Coughing, I leaned over the side of the dive chair blinking in the faint light, “Lydia, did I fall asleep in the dive chair?”
Lydia’s calming voice came from everywhere, “Yes, Mal. Did you have another nightmare sweetie?”
Blinking, I shook my head, “Where the hell did that one come from?”
“Would you like for me to call emergency services?”
Closing my eyes tightly, I stuttered and rubbed my face “No, no… please no. It’s just another strange dream. How long was I asleep?”
“It’s nearly six am, Darlin.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I grumbled under my breath, “Is weird dreams one of the side effects of my anti-depressants?”
Lydia commented after a moment, “It is sweetie.”
Swinging my feet out of the dive chair I struggled to stand. From experience I knew that dive chairs weren’t intended to be slept in and my coordination was only more solid proof. On the screen above my avatar’s view was fixed on the backs of two figures. The figures of Valerie and Mystal loomed before the avatar making their way up a steep mountain road.
“I am gonna get cleaned up and have breakfast. Could you start the coffee maker and preheat the stovetop?”
She answered softly, “Sure thing. Would you like me to schedule another session with your therapist, Darlin?”
With defeated exhaustion in my voice I asked, “Ungh, what’s the point?”
“Do you want me to answer that Mal?”
Looking up toward the ceiling I sighed in defeat, “Yeah… go ahead.”
Walking past the table toward the stairs I paused to look down at the envelope there. Taking a deep breath and rubbing my face I asked, “Did I get a letter from Larry at Catacomb, Lyd?”
“You did Darlin. Would you like me to summarize it for you?”
Ignoring the envelope I made my way to the stairs and up toward the kitchen, “You know, sure.”
“Summary of email from Larry (Blank) of Catacomb Entertainment at 6:00 EST: Larry and his team have found few clues about the identity of the hacker beyond what they discovered previously. They had a serious security incident today and were distracted by that effort.”
“Of course.”
“Olivia stocked the refrigerator yesterday and I had her prep some breakfast materials. I am concerned that you are not eating properly.”
Sighing, I spoke to the ceiling as I opened the door to the faintly lit kitchen, “Yes, mom.”
Nearly two hours later I had cleaned up, worked out, and was cleaning the plate from my breakfast in a clean robe. Setting the plate in the drying rack I said, “Lydia, even though you have them blocked, have you kept track of how many times Sydney has tried to contact me?”
After a long moment she said, “Forty four times since the block, Mal.”
Running a shaky hand through my hair I reached to the patch phone on my chest. My hand hovered over it and I finally sighed before snatching up my coffee cup instead. I downed the rest of it and cleaned it as well.
With that I turned away and made my way downstairs into the still glowing red light of the dive room. Through a massive stretch I muttered, “Same rules as yesterday Lydia. Olivia is off today so lockdown the house and keep an eye on the cameras.”
After a few moments thought I said, “Also, give Cassie a call and ask her how the house sale stuff is going. I haven’t heard from her in a while.”
“Sure thing, sweetie.”
Looking up at the huge screen I saw that my avatar was standing alongside Valerie and Mystal looking toward the black stone walls of a large city. Valerie looked toward my avatar with concern and said something to someone I couldn’t see.
I took a deep breath and wrenched the helmet onto my head startling Valerie as my avatar came back to life, her eyes going wide as she stuttered, “You… you’re back.”
Mystal grinned and started toward me but I raised a hand and smirked, “No, not this time.”
She pouted with a face that I was still not getting used to seeing with such clear emotions.
I surveyed the area and saw we were still some distance from the sprawling city wall and hunkered down in what appeared to be an often used campsite. We were surrounded by large black boulders and twisted bone white scrub brushes with none of the lilac colored leaves typical of this world.
Working my jaw I asked Valerie, “She eat anyone while I was gone?”
Valerie grimaced, her face a mask of worry and what might be contrition. She looked at Sakurai and Nomura, who were still up and playing to my surprise, “Whenever we got into an exchange she did eat the bodies.”
Mystal beamed a smile so wide that her eyes nearly closed, “I have been so happy to try so many different things!”
Sakurai looked at me and spoke with a smile but clear exhaustion in her voice, “We must also log out soon. Nomura has a way to ease our way into the city but then we must get some rest.”
Nomura yawned, exposing his avatar’s horrible shark-like teeth before saying, “Illusion magic to make Sakurai and I look like the locals.”
Without waiting for approval he weaved his hand through several sharp gestures and a flickering image descended over their exposed features. Nomura transformed into a young slender woman with lavender skin, silvery eyes and sharp features with more details hidden by the heavy hood he wore.
Sakurai’s newly added skin became a darker shade of mulberry and her sharp features were softened by kind yellow eyes. She had long braided silky jet black hair. I realized that the detail of this disguise meant that this might be close to what Sakurai actually looked like.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Nice to have some faces to go with these voices.”
Nomura pointed at me and grumbled, “Now that you know what Sakurai looks like you will have to tell us who you are at some point.”
Sakurai swatted him on the shoulder and gave me an apologetic look, “He has become obsessed with who you are. He has made several guesses and forced me into a number of his bets about the subject.”
Nomura closed his avatar’s eyes and stood up straight with an air of innocence as he said, “Basic sportsmanship and understandable curiosity.”
Trying to ignore the nervous and paranoid spike in my emotions I rubbed the back of my neck and said, “I promise I will tell you guys sometime. For now, I guess Nomura will just have to live in suspense.”
Sakurai smiled and Nomura cursed, “Shit! Well, I will find out!”
Valerie was keeping a watchful eye on Mystal, who was peering over a boulder nearby.
I asked, “Any signs of life from the gates?”
She shook her head and looked up the road to the ominous battlements as she said, “No movement. I suspect that being closed off for years and having the border fort out of commission for months has left them with a skeleton crew,” she glanced at Sakurai and said, “no offense.”
The giant warrior somehow managed to convey a smile.
Mystal joined the conversation nonchalantly, “A group came from this direction to the fort weeks ago.”
Looking toward the sky I sighed my response, “Did you eat them?”
She gave a gleeful but kind smile and nodded, “Mhm.”
Accepting what I had no power to change I turned to Valerie and asked, “Should we two go out ahead so you can use your noble clout to push open the gates?”
Valarie gave me an affirming nod and I turned to the others, “You guys follow a short distance behind us but don’t approach until we get the go ahead.”
All three gave a nod of agreement and the five of us set off up the narrow road toward the gates of the mountain city. To our left the road ended in a dropoff and to our right the cliff rose upward toward the heights of the black mountains.
While we walked, the young noblewoman moved closer to me and spoke with me in a hushed tone, “I should probably stop drinking.”
Giving her a sidelong glance I sighed, “I suppose that eventually we are going to have a big discussion about your problems with the Remnants,” before she could retort I continued, “and my shady former campaigns.”
She nodded and adjusted her shoulders to correct how her armor sat on her towering frame, “Its hard for me to shrug away an entire lifetime of horror stories and the rhetoric of the Immolated Order. Even if my family are not members they have been a powerful part of Lothin for more than a century. I,” she ground her teeth slightly and said, “I’m really sorry that I…”
As we approached the walls I started to feel distinctly uneasy and raised a hand to forestall her apology. Valerie was taking in the fortress and I could see that she was growing concerned.
“City of Braithe
One of two great cities that remain in the ruins of old L’Chasse. Darkness has come to the isolationist city. Be wary traveler, only demons dwell here now.
Questing: Level 18-27”
When Lydia announced the level range I schooled my expression to avoid wincing.
At the foot of the smooth black walls and standing before the white wood gates I looked to my companion and she gave me a warning look and then called out, “City of Braithe, you have visitors.”
For a long painful moment there was no sound at all. I started to suggest the ominous possibility that we might need to scale the walls when a scream went up from the battlements.
Not a scream of anger or fear but an exaltation of glee and relief.
A form appeared against the endless sky of stars. Its features were not visible but a raspy male voice bellowed with overwhelming emotion, “Saved… we are saved!”
The panicked and nearly sobbing voice called out, “I… I thought… the world was dead!”
Beside me Valerie’s light lavender skin had somehow gone paler. With a sigh I looked over my shoulder and gestured for the others to approach.
Meanwhile, from the wall the excitable voice proclaimed, “Wait… wait.. I’ll open the gate. Please don’t leave,” his voice fading as he repeated, “please don’t leave us.”
Just as Sakurai, Mystal and Nomura joined us the heavy white wood gates groaned and started to open to reveal a long but wide tunnel. It was far from empty, however. The area was filled with makeshift wooden buildings and tents lit only by torches emitting some kind of white fire. As we watched faces with skin the telltale purple hues of the haithans peered from amidst the ramshackle little village. Many of them were old or young. They huddled in fear and many vanished to hide.
Tightening my jaw, I strode forward as a figure hurried out of the camp toward us. It was an ancient male haithan with long slightly drooping ears and light blue eyes that were wide with surprise and, I suspected, more than a little insanity.
He was wearing patchy armor and carrying a spear, which he promptly dropped as he fell to his knees before us and dropped his head to the stones. The man started to weep and whispered, “I… I thought that we were all doomed.”
Valerie and I shared a look and the woman nodded, her pale worry gone and returned to stoic resolve. She moved forward and held out a hand to the still sobbing man, “Stand and tell me of the situation in Braithe. I am Lady Valerie de Lafontaine and seek council with my family here.”
The sobbing man took her hand and rasped out an excitable greeting, “Oh Lady, we are so humbled and relieved that you found your way to our aid in Braithe. I am Elmore, but a simple guard who was lucky enough to survive the calamity that befell us.”
As he spoke more of the citizens of Braithe peeked out from their dwellings and some even emerged to watch us with further interest. Almost all of them were emaciated to a point that I thought not possible. The only somewhat healthy ones were the children.
Valerie asked with a note of concern, “What of my family?”
The man’s lip trembled and his voice quivered as he said, “The noble district m’lady, it was the first to fall. We have not seen a whit of the great noble ladies and their families since the betrayal,” his voice filled with venom when he emphasized that word, “took place.”
“Who… who betrayed you?,” Valerie looked around the gathered citizens, most turning away or making a sign I didn’t recognize.
The man looked up into Valerie’s eyes and trembled as he whispered, “The Cult, m’lady.”
He staggered to his feet and raised his hands in a gesture of prayer as he said, “It all began when High Lady Aralle returned from her journeys to investigate a Remnant fortress deeper into the mountains. She returned with a retinue of servants of the fire goddess. They claimed to be members of the Immolated Order who ventured into the mountains following their leader… Sevrin. ”
The old guard wrung his hands and his shoulders slumped, “We had long been cut off from the world in the city and many were enchanted by him. Soon word of what had convinced his small sect to set out into the mountains spread. He claimed that this divinely blessed item would save all L’Chasse from the Spiral…”
Several citizens around us started to weep as he continued, “There was a parade… a great feast… a festival. By that time, Sevrin had garnered a considerable following from the frightened citizens here. There was to be a parade… a great feast… a festival. Some even whispered that the High Lady would announce that should take the mad priest as her consort, adding his following to her house.”
The man started to tear up, “Lady Aralle seemed a distant mirror of herself. Before she was a stalwart and resolute leader and now she seemed almost… intoxicated with him.”
The man gestured toward the city that seemed shrouded in mist that brought stark reminders of our encounter with Mystal. Perhaps another such creature had followed the Immolated Order to the city?
He finally admitted, “The day of the festival came and spirits were actually high. I hadn’t seen folks that excited in the two years since we closed the gates. The great square was buzzing with activity. The food stores were opened and barrels of wine that had been kept locked away for years were tapped…”
He sniveled and wiped his eyes as he continued, “Sevrin got up in front of us and gave a speech. He was all smiles about what he called ‘The Way Forward’ and ‘The Answer to the Spiral’. Lady Aralle watched him like a wide-eyed child. We should have known that there was no quick answer.”
A young man who looked far sicker than most of the oldest of the Braithans chimed in, “He gave an order and his own priests and many of the new members of his order,” the man stammered, “our neighbors, attacked those who were unaware. They didn’t kill, unless they had to. They subdued as many as they could… Lady Aralle and the nobles, they just watched.”
