Guardian tried to argue; he wanted to stay behind with her, to fulfill the promise of his name. A stern look from the Mother sent him the simple message that he was not to argue with her further. It wasn’t just the look of a goddess, but of a mother protecting her child. She waited until her children were out of sight before turning once more to the party, who had stood there speechless the whole time.

  “I can not say I am happy to see this vision,” she whispered to them as she lowered herself to ground height. Standing in front of Nicholas, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Her fingers moved through him as if she were a ghost.

  “What is going on here? What can we do to help?” Nicholas asked, his body shuddering from the touch.

  “Struggle not, children of men. Allow my roots to bind you to this frame.” Her words were more breathy than usual as she backed away from them and held her hands out to the sides.

  Roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around Elijah’s legs. He reacted immediately, trying to pull himself free. Around him, he could hear his friends all doing the same until Nicholas’ voice cut through their panic.

  “Stop. If she wanted to kill us, this isn’t how she’d do it.” His words were an order, as if he was giving them battle formation instructions. Elijah looked up to see him standing calmly, allowing the roots to crawl up his body. Elijah tried to still his body, and to calm his nerves. The sensation was like a million tiny snakes climbing over his skin.

  The vines continued their ascent over his body until reaching his head. They covered his face, blinding him completely for a moment. Vision returned to him, though at first it seemed distorted and wrong, as if he was seeing it through a screen placed too close to his face. Looking around, he saw that each member of Sasha’s Babysitting Service was now engulfed in roots, giving them the look of having bark-like skin.

  He realized what the Mother had done. Although they couldn’t interact with this world in their normal forms, the roots would act as interfaces, which felt like a second skin and moved with them. As well as obscuring their humanity so as not to scare the already frightened dryads who were fleeing the fire.

  And he had a feeling he knew exactly how the fire had started.

  “How many are coming?” His dryad-like body opened its mouth as he spoke, letting his voice come through clearly. The Mother turned towards him.

  “Perceptive,” she spoke quietly with an affirming nod. “There is an entire clan of humans currently working through the forest and burning our homes. I can slow the ones chasing us down, but I need you five to ensure the safety of my children.”

  Elijah struggled with what she was saying. She wanted them to run away, to leave her alone to handle the oncoming hoard. Yes, it was to protect her children, and yes she was a minor goddess now, but leaving her to face them all rankled at Elijah’s sensibilities.

  “We should stay close. We can help you.”

  The mother looked at Elijah and gave him a soft smile. “No, child. Once you stepped into my glade, my fate became sealed.” There was sadness there, but no sign that she blamed them for what was to come.

  “Come on. We need to get her kids to safety.” Nicholas’ voice was stern, but Elijah could tell that it bothered him.

  The team took Nicholas’ lead, following him as he rushed through the forest. Away from the Mother, where she would no doubt die, and towards her fleeing children. They could hear the startled cries and shouts as they caught up.

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  “Why aren’t they travelling through the trees?” Sasha’s voice gave away her exhaustion, even through the distortion of the wooden mask.

  It was Nicholas who had the answer. “They’re too young. Juvenile dryads can only enter their home tree or those of their sisters.” His knowledge hinted at many secrets. Secrets he gleaned during his time in the second trial.

  “That seems rather contrived. Who wrote this quest?” Benjamin grumbled. He was breathing heavily and struggling to keep up.

  They caught up to the dryads; being bipeds designed for running gave them the advantage in that regard. Elijah couldn’t help but analyze that from a game designer perspective. Were the dryads these knee-less tree creatures instead of beautiful women just so that this quest made sense?

  “I think this might actually be one of the quests the AI designed instead of human-made,” Bo answered as the Guardian turned to face them.

  It was an odd sight to behold. The Guardian’s upper torso turned completely around even as his legs continued their awkward gait forward. “Friend or foe?” he rumbled. He formed his hands into blades, though he didn’t brandish them at the party yet.

  “The mother requested we help get her children to safety while she faces—” Nicholas cut himself off. He’d almost called them players, but the Guardian wouldn’t have understood that word. “Faces the humans coming behind us.”

  There was a look on the Guardian’s face that Elijah couldn’t quite place. A mix between wanting to take them at their word and disbelief that these unknown individuals would help his family out of the kindness of their own hearts.

  “We know you have no reason to trust us. But you need to believe us.” Nicholas’ voice carried an unnatural weight to it. Being a giant of a man, he always had a commanding presence about him, but when he spoke this time, there was an authority to his words that would brook no disagreement.

  The pack of dryads stopped, and a scream rang out from the front of the group. The other players who had been chasing them had caught up and cut them off. They had to get up there and help, but the throng of dryads was too thick. Even the Guardian couldn’t push his way through.

  “Bo, Benjamin, guard the pack. Sasha, with me. Elijah get us to the front of the group.” Nicholas was immediately in his keyed up, leadership role.

  Elijah knew immediately what to do as Sasha stepped closer to Nicholas. He rushed over and laid his hand on them both. ‘Dragontooth Teleport’ activated, but instead of the bats forming from his shadow, they sprang forth from the bark skin that covered him. He caught sight of one of the bats. Instead of the usual black fuzzy creatures, these versions had rough wooden skin. Their red eyes now glowed a bright gold.

  He didn’t have time to study them as they surrounded the trio and moved them to the front of the swarm of dryads.

  Sasha immediately went to work, rushing to the aid of several heavily injured ones. There were three players hacking their way through the creatures. They weren’t even killing, just attacking to hurt and maim. Nicholas rushed forward with a ‘Dash’, slamming his shield into the back of one man and grabbing the man to his left.

  Elijah reached his hand out, trying to call out Bitter Root to assist.

  [Error]

  Bitter Root is unavailable in this form.

  He lost a half-second from the mistake, allowing the third player to cut down another dryad. He could beat himself up about that later, and he would, but he couldn’t waste the time on that now. Bitter Dryad sprung forth from Elijah’s hand with a screech. The familiar landed heavily on the player’s back and went to work harassing the player.

  Elijah turned as another player came through the clearing and went for Sasha. Elijah intercepted him, slamming heavily into the man’s side and bowling him over. Sasha hadn’t even looked up from her work of healing, trusting her friends to do their jobs.

  [Player]

  Name: Tyr

  Class: Spellsword | Level: 11

  HP: 35/35

  Not a true mage, nor a true fighter, but something in between. Elijah couldn’t help grinning. As tough as this dungeon had been, it had been a ton of fun. And now he was going to get to fight one of his favorite types of classes. The class he had dreamed for almost a decade that he would play in Lordship of Sorcery, before everything had changed.

  Tyr swapped the axe he’d been holding for a sword. The weapon itself didn’t have any kind of magical glow, which meant that at best it only had Beginner-tier enchantments, but as the man swung it at Elijah, it flickered with energy. Sparks shot forth from the blade even as Elijah shifted out of the way. Electrical sparks leapt the distance, stinging Elijah’s skin.

  [STATUS]

  Damage Taken: 7

  Remaining Health: 63 / 70

  Elijah backed away slightly as the spellsword got to his feet. “Well, you and your friend there are biggins, aren’t you?” The man laughed, looking between Elijah and Nicholas.

  “What was your base class?” Elijah couldn’t help himself; he wondered how to unlock spellsword, not that he would really have the option. Though if he could find a class tome, he might be able to merge it into Reality Warper.

  Tyr’s shoulders dropped slightly, thrown off by the almost friendly tone in Elijah’s voice. His sword went up, on guard in case of any trickery. “I started as a Bandit when Fate asked, meant to play as a mage but selected the wrong one.” He surprised Elijah with the casualness of his tone, but was happy for it. “Turns out if you dump enough stat points into Intelligence before hitting level 10, the Bandit class can evolve.”

  “Wonder if it works the same for the Soldier tutorial start too?” Elijah nodded his head, though it felt weird through the root armor. “No hard feelings, but I’m looking forward to this fight.”

  The man’s eyes shot up above Elijah’s head and gave a low chuckle. “Ah, crap. You guys are players too?” His player tag must have appeared. “Ah well, I recognize your class. You’re that player who unlocked a unique class not too long ago, huh?”

  Elijah nodded again.

  “Well, okay, I guess no hard feelings. I’m curious what you can do too.”

  Far behind Elijah came the boom of Benjamin’s ‘Thunder Clap’. The sound echoed through the forest. All around him, players and dryads flinched at the sound, even Bitter Dryad’s wild screeching ceased for a moment. But Tyr didn’t flinch.

  “Good idea.” The man almost purred, bringing his hands together.

  Elijah’s world filled with the sound of ringing ears, and he went flying back.