Chapter 44: Chase’s Trial

The cell was cold and the stone floor was hard. The shackles clinked with every move he made and filled the little room with the sound of imperious metal. Chase had been sitting there for ten minutes calling for help yet his cries had returned not a single answer. He had no idea how he had ended up there and was slowly realizing that this was no normal NPC he and his guild had had the misfortune of meeting.

“Somebody!” Chase called again. “Alex, Claire…AMELIE! Where are you!”

Still nothing. His eyes had adjusted enough that he could make out his empty cell and even count the stones that ran up the wall. He remembered a story about a player who was imprisoned for twenty years during some war between guilds. The player had said after a while for some entertainment he had begun counting stones to pass the time. Every day he would tap each stone as he numbered them and tried to always get the same number. If he was off by a stone or two, then he would start over until he had reached the correct number.

“Not at that point yet,” muttered Chase to himself. He had to think. This place couldn’t be real. He was sure that his real body was still back at the Inn of the Crow. This was just a spell he was under and it could be broken if only he could figure out the way.

“Are you done screaming yet?”

“Who said that!” Yelled Chase, the chains preventing him from getting to his feet.

“It’s me, of course,” said the voice. The voice was familiar and sounded satisfied with itself. Chase could see everything in his cell and there was not another person anywhere to be seen. He realized the voice was in his mind, and wondered whether he was already cracking.

“Xem?”

“Who else do you think it would be? I had to attend to your guild mates before I returned to you. I cannot split my consciousness like some can, unfortunately.”

“What have you done to us?” Growled Chase, anger suddenly welling up within himself. “Where are we? Are they ok?”

“One question at a time. Your guild mates are fine. Didn’t I say that no harm would come to you? As for where you are…well…you’re in my world now. We aren’t in Esem anymore, as they say.”

“But…how,” sputtered Chase. He shook with fury and then raised his shackled wrists to in the air. “Get these things off me!”

Click.

The shackles popped open and chains fell to the ground. Chase rubbed his wrists and ankles and focused on his breathing. He needed to calm down. Whatever this malevolent thing wanted he needed to stay focused for his guild.

“You’re welcome,” said the voice dryly. “The door is unlocked. You can leave when you want.”

“How do I know there isn’t something waiting to kill me as soon as I open the door?”

“If I wanted to kill you I wouldn’t be setting you free, now would I? They told me you had trust issues I guess they were right.”

Chase slowly got to his feet. He made sure his dagger was at his hip and considered taking his bow from his bag but decided against it. Despite his worries the NPC had sworn that no harm would befall him during the event, and never in his life in Esem had he known an NPC to blatantly lie during an event such as this.

“And who is ‘they’?”

“Never you mind, little thief.”

Chase paused, his hand on the handle of the door.

“I’m not a thief, I’m a hunter,” he said. “I thought such a powerful NPC would be able to get such a basic fact straight.”

“You know, I really hate that term,” said Xem, but Chase had a sense that she was smirking as she spoke.

“Whatever,” said Chase. He opened the door.

An empty hallway greeted him. It resembled any other dungeon that he had ever seen: nondescript stone walls bearing torches placed every dozen feet stretching either way.

“Which way am I supposed to go?”

“Just follow the sound of voices, Chase.”

“What voices?”

“Be quiet for a moment and listen.”

Chase sighed but did as he was told. He strained his ears and suddenly he could make out the distant murmuring of a group of people. It was coming from down the right side of the hall. Without another word, Chase cautiously began to make his way towards the growing sounds of the voices. Unlike other dungeons, this one seemed to only have the one cell, and no other doors to speak of until he came to the very end of the hall where he found another one. There were torches lit on either side of the door and he could almost make out what the voices were saying now. There was a large burst of laughter from the other side which made him reach for his dagger instinctively.

“Jumpy, aren’t we.”

“What’s behind this door? A group of knights ready to skewer me?”

“You know, your guild mates had far fewer questions. Why don’t you open the door and find out? We’re not going anywhere until you do, anyway.”

“Fine,” said Chase, steeling himself. He turned the handle and flung the door open. When he stepped inside the voices stopped, and he wasn’t prepared for the sight which met him.

He was in the headquarters of the Old Guard.

It was just as he remembered it. This was the meeting room, where the Old Guard would come to discuss quests or simply to relax. A few couches lined the walls and tables with chairs dotted the back of the room. He remembered many a lazy day spent here drinking and talking with his friends, planning their next big adventure together, or simply lounging around when Solomon wasn’t looking.

“The voices were just to scare you,” chuckled Xem. “Did you miss your old stomping grounds? I think I did a pretty good job recreating them, no?”

“How…but!” Chase was at a loss for words. “You know?”

“Know that you are a respawn? Of course, what do you take me for?”

“What are you?” Said Chase. A cold sweat was beginning to drench his shirt. How did this NPC know about his past life? Was this a trap of some kind? Some sort of advanced illusion that the Old Guard had sprung upon him?

“All will be answered shortly,” said Xem. “For now, however, you should be aware that you are not alone.”

In his shock Chase had not realized that a person was sitting quietly at a table. A woman with auburn hair in ringlets falling down her back, and a pair of glasses perched on her nose as she read a newspaper. Chase had always joked with her that she should consider wearing clothes that matched whatever she was feeling so that he know whether it was a good time to talk to her or not, such were her moods. But today there were dark bags under her green eyes and her expression was a mixture of fury and deep sadness which needed no explanation.

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“Christie,” said Chase.

She ignored him and continued reading. Chase took a few steps forward and saw the article which she was pouring over.

**OLD GUARD MEMBER, SPADE, LOST AT SEA**

“Christie,” Chase said again, yet still she ignored him. “Christie, it’s me. I’m not dead. It’s me, Spade.”

Finally she looked up.

“What are _you_ doing here.”

“I—.” Began Chase, but was cut off by another voice from behind him.

“Did you read the news?”

Chase spun around and was facing the Dredman. Tall and gaunt Dredman was still the most perfect figure of a mage that Chase had ever seen. He had taken his role as mage very seriously over the years and was never seen without his robes and a gnarled staff. He appeared to be nearly 70 but Chase knew it was only an illusion he cast upon himself in order to confound his enemies.

“I forgot to mention,” said Xem, a twinkling of laughter in her voice. “They cannot hear or see you. Enjoy the show, Spade.”

“I’m reading it right now,” said Christie. She laid the newspaper down and never let her gaze drop from Dredman. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

“Don’t be a fool, Christie,” said Dredman. He drew his robes about him and took a seat across from her. Christie lowered her hand to her belt where Chase knew a dagger he had given her as a gift was tucked in her belt. “I just found out the same as you. Spade is dead.”

“Then who was it? Did Solomon know about this?”

Dredman examined his nails and took a long time to answer. With every passing second Christie’s breathing became more even and when he finally responded she was the cool and calculating women that Chase knew and loved.

“Yes, he did.”

“I knew it,” said Christie. Her hand dropped from her dagger and she stared out a window. “He sanctioned it. He must have. Did he do it himself?”

“No,” said Dredman, “It was our own devils of devastation who did the deed.”

“Melamy and Redstar,” spat Christie, some anger returning to her voice.

“Don’t hold it against them, Christie, they were just following orders.”

“Order to murder one of our own, you mean.”

“True,” nodded Dredman. “But it had to be done. Spade was about to leak a very sensitive piece of information to the press. A piece of information which would totally unmake us. Had he succeeded our legacies would have been in tatters, and everything we have worked for up in smoke.”

“Since when are our reputations more important to us than one another? Couldn’t we have talked to him first?”

“Talk? All we did was talk,” said Dredman irritably. “He had been going on about this for years. It was only a matter of time before he spilled our secrets to the world.”

“Maybe they should be spilled,” said Christie, a dark look falling over her. “Maybe he was right. We don’t deserve to be called heroes.”

“Oh, Christie. Do be careful who you say that around. That’s the exact talk that got Spade blown to smithereens.”

“Xem,” said Chase, as he watched Christie stare daggers at the mage “Is this real? Is this happening right now?”

“These are the events that transpired after your boat sank and the papers picked up the news. It happened months ago so, no, its not happening now. But it’s all true, if that’s what you mean.”

“Why are you showing me this?”

“If I told you I would be spoiling the game. You need to figure that out for yourself.”

“Look,” said Dredman at last, finally looking up from his nails. “I know that you and Spade had a, shall we say, special relationship once upon a time. But you need to let him go now. Testing the rest of the guild on this matter will only end badly for you.”

“What guild?” Said Christie. She had managed to reel her emotions back in again and now crossed her arms. “A guild doesn’t go around murdering each other over a difference in opinion.”

“Perhaps you are right,” sighed Dredman. “But what is done is done. Tell you what: since you and I are such good, good, friends. I won’t be informing the others about your reservations concerning Spade. And in return, you keep your nose where it belongs. In your books. Agreed?”

Christie’s hand had fallen back to her knife while Dredman was talking, and just as the mage’s lip was curling as he saw what she was doing, the door banged opened.

“Dredman, there you are,” said Samantha Blood. She was as gorgeous as ever. Tall and beautiful with hair as red as a freshly opened wound. Chase had never seen her without a her bow strung across her back and today was no exception. True to her name she wore clothes as red as blood, complete with red leather boots and the expensive armor of Champion leathers works only by the most elite of archers.

“Sam, I was just talking here with Christie,” said Dredman.

Samantha stopped short, just noticing Christie and the open newspaper before her. She eyed the headline warily.

“Spade will be mourned,” said Samantha Blood. “I hope you know I didn’t want it to be like this, Christie.”

The tension was palpable, and Chase was glad that this was all an illusion and he were not really there. Three over powered players in the same room with such a conflict between them usually was a recipe for disaster. Between them they had the power to level the entire Hub if they decided to fight, or rather, if Christie decided to fight. Even two on one she would be capable of giving them a hard time but in the end the mage and the archer would end up on top.

“It shouldn’t have been like this at all, Sam,” said Christie quietly. “Dredman here is speaking in riddles. Will you be honest with me and tell me how this happened?”

Samantha sighed and looked disgustedly at Dredman.

“Just tell her the truth you stupid mage.”

“I did,” said Dredman, spreading his hands apart. “She just doesn’t like what I am saying.”

“When you start to speak _no one_ likes what you say,” she retorted. She drew up a chair and sat between them, placing her bow on the table before she did so. “There was a vote.”

“A vote?”

“Yes,” said Samantha carefully. “And it was decided that Spade needed to go.”

“And why wasn’t I at this meeting?”

“Because, obviously, you would have been biased. Neither you nor Spade accepted what we did to Oscuro and what we were given. That means we both have more skin in the game than you do. Also, need I mention, you nearly married him once. What other vote than ‘no’ could you have given? You might have derailed the entire meeting and would have only wasted our time.”

Christie was shaking now. Chase had only ever seen her this angry at him before, and despite the fascination he felt at being able to witness this conversation, he felt a pain within himself hearing his friends talk so casually about his death as though it were just the weather. He had imagined a thousand times what the talks concerning the hit on him were about and how they had gone. Now he knew, and wished for all the world that he didn’t have to stand there listening to Dredman and Samantha blood excuse their betrayal.

“So all of you voted to kill him?”

“I didn’t say all. Solomon didn’t vote, first of all, just heard our arguments and abided by the decision. In the end, only one of us voted not to kill him.”

“Who?”

“Can’t you guess? His closest friend, of course. Karkren.”

“Only Karkren,” murmured Christie, defeat in her voice.

“Don’t for a second think this was an easy thing for us to do,” said Dredman. “We loved Spade just as much as you. He was our brother for twenty years. But the guild comes first. What he wanted would have been our undoing.”

“How does it feel, Chase?” Said Xem. “Your family betrayed you.”

“I already knew that,” said Chase tersely. “What of it?”

_“And you don’t think this new guild of yours won’t do the same once they find out what you are, what you have done?”_

“Anything is possible,” said Chase with a sigh. “But I hope not. Why do you care, anyways? Or is this apart of the game, too?”

“Do you think once you leave my spell the game will end? This is Esem, a simulation of a simulation. You never leave the game.”

“You sound like an ancient, edgy NPC now, Xem.”

“Impudent human. You should watch your mouth more. It’s the reason you had to respawn, after all.”

“This is a lot of nonsense just for a dingy old inn, you know.”

Christie sighed and crossed her arms and a look of pained resignation was on her face.

“I will abide by the Old Guards decision,” said Christie finally. “If Karkren is the only one who decided to vote against this decision, and still allowed it to happen, then I shall hold my tongue about what I know, as well.”

“A wise move, Christie,” said Dredman.

“Solomon will be pleased,” agreed Samantha.

Christie then folded up her newspaper, tucked it beneath her arm, and rose from her chair.

“I’m going to travel to Nabonoban,” she said. “If anyone needs me I’ll be staying in the mountains. It’s summer there right now, and I think I need to clear my head among the cherry blossoms.”

“Very well,” said Dredman. “I’ll inform Solomon that you’re on leave.”

Christie raised her hand and let it drop in defeat, seemingly too exhausted to respond. When she had left and the door shut behind her Samantha sighed.

“How did that go, do you think, Dred?”

“About as well as I had hoped,” said the mage. He leaned back in his chair and entwined his long fingers across his stomach. “I’d say there is a 30% chance she does something stupid, but not for some time. She needs time to process Spade’s death, after all.”

“What’s there to process?” Said Samantha incredulously. “The man left her at the alter. She _hated_ him.”

“The heart’s a funny thing,” said Dredman lightly. “Not that you would know.”

They laughed together and Chase had to turn away in disgust.

“If I ever get a chance to kill them I will,” seethed Chase to the air.

“That’s more like it,” said Xem gleefully. “Glad you’re coming around.”

“Shut up,” muttered Chase. “What’s next? I can’t stand to look at their faces any longer, Xem. Xem?”

But she was gone. Her presence had vanished.

Chase felt a large hand fall on his shoulder.

“Spade,” rumbled a deep voice. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Chase turned around and beheld the face of his closest friend in the Old Guard. He was just as he last saw him. Large, bearded, and with eyes full of consternation.

“Karkren.”