CHAPTER NINE
I dreamed of the game. The graphics for Mystaria had always leaned toward stylized over cutting edge. While other games tried to mimic what April (Adora) had done with the game, they always emphasized style over substance. The irony being they could never hope to match the level of substance an entire world brought. Everything in War for Mystaria, was real. From the Furthest tip of the southern continent to the massive glaciers of the Thunder Mountains to the far north. Enthmar, the great city of the shield coast, was the farthest west, and if Lexi was right, had already fallen.
In my dream, I flew around on the back of a giant eagle that connected the major cities. I flew from Brightstar, the largest city on the Shining Sea, to Enthmar. We flew over the Turtle mountains that contained the Great Worm Desert. The sand went on, and on, and on. Occasional outcroppings of black volcanic rock would rise in the sand like islands in the ocean.
We passed over a tribe as they hunted the four-legged deer-like lizards that populated the wastes. Then we were over the other side, and my breath caught in my throat. If Enthmar was the largest city in the west, Moonvale was the prettiest. Seven gleaming white towers rose high into the sky above a walled city that nestled up against the base of them.
The city teemed with people and traders eager to do business in the city of the mages. Wonderful things came from Moonvale. The eagle turned south, circling around, showing me the eighth tower that had long since burned down to nothing more than the base bricks. The necromancy tower had once held as much importance as the others. Instead. Then it fell to the dark magic and was brought down by the other seven schools.
Then I heard it, a chanting, the beating of drums as a million voices called for battle. The eagle turned to the west. Instead of diving in for the city like it should have, it rose on the wind and gained a thousand feet of altitude, giving me an unobstructed view of the lands to the west.
And I wish it hadn’t. In that moment, I somehow realized this wasn’t quite a dream, but a vision of what was happening.
An army unlike anything I’d ever seen in the game, spread out beyond, breaking against the city walls like the ocean against a cliff.
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There were foot soldiers, calvary, giant siege machines, towers, everything an army could ever want. There was no way to sustain such a host, no way to feed it without powerful magic. The eagle circled higher, climbing with each beat of his giant wings, then banking to show me another sight.
I was too high to see anything more than the mass of bodies, like ants covering the land below. Were they undead? Were they people? Monster races? I couldn’t tell.
Seven mages, the headmasters of Moonvale, stood on the balconies of their towers as they chanted. A kaleidoscope of energy shimmered around them as they launched volley after volley at the enemy. Lightning bolts, fireballs, spectral weapons, all of it struck the enemy, and the soldiers died by the hundred.
On the walls far below, Elven arches fired thousands of arrows per minute. Outside the main gate, allied soldiers fought to hold back the giant battering rams that queued up to assault the magical city.
The enemy army spread to the horizon. What hope could a handful of mages have against that? As if it read my mind, the eagle turned and flew west, passing over a sea of endless warriors.
After millions of soldiers passed by underneath us, I saw the end, or at least, the command structure. A floating fortress on a small inverted mountain hovered over the rear. It was easily as big as Moonvale, but where the city was white and silver, this was black and oily. A single tower rose above the center and I felt pulled toward it, a malevolent draw as if it were grabbing hold of my soul and squeezing.
The eagle cried out, trying in vain to beat against the artificial gravity that yanked at us. A hand made of dark energy grabbed us out of the sky and in a second I was pinned, hovering outside the tower.
It wasn’t a dream, but it wasn’t real. My heart raced as I struggled against the binding. Desperate to free myself but virtually unable to move.
“Adora has brought another fool looking for adventure?” The words were like fire in my brain. I screamed as he spoke, unable to shut him out. “You will fail, adventurer. You think this is like her game and that you can win? You can’t. The last man she brought is now my general, but in you I sense even greater power. Join me, and I will grant you an army unlike anything your world has ever seen. You don’t comprehend the power I wield,” he said.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force myself to wake up, to snap out of it.
“Pathetic fool,” he said with a sigh. “It matters not. I shall send Lazieboiroy to destroy you with a mere legion of my host while I turn to the south and conquer all before me. Join me... or die with the rest of these mortals.”
“Nick?” Lexi said. I forced my eyes open, and she was there, hovering in front of me, free.
“Lexi, run!” I shouted. Confusion crossed her tiny features.
“It’s just a dream. Wake up!”
I opened my eyes, the vision of the army swimming before me.
"Who the fuck is Lazieboiroy?"