The party returned to Traville exultant with the joy of conquest but sobered by the words of Laurin. As they entered, they observed a sad state of affairs. Many of the shopkeepers had set up a lean-to or canopy for their businesses. It appeared as if a few had attempted to rebuild their structures, but the hard work and the threat of Borgakh's return with another Orc army must have been overwhelming.

Lance broke away from the party, promising to gather in the inn's main room for dinner in a few minutes. He angled over to Gwen's shop. The attractive, middle-aged woman sat on the front step, looking exhausted. As he plopped down beside her, she looked up quizzically.

"Hey, stranger," she said.

"Hey to you too" he smiled. "It is so easy to forget what you and the other shop owners must be going through while we are out grinding levels and having fun. The destruction here really chaps my hide."

Gwen nodded. "I am trying to figure out if I even want the life of a shopkeeper now. If this is how it is going to be, then I don't think so. I mean, who plays a game to have all of your stuff trashed and your building torn down over and over again?"

Lance said, "I get it, but can you wait a little while? Don't rebuild right away, but keep selling stuff from your tent. My crew and I have a plan that may help fix things."

Gwen looked at Lance for a long time before replying, “I suppose I just need to trust you on this?”

Lance nodded.

**********

After returning to the inn, the party had dinner and then Lance asked them all to stay for a moment before they retired to their rooms. Everyone was exhausted from the day's activities.

"Have you been hearing what is going on outside?" Lance began.

Polly, Grog, and Sparky shook their heads, no.

Caisin had a grim look on his face.

Lucinda looked a little worried, "My family has been trying to call me multiple times a day, but I have been deleting their messages. What's up?"

"Did you guys hear the reports about those people who were claiming that they were disabled after two weeks in the beta?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, some of the beta testers were claiming that when they came out of the game their body had forgotten how to walk. Some claimed they were even blind for a time. But all of them were shut up after only one statement. People think FM threatened them with a lawsuit. Apparently, the company turned some setting up to max when the game actually launched. The fidelity is much better, but people who are ejecting are all having difficulty."

"What kind of difficulty?" Sparky asked.

"They can't walk or use their hands," Lance replied.

Grog and Sparky joined Caisin in his grim look.

Both of the ladies looked shocked.

Lance continued, "The early ones are healing as their bodies learn how to control themselves instead of an avatar again, but the danger is real. My friends are urging me to leave now. Sparky, Caisin, and Grog, you are all in for a lifetime on your programs, but the ladies and I have a choice to make."

Caisin broke his silence, "We need each of you if we are going to make any difference with all of this Borgakh stuff. We may not be powerful enough even with all of us, but we don't stand a chance without you three. I would totally understand if you chose to leave, but," Caisin looked troubled as he continued, "what would Jesus do?"

"I am not leaving," Polly stated flatly, "I have nothing outside to pull me back. I have thought about maybe teaching a class at the university on Fantasy Mainline someday, but I would do that through the video conferencing we can do from our offline home."

Caisin looked relieved to hear this.

Everyone looked at Lucinda.

"I think I am going to stay, but I am going to need a little bit of time to think about this. I may actually talk to my family. I am sure that this is why they are calling. Amazing they even care."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Lance nodded as everyone turned to him. "I am still deciding too. This place needs to have a church, and I have seminary training. But now John is here, and he is much more qualified than I am for that. I lost my parents and my fiancé about a month ago in a plane crash. But there are still a lot of people out there who care for me. But here, I have you guys, and I love all of you dearly."

The party all looked around at each other, a cautious hope appearing on many of the faces.

"Tomorrow is a new day. Let's keep talking about this." Lance finished.

The party, looking exhausted but hopeful, all began climbing the stairs to their rooms.

**********

Once in his room, Lance checked the time and then called Joe.

"Hey brother," Joe said. "You need to make your choice about getting out of the game. Many are now coming out blind and deaf. Most of the people who have come out in a wheelchair are beginning to regain their mobility, but again, there are no guarantees. Others are still disabled. Staying longer increases your danger, brother."

"I spoke with my party tonight. Grog, Sparky, and Caisin are all stuck here and Polly has decided to stay. Lucinda and I are the only ones not decided yet. Joe, I am needed here, and not just to help these people play a game. This is not a game anymore, this is five of my friends' real lives now and they need help. I know you are friends with Grog too. Should I just abandon him here?"

Joe did not immediately respond. The silence stretched for nearly a minute. "I will understand if you choose to stay. I can see how this can be a mission field, and I believe that you are already competent enough to pursue this. But, I will grieve if I can never give you a hug again."

Lance relaxed visibly, "I don't think I realized how much your approval mattered to me until just now. Joe, I am going to stay and fight this fight. There is part of me that is grieving too. I feel the pull to leave and get back out to God's amazing creation, but Joe these folks do need me, and they need Christ too. I have always played games as a distraction, but as I got older, I realized what a waste of time they were. The only thing I was accomplishing was the flipping of some bits on a server somewhere. Games give the illusion of progress and success, but in the end, it is nothing more than entertainment. This is not like that. This is life for tens of thousands now."

Joe nodded in agreement.

"Brother, I have one more request for now." Lance said, changing the subject, "I have access to the Bible in my offline home and am continuing my memorization and daily reading there, but we may need to add to the injunction the need to have the Bible as an in-game item as well."

Joe smiled, "I suppose my job has moved from trying to convince you to come out, to supporting you in your work now. Yeah, I will definitely send that suggestion in."

Lance nodded, "Thanks brother, you have no idea how much your support means to me and to guys like Grog."

**********

"I know we are all excited to get started on this quest," Lance said, "but let's take a moment to go over what we know so far."

Lance pulled out the map, the irregularly shaped crystal, and the note written in flowery script and placed them on the table along with the box the items had been found in.

"Remind us what the note says?" Caisin asked.

Lance pulled a blank piece of paper and a piece of charcoal out of his bag and wrote the following: The time has come and we are calling on you to uphold your end of the covenant. Meet us at the entrance and bring the crystal. Deliver the item, move the stone for us, and your ______ will be met and our covenant will be at an end. Above the underline, Lance wrote obligation?

"Okay," Caisin said, " so there was some sort of an agreement between the goblins and the wraith."

"Yes," Lance said, "and when I was leaving, I hid in the bushes a little distance away and watched as Borgakh got very angry with the wraith. This has something to do with her as well."

"So," Caisin replied, "the wraith, as well as Borgakh, is interested in something under the rock in the canyon. We don't know if the wraith is haunting the canyon or if it has left, but either way, what is under that rock is interesting to us. But if the goblin was there to move the rock for the wraith, why didn't Borgakh do it herself or just call someone else? I think something on this table is critical to their plans."

"That is a great idea, Caisin," Lance said. "Anyone have any more thoughts on this?"

“The obvious piece here is the crystal; I suppose that must be what they still need,” Sparky contributed.

Everyone nodded.

After a minute, Lance gathered up the items, put them in the box, and returned it to his inventory.

"Okay," Lance said, "then we need to get some supplies before we head out."

Sparky raised his hand.

"Um, yes, Sparky?" Lance said.

"Maybe we could finish the quest under the inn before we go after the wraith?"

Lance looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is below our level, so it should be easy to complete, but will there be enough experience to be worth our time?"

"First time I have heard of this," Caisin said. "Can you share the quest?"

Lance accessed his menu system and shared the quest with all those in the party who did not already have it.

Caisin considered. "If the item scales with the level of the player, then this would totally be worth it."

"Hey, Otis," Grog said. "Will the awards scale with our level for this quest?"

Otis popped into view again."Yup!"

"But this quest will also scale in difficulty, so be warned," Cletus added, appearing next to his orc friend.

The party considered this information for a few seconds. "Seems foolish not to ensure we are level 7 before we go if we can, and we already have the supply kit for this quest."

"Kit?" Polly said.

"Yeah," Sparky said, "Right before we met you, we bought the kit from Gwen over at the general goods store. We got some glow stones for light, a length of rope, a skin of mystery liquid, and some copper ore."

"Good deal," Caisin said. "Let's go."