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  “Chris! Kojack! Run to me!”

  The two hunters, hands tied behind their backs, bolted toward me. One of the other hunters from the other tribe gave chase, but Charlotte yelled for him to stop. My two guys stopped next to me, both breathing heavily.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “Why did the chief send you?” Chris asked.

  “That’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way back to Kron Village.”

  “We have a village name now?” Kojack asked.

  Both men looked at each other then back to me.

  “We don’t have time for this,” I said, still looking in between them.

  “You should go,” Charlotte said. “I’m giving you a week of mourning. Unlike the people you hung out with when I was with you, I care about the sanctity of life. As the chief of Cocoa Village, I’m giving you a warning. Stay away from us or you will suffer a terrible fate.”

  “Right back at ya,” I said, still staring at her.

  I trusted the stupid, fat spider about as far as I could throw her.

  “Come on, guys, it’s time for us to go.”

  I walked back to the edge of the clearing with Chris and Kojack on each of my sides. When we reached the jungle path, I turned and looked forward.

  “Keep up!” I yelled as I kept running.

  I continued a steady pace all the way back to our village because I didn’t want to talk to them about my father’s death and the fact I’d become chief. Both had been in a position to take the spot before I unceremoniously claimed it for myself to keep us alive the night before.

  Charlotte had said she wouldn’t attack us, but I didn’t believe her. As a player character, she would be working toward leveling too. The juicy reward for killing me would be too much for her to resist. What other nasty spells had she learned? Could I even kill her on my own?

  I kept my dark, negative thoughts to myself as I ran at full speed.

  * * * * *

  Back at the village, I broke the news to my two hunters. They took the news surprisingly well, falling in behind me without any pushback. I used two more AP to change them into builders, telling them to help with the palisades. That left with me five action points remaining for the day. Addison the seamstress wasn’t happy when I switched her to resource gathering.

  I planned on saving my last four AP for later that evening, training a few people to level them up as builders. The problem with changing a career for them was that they returned to first level. I needed Augusta to return with more tribe members to have enough to do everything that needed to be done. Real-time strategy games were stressful, but I loved them.

  While the tribe worked on their assigned tasks, I returned to my almost finished hut. Charlotte’s mana draining spell worried me. I needed to go into the jungle and gain some experience points by taking out creatures, but it would have to wait until later. Charlotte would likely not wait to attack our village. If she didn’t come by evening, I would use my remaining AP.

  If she did show up to fight, I’d use the AP I had left to turn four of the builders back into hunters. My brain kicked into overdrive as I thought about the best way to level my characters quickly—both my regular character and my village builder persona. I needed to min/max my way to a quick victory over Charlotte. She frightened me in a primal, hard to shake way.

  A few hours later, I emerged from my humble domicile, surprised at all the progress my villager’s had made in such a short time. While not complete, the palisades protected more than half of our clearing. After they finished it in another day or two, I would set them to work clearing the space outside of the walls for the next phase of my plan. I smiled as I watched.

  Charlotte might have her own spells and villagers, but I had experience building towns, cities, fortresses, spaceships, and much more. Gaming had taught me so much over the years. Eric flashed in my mind momentarily along with Josh. I missed both of them, but I had to concentrate on the present, on the things I could change. Maria waved to me from the fire.

  I walked over to her, sitting down on the ground next to her. The flames lit her face as the jungle grew darker and the sun settled somewhere in the distance. She smiled and pointed to several loaves of flat bread stacked on top of each other.

  “Taste one,” she said. “It’s a new recipe.”

  Had she leveled up on her own? I checked the village list and saw her as second level. Maybe when I trained them with an action point it accelerated the process that occurred naturally? The game mechanic intrigued me. How could I exploit it for my benefit? I picked up one of the round loaves and broke off a small piece of the flaky bread.

  After popping it into my mouth and chewing, I smiled, nodding my head.

  “That’s amazing,” I said.

  “Filling too,” Maria said. “I’m glad you like it.”

  “The whole tribe will like it,” I said. “You did a great job. Someday soon, you’ll have your own private sleeping quarters and a real kitchen to work in.”

  She tilted her head to the left in confusion.

  “Kitchen?” she asked, unsure of the word.

  “Yeah,” I said, smiling. “You’ll understand later. Thanks for letting me taste this. Should I call the others to dinner?”

  She nodded. One of the things I liked about our village life was the communal dinners every evening. Everyone ate breakfast and lunch alone or in a small group, but everyone gathered in the evening for a meal together. The dinners reminded me of family dinners during holidays in the real world—except they happened every single night.

  I stood then called out for the others to come eat. How much would it take to craft a bell? I wondered. Could my tool smith make one? Maybe if he leveled up high enough? I took a deep breath, attempting to clear my mind as the others, drenched in sweat, walked over to join Maria around the fire. The four sitting logs wouldn’t be enough if our tribe grew too much.

  After everyone gathered, digging into the bread topped with pulled pork Maria had prepared, I walked over, standing behind her.

  “Maria’s new bread is incredible, isn’t it?” I asked.

  Several villagers nodded, but nobody said anything as they continued chowing down the food. I’d been working them hard, but it would pay off. Could I train someone to be a spy? The thought intrigued me as I watched the others eat dinner. I sat down next to Maria and fixed myself some bread and meat. As I bit into the primitive yet yummy creation, I felt happy.

  The emotion scared me because I was still trapped inside the Tower of Gates. Had I become too lax in trying to get out? Or was it better not to fight it and just enjoy myself until someone got us out of this fascinating game? I felt torn between happiness and desperation, an uncomfortable state of mind to say the least. The others couldn’t see me worried, though.

  I put on a smile and ate with them, following along with the various conversations as best I could with everything else weighing so heavily on my mind.

  After dinner, everyone crashed in the communal hut except for Chris and Kojack who stayed up to stand guard as builders. It wasn’t the best of situations, but I wanted to save some AP in case Augusta made it back with other people to join our tribe. As I fell asleep in my cot, I thought about everything that had happened to me inside the Tower of Gates.

  I’d made so many memories. How old would I be in my mind if I ever escaped the game? Would my body be as young as when I’d entered the Tower of Gates with Eric and Josh? How are the others doing? I struggled to keep them in my mind as I dealt with all the other important matters at hand—like Charlotte for one. She needed to stay out of my way or die.

  My dreams descended upon me, offering little rest or respite.

  Chapter 5

  Et Tu, Charlotte? Really?

  Sarah

  A loud yell snapped me out of a deep sleep. I got up then went outside to see what was going on. The sun barely lit the clearing. I saw men and a couple of women battling
a bunch of villagers from Cocoa Village. Charlotte was nowhere to be seen. I checked my stats and realized I’d rested enough to have all my mana back. Time to battle. I cast.

  Your Golden Bolts HIT the hunter for 9 damage.

  The hunter is dead!

  You get +50 xp

  You have -100 xp

  You need 4,100 xp for level 2 Valkyrie Skyrider.

  At this rate, I’ll never level up. Wishing I had other spells to work with, I ran forward to the only open section of the palisades. I saw another four hunters with bright yellow feathers in their hair fighting with my villagers. I heard Jackson scream then watched him fall to the ground, not moving. I shot off two sets of two Golden Bolts right after each other.

  I took out two more hunters, leaving me with zero experience points . At least I’m out of the hole, I thought as I screamed at the top of my lungs in a threatening manner. The final hunter from the other tribe took off. When a few of my villagers took off after him, I yelled at them to stop. Only nine mana left for the day. That was too close for comfort.

  “Everyone to the fire,” I said in a loud, commanding voice.

  They obeyed, taking seats around the fire pit.

  “Is Jackson dead?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Chris called out. “I tried to save him, but I couldn’t get to him.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “He’ll be missed, but we protected Kron Village, our village.”

  “Yeah!” several of the villagers shouted, raising their fists in the air.

  “We still have a lot of work to do,” I said, waiting for them to calm down before continuing. “Charlotte will return to exact revenge. We need to be ready. Everyone continue with your assigned duties for today. We’ve got this. Have a good breakfast then get back to work.”

  Village Morale +20

  Current Village Morale: +20

  I haven’t seen that screen before. Was it because I’m chief of the tribe now? I looked up village morale in the help files as Maria readied breakfast.

  Village Morale:

  Ranging from -100 to +100, this is a numeral indicator of how well the entire tribe believes you’re doing as Chief of Kron Village. Certain actions will affect Village Morale positively or negatively depending on the circumstances. A positive morale will improve output of all villagers by the amount of Village Morale as a percentage modifier. Your villagers are currently working at +20% capacity due to improved morale. The same holds true for negative Village Morale. Be sure to work toward making everyone happy while building your village.

  Wow. The side-game’s getting more complicated than the main game. With only one other player around and no quests on the penalty level, I should’ve expected things to turn toward PvP. Players attacking other players had never been my thing, but I could see the appeal of wanting to match wits with another human.

  At least I had the stat heading in the right direction. The twenty percent boost to their output meant the palisades would go up even quicker. I decided to save my action points to have fifty and increase the tribe if Augusta ever returned. She’d been gone about a day. Was that enough time to convince others to come back with her? Or was that not even possible?

  I skipped breakfast, heading into the jungle to kill a few animals. The food would help our tribe, and the experience points would help me personally. I found and killed two large snakes and a wild boar. The latter gave me a bit of trouble, but I killed it with one well-placed stab of my spear. I realized after that fight that we needed armor, even in the jungle.

  With the two snakes and the wild boar on my back, I traveled back to the clearing. Maria stood and clapped excitedly as she saw me approach with all the protein. I hoped she’d be able to make the snakes palatable. As her skills increased, the food might taste better and be more nutritious which would help us all. I smiled at the complexity of the game.

  The Tower of Gates might’ve thought it could throw me a curveball with the village building aspect of my punishment period, but I’d found a way to become a player character and wasn’t doing too shabby with improving Kron Village. I continued smiling as I dropped the meat in a pile on the ground. Maria got to work gutting the animals as I went to the beach to clean up.

  I’d never spent much time around any of the oceans in the real world, but the one inside the game intrigued me. Maybe it was because I knew I’d be trapped for twenty years, but I found myself drawn to the immensity of the gigantic ocean spreading to the horizon. I reached the beach and cleaned myself up in the warm, crystal clear water.

  The other island in the distance also called to me, but I resisted the urge to go exploring on my own. My villagers needed me. I’d learned that if I went away for too long, Village Morale would drop. The longer I stayed away, the more damage I did unless I put measures in place to prevent it from happening. I sat in the shallow water near the beach.

  Waves washed up and over my bare legs as I leaned back and stared up into the sky. Puffy white clouds lazily floated here and there, dotting the virtual yet realistic sky. The Tower of Gates was my current reality. I couldn’t change that fact, so I needed to accept it and work within the bounds of the life I found myself in. I smiled as I stood and stretched.

  “Chief Piper!” Kojack yelled behind me.

  I turned and saw alarm on his face.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Cocoa Village sent a messenger,” he said. “The guy wants to talk with you.”

  “You didn’t kill him outright?”

  “No, he was holding a bit of white cloth on the end of a stick. Are you upset?”

  “I’m not mad,” I said. “You did good. Let’s go talk to him, shall we?”

  We both ran back to Kron Village. After we arrived, I saw a man from the other tribe carrying a white cloth attached to a pole. Maybe Charlotte has a sense of honor, I thought as I walked over to him, my spear still raised.

  “Don’t shoot the messenger!” the nearly naked man said, hands up.

  “What do you want?” I asked, still not lowering my weapon.

  “Chief Charlotte is offering you one chance to surrender,” he said. “If you do, your life will be spared, and you’ll be kept around as a worker for our village.”

  “Uh huh,” I said. “Crappy deal. I don’t take her offer.”

  The messenger frowned, glancing to the left then right as Chris and Kojack walked over. I kept my eyes on the messenger, expecting some sort of trap from Charlotte. Did the fact she knew about sending someone with a white flag prove she’d been a player in the game before she was my companion? I wished I had more answers.

  “Are you sure?” the man asked. “She’s wicked powerful.”

  “Not as powerful as me,” I said.

  “Can I go now?” the messenger asked.

  I nodded and said, “Get out of here.”

  As he turned and ran back into the jungle, I noticed Chris and Kojack giving me a strange look.

  “Why did you let him go?” Chris asked. “We should’ve killed him. To win this war, we need to take every advantage possible.”

  He would never understand alignment penalties or doing the right thing, so I didn’t even try explaining it to him. I lowered my spear.

  “Any other advice?” I asked. “Or can we get to work defending our village?”

  “You’re the boss,” Chris said then walked away.

  I watched him a moment then surveyed the clearing. So much work to do. I called up the city building menus of the game and rearranged a few people to get the walls up more quickly. I spent my last few action points on advancing through the tech tree. With only a Central Hut and a Tool Shack, my options were limited, but I still used my AP to advance.

  Basic Healthy Diet (In Progress) - Workers are 5% more efficient.

  Advanced Woodworking (In Progress) - Create new buildings and fortifications.

  Basic Masonry (In Progress) - Create mud bricks to fortify structures.

  Basic Education - More educated villagers m
eans more efficiency.

  After finishing the selections on the walk back to my nearly finished sleeping hut, I settled down on my hammock and read up on some of the other basic buildings I could construct.

  Fishing Dock

  Storage Hut

  Barracks

  Academy

  Market

  Building some structures opened new options. I wondered if I should concentrate more on the village building or my own personal character. The Valkyrie Skyrider class leveled slow, so I decided to put most of my focus on building up Village Kron. My thoughts drifted to Eric and Josh briefly, but I pushed them away.

  If I wanted to win Charlotte over to my side or straight up defeat her, I needed to be on top of everything. Good strategy gamers didn’t rely on a set plan, they react to what their opponent does. I hoped I could convince Charlotte that as players we should work together, but I wasn’t holding my breath. She could be stubborn.

  How had another player ended up as my familiar? The question popped up more than once, but I didn’t have any good answers. Sleep eventually arrived as I planned out my next moves. My dreams mixed real world memories with those I’d been forming inside the Tower of Gates in a strange, unsettling mixture of mental scenes.

  Chapter 6

  I Love Strategy Games

  Sarah

  An entire month shot past in a flash as I built up my village. Charlotte only attacked once during that time, but we repelled her fairly easily. When I reached out to offer peace again, she refused. While not super happy with her decision, I knew I needed to attack her to even us up. If I allowed her to keep attacking me without a response, I’d end up losing the war.

  I led twelve warriors—all armed with spears—through the jungle toward Cocoa Village. Right after building barracks, Augusta had returned from the neighboring island. To my surprise, she had twelve men and twelve women with her. After adding them to my village with all the action points I had saved up, I felt things were finally going in the right direction.