The hour Brittany gave them to rest passed soon enough, but none of them were ready to sneak into the ruins. While Blondie lightly dozed, Brad slept soundly as though he hadn’t done so for days. She couldn’t fault him for that. She herself felt drowsy and wished nothing more than to close her eyes and drift off into some much needed sleep. But as long as the other two slept, she had to remain alert. If she dozed off it would make them vulnerable to attack, which she knew was bound to happen the moment she passed out. She could feel it – the watchful eyes – but wondered why they didn’t attack them yet, whoever they were. Perhaps they were other players who had found their paths to Sariel, but she thought not. The feeling was creepy. Darkness oozed from it.
Brittany stood up and opened the door, letting herself out of the little shack that stood by the gate. The air was still permeated with an odd stench in the air.
Hearing a sound in the thickets, she walked towards it, her hands clenching the hilt of the small knife. Cautious, she approached the dense thicket and raised her weapon to strike.
But the thicket rustled louder, and a boy probably around age ten scrambled out of it, gasping for breath.
She frowned, making her wonder why this young boy had wandered so far from the city.
“Who are you?” she demanded to know.
The boy didn’t speak, only stared on with shock.
“Who are you?” she repeated her question, although dropping her tone to resemble kindness.
“Are you a police officer?” the boy whispered.
Brittany scrunched her face, “Yes… but how would you know that?”
He pointed at her armor, “Because you look like one.”
No I don’t. Who was this kid?
“My dad…” tears formed in his eyes, “Those bad guys killed him.”
She couldn’t help but feel remorse for the boy, even though he was obviously an NPC, “Where are you from, honey?”
“New York City.” he replied, “I don’t know how we got here. One minute my dad and I were playing Conquest together at the New York Arena, and the next minute we were on this scary beach with tons of people.”
She raised an eyebrow at this revelation, taking stock of his medieval attire.
“So you’re a player too then?”
“Yes…” he looked confused.
“Well, then I wouldn’t worry too much then. Your dad probably respawned somewhere else.” She tried to reassure him, “Where do you guys normally meet up?”
He stared at her with utter bewilderment, “I said… I said they killed him…”
Is this kid a player, or just an NPC with a glitch?
She tried to pull up his player stats with her HUD, but nothing populated.
How weird.
“You must get out of here, before they find you.” he pleaded.
“Who’s they?” she frowned, wondering if they meant whomever had sent the lightning bats.
The boy fell silent again. His stare gave her the feeling of the same creepiness she had felt when she had stepped into this forsaken place.
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“The Shadow Walkers…” the boy answered quietly. “You should leave… while you still can, or they’ll kill you too.”
“We can’t leave.” Brittany said. “We need to fulfill our quest.”
“Quest?!” the boy stammered, “Why does everyone here think this is a game?!”
“Okay, okay. Calm down.”
The boy insisted, “They will come with their swords and with their axes, like they did to my father. Run while you still can!”
Suddenly the boy took off into the distance.
“Hey come back here!” she shouted.
But the boy did not stop. He ran on towards a lonely mountain that stood at the center of the desolate land.
Even though he was a young kid, his feet took him farther away from her, every step of the way. She raced behind him but could not overtake him. Yet she knew the direction he had gone, and while running she came across a cavern, dark and ghastly, reeking of foul air. But that didn’t stop her from going inside.
The paths in the cavern were long and narrow. Sometimes, she could feel the cold walls of stone rub against her skin. Her breathing became heavy. She thirsted for clean air, but there was none to be had in this abominable place.
She stopped in her tracks. The path looked to be leading far inward and deeper into the mountain, almost endless. But there was a light not far away. Dim yet existent.
Slowly yet warily, she dragged her feet towards it until she found a circular atrium. There was a half-cut pillar of stone at the center upon which a gem perched. The gem shone with a scarlet light, its rays spreading across the room, dimming as the beams inched farther. She reached forward to touch it when the boy suddenly appeared.
“Don’t touch it!” he warned, “The Leviathan will sense your presence here!”
She backed away cautiously. The last thing she wanted was another encounter with that monster.
Suddenly she heard a sound echo from the path she had come. She crouched into a defensive posture with her small knife, ready for whatever monster was about to pounce. Only, instead she was relieved when two figures stepped inside the atrium. It was Blondie and Brad. How had they found her here?
“What are you doing here?” Blondie asked as she eyed the gem.
“I followed the boy.” Brittany answered, pointing at the young kid.
Blondie frowned. “What boy? I see no boy.”
Shock sent tremors down her back. Blondie couldn’t see the boy? She must be joking, yes?
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
“Definitely not… are you going crazy, Brittany?”
Maybe I am.
“I just… I just thought…”
She stared at the boy in bewilderment.
“I just thought I could find some weapons here.” she quickly came up with a lame excuse, “How did you find me?”
Blondie sneered, “I saw you wandering off when you were supposed to be standing watch, so I woke up Brad and we followed you.”
“Doesn’t look like you found any weapons here, eh?” Brad inquired, a tad bit disappointed in his tone. “Except for this little gem here…. What is it?”
“Wait!” Brittany stepped in the way. “The boy said if we touch it, the Leviathan will find us!”
Brad stepped back for a moment but looked confused, “Again with the boy? There’s nobody here.”
Brittany felt uncomfortable as she stared right at the boy standing there, “He was… he was here earlier.”
Blondie had nefarious look on her face, “Well, if it indeed summons the Leviathan, perhaps we could hold on to it and use it as a weapon?”
Brittany opened her mouth and let out an unruly curse. “You want the monster that terrorized us in the Lost Zone out?”
“Right!” Blondie agreed. “We don’t want that to happen, do we?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Can we get out of this place please?” Brad asked.
Finally. A sensible question. I’ve had enough of this foul air.
Looking at the boy, she said, “We’re leaving now.”
“Leaving Sariel?” the boy asked.
“I don’t think so… we need find the weapons cache first.”
“Who are you talking to?” Blondie asked, looking at her as though she had gone cray-cray.
“The boy over there!” she remarked, pointing at him.
“I see no kid, Brittany.” Blondie lashed out, frustrated. “Come on now, the place seems to have addled your brains.”
Addled my brains, my foot!
They moved their way through the corridor, and a few minutes later, they found themselves back in the open.
“Why did you even come here?” Brad asked. “Such a despicable place.”
“Like I said, I wanted to see if there was a weapons cache somewhere.”
“Without us?” Blondie accused. “That’s sneaky.”
Brittany bit her tongue and continued on in the direction of the guard shack in which they had taken rest. A lot of questions harangued her mind. Like why couldn’t the others see the boy?
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