Ashley gasped and stumbled to the ground. She must have been running, because she slammed into the dirt and skidded across rocks and sticks that scratched her painfully, and she yelped in shock.
"What the hell?"
How fast had she been going? She picked herself up and did her best to wipe away the mud that covered her arms and legs. She was seeping blood from a dozen scrapes.
A quick look around didn't answer any questions. It was almost dark - some part of her thought it might be just after sunset rather than dawn. Little wooden houses clustered around the dirt track where she had smashed into the ground.
Houses was being generous though. They were more like shacks; made up of rotting and wobbly-looking planks, with no windows, only what looked like simple wooden doors. Smoke rose from a few of them peacefully, but not from chimneys - only from what seemed to be holes in their slanted roofs.
It looks like a slum.
Not a safe place to be, probably.
Fear gripped her.
Where the fuck am I?
She couldn't remember anything. Where she had been. How she had gotten here. Why she'd been running. What she had been running from.
Her head whipped around, but there was nothing chasing her. Nothing she could see, at least.
She grabbed her head and groaned. There was a piercing pain, but it was gone again in a moment.
Did I hit my head? Amnesia? What about an infection?
Some part of her knew about encephalopathy. And meningitis.
Or drugs for that matter.
Not good.
She needed to get to a hospital, probably. But wherever she was, she clearly wasn't going to find a nice clean Emergency room anywhere nearby.
There were no streetlights. There was a torch. A single, flickering torch.
There was a rushing noise not to far away, it sounded like a river.
She had no idea where she could possibly be. This wasn't...
Shit. Not good.
She had a sense of home. Clean streets, cars, things like that. But she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was called.
But one way or another it definitely wasn't this.
She needed help. That was obvious. She patted her pockets. Nothing. No phone, no coins, not a damn thing.
Looking up she saw a cat watching her. It was big and black with huge eyes that might have been bright green in the daylight. It was sitting on a post, tail twitching idly.
Normally she might try to see it she could make friends with it, but this wasn't the time. What the hell was she supposed to do?
She needed to ask for help. One of the shacks. Maybe someone had a phone.
Not one single part of her liked that idea. But what was she supposed to do?
What if she was running from someone? Was that how she got here?
What if they were coming for her right now?
It had to be one of the shacks. It was the only thing she could do apart from go running on out into the night. All around the village was forest. She had a bad feeling about what might be out there.
She started walking towards the nearest shack. It was a little bigger than the others, and had a steady stream of smoke coming from the hole in its roof. That argued for people.
Then she hesitated and looked around on the ground. None of this made sense and she was defenseless. She found a fist-friendly rock with a sharp point and stuffed it in her back pocket.
Better safe than sorry.
She screwed up her courage, brushed what remaining dirt she could see in the dimming light off of her pants, and started to walk.
Her foot instantly collided with something soft, which hissed at her.
It was the cat.
"Sorry friend," she said to it quietly. "No time for scritches right now."
She stepped around it.
"Truly I prefer having my chin scratched," a voice said.
She stopped dead.
She looked down at the cat. It was staring up at her calmly.
"You should know, that's the village chief's hut. This is a bad time. He's not the friendliest man even in a good time."
The cat's mouth didn't move.
As if it would.
But all the same she heard a voice in her head. It was a low, silky voice that didn't sound like kittens and ribbons and bowls of milk at all. It sounded like sharp claws in the dark.
Ashley's eyes narrowed.
"What is this?" she said. "Am I being tricked? Is there a camera somewhere?"
"You see the hut across the road?" the cat's voice said in her head again, "That's Mistress Hegel. She's a widow and not unkind to strangers. You may have a better reception."
"This is ridiculous," Ashely said and turned her back on the cat. She went up to the door of the big hut.
"A poor idea," the cat's voice said. It still sounded close. She turned to look and it was following her.
She frowned.
This had to be a dream. Or a hallucination.
Shit, maybe I really do have something. Bacterial encephalitis? Why do I know about that?
It had to be something to do with her real life, but she didn't have time to worry about it. She knew damn well that she needed help.
But even if it was a hallucination, maybe part of her was picking up on something subtle and telling her to stay away from this place? There was a sense of dread in the air and every step she took towards the looming hut made it worse. There wasn't a single bit of light leaking out of it anywhere.
"Fine," she muttered, suddenly not wanting to make any noise in front of the dark door.
"Good girl," the cat said and padded away towards the dirt road again. She followed it.
"I'm Ashley," she said.
No sense in not committing fully to the insanity at this point.
"I'm Rebus," that cat's voice said when it turned its head back to look at her.
But the moment he said it, something happened.
Text popped up beside him.
Rebus
Common Cat
Ashley stopped dead and stared at the message. After a moment it faded away again.
That... that can only be one thing.
She knew it instinctively in her bones. There was only one context for popup text like that.
She dropped to her knees and made a clicking "come here" noise at the cat, wiggling her fingers.
The cat sat down several feet away and stared at her.
"Honestly, that is a little insulting," it said.
"Sorry," she said. "What game is this?"
"Come again?"
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Only I don't remember logging in, is the thing. I don't remember starting this up at all. I'm really confused about what's happening."
The cat leaned to one side and scratched vigorously with its back leg. It seemed one hundred percent catlike at that moment.
Then it stopped and looked at her again.
"I am afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, but I can understand your confusion. I saw you arrive."
She was going to start asking the creature a few pointed questions, but before she could open her mouth there was a shrill sound from out in the forest. It sounded like trumpet being blown, but the noise was ragged and unmusical. It was a frightening noise. Ashley's head whipped around in fear.
The cat stood up from where it had been sitting.
"We should move. Being outside is unwise right now."
"What is it?" she said, and heard a tremble in her voice.
"I will explain later. Find a way inside now," the cat said and padded across the dirt road to the hovel across the way. Ashley didn't see much alternative but to follow.
At the door she hesitated again for a moment, but the cat was by her feet, looking up at her expectantly. There was some part of her that instinctively trusted it, even though it was an inexplicable aberration. And one way or another she was starting to panic at the thought of what might be coming out of the forest for them.
She raised her hand to knock, but the door creaked open before she could do a thing. Light flowed out from inside, along with a strong smell of old hay and smoke from the fire.
A single eye peered at her through the gap in the doorway. It obviously belonged to an old woman - it was framed by straggly gray hair.
"You looking for sanctuary, girl?" the old woman said.
She was briefly speechless. The woman didn't seem especially friendly, and the one eye she could see was bright and fierce. On the other hand Rebus the cat slinked past Ashley's feet without a word and the old woman didn't even seem to take notice.
"I'm... I'm Ashely. I'm lost. I'm not sure how I got here. I really just need to borrow a phone from someone. But there was a weird noise, and I'm hoping I can come inside to be safe. I'm not dangerous."
The woman made a scoffing noise, but opened the door wide enough for Ashley to come through.
She was shorter than Ashley, and dressed in what layers of rough fabric that made a simple dress and shawl. She looked like a peasant woman in any... game. There was no doubt about that part.
The text that had introduced Rebus popped up beside her.
Mistress Hegel; Lv. 5
Herbalist - ??
"There's a mark on you, girl," the woman said. "You mind your manners. You may or may not be dangerous, but I promise you I am if I need to be."
Inside Ashley looked around and saw that it really was a one-room shack. A fire in the corner was the only source of light, with the smoke going up through a hole in the roof. There was one ratty looking thing that had to be a straw bed, and a single table with two chairs. Apart from that there were pots and pans, and what looked like a chopping block and two trunks that must have contained all the woman owned in the world.
Ashley couldn't remember home exactly, but she knew it was better than this. She remembered streets and cars and glass condos in the sky. This was... third world, or something. She knew one thing for sure - she didn't belong here.
But now she was inside and hopefully safe at least.
"Thank you," she said to the woman. "I really appreciate this. Do you know the cat?"
It just came out, and to her own ears it sounded like idiotic blathering, but the old woman glanced at Rebus and nodded.
"Old Tom comes around now and then. Though I'm surprised he stayed here and hasn't found a safe hole to hide in."
Rebus didn't so much as glance at her. He'd found a spot by the fire and was busy cleaning himself.
"You're Mistress Hegel, right?" Ashley said.
The woman's eyes were like diamonds.
"Indeed I am girl. Who might have told you my name?"
Ashley was stumped. She couldn't just tell her that the cat had told her. But she had no idea what to say.
She shrugged and shook her head.
"I don't know. I'm sorry. I ended up here somehow and I'm lost. I don't even know how I got here. Everything before is... just confusion. I'm sorry."
The woman nodded and seemed somehow satisfied with her answer.
"Like I said, there's a mark on you. I can't see it, but it's there. Something dark has touched you already."
"Something dark? What do you mean?"
The woman made a strange warding motion with her left hand.
"Best not to talk about it. You never know who might be listening."
She sat at the table, and the old woman sat too. They stared at one another for a moment.
"Did you hear that sound? Like a trumpet? Do you know what it was?"
Mistress Hegel nodded grimly.
"Raiders is all. Likely deserters from the army. With any luck they'll decide we're not worth their time and pass by."
"Do you have a phone?" Ashley said. It seemed pretty unlikely but she needed to be sure. "I can pay you back for using it, once I get back home."
The old woman shook her head.
"Never heard of that before," she said. "If you like, I'll fix up a cup of something. You'd best stay here till morning. I'm afraid there's naught but the floor to sleep on."
"Won't someone call the police? You know, someone who can deal with the... raiders?"
The woman snorted.
"Since King Harald's army was routed there's none to protect the folks from whoever happens by. In the daytime maybe some of the lads could fight off a lone bandit, but at night? You heard the horn. Those are mounted raiders. They'd cut through the boys around here like butter."
After some rattling around with the few kitchen supplies she seemed to have, the old woman pushed a clay cup towards Ashley.
"Drink up, you're pale as the moon. Not that I can blame you for that."
It was some kind of spiced wine. The aroma was sharp, but with a soothing nutmeggy note. Ashley took a careful sip and was shocked to find that it was delicious. She gulped nearly the whole cup down at once.
For the first time a small smile flickered across Mistress Hegel's lips.
"Good to see you approve," she said.
"It's really nice," Ashley said. "Sorry for drinking it all at once. It just grabbed me. I haven't had anything to eat or drink since..."
She gulped and realized to her horror that she was on the edge of tears.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry," she gasped and quickly wiped her eyes. "I'm doing my best to keep it together but something must have happened do me. I'm lost and I don't know where I am or how I got here."
"I put a touch of sinferenelia in it," the old woman said, and then held up her hand at Ashely's expression. "It's just a healing herb. You look like you could use something for your constitution."
And something was definitely spreading through Ashley's insides now; a warm glow radiating from her stomach. It was more that just the wine, that was for sure. It didn't feel dangerous though. It felt like some strength she didn't even realize she had lost was slowly filling her up again.
The text popped up again as well.
Sinferenelia Infusion
Constitution +5/s 30s
Health +5/s 30s
She fought back another wave of tears and gave Mistress Hegel a grateful look.
"It's really nice. Thank you."
"We have to be good to travelers. They could be angels in disguise."
Ashely laughed.
"We have that same expression... where I come from. Wherever that is."
Mistress Hegel nodded slowly.
"Not here, I think. Your clothes are strange. Some of your speech too."
"Do you... is there anything you can tell me?
The old woman shook her head.
"I fear to speculate. You should head for Amarani in the morning. It's over the river and about half a day's walk up the road. There's a Mage there by the name of Euphraxis. He's not much more than a local boy who went to the Mage's School, but he knows a thing or two and he's probably better than I at advising travelers from other worlds."
Yup, there it is.
"Other worlds," she said. "So you think I was called here from another world?"
Mistress Hegel shrugged.
"Just my guess, but like I said there's a mark on you. Something powerful has touched you."
Ashely sighed.
"Can I put my cards on the table here? I don't remember anything about joining a game. But that's obviously where I am. Since you're the first... well, one of the first NPCs I've encountered you must be for the tutorial, right?"
The old woman just shook her head.
"I got about one word in five of that, you'll have to keep it simple."
"I am formally requesting instructions on how to access and control my user interface. If this function is not available to me then please explain why. As well, please detail my options for exiting this game immediately."
I should be asking the cat about this too.
Mistress Hegel just sighed.
"You need to see the mage in Amarani. I don't have a blessed idea what you're on about. I'm only an herbalist, but talk like that will get people upset. Be careful."
The woman shot her a warning glance for emphasis.
Ashely turned on the cat.
"Rebus," she said. "Are you able to advise me on user control options?"
But the cat only blinked at her.
"Rebus?" Mistress Hegel said, frowning. "I've not heard him called that before."
Ashley's patience was straining.
You don't get to just stick people in a game with no way out. That cannot be legal.
She was in a game. The constant popup texts had literally no other explanation.
Not to mention messing with people's memories. Something is not right here.
The woman's demeanor had shifted, though. She seemed cautious and wary again.
"Let's put this in a way that might make sense to you," Ashely said. "Suppose I decided I was done. Done with this world, and with no interest at all in continuing. I want to leave and be done. Right now. What could I do?"
Mistress Hegel looked at her blankly. Then a wry grin crept across her lips.
"Only one way I know to do that," she said.
With surprising speed she pulled a wickedly sharp-looking knife from the folds in her clothes, and held it up at Ashley. It had a dark bone handle, and a glimmering silver edge.
"Of course I could put something together in a tincture given a little time as well."
Ashley reached out, and to the woman's obvious surprise she sliced her fingertip against the blade.
"Ouch," she said, watching the blood run down her finger. "Not exactly what I had in mind."
"Our time is up," said another voice.
Ashley turned to see that Rebus the cat was standing attentively, his ears swiveling.
Mistress Hegel looked at the cat and then sighed.
"Not good," she said.
After a moment there was a rumbling noise which quickly grew louder. It was obviously heading their way.
Then the sound of the horn blowing. It was a crude, blattering, off-key squeal that sent a shiver down Ashely's spine.
"They're here," Mistress Hegel said. "I'd hoped they might pass us by."
For the first time, the old woman looked frightened.