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  “Why do you say that?” he asked, sounding intrigued.

  “I found his diary,” I said.

  “You read it?” His eyes opened wider. “Intense!”

  “Just to look for clues,” I said.

  “Did you find any?”

  I shook my head. “No, not really, but he found a way out. I’m sure of it.”

  “We can work on that after we solve our first problem,” King Eddie said. “Charlotte.”

  “How many players are trapped here?” I asked, digging for more information.

  “Twenty-one that I know about,” he said. “Not including Charlotte. She’s strange. She didn’t get her own island.”

  “Maybe she appeared on mine because she was my familiar?”

  He shrugged. “Who knows…?”

  “Are we working together, then?” I asked.

  He nodded, staring into my eyes.

  “Good,” I said. “Any others you can convince to join us would help.”

  “I’ve got a few in mind,” he said. “Charlotte needs to die.”

  The bloodlust on his face concerned me, but I pushed the thoughts aside. We had a bigger issue to deal with—stopping Charlotte once and for all.

  * * * * *

  King Eddie promised to start sending men to Kron immediately. The soldiers would keep pouring onto the island as long as he could find other players willing to offer their forces to help. Charlotte had made more enemies than friends during her time on the penalty zone. Thanks to Eddie, I knew some players were locked in for longer than my twenty-years.

  I sat in my office in the City Center after I got back, going over checklists in preparation of the big battle. Between the Wololo Squad, the new crossbow technology, fluid golems, and help from some of the neighboring islands, we had a chance of finally defeating Charlotte. Once that happened, I could start working on getting off the penalty level.

  Did Eric and Josh even miss me? Was time passing at the same speed for them or differently? Time passed so strangely inside the Tower of Gates. As I got closer to having spent more time in the game than the real world, I started to think more about the meaning of life, but I quickly pushed those thoughts aside, not wanting to get depressed.

  “You doing okay?” Keith asked from the doorway to my office.

  I glanced up and nodded. “Yeah. I think we’ve got her this time.”

  “We do,” he said. “Everyone’s ready to get her off the island again. I still can’t believe Julian turned on us.”

  “The love of gold makes people do strange things.”

  Keith nodded. “Do you think we can trust King Eddie?”

  I sighed, not knowing the answer to his question.

  “We need to trust him if we want to pull this off.”

  He didn’t need to hear about my fears. Being a leader of a growing city wasn’t easy. I’d learned so many life lessons during my ten plus years on the penalty level. Could I make it six more years without Eric or Josh, the only two people I knew from the real world?

  “I just wanted to check on you,” Keith said. “You need to sleep.”

  “We can all sleep easier once we kill Charlotte.”

  “I’m with you on that one…”

  He turned and left. I stared at the papers strewn across my desk. Being the leader had its perks, but I was getting tired of all the responsibility. I missed the brief times I’d gotten to adventure without worrying about the entire city. She needed to die.

  Chapter 25

  A Two-Prong Attack

  Sarah

  Two weeks after King Eddie agreed to help me kill Charlotte and dislodge her from my island in exchange for sharing some of my technology with him, he backed out. I stood atop one of the guard towards near the main gates of my city. On the front line in the no-man’s land between Kron and Cocoa City, I saw my armies. They would have to be enough.

  In addition to all my warriors with double-barreled magic crossbows, I had an impressive display of metal golems in all shapes and sizes. Even better, the Wololo squad of shamans with heavily armored protection would help turn the tide of the battle without any bloodshed. Having King Eddie around would’ve helped, but he wanted too much of my technology.

  After defeating Charlotte, I needed to be the most advanced island of the nearly two dozen we knew about on the penalty level. If I would’ve given him all my secrets, we would’ve ended up with an even bigger problem. We would be okay battling Charlotte without his help. My brave men and women had been training a long time.

  “We’re ready on the front lines,” Keith said, his voice coming out of a block of wood.

  “I’m on my way. Don’t wait for me.”

  “We don’t plan on it. Over and out.”

  I put the block of wood away then took the stairs to the first floor of the guard tower. Only a small percentage of my population had stayed behind in Kron. Most people had been assigned one military task or another to enable us to win against Charlotte. Her impressive defensive shields had taken us by surprise, but we could get around them.

  Once out of the guard tower, I headed toward our front lines in the no-man’s land dividing the island. The area between our two cities looked unable to support any type of life anymore, including simple grasses. Why was Charlotte so insistent on fighting me? I got more upset as I walked across the barren landscape.

  “There’s something wrong,” Keith said.

  I dug out the magic block of wood.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “More spider golems and real spiders and magic spiders… You need to get here quick!”

  “I’m on my way,” I said, picking up my pace.

  “We’re losing troops fast.”

  I hadn’t seen any notifications because I’d turned them off. The constantly sliding number of total citizens only served to depress me, but I reluctantly turned it back on for the battle. A long stream of system messages flew by as my population further dwindled. When I reached our defensive line, I kept going, heading for Cocoa City.

  Plumes of smoke rose into the air from several spots in the city. Once again, Charlotte and her cohorts had covered literally everything in spider webs. Close to the city, I noticed a lack of human enemies. Had Charlotte killed Julian and his men? What about the Honey Badger tribe? Neither group had a presence as I entered through the destroyed city gates.

  I saw groups of my soldiers patrolling the streets. What I didn’t see was any of the enemy, at least not at first. As I made my way toward the center of the city to meet up with Keith, three of Charlotte’s spider golems leaped down from atop a building. I hadn’t gotten too much xp since my adventures with Jericho on Monkey Island. Practice would be nice.

  All three of the spider golems, each about a foot tall, scampered toward me on their annoying metal legs. Tired of messing, I cast Enlarge on myself with fifty mana, quintupling my height. Once bigger, I stepped on the spiders, squashing them with my mighty boot.

  Combat is Over!

  You get 500 xp

  You have 843,100 xp

  You need 166,900 xp for level 10 Valkyrie Skyrider.

  Towering over most of the buildings, I looked toward the city center. Charlotte hadn’t rebuilt her old headquarters. Instead of a building, I saw a clearing covered with spider webs. Keith and a group of soldiers surrounded the area. Some of them looked in my direction, pointing and gawking. I smiled as I cancelled the spell. Using so much mana to squish three spider golems might’ve been a waste, but it felt good.

  I headed toward the center of the city to check out the spider web-covered clearing. Keith glanced over as I approached. He shook his head.

  “There you go showing off again,” he said. “You should’ve used that spell when Charlotte originally got back on the island.”

  “It has its limitations,” I said. “The duration for one, and because it’s based in magic, Charlotte’s shields would’ve still protected them from me.”

  “You could’ve kicked them out to
sea!” he exclaimed.

  I grinned. “Maybe. We’re here now. This is nuts.”

  He frowned as I nodded toward the spider webs covering the ground. A couple of soldiers had cut open a portion of the webs, revealing the edge of two pits leading underground.

  “She’s making tunnels now too,” I said.

  “Yup,” he said. “Who knows if any of them have made it to the other side of the island yet? The sides are covered in some new type of web I’ve never encountered before. Anything sticks to it. We tried to send the nano-golems down, but they got caught up before fizzling out. The webs kill magic somehow.”

  “Great.” I peered down the hole. “We’re being attacked up here too. There’s no telling how many entrances and exits they have around the city.”

  “We should retreat again,” I said. “We’re not ready to clear her out.”

  “And we need to make sure our city is protected from attacks out of the ground beneath us,” he added. “She’s clever.”

  “If she wasn’t, we would’ve beaten her already. Start spreading the word. I’m going back to Kron to make sure everyone’s taking proper precautions. We can get through this together.”

  “Sorry,” Keith said, lowering his head.

  “For what?”

  “Everything,” he said. “Failing, mostly.”

  “This is my fault for not thinking she would burrow underground,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up, okay?”

  “I’m glad you’re in charge,” he said.

  “Some days, I’m not so sure I want to be anymore,” I said, letting the honesty slip out.

  “You’re not...leaving, are you?”

  “No, I’m not. We’ve got a lot of work to do on this island. Charlotte can’t stay holed up underground forever. We’ll find a way to get her out. Come find me when you get back to Kron.”

  “Will do,” he said.

  I pulled my hand away and glanced back down at the holes under the spider webs. Charlotte had outsmarted me once again. I was tired of losing to her. Even without King Eddie’s help, I would find a way to defeat her—even if it was the last thing I ever did in the Tower of Gates.

  My hate for Magi Inyontoo didn’t even compare to my feelings for Charlotte.

  Player or not, she would pay.

  Chapter 26

  Sharing is Caring

  Sarah

  A year later, with Charlotte still on my island, I caved and gave King Eddie whatever technology he wanted just to convince him to help me. He sat across a long wooden table, elbows resting on the top.

  “This is nice,” he said, grinning as he looked over the list.

  “Don’t misuse anything on that list,” I warned.

  He snorted. “I’ll do what I want with it.”

  “You promised…”

  “I only promised to get you to agree,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you kill that spider. She’s killed a lot of my men, and I’m no fan of the Honey Badger tribe. I can’t believe they helped her.”

  “We didn’t see them during our last assault,” I said. “The city was so weird…”

  “It’s being run by a demented spider,” he snorted. “What did you expect?”

  “How long will it take you to gather your army?” I asked.

  “A few months. No longer than a year.”

  I sat up. “Are you serious? That’s too long.”

  “You’ve put up with her a year already,” he said. “What’s the difference?”

  “I’m warning you…”

  He laughed. “You are? Oh my!”

  I pushed my chair back and stood.

  “Sit down,” he said dismissively. “I’ll give you something in return. Don’t worry. You’re one of the three new players, aren’t you? The ones without the prisoner ID numbers?”

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “We get information on the penalty level,” he said. “It’s sort of like vacation in some ways. The city building stuff is cool because you’re pretty much guaranteed to stay in power no matter what you do. I mean, just take a look at Charlotte. Or any of us.”

  “I know everything I need to know about the Tower of Gates.” Saying the game’s name out loud sounded weird. “The big thing is that I’m getting out. Soon.”

  He chuckled again. “We all go through that phase. You’ll get over it.”

  “I’ve been in here for over fifteen years!” I exclaimed, getting defensive.

  “And I’ve been in here almost two hundred,” he said. “Time means nothing in here with the gamemaster able to twist it around.”

  I sat down, slumping in my chair. “Two hundred years?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Can you see why I’m the way I am now? There’s no point in following a code of ethics. Even if you do, we’re all stuck in here. You gotta learn to make the best of it, like me. When you do, the time will pass more quickly.”

  “No, I’m getting out of here,” I insisted. “You don’t know my friends.”

  “I know they weren’t able to stop you from being sent here.”

  “Oh yeah, smart guy? I came here willingly.”

  He laughed again. “You’re a riot. We need to spend more time together. Newbies are always hilarious.”

  “I’m not a newbie,” I said. “What have you learned in the two hundred years you’ve been in here other than how to be a jerk?”

  “One, is that it’s not possible to swear in here,” he said. “A lot of players tried to come up with new words to mean bad things, but once they started getting used by so many people, the gamemaster erased that word from the language or penalized people for using it incorrectly. The only swear word we’re allowed to use is bleak, as in no bleak you bleaking bleaker.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Welcome to the Tower of Gates,” he said. “The gamemaster and Magi Inyontoo are why we created the Warp Zone to trap them on the first four levels. Both of them caused more trouble than they were worth.”

  “You know Magi Inyontoo?”

  He nodded. “Everyone knows him. As one of the most powerful players in the game, he could be a bit full of himself. People believing his nonsense about getting out of the game are just as nuts as him if you ask me.”

  I watched his face as he talked. Knowing he’d been in the Tower of Gates nearly two hundred years didn’t excuse his behavior, but it explained a lot about him.

  “What can you tell me about the Warp Zone?” I asked.

  “Anything you want,” he said. “Now that we’re partners.”

  I bit my tongue.

  “How does it work?”

  “That’s beyond my paygrade, but basically it stops Magi Inyontoo from leaving the first four levels and weakens the gamemaster’s power on the higher levels. Players have been running things on level one-five to level one-nine for a long time now.”

  “What’s beyond level one-nine?”

  “The last three levels of the first floor are an immense dungeon,” he said.

  “Do you know anybody that cleared it?”

  “I don’t know anyone who went in and came back out.” He stood and stretched. “I’ll have my army ready in a month. Does that work for you?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Thanks for working with me on the timetable.”

  “I was just giving you a hard time,” he said. “You need to loosen up. The Tower of Gates can be enjoyable if you let it be. I don’t even remember most of my life outside of here.”

  You’re nuts, I thought but said instead, “I’ll see you in a month. Please don’t leave me in the lurch like last time.”

  “I have your technology. That’s all I wanted. We can do good things together. You’ll see once we get Charlotte off your island.”

  He walked around the table, stopping at the door and turning. “Don’t be foolish and attack before I get back,” he said.

  “I don’t plan on it.”

  He nodded his head then turned and left the confe
rence room. I went to my office a couple doors down and sat behind my desk. Giving King Eddie all my technologies better not turn out to be a mistake, I told myself as I leaned back, my head resting in my hands. With his help, we’d be able to boot Charlotte from the island, permanently.

  Once we killed her, I would restore Cocoa City, merge it with Kron, and concentrate all my resources on finding out how the Quest Giver managed to escape the penalty level. If he’d done it, I would find out how. Bells rang in the distance, signaling evening meals for the poor in the city. No matter how hard I tried, I always had an unbalanced distribution of wealth.

  That problem, and many others, had kept me interested while suffering through my twenty year penalty away from Eric and Josh. Bernard too. I missed all of them, even the brownies in some ways, who had turned against me too, just like Charlotte. Would I also get my revenge on them eventually? Or had the others already gotten it for me?

  Only time would tell.

  * * * * *

  A month after he spilled his guts to me, King Eddie arrived with his massive army. While not as technologically advanced as us, we’d outfitted his soldiers with our latest equipment and gear. That, along with their disciplined training, combined to make them a very effective force. He had spellcasters too which would help.

  I met him on the docks in Kron. He followed me to the City Center while his troops set up in the temporary housing we’d built for them. He walked next to me, whistling as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Was that what hundreds of years in the game did to you? Eric and Josh better have figured a way out.

  “The operations should take a few weeks, a month at the most,” I said. “We’ll keep everyone fed while things progress.”

  “I’m not worried about it,” he said. “You know what you’re doing. Do you have a house ready for me?”

  “You’re not going down the spider tunnels with us?”

  He shook his head. “Are you nuts? That’s dangerous. I don’t want to respawn. This character took forever to build up.”