Chapter 49: Behold, old friend

Name Chase Class Hunter,Lvl4 Marks 1 Guild Seven Banes SD 984

They had come to the end of the world, or what Chase was calling it in his mind.

“Where are we?” Said Chase. The moment Karkren had placed his hand upon Chase’s shoulder the Old Guard’s meeting room had disappeared. Now they were standing upon a white marble floor and every way he looked Chase could see no walls or a ceiling, just a never ending floor stretching endlessly into the unknown.

“I have some small authority here,” said Karkren. “We needed a place with lots of room, and some privacy, of course.”

“I see. So it’s really you? Or are you just one of Xem’s projections?”

“What would be the difference, old friend?”

“Would make all the difference, old friend.”

Karkren’s mouth twisted into a smile, and his bushy beard revealed even, white teeth. He looked exactly as Chase remembered: six and a half feet tall, broad shouldered, and unkempt red hair tied in a warrior’s bun. His eyes were green and examined Chase with a curious look.

“You are looking well, Spade. I am grateful for that. Seem’s respawning has treated you well, thus far.”

“Spade no longer,” said Chase. He crossed his arms. “I am ‘Chase’, now.”

“Are you really, though?”

“How can I not be? I respawned and chose a new name and face. Spade died with that ship, and here I am. A new player at the beginning of my journey in Esem. No more, no less.”

“That’s not the only thing new about you. You have a new guild, it seems.”

Chase chose not to respond. Whether this was actually Karkren or not, giving away too much information was a habit he had trimmed long ago.

“Have it your way, Spade,” said Karkren with a shrug of his mighty shoulders. “Let’s get down to business, as I know you are fond of. First of all, that scene you saw back there must have been disturbing, to say the least.”

“Nothing I didn’t already know.”

“True.”

“I appreciate you voted against having me killed.”

“Yes,” said Karkren, and for the first time he looked away. “I am sorry things turned out that way. You do realize that there was no way I could stop them?”

“Would have been a death sentence for you,” said Chase.

“Yes, but you had forewarning, it seems. We still don’t know who alerted you.”

“Neither do I,” said Chase carefully. “I thought it was you.”

“If only, old friend,” said Karkren. His eyes creased with a smile full of regret. “Solomon had me accompany him to Great Nexia when the hit was supposed to occur. I suppose he suspected I was going to try to prevent your death.”

“Was he right?”

Karkren sighed.

“Spade—.”

“Chase.”

“At the time, no. I would not have prevented your death. The guild voted and I had to comply with their decision. I am sorry, but it is true. Would you have done any different?”

“Maybe,” said Chase honestly. “Maybe not.”

Karkren chuckled.

“You understand the dilemma of going against Solomon. That mad man has only grown worse since you left.”

“How so?”

“His thirst for power has only increased,” explained Karkren. As he talked some object began to form 100 yards behind him. It began as a small dot on the horizon and as it came near Chase saw it was a giant door moving into place. “You were not the only person he considered having killed. Anything or anyone he sees as getting in his quest for ultimate power is a target to him.”

“He considered having me killed because he could kill me,” said Chase, eyeing the now fully formed door behind Karkren. It loomed in the distance and must have been nearly 100 feet tall. “Me and Christie, that is.”

“Details,” said Karkren with a wave of his hand. “He can do with any of us as he wills. But things have changed since you went away. A great new power has come to Esem, one which values freedom.”

“Kakren, that’s great, but what is that?” Chase pointed behind his old friend.

“Ah,” said Karkren as he turned around. There was now a sound coming from the giant door, as though a huge fist was trying to knock it open from the other side. “I need to show you a demonstration. The great power I mentioned values freedom, but also power.”

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. The door shook with greater intensity and Chase expected it to come falling down any second.

“I have to tell you, Karkren,” said Chase as he opened up his inventory to retrieve his bow and arrows. “I’m only a single contract player now. I will be of no use in a fight here.”

“A player named ‘Chase’ has only a single contract,” said Karkren. He was facing the door yet had not drawn any weapon. “You are Spade. And Spade is an OP player.”

“I keep telling you, Karkren, I’m not—.” But he was cut off as suddenly before him a mirror appeared. It was identical to the one in Ghelion’s office he had used to change his face all those many months ago. The mirror’s sudden appearance was surprising, but caused him far less shock compared to who was reflected within it.

“You cannot change you are, Spade,” said Karkren.

His old face was staring back at him. Chase raised his shaking hands to touch his face and found his familiar visage exactly as he remembered it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s just Xem’s powers,” said Chase, tearing his eyes from the mirror. “Nothing more.”

“Did you check your arm?”

Chase pulled back his sleeve on his left arm and found 9 contract marks staring back at him.

“How…”

“All can be returned as it was,” said Karkren. He raised a hand as though about to snap his fingers. “All that was lost and more. The time of AION is diminishing.”

SNAP.

The door burst open and a creature from the depths of hell stepped out. It was 80 feet tall and looked like something out of Chase’s nightmares. Dozens of eyes dotted its demonic head and just as many arms protruded from a body that looked like melted wax. It was the color of a dark bruise—all purple, green, and ghastly yellow but its most monstrous feature of all was a gaping, slavering mouth where jagged teeth jutted at every angle.

“Is that a Chasm Creature?” Said Chase, his voice shaking. He had only ever read about such banished beasts AION had deemed too powerful and demented for Esem to contain. Within the door was only a swirling darkness.

“It is,” said Karkren. He was cracking his fingers and staring down the monster.

“Kar…where’s your sword?” Chase said, looking his friend up and down. Karkren’s famous cognomen was ‘the sword of Ballendrop”, yet his blade was no where to be seen.

“I have transcended the need for such primitive weapons,” said Karkren. “In the new world, servants such as I need only their faith.”

“What are you…Here it comes!”

The monster bellowed a terrifying call of challenge. It’s many eyes had locked onto the pair of them and its arms began to drag its massive body towards them. It’s feet had seemed to lose some motor control the moment it stepped over the threshold but its many arms propelled it across the marble floor easily. Chase fired an arrow which stuck harmlessly into the chasm creature’s flesh.

“Behold, old friend,” said Karkren. He had assumed a martial arts stance, his feet wide and his body low. Both arms were by his side, bent and fisted. “This is true power. Not the false promise of the advisor’s and their measly contracts. Behold!”

At the last moment, when the chasm monster was only a dozen feet from them, Karkren punched the air. Chase had to cover his eyes as a light as bright as the sun exploded before them, the heat radiating over them both. The monster shrieked and Chase could hear the sound of melting flesh and a storm of fire searing the skin off the creatures bones.

When at last the light faded, Chase opened his eyes.

The creature was a mass of jumbled bones, tattered bits of flesh and globules of fat. It had fallen on its back and so the monsters rib cage stood like an open prison cell, which the bones of its many arms had fallen to every side of it, the fire having missed some of its extremities and now its fingers twitched with the final synapses of thought and reflex from its melted brain.

“That was…” but Chase could not finish his sentence. He stood there staring wide eyed, looking from the dead chasm creature to Karkren in shock. “How did you—.”

“Since you’ve been gone, I have signed a new contract,” said Karkren. He kept his back turned to Chase as he examined the colossal wreck before him. Smoke rose from the giant carcass to fill the air.

“What kind of ability is that?” Said Chase. “There are no jobs that allow that, surely.”

“There are if you have the right friends,” said Karkren.

“Is it something that Solomon—.”

“That fool will never be capable of doing this,” said Karkren dismissively. He finally turned around and his eyes gleamed with the ecstasy of power. “Solomon has no power like this, Spade. And he never will.”

“Then what is it?”

“This is the power of the ages.”

“You’re speaking in riddles, Kar,” said Chase. “How were you able to do that? Is this even you or just a creation of Xem?”

“It is I, old friend. But perhaps I am a new creation all the same, of Xem, as you said.”

“You’re a creation of Xem?”

Karkren raised his hand and a white light, the same that had exploded from his fist, appeared there.

“Only the important parts,” said Karkren, the light illuminating his eyes. “She has given me this power, and it can be yours as well. So can your old body, if you wish.”

Whether this is actually Karkren or not I need to be careful, thought Chase. This is no normal event, in the least.

“Okay, Kar. How would I go about getting this power?”

“You must swear your loyalty to the true ruler of Esem. The one who fought AION and nearly won. The rightful creator of all and the enemy of the usurper.”

Chase looked down at his friend’s glowing hand, and then towards the dead chasm creature still smoking upon the marble floor. The door was still wide open and within its darkness Chase could see figures moving.

“I think I know who you are talking about,” said Chase. “But why? Why side with the Antagonista? What benefit would it be to you? AION created Esem, and he cannot possibly lose.”

Karkren’s face soured and for a moment rage crossed his face.

“We do not call her such names, Spade.”

“I’ll call her whatever you want, but I will never call her my master. I am shocked that you have chosen to.”

“Spade,” said Karkren, shaking his head in disappointment. “I thought you were smarter than this. I am giving you the opportunity to exact vengeance on the ones who tried to kill you. With this power we could easily kill Solomon and all the Old Guard.”

“And replace them with what, Kar? The Antagonista?”

“I told you…” Karkren sighed. “Yes. With her. She is the light which will free the world. We are living as slaves under a false god. I am showing you the path to freedom through revolution.”

The figures were now crawling out of the darkness. They were far away but appeared to be shambling corpses not unlike Chase had seen players of the forbidden Necromancer class raise from the ground.

“I already am free.”

“Are you? Forced to respawn because of a cruel guild leader?”

“That cruel guild leader is the only reason we ever made it in Esem.”

Karkren barked a laugh.

“He tried to kill you, Spade. Don’t forget I am the only one who voted against killing you. And then Christie who warned you of the coming attack. The three of us could form a new guild, one that will outshine the Old Guard. We could finally destroy Lord Oscuro once and for all and then all the Old Guard who rely on his confinement: on the glitch which keeps them alive!”

The zombies had spotted them, and Chase counted at least fifty making their way over.

“I already have a new guild.”

“You call that a guild?” Said Karkren with a sneer. “Xemnara has tested each of them during this event, and they have all failed. If you continue working with them you will be dead within a year.”

“Failed? What do you mean?” Said Chase, his heart in his throat. “Are they okay?”

Now the sounds of the walking dead reached Chase’s ears and he saw they had reached the body of the chasm creature. Soon they would be upon them.

“The new world has no place for weakness, Spade. Xemnara designed this world to test players to their extremes.”

“So Xem is the Antagonista?”

“Yes,” said Karkren. “And she has found only you worthy. Your rage, your wrath against those who betrayed you are commendable. Let the others die and join me.”

“I don’t believe it,” said Chase, stepping backwards. “They can’t be dead, Xem promised.”

“Enough,” said Karkren. He pointed at the zombies who were now spilling around the rib cage of the monster like a dark tide. “Use your old powers to defeat these demons. And then find me beyond the door, there is something I must show you.”

“Show me? Wait!”

Karkren, or whatever it had been, disappeared. No trace of him remained.

“XEM!” Shouted Chase as the zombies neared him. “IF YOU HURT MY GUILD I’LL KILL YOU!”

Chase licked the tip of the arrow and fired it into the nearest zombie. It collapsed to the ground, twitching, the poison immobilizing its rotting body, but a dozen more took its place, stumbling closer over their fellow to get to Chase.

“That ability works,” muttered Chase. “Let’s see about the rest.”

Chase held up his fingers as though about to snap, and a small purple energy shiruken appeared there. Had he not been overcome with worry thinking about Alex, Claire, and Amelie he might have smirked. Chase tossed the projectile at the next zombie and the object wizzed through its flesh, also piercing a dozen others behind itself. The zombies fell before him and Chase jumped away just as some undead fingers nearly grabbed his arm.

Forgot how good this felt, thought Chase as he soured twenty feet through the air and landed well away from the undead. They moaned in frustration and began their march to his new position. His buffs had always allowed him to leap and run higher and faster than nearly any mob. In the months since his respawn he had tried to forget about his days of power.

“Having fun, Chase?”

“You!”

Chase had to throw another energy star at the closest zombie. This one only scored a hit on the leading undead and no others. He cursed to himself.

“You can have all this and more, you know. I can give it to you. All you have to do is say the word.”

He threw another star. And another. And another. The undead were dropping left and right but he knew he only had a few more left. He tried to count the fallen and guessed he still had another 30 zombies to fell before he could follow after Karkren.

“What have you done with my friends, Xem??”

“Karkren didn’t tell you? I know he can be tedious but I thought a friend of yours would be able to get through to you. They have all failed.”

“Failed what?—Ah?” Chase was out of throwing stars. The nearest zombies were only steps away. He considered jumping away and picking them off with his arrows, but then decided his rage could only be expended in one way.

Chase punched the nearest zombie in the face. The boon enhanced blow was so strong that it nearly knocked its head from its shoulders, only a flap of skin keeping it on as its entire body spun and crumpled to the ground.

“Very nice, Chase. You’re guild has failed the test. Only you remain.”

“If I succeed will they be saved?” Chase kicked another zombie which went sprawling on the ground. A pair of undead tried to grab him at once, their slavering mouths dripping blood, and he grabbed their skulls with either hand and squeezed. Their heads splintered under his enhanced strength and blood and brain matter splattered his face.

“The weak can only save themselves, Chase.”

“Xem!” Chase grabbed an undead by the torso and flung him into into a group. They fell over like bowling pins and he launched himself into the air, escaping the desperate hands of the others who had tried to circling around him. “This wasn’t the deal we made!”

Chase landed on his feet. The undead were too many for him to take alone. He looked toward the door and the darkness within.

“I am offering you a better deal, little thief. Join me. I am looking for followers with only the best qualities. And your wrath is exactly what I am looking for.”

“Xem,” said Chase as the zombies bore down on him. “You’re just a stupid NPC if you think I want anything to do with you.”

“RWAR!” The zombies roared in unison, and suddenly their eyes flashed red. A new energy overcame them and they began to run, shambling corpses no more.

Chase sprinted for the door, and just as he felt a dozen undead fingers reach for his shirt, he leapt into the blackness.