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  They knocked the creature back, almost toppling it over completely.

  I went in for the kill.

  Your slash INJURES the hill giant skeleton for 13 damage.

  Your pierce INJURES the hill giant skeleton for 14 damage.

  Your slash HITS the hill giant skeleton for 8 damage.

  The hill giant skeleton is dead!

  Why is combat not over?

  I glanced around. Bones and unicorn parts lay strewn across the road.

  “Quick,” the stranger said. “Let me join your party. It’s only fair.”

  “We need a spellcaster,” I said, looking at the others. “Anyone have a problem with it?”

  “No,” Josh said then offered a hand while holding his sword in the other. “Name’s Josh.”

  “I’m Leena,” she said, ignoring his huge, half-orc hand. “Can we do this before the battle is over? I’m so close to leveling.”

  “Do it,” Boki said, able to move again.

  “I’ve got no problems with it,” Derringer added.

  We all allowed her into our group.

  [PC] Leena Human Wizard / Cleric has joined your party.

  “Thanks,” she said. “You guys are lower-level than me, but I lost the rest of my party. It’s not exactly safe to be on this level by yourself.”

  “How did your friends die?” I asked.

  “Vampire!” she shouted, pointing behind me.

  I turned and saw the blood-sucker I’d been battling.

  He ran toward me, claws out, and attacked.

  The vampire HITS you for 10 damage.

  You lose 1,000 xp.

  You have 96,733 xp.

  You have [47/128] health remaining.

  “A little help over here!” I shouted as I dropped the Scimitar of Speed.

  The vampire stood right in front of me as I pulled out the wooden stake.

  I tried to attack with the Scimitar of Speed and the stake at the same time.

  Your slash INJURES the vampire for 13 damage.

  Your pierce INJURES the vampire for 12 damage.

  Your pierce MISSES the vampire.

  The vampire is not concerned.

  Josh ran forward and brought his mighty sword down, cleaving off the vampire’s left arm. It hissed and turned to face the barbarian. Derringer ran up and scored a hit, followed by Boki.

  Over a dozen golden bolts whizzed by, landing on the vampire’s chest. They knocked it back a few steps. As the blood-sucking fiend looked at us with a stunned expression on its face, I froze.

  “Use the stake!” Leena yelled. “Do it now!”

  Her voice spurred me into action. I ran forward and slashed twice with the Scimitar of Speed then followed up by ramming the wooden stake into the vampire’s heart.

  Your slash HITS the vampire for 10 damage.

  Your pierce INJURES the vampire for 15 damage.

  Your pierce INJURES the vampire for 15 damage.

  The vampire is dead!

  Combat is Over!

  You get 38,000 xp.

  You have 5 party members.

  You get 7,600 xp.

  You have 104,333 xp.

  You need 667 xp for Level 10 Rogue -> Bounty Hunter.

  As I pulled the wooden stake out, the vampire’s body turned to dust.

  “Thanks for letting me in your group,” Leena said, walking up to me. “I thought I was a goner for sure. You’ve got an impressive group.”

  I turned and smiled, mesmerized by her crystal-clear blue eyes and pale skin.

  “Not a problem,” I said, a stupid half-smile perched on my face.

  Was it Sarah? It had to be her. Why wouldn’t she say anything?

  Leena squinted her eyes, staring at me as if I were some exotic zoo animal.

  “If you two are done with your introductions, we’ve got work to do,” Josh said. “There might be more undead around. Let’s loot these bodies.”

  Leena turned and stepped away.

  “We should make camp for the night,” she said. “They snuck up on us while I was looking for a good place to rest.”

  “Sarah?” I asked.

  Leena turned and tilted her head.

  “Huh?” she asked.

  “Are you Sarah?” I asked. “Quit messing around.”

  She shook her head. “Who’s Sarah?”

  “You’re not funny,” I said, still hoping it was her.

  “I’m Rebeccah in real life, but you can call me Leena. I like to stay in character.”

  I didn’t argue as Leena rolled up the sleeves of her crimson robes. The sun had been down for a few hours, and I needed to rest. After grabbing the floating platform with our gear, we led it a hundred feet off the main road.

  The fire we set might give us away, but with the temperature still dropping, we needed a means to stay worm. Maybe Derringer could craft something to heat us without open flames.

  I watched Leena closely as she sat next to the fire on a log. Josh and Boki were seated next to her, bantering back and forth with each other.

  “Can you identify some rings for us?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said, holding out her hand, palm up. “Give them to me.”

  I dug out the rings we’d found in the crypt under Fort Sumter. She ran her other hand over them, mumbling arcane words I didn’t understand.

  “Not bad. Ring of Minor Spell Storing and a Ring of Minor Fire Protection,” she said then tossed them across the fire to me.

  I caught them midair.

  “We don’t have any spellcasters,” I said. “Do you want this ring for your spells, or is it too low-level for you?”

  She smiled, the flames lighting her face. “I’ll take it,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “And I’ll take the other one,” Josh said.

  “Probably a good idea,” I said, turning to him. “You’re our frontline tank and will be taking the brunt of the damage.”

  I tossed the ring to Josh. He snatched it out of the air then put it on his left hand.

  “Do you guys always talk OOC?” Leena asked.

  “A lot of the time,” I said. “Why?”

  Derringer, sitting next to me, nudged me with his elbow.

  “I don’t know.” She stared into my eyes. “There’s something about you guys.”

  “We’re the new players,” I said. “At least two of us. We’re looking for the third, our friend Sarah. All these undead have been sidetracking us.”

  Leena nodded.

  “Interesting. Are the rumors about you true?” she asked.

  “What rumors?”

  “That you’re not prisoners and came in here willingly.”

  “It’s a long story,” I said, not mentioning that Derringer had been a guard.

  Leena looked over at the dark knight. “Were you guards like him?” she asked.

  I tilted my head, confused.

  “Dark knights are well known for being guards in the real world,” Derringer said.

  “What about you?” Leena continued. “You’re not a dark knight, and you say you weren’t a prisoner. Were you one of the insane people?”

  “I’m not crazy,” I said a bit too defensively. “My father helped build the game.”

  She stood, looking down at me with this look of pure, raw rage on her face. The flickering flames didn’t help with softening her image.

  “You knowingly came into this game? Why would your father do that to you?”

  “No,” I said. “Josh, Sarah, and I snuck into the game. We weren’t supposed to be playing. I didn’t know it was a prison.”

  Leena sat back down on a log, elbows on her knees, a hand resting on her cheek. “Tell me more,” she said.

  “I think we should beat up Eric at least once for his involvement,” Josh said.

  Leena glanced over at the barbarian and laughed.

  “I’m actually not a fan of violence,” she said. “There’s other ways to get people.”

  Do we have another mole in our midst? Had we invite
d a snake into our party?

  “Believe me, I’ve got questions for my father too,” I said. “Then we have Magi Inyontoo going around claiming I killed his father even though I’ve never met him before in my life.”

  “That guy is going down,” Leena said as she peered into the fire. “I’ve made it my mission in the game. He’s way too cocky and full of himself.”

  “You hate him too?” I asked. “We’ve been hunting him a while.”

  “After what he did to me…” She stopped a moment. “I’m taking his life for the first time in the game. A lot of people have tried to kill him, but I’m going to do it. No matter what it takes.”

  “Wait,” I said. “You’re telling me he’s never died before?”

  “He’s one of only seven people who have never died once in the game,” she said. “Unless others have died that I don’t know about. I got stuck on the lower levels after they constructed the Warp Zone.”

  “We did well as an impromptu group tonight,” I said.

  Derringer shook his head back and forth. “We did alright,” he said. “We need more discipline and a bigger playbook.”

  “And Axelrod,” Boki said. “He’s coming soon.”

  “That old scoundrel has come out of hiding finally?” Leena asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “You know him?”

  “No, but I’ve heard the stories. He always liked these lower levels. Some people have stayed down here on the Grabisco Isles since they entered the Tower of Gates. Personally, I don’t get it, but whatever. I still can’t believe I got stuck down here.”

  “We need to sleep,” Derringer said. “We still have a long journey ahead of us.”

  “I’ll take first shift,” Josh said, standing and stretching. “No way I can rest so soon after that intense battle. I’m all hopped up on adrenaline.” He glanced down and smiled at Leena.

  She paid no attention to him.

  “I’m going to bed,” I said, standing. “Wake me up for my shift.”

  The others stayed by the fire as I walked a few feet away before unrolling my blanket to once again sleep under the stars. With the temperature dropping, I wondered if we might get snow soon.

  It would be just like the game to make things worse for us.

  I nestled into my blanket and blocked out the others talking by the fire. As I fell asleep, thoughts of Sarah floated through my mind. More time apart had built a wall between us. I wanted to save her as soon as possible.

  My dreams brought me little comfort.

  Chapter 9

  Hero and His Family

  Eric

  The next day, a few hours before sunset, we neared Harrisburg.

  How would it be different than the small village I spawned into on level one-one? I wondered.

  “Take it down here,” I said. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”

  Derringer nodded and said, “Good idea.”

  He landed to the left of a trail leading east.

  After we stepped off the floating platform, the dark knight shrunk it then stored it away while the rest of us stretched and took a few steps.

  “Let’s keep moving,” I said. “We shouldn’t be out in the wild after dark.”

  I took off down the path, the others following close behind.

  Not too far from where we landed, a dozen armored men on horses stopped us. Their leader, wearing blue-tinted chain mail armor, spoke first.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “These lands aren’t safe.”

  “My name is Drexmao, and I’ve come to pay respects to my family,” I said, hoping some of my ancestors were still around in the city.

  The other men looked at each other briefly then back to us.

  “What’s your name again?” the leader asked, tilting his right ear toward me.

  “Drexmao,” I repeated. “Why?”

  “Are you related to Rexmao the chieftain?” the warrior asked.

  I nodded, saying nothing.

  “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Follow us back to the city.”

  The riders turned their horses then headed east.

  Leena looked over at me.

  “What was that all about?” she asked.

  “No idea.” I shrugged. “We’ve got the same mao on the end. Maybe we’re related? Or the game wants us to roleplay more?” I glanced up at the sky, grey and filled with clouds.

  Already nearing sunset, it would get even darker as the sun went down. We’d made good time all the way from Westwood.

  “We’ll sleep in Harrisburg tonight and ask around about Sarah,” I said.

  “Axelrod might finally catch up to us too,” Boki said.

  “How’s he going to find us?” Josh asked.

  “Don’t you worry about it,” Boki replied. “Dwarven ingenuity runs deep.”

  “Come on,” I said, heading down the dirt road after the riders. “Let’s go.”

  I hardly recognized the place as we stopped at an open gate on the west wall. The high fortification, made from stone and wood, appeared tough enough to stop an entire army of the undead. I glanced beyond the gateway and saw a group of men in armor standing together.

  “Welcome,” one yelled, motioning us in.

  I nodded my head for the others to follow then headed into the city. The man who had motioned us over had on even fancier blue-tinted armor.

  “Greetings,” I said as I stopped in front of the guards.

  “Well met,” the same man said. “I’m Raxmao, son of Rexmao, the chieftain.”

  The game got too confusing with the names. Was it intentional?

  “We’re just looking for a place to rest tonight,” I said. “We’ve been out clearing the surrounding countryside.”

  “Killed that vampire dead,” Josh said.

  Raxmao turned to the half-orc and said, “I see. You’re more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need. My father will want to see you.”

  “We’d be honored,” I said.

  “This way,” Raxmao said.

  He turned and headed down a cobblestone street. The great gate groaned as it closed behind us. We followed the chieftain’s son to an enclosed compound in the center of the city. A four-story brick building stood behind another stone wall, looking intimidating. On the way, I noticed a Temple of Magictology, but I didn’t say anything about it.

  Until we had proof they were behind all the undead everywhere, I wanted to play it cool. With so many undead, we might end up needing their help, I reasoned as we walked.

  “Did you see the temple?” Derringer asked from beside me.

  I nodded and whispered,” Keep quiet about it now.”

  “Agreed,” Leena said on the other side of me.

  “What are you three talking about now?” Boki asked from behind us.

  Another massive wooden gate opened as Raxmao approached. On the other side, he headed toward an impressive carved door at least twice the height of Josh. This door also opened as we got closer.

  I admired their attention to detail on the security.

  “We’ll find you rooms for the night after you talk to my father,” Raxmao said over his shoulder as he walked through the doorway.

  The inside looked much more luxurious and comfortable than the plain, utilitarian nature of the architecture outside. My relatives had done well for themselves.

  Raxmao stopped at yet another marvelous door worth more than many of the homes we’d passed on the way to the center of the city.

  “Wait here at the door,” he said as he opened it. “I’ll motion for you to come over.”

  After I nodded, he went into the impressive throne room with a vaulted ceiling. On the far end of the room, an immense throne made of wood, gold, silver, and gems sat raised up from the rest of the floor.

  An elderly man sat on the throne, his arms resting on carved lion legs, his chest and head slumped forward.

  “Come in!” Raxmao shouted, his voice echoing in the chamber.

&nb
sp; I stepped forward with the others following right behind me. Rexmao, the chieftain, stayed in his hunched over position as we approached. Raxmao, his son, stood with his arms crossed over his chest. I stopped a respectable distance away.

  “Closer,” the chieftain said, not stirring. “I want to see your face, Drexmao.”

  I walked closer to the raised throne, the others hanging back. “Thanks for taking us in,” I said. “We’ve traveled from Westwood, and we need a place to sleep for a night or two before we journey to Shockly Forest.”

  “I see…” Rexmao nodded slightly. “Are you sure that’s your name?”

  “See this armor?” I tapped my chest. “Where else would I get it?”

  “Very well,” Rexmao said. “Welcome to my city. You’re free to stay with us as long as you like. Word of your exploits taking out the undead has already reached us.”

  Leena stepped forward, stopping beside me.

  “We’d prefer staying in a normal Inn,” she said, staring at Rexmao.

  “That’s not recommended,” Raxmao said.

  “Quiet,” his father hissed then turned his attention to us. “Why?”

  I nudged Leena with my elbow, but she kept talking.

  “Are you working with Magictology?” she asked, spitting the last word out like it was poisoned. “Why do you allow them in your city?”

  “These are dangerous times,” Rexmao said.

  He leaned back on his throne, staring down his nose at us.

  “Even so,” Leena continued. “They’re eviler than the undead.”

  “Do you know why we’re safe here in the city?” Raxmao asked.

  “Quiet,” his father hissed.

  The son ignored his father and kept taking. “It’s not the walls or the man-power. We made a deal with Magi Inyontoo. He’s allowed a temple here, and our city is magically protected from the undead.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Are you saying that Magictology is definitely behind the undead menace?”

  The king laughed a few moments before launching into a coughing fit.

  “Have some respect,” Raxmao said then bent over to place a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call the priest?”

  “I’m fine!” Rexmao shouted. “It’s not time for you to get the crown!”