Stumbling up to my feet I felt Valerie pull at my malformed arm, “Florin, you shouldn’t be up!”
Exhaustion struck me like a hammer. My body ached for sleep in the real world.
Ignoring Val’s pleas I stumbled over to the screaming girl and fell to my knees in front of her mangled form. I had never truly grasped that Mystal’s body WAS the mist until this moment. A significant portion of her right side had either been burned completely away or badly scarred by the attack on her mistguards.
She wailed as black tears ran down her cheeks and tried to grab at me with her remaining arm, “Florin! Florin! It hurts! Plea… Please!”
Kneeling close, I cupped her face, “Shhh, we’ll help you. Shhh…”
Glancing over my shoulder at Nomura I stuttered, “Did you try and heal her already?”
His glum looking avatar shook its head, “I tried but it didn’t work. I think she’s regenerating though.”
Studying the fire scarred white tissue on her right side I noted it did appear to be growing back but the progress was glacial. I tried to breathe and whispered under my breath, “Just a game.”
Looking to my allies I tried to calm down despite the screams, “Can we make her sleep?”
Nomura seemed to realize something and then cast a spell on the screaming creature. Mystal slumped in the midst of her latest wail and I eased her down where she lay motionless on the ground.
Putting a gentle hand on Mystal’s forehead I surveyed the damage until I felt a hand on my shoulder. Valerie looked down at me with concern, her face an unmarred version of the mist creature’s. She spoke resolutely and not mincing her words, “Florin, we have to assault the central fortress quickly. If we allow Sevrin to respond to the attack here we won’t be able to best their defenses.”
Looking back down at the innocent sleeping creature I considered the situation. Valerie was right of course. This had been the plan all along. Destroy the fortress and quickly assault the central district before a response could be mustered. But Mystal…
She was an NPC. In a lot of ways she wasn’t even an NPC… she was a mob. We could have just easily destroyed her in the fortress and harvested her body for crafting materials.
Why did I care?
… Did I?
I definitely did.
She was so damned real. Everything I’d experienced told me she was a goofy kid who needed protection. That faded remnant of myself who had spent untold hours helping newbies and making sure they enjoyed the game had risen to prominence again…
Not that… not some game persona. The real me. The guy who had once cared and stood up for the less fortunate.
My nightmares loved to remind me I was a bully. They cast me in the light of the consummate high school prom king douchebag but… that glossed over a lot of good I’d done.
After a long moment I nodded and said, “Someone has to do something for Mystal.”
Valerie started to speak, her face a mask of insistence but Sakurai cut her off, “Nomura and I just got a quest to heal her. We will take care of her.”
When I started to speak Nomura joined in, “There is a temple on the far side of the city. The quest says we can petition some,” his vision became distant as he seemed to be reading the quest text, “Alien power to heal her.”
That definitely sounded sketchy. Struggling to stand I managed to reach my feet as Valerie grabbed my shoulder to steady me. Looking between them with concern I muttered, “Are you sure? This might hurt your quest…”
There was a smile and gentleness in Sakurai’s voice when she responded, “There is more to this than experience.” She put a gentle hand on Mystal’s shoulder and said, “We will assure that she recovers.”
“Do you think you will be recovered enough to face the main camp of the cultists?,” Valerie asked with genuine concern.
Studying my statistics I offered a stiff nod as I surveyed the still injured Mystal, “I’ll be ready.”
Looking at Nomura and then Sakurai with genuine appreciation I nodded, “Thank you. I will contact you once we’ve taken care of the fortress.”
Nomura grinned and winked, “Not if we catch up with you before you’re done.”
Nodding, I chuckled as I cast Mystal one last look and the warrior woman and I started toward the central fortress.
As we made our way out of the fort’s gate Valerie glanced at me and sighed as she said, “My aunt Helene. The strongest woman I ever knew…”
“I’m sorry about what we had to do.”
She gave me an intense stare and shook her head, “My aunt would not want to remain living as that monster. I should thank you for defeating her.”
Offering her a weak smile I chuckled, “I guess I should thank you for saving me.”
She shook her head, “We had to save you from yourself. What were those items you dropped at your own feet? Are you insane?”
I rubbed the back of my neck and laughed. My laugh died in my throat when I spotted the glower on Valerie’s face.
After that we walked in silence back through the darkened streets toward the darkened hilltop district at the center of Braithe.
–
After my wounds were completely healed we were able to make much better speed through the empty city.
As we exited the tourist district of the city Valerie asked with a note of what sounded like concern, “What… what was that music you were dancing to?”
“Hmmm?”
“What was that music that played in the tavern? I’ve never heard anything like it.”
“It’s an older song from my world.”
“Why did you… why did you choose that one? The words were…”
As I was crossing a pile of debris I paused and considered the lyrics. It dawned on me that she may have taken them the wrong way and I stuttered, “Val… I wasn’t… I didn’t mean to imply…”
“I wanted to dance, you know…”
Looking over my shoulder at her I saw that she was much more an unsure girl than the woman who often bellowed commands and charged into battle. Pausing and sitting on a downed beam I said, “Why didn’t you?”
She stifled a laugh and lowered her eyes as she said, “I don’t know how.”
Chuckling and smiling I said, “The most noble woman I’ve ever met hasn’t mastered the art of dance?”
Getting back some of her gravitas she gave me a hard but playful stare, “What woman who knows the sword as well as I has time to learn something as frivolous as dance.”
“Touche,” I said with a chuckle.
After a long baited moment I smiled at her, forgetting fully that she was a digital woman and that this world was not real. Nodding, I said, “I’ll teach you if you want.”
Looking at me sharply she studied my face for signs of deceit and said, “Really? You’ll teach me to dance like the people of your world?”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Why not? I’d be glad to.”
Lydia interrupted the moment in my mind with an announcement:
“New Quest
Stray Cat Strut
XP Reward: 900
Reward: Tier E Boots
A rough and tumble vampire from the wrong side of the graveyard has promised to teach a dangerous dilettante with a sword the art of dance. This is the stuff animated films are made for!”
Smiling, I shook my head and winked at Valerie, whose hopeful face vanished as she scowled and muttered, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. Let’s continue on though.”
With that I followed after her through the dark and decaying streets.
As we ascended the empty road toward the fortress I started to grow concerned. By the look on her face Valerie was just as worried. At first we had taken the ascent slowly, on the look out for forward guard posts but we encountered none. Perhaps more surprising was the complete lack of wandering mutants.
The Branded simply seemed to be… GONE.
“Is this a trap?”
Giving her a long look I shook my head, “At the base of this road I searched every building within a hundred meters for signs of an ambush waiting to cut us off. This road is prime real estate for a surprise attack.”
Shrugging I growled in frustration as I surveyed the path to the gates ahead, “If they are going to jump us, where the hell are they?”
We continued on, being careful but eschewing the stealth that we had adopted at the base of the grand avenue. We reached the entrance to the noble district where the cultists were to be housed without being accosted.
The gates were five meters tall and made of scarred white wood banded with dull black metal. Standing between them was a single naked female Haithan. Like most she towered over two meters in height but she was not as muscular and imposing as most. Her white hair had been shorn down to her scalp haphazardly. There were blackened brands all over her arms and legs but the most prominent was the one on the side of her head. It glared a brilliant gold as if still burning. The woman stared at us with a flat and empty expression.
Valerie hissed sharply as she finally caught sight of the woman’s features, “Lady Thentia.”
As if reacting to the sound of the young noblewoman’s voice the swaying figure’s face split into a sharp rictus grin. She spoke, and when she did it was with a man’s smooth baritone, and what I swore was an accent from the deep south of the United States.
“Howdy there. If it isn’t the little trouble makers who have been culling the faithful.”
Stepping forward I looked for signs of possible ambush and growled, “What the hell is this?”
The woman waved a hand like a puppet on strings toward the sprawl of Braithe and said, “Felt like I had to meet you.”
Her head flopped to the side and her dark eyes bored into Valerie as she said, “Didn’t seem like a good idea to do so in person.”
“Who are you?”
The eyes snapped back and the voice answered my question smoothly, “You can call me Sevrin, Remnant. We’ll set all titles aside. I doubt you’d be respectful anyway.”
Shrugging, I advanced on the strange puppet and muttered, “Good guess there. What the hell did you do to this woman?”
The voice chuckled and the body staggered to turn and watch me with an awkward and haphazard step, “A trick that the Lady teaches her senior priests. The ability to speak through something that is closely tied to her,” the smile widened and the eyes glistened, “like her mark.”
Glancing at Valerie, noting her rage and her white knuckle grip on the blade at her side, I circled the strange creature as I asked, “What did you want to ask us?”
Sevrin’s dulcet and smooth southern drawl continued, “I wanted to talk to you, Remnant.”
“Shoot.”
The rictus grin seemed to stutter at the informality of my response but he continued nonetheless, “Abandon this young woman’s machinations to subvert her family’s wishes and I will allow you to descend the Spiral unmolested.”
Branching Quest
The Resistance!
New XP Reward: 10000 xp
You’ve been offered the ability to ignore the next steps in this quest. Choose to side with Sevrin and immediately descend the Spiral!”
Looking toward Valerie I saw that her anger and resolute fury had vanished. Her eyes were locked on me with genuine concern… fear. Staring into her eyes for a long moment I chuckled and declined the quest Branch with a thought, “Nah, I think I like my side. Where the hell are you, so we can get this over with.”
The strange puppet creature scowled but its smile quickly returned. The strange puppet looked out over the city and I followed its gaze to a single dark rising plume of smoke illuminated by the starlight. I cursed as the strange monster responded, “We were just leaving.”
At that the puppet creature collapsed into a lifeless heap.
In the distance the gates where the remaining Braithan survivors huddled in fear were on fire.
The city between us and the distant gates were a blur. Back in the real world intense fatigue had struck me and I was running on total adrenaline. As we ascended up the stairs to the gate we found a number of haphazard black burn scars on the walls depicting the cult's familiar symbol. We arrived at the gate and found it bashed down and burned to cinders. Valerie glared at me and muttered, “I’ll be going first.”
“I’m completely healed. I can…”
She cut me off with another glare, “You are clearly exhausted and a liability. Stay here.”
Cursing under my breath I waited for her to vanish into the smoke and rushed in after. Left and Right appeared in my hands and I set off through the familiar smoky guard station we had been using as a base of operations.
Slowing my approach, I looked up. Forms appeared from the smoke hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel, many appeared to still be on fire. Grimacing, I continued through the haze, low to the ground and scanning for threats. Before long I heard Valerie shout a warning and blindly hurried toward her. The familiar figure of the towering female warrior faded into view and I heard the screech of a mutant as low figures sprinted toward her on all fours through the haze.
Running to join them I found Valerie facing off with a pack of Hunters.
Valerie cursed, “Gods dammit, Florin!”
Leaping forward I drove a blade into the nearest branded. The child-like mutant recoiled and regarded me with familiar silver eyes. One of the creature's claws snapped out and raked into me and I staggered back. Cursing repeatedly, “Fuck this. Fuck,” I started to rapidly slash the creature, my accuracy sloppy and shaking when I recognized my opponent. I tried to ignore the face of the child that had guided us to the guard station days ago but her smiling face kept invading my thoughts.
My Essence surged as blood from the creature’s wounds sprayed all over me. Kicking the beast to the ground I planted a boot on its neck, driving my blade down into its head with a pained grimace, “I’m sorry kid.”
We hacked our way through a pack of fifteen Hunters. Adrenaline kept me going and my strikes became more accurate and efficient as I purposefully tried to ignore the familiar faces of the camp children.
It became clear that Sevrin had turned as many of the children as he could and hung the adults. Following the battle we picked our way through the smoldering remains of the camp. At the exit gate we found the last message from the cult.
We found Elmore, the guard who invited us into Braithe, staked through his arms and legs with massive iron spikes against the city’s closed gate. He had been branded all over his body but had obviously not turned. His wounds were crusted with filth and they had driven random pieces of black iron through his arms and legs. Valerie began yanking out the twisted iron to free the body of the unfortunate guard with shaking hands.
She set the body of the guard out on the ground and knelt to pay her respects. She spoke without turning to me, her voice full of worry and sorrow, “I have to get back to Lothin.”
Studying her my lethargy returned as I said, “If he gets that Brand back to your people we’ll be in trouble.”
She nodded and turned to study me, “I will go back to the city and inform my mother of what happened here,” she paused and lowered her head, “and about her sister.”
The true fatigue of what must have been nearly twenty hours of gaming struck me. My shoulders slumped and I nodded, looking back through the smoke toward the distant gate and the ghost city we were leaving behind us, “I’m sorry I can’t keep going.”
Valerie moved to me and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. Her brilliant golden eyes gazed into mine with genuine concern as she whispered, “Florin, you should sleep.”
Nodding, I whispered, “I guess I have gotten a little carried away.”
Giving Valerie a strained smile, I said, “If you gather your people I will gather all the Remnants I can and meet up with you to plan the revolution.”
She nodded with a look of cool determination, “There is a small chapel on the east side of Vertcollin Hamlet. We’ll meet there in five days, ok?”
Nodding, my gaze lingered on the body of the crucified man and then back at the camp full of hanging figures before snapping back to Valerie. She was standing close, her eyes softer and her black lips parted as if she wanted to say something.
In that moment of exhausted tension, standing amidst the fire and death I whispered, “Fuck it,” and put a hand on the much taller woman’s cheek. I leaned up and brushed my lips against hers.
Feeling the woman tighten up and pull away I cursed and sighed as I muttered, “What the fuck am I doing?”
Glancing at her I saw confusion on her face. Her expression was unreadable. Chuckling I shook my head and started down the road, “I SHOULD not have done that. Please forget I did that…”
“Florin?”
Ignoring her question I continued down the path with a parting wave. I muttered, “What the hell is this game?” Lydia announced a change to the quest chain as I made a way to a safe spot:
“Quest Evolving
The Resistance!
XP Gained: 1000
XP Reward: 900
Braithe has become a ghost city and the cause is the Branded Cult, led by the mad priest Sevrin. He either murdered or mutated every remaining citizen in the city and fled, most likely to take his Brand to the Immolated Order and make your resistance effort that much harder.
Meet with Valerie de Lafontaine in Vertcollin hamlet to start the war.”
