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  “Everyone be ready,” I said, stepping out of the trees.

  I drew both weapons, preparing myself for battle if necessary.

  “Relax,” the mage said, stopping. “Can I approach safely?”

  Derringer stepped out and stood next to me.

  “What’s your message?” he asked.

  “Don’t trust him,” Cario said. “That’s my brother Mario.”

  I glanced over at our new party member. Brother?

  “You made it, brother,” the mage said. “Good to see. You should join us.”

  “I’ll never join you!” Cario snarled.

  Mario stepped forward, arms still raised.

  “I came to say go away. Leave now, and we won’t follow.”

  Who’s he talking about? I wondered. Another group of PCs?

  “Leave where?” Cario asked. “Evil is spreading across the land. There’s nowhere to go. We should all be working together.”

  Mario grinned and spread out his arms.

  “Isn’t it glorious?” he asked. “An entire realm of undead.”

  Was he a necromancer creating the undead?

  Mario threw his head back and cackled like a maniac.

  “This is your one and only warning,” he said after he stopped. “I had to beg my master to give you a chance. He agreed because you’re my family.”

  I glanced over at Cario. He scowled at the mage.

  “No deal,” he said then spat on the ground.

  “So dramatic,” Mario said. “Very well. I can’t guarantee your safety if you’re still here by sundown. You’ve been given a chance. Don’t squander it.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Derringer said. “You’re the ones who should be worried.”

  “Yeah,” Josh added. “Tell your master we’re coming for him.”

  Mario laughed again then shook his head.

  “Goodbye, brother,” he said then turned.

  I watched as he walked away.

  “Let’s take this punk out now,” Josh said.

  “No,” Cario said. “He’s here under the white flag.”

  “I agree.” Derringer said then turned to Cario. “I need to gather supplies for crafting. Do you know if there’s a chapel nearby?”

  Our new priest nodded.

  “Yeah, why?” he asked.

  “Crafting explosives,” Derringer said. “Mixed with holy water.”

  “Good idea,” Bernard said. “They’ll help against the blade wight.”

  “And whatever else is haunting High Keep,” Cario said cryptically. “Come on. I’ll show you the way. We need to stop all this nonsense before it spreads to the other levels.”

  “Great,” Derringer said. “We’ll meet back here and attack before the sun goes down.”

  “I’m coming with you,” I said, not wanting to be stuck at camp with nothing to do.

  “Fine with me,” Cario said then walked back into the trees.

  Derringer and I followed. We emerged on the other side then crossed yet another barren field. The furs I’d taken back in Talbot kept most of the cold air from affecting me.

  “Do you know how long the undead have been rising?” Derringer asked.

  I glanced over at Cario as we continued walking toward the far edge of the field.

  “A long time now,” he said from in between Derringer and me.

  “How long?” I asked. “We need to know. It’ll help.”

  “Months now,” he said. “Time runs together when things are as messed up as they are now. I love the Tower of Gates in some ways, but I’m ready to get out.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said. “Sorry about the rest of your party.”

  “Me too,” Derringer said. “It’ll be good to have a healer in our group, though.”

  “For sure,” I said.

  Cario nodded, not saying anything. We walked in silence the rest of the way across the field. On the other side, he continued down the fence line with us following at his sides.

  “Is it close?” I asked, glancing back across the field at our makeshift camp.

  “Half a mile up the road,” Cario said, nodding his head in that direction.

  After walking a bit longer, we reached a gate in the fence that offered access to a dirt road leading north, away from High Keep. I saw a two-story white building with a steeple come into view up ahead on the right.

  “That’s it,” Cario said. “It’s not been used since the dead started rising.”

  “We should get in and out quickly,” I said. “There’s a lot to do before we assault High Keep. I don’t want to get ambushed.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that problem,” Cario said. “How are we going to get into the keep? They’ve got it locked down tight.”

  “Not a problem.” I lifted my right hand. “All I need to do is use my ring of climbing to scale the walls and get inside. There’s not likely to be anyone manning them in daylight. Once I get on the other side, I’ll open the gate for everyone else.”

  “Sounds too easy,” Cario said.

  Derringer chuckled.

  “You know it’s bad luck to say something is too easy, right?” he asked.

  “I don’t believe in luck,” Cario said indifferently.

  “Be quiet,” I said. “I hear something up ahead.”

  All three of us stopped on the side of the road. Sounds of someone yelling and cursing poured out of the church followed by loud banging.

  Cario shrugged and said, “Beats me. Maybe a zombie or skeleton got trapped inside.”

  “This better not be a trap,” Derringer said.

  “You’re the one who wanted to go to the chapel,” Cario said.

  “It could still be a trap,” the dark knight said.

  “Only one way to find out,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  I stepped forward, getting closer to the chapel. An oddly shaped object flew out of a window in front, followed by even more curses in common.

  “Come on,” I said, speeding up my steps.

  As I reached the front doors of the chapel, I turned and put a finger to my lips. We still hadn’t been noticed by anyone, and I wanted to keep it that way.

  “I’ll sneak around back,” I whispered.

  “Forget that,” Cario said. “As a man of the cloth, no ruffian is going to disrespect this chapel.”

  He stepped toward the entrance. Derringer looked at me, shrugged, then followed. I sighed then joined them as Cario turned the handle then opened the door.

  After walking inside, I saw a short figure dressed in banded mail walking down the aisle between two sets of pews on each side of the main chamber. He didn’t notice us as we stood in the back.

  “Hey!” Cario yelled, getting his attention.

  The figure turned, revealing himself as a gnome with a scowl on his face.

  “What do you want?” he asked with his brow furrowed. “I’m busy here.”

  “Do people still visit your chapel?” Cario asked. “The realm is dying.”

  “The whole realm’s dying,” the gnome snapped.

  “Everybody, calm down,” Derringer said, walking forward with his empty hands raised. “We mean you no harm, but we need help.”

  The anger on the gnome’s face faded away as his shoulders slumped.

  “My whole party is dead,” he said. “Maybe I want you guys to kill me. Nobody visits anymore because they’re all afraid of the new Lord of High Keep.”

  “We’re not going to kill you,” I said, stepping forward.

  Derringer stopped in front of the gnome.

  “We just need some holy water. Is there any left?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” the gnome said in a depressed tone.

  “What happened to your party?” I asked.

  “That blade wight took us out last night,” the gnome said. “Came out of nowhere. Last we heard, it was further north terrorizing the remaining survivors around Talbot. They’ve got bloody undead tree trolls roaming around now.”

  “G
reat,” Derringer said sarcastically.

  “We’re going to defeat the blade wight,” I said. “Today.”

  I looked into the gnome’s wide eyes, wondering if he would help us.

  He snorted. “No offense, but you three don’t look like you could take it down.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Cario said.

  “We’ve got a dwarf and a half-orc helping us too,” I said. “Do you want to help us retake High Keep? We could use someone like you.”

  “I’ve got nothing else going on,” the gnome said, shrugging. “My name is Rekon. I’m a Priest of the High Fish.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, walking toward him with my hand outstretched. “I’m Drex. This is Cario and Derringer.”

  Rekon shook my hand then nodded at the others.

  “We can talk more once you let me join party,” he said.

  I nodded and said, “We can’t until we’re with the rest of the party.”

  “Fine,” he said.

  “Where’s that holy water?” I asked.

  “Up front,” Rekon said.

  “I’m on it,” Derringer said then walked toward the front of the chapel.

  “We fought the blade wight last night too,” Cario said. “It must’ve come south and ran into your group.”

  “Thanks,” Rekon muttered.

  “Have you heard any recent news of Westwood?” I asked to change the subject. “We’re stopping there before traveling to Shockly Forest.”

  “It’s not good,” Rekon said then took a deep breath. “Last I heard, a week ago, the Lich at High Keep was planning on one final assault to overrun Westwood.”

  “We’ll take him out first,” I said.

  Rekon laughed and shook his head.

  “What makes you think we’ll be able to clear High Keep?” he asked. “You don’t think others have tried? Are you new to the game or something?”

  I grinned. “Something like that.”

  “Found it,” Derringer called out from the front of the chapel. “Barely any left.”

  “Nothing’s easy to find anymore,” Rekon said. “Even if we clear High Keep, the undead problem’s not going away. Besides, I can bless my own water.”

  “Good point,” I said. “Have you heard anything about the source of the undead?”

  “The local lich is one source,” he said. “There are others creating undead all over the realms from what I’ve heard. We’re not sure who’s behind it.”

  “Magi Inyontoo?” I asked.

  “Don’t say that name,” Rekon snapped.

  “Were you in Talbot a week ago?” Cario asked.

  “Yeah,” Rekon answered, turning to him. “Why?”

  “We tried to help you guys, but we were cut off on the north end of the city,” he said.

  “That was you?” Rekon smiled. “Get out of here.”

  Cario shot back a calm, “I don’t kid around.”

  Derringer walked back up holding a flask.

  “Let’s get back to the others,” I said. “We need a solid plan.”

  The others followed as I led them through the woods.

  Back at our camp, Bernard, Boki and Josh were packed and ready to go.

  “Who’s that?” Boki asked, nodding his head at the gnome.

  “It’s Rekon,” I said. “He wants to join party. A paladin will help us clear High Keep.”

  “Should we keep adding random people we meet along the way?” Josh asked. “I mean, I’m not a hardcore player like you guys, but it sounds like a stupid idea.”

  “And why should I trust you, half-orc?” Rekon asked.

  While they argued with each other, I walked over to our packs on the platform. The Everlast potions had been on my mind since I found them.

  Could they really be so harmful? I pulled one out of the chest and examined it closely, not seeing a warning label.

  “Those are bad news,” Derringer said from behind me. “I lost two characters while taking that potion to cheat my way to a higher level.”

  I turned around and asked, “Are you kidding?”

  He stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Nope,” he said. “I understand they’re seductive, but they’re crazy dangerous.”

  “Why would this game have an addictive potion?” I asked, shaking my head. “That’s crazy and doesn’t make sense.”

  Derringer chuckled.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Why does this game do anything it does? I believe it has something to do with lower level characters like us not getting OP items from higher level players. Over level twenty, the potion isn’t addictive like it is for those under level twenty.”

  “That makes more sense,” I said. “Still, it might be worth the risk.”

  Derringer snorted.

  “That’s exactly what I told myself both times I tried it. Ends don’t justify the means, Eric.”

  “I don’t need a lecture on addiction,” I said then slipped a single potion into a pouch at my side. “Come on, let’s go get Rekon in the party.”

  “Hold up,” he said. “Are we going to give me enough time to construct these holy water bombs? We shouldn’t rush to High Keep hack-cocked.”

  “Depends on how long it’ll take,” I said. “We’ve only got so many hours of daylight.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll likely need them later.”

  “Great,” I said. “Let’s go talk to the others.”

  We both walked over to the rest of the group who were standing near the edge of the trees, looking out at the imposing stone walls of High Keep.

  “Everyone okay with Rekon joining the party?” I asked.

  When nobody resisted, I added him to our growing group.

  [PC] Rekon the Gnome priest has joined your party.

  “Welcome,” I said, sticking out my hand.

  The armored gnome shook with a firm grip. He’d combed his thinning, grey hair over to make him not look as bald, but I still wondered how effective he would be in combat.

  “All I want is to kill that lich and his blade wight companion,” Rekon said.

  “I hope you stick around after,” I said. “We’ve got a good core group. Boki and Cario are new. So is Derringer in a way, but Bernard, Josh and I have been together since the first level.”

  “Cool,” he said. “You don’t mind talking OOC. Some of the players in this game have too much imagination if you know what I mean.”

  I smiled, hoping he would fit in well with our ever-expanding group. With the Amulet of the Party around my neck, we could go over the normal six people in a party. And with the undead across the level, we might need a dozen or more to find and rescue Sarah.

  “Are you guys sure we’re doing the right thing not going for Sarah in Shockly Forest first?” I asked.

  “We need more magic items and firepower,” Bernard said. “Makes sense to me.”

  “This Sarah seems to mean a lot to you,” Rekon said.

  I nodded and said, “She does.”

  “Me too,” Josh said. “We need to take out this blade wight first.”

  “We need to get moving,” Cario said. “It’s already late afternoon.”

  “I’m ready,” I said. “You guys follow me to the gate. Once we get to the wall, we’ll fly over it and land on the inside.”

  “That won’t work,” Cario said. “They’ll see us approaching from the air. We need to sneak up and over the wall.”

  “I’m not climbing anything,” Boki said.

  “Yeah,” Josh added, agreeing with the dwarf.

  “We’ll sneak up to the wall, climb over it, then open the gate from the inside,” I said.

  “Don’t you dare say it’ll be easy,” Bernard said then grinned.

  Half of our party laughed nervously before the big mission.

  “Everyone ready?” I asked.

  They nodded then followed me toward the walls surrounding High Keep. I wanted to use Who to scout, but he couldn’t transform again
until later in the evening. At that point, it would be even more dangerous to try to break into the fortress.

  We all followed Boki across the field. Would Mario the black mage be watching or was he inside with the undead? And why was he working with the evil side?

  Nothing about walking straight up to the gates felt right, but we continued.

  At the gate, the others stopped and turned to me.

  “See you soon,” I said then easily scaled up the stone wall.

  The sun slipped closer to the horizon as I climbed. Near the top of the immense wall that encircled High Keep, I slowed my ascent. Seeing nothing when I reached the top, I made my way over the wall and onto the stone walkway around the inside of the keep.

  No sounds. That’s good. I crept forward, peering down to the courtyard below.

  Sill nothing. This is going to be easier than I thought. We’ve got a good group now, and it won’t be long until we find Sarah and rescue her. I pushed the thoughts aside as I swiftly walked to the nearest ladder then climbed down.

  When I reached the courtyard, I glanced around, ready to swing into action if needed.

  Again, I heard and saw nothing. That didn’t stop my heart from racing as I crept along the wall toward a stone building next to the gate.

  That must be it. Just a little bit more…

  “What do you think you’re doing?” a voice on my left asked.

  I whipped my head around and saw Mario the wizard, his arms hidden from view by the sleeves of his long, dark robes. Could he cast a spell before I reached the control-room for the gate?

  Only one way to find out. I took off running.

  “Stop!” he yelled.

  A bolt of lightning hit me in the back.

  [PC] Mario’s Dark Lightning DECIMATES you for 35 damage.

  You have [93/128] health remaining.

  I kept running through the pain, anxious to let the others inside.

  “Give it up, sneak-boy!” Mario yelled. “You’ve trapped yourself!”

  I reached the open door of the small building and jumped inside, throwing it shut behind me. Lightning hit the door twice, knocking it off its hinges. With nowhere to hide, I glanced around to come up with an idea.

  The only item of note in the building was the hand crank connected to a thick rope on the far wall. I rushed over and examined the device. Before I could open the gate, another lightning bolt flew into the room and hit me in the arm, knocking me to the ground.