The room was quiet except for the muffled snores of a giant spider sleeping on a pillow. Heather stared at the ceiling, silently scolding herself for eating so many sweets before bed. She tried to convince herself the dream was just that a dream, but she knew it wasn't. Nothing that was happening was at random; instead, it seemed carefully crafted to draw her in. A puzzle teasing at her mind and daring her to solve it.
Her first instinct was to run away, deny all of it, and hide. Yet, someplace inside cried out and demanded she follow the clues. Something bigger than herself was going on, and somehow she was involved in it before she even set foot in the world.
Her eyes went to a nearby table where the letter still rested. It was addressed to her from Hathlisora and clearly indicated that Heather was a part of some plan. She had been here before and broken the sun to complete some goal. The letter mentioned Umtha's dress and the magic flowers painted on it. A dress Umtha said was given to her by Hathlisora. If a special song was sung, the flowers swayed and danced. Of course, the song was in goblin, but thankfully they had Legeis.
Now she knew the sun was broken to make an hour last three. There was some magic at play that was limited to a narrow time window, and this was her workaround. What was she working around, though, and why? Who was she trying to help? The song said the chosen, but Umtha said Hathlisora was working on a way to send the goblins home.
She briefly considered leaving and going someplace far away to start over. Just walk away from all this and forget it ever happened.
“I can’t,” she sighed and put an arm over her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I have to be consumed by this. I should make time to be still and enjoy things. Whatever was going on waited this long, it can wait a little longer.”
She stepped onto the floor of the room, being careful not to disturb Webster as she got up. She went walk across the room but stopped to see the red lights of the bone champions eyes watching her.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “I told you to stand outside the room.”
The skeleton didn't move; its eyes wavering slightly under the darkness of its helm. She realized she wasn't dressed, and that staring glare suddenly made her uncomfortable.
“Get out!” she shouted. “Stand in the hall like I told you!”
It moved without any hesitation, exiting the room with little sound. She waited for the door to close behind it before moving to the wardrobe on the wall. Thankfully she brought additional dresses and had her skeletons carry them up. They now hung before her face as she wondered which to wear.
“I need a bath,” she said and nearly jumped when Webster tapped her leg. “Don’t scare me like that,” she sighed and looked down at him. “My shouting woke you up, didn’t it?”
The spider bobbed, and she reached down to pick him up. “At least you listen to what I say. That skeleton likes to love around when I'm not looking.” She listened to a tiny voice squeak in her head and smiled. “No, I can't feed him to the lizard wolves in the lower tunnel. He might be odd sometimes, but I still value his protection.”
She set the spider down and looked through the dresses, settling on a blue one with white trims. After quickly dressing, she slipped out of the room barefoot, determined to go straight to that room with the deep pool to wash.
“After a cookie,” she told herself as she passed the kitchen and dashed inside. Webster jumped to the table as she grabbed three cookies and made her way into the hall. A few minutes later, she had the last cookie in mouth as they entered what could only be described as a bathroom.
The pool had a wall as tall as Heather's waist, allowing her to lean over slightly to touch the surface. It was surprisingly warm and crystal clear, the surface dancing in waves as it poured from the fountain. In cabinets on the wall, she found thick towels, bars of soap, and jars of scented oils.
“Two men lived here?” she laughed as she smelled one of the very flowery scents. “This is more suited to a lady.” She carried it out of the cabinet with some towels and set them aside by the pool. After making Webster turn around, she quickly undressed and uses some steps by the wall to climb into the pool.
“Alright, I do want to live here,” she said as the warm water washed over her skin. She heard a squeak in her head and looked to the spider. “Yes, you can turn around now.” He hopped to a nearby table and settled into a ball as she washed her hair and body.
“I need one of these for my tower,” she said to him. “I wonder how many points were spent to make this.” Again a squeak in her mind made her pause. “I guess it could have been made by hand, but that's even harder to imagine. I have no idea how to make skeletons smart enough to do such detailed work.” She thought of the kingdom heart and the research notes, going over the idea of summoning a smarter NPC into a base skeleton. “I suppose I do have a theory, but it would take a lot of work.” She dunked her head in the water and came back up, wiping her hair back. “I have too many paths to follow now. Do I take care of the egg next or go after this hand that the wizard mentioned? But then there is the mirror, and I want to get back to Gwen, to set up my book store. I also want to work on that idea Quinny had about making my own golem. Now that we have the success with Legeis's armor, I feel more confident I could make that work.” She paused a moment as Webster chirped in her mind. “You're right. I suppose we should also go back to the graveyard soon. Who knows what's happened while we were away.”
Webster made a shrill whistle as she set the bar of soap on the side of the pool. He leaped from the table, landing on the bar only to slide across the rim a few paces and fall off.
Heather laughed and looked over the side. “Are you alright?” She smiled at his response. “Silly spider, that isn’t food, you should have eaten the cookie.” Her face took on a shocked expression to hear his reply. “What do you mean cookies are terrible? They are one of the five most important food groups. They are almost as vital as pizza, well, to me anyway.” He leaped back to the table and resumed his curled position as she shook her head. “Then what do you want to eat? I have no idea what a giant terror fly is, and I have no desire to find out. Aren't their plenty of big insects in the swamp?”
He tapped a foot irritably as she laughed. “It isn't my fault; there is so much water. Why can't you walk on it like those spiders the goblins were using?” He fussed and thumped a leg as she leaned on the rim. “Don't get angry with me because you can't do that. I bet they can't jump near as high as you can.”
“Heather?” Frank called from somewhere outside the room, causing her to look over in alarm.
“I’m in here, but your not welcome to come in!” she shouted.
“What are you doing in there?” he asked from someplace outside the door. “I thought I heard talking.”
“I am taking a bath and talking to Webster,” she replied, feeling very naked all of a sudden. It made her very nervous to know he was so close. With a sigh, she reached for a towel and motioned for Webster to turn his back before she got out. Once firmly wrapped, she went to a bench by the door and sat down with the oil.
“Alright, I can hear you better,” she said as she dipped some fingers in the silky substance. She began to rub it on her skin with a soothing sigh as he shuffled outside.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
“I feel fine,” she replied. “What time is it? I can’t tell from underground.”
“It’s morning. Maybe halfway to noon.”
“Hmm,” she said as she pondered what time it was when she went to bed. It was hard to say how long it took them to get Legeis into the workshop or find the notes needed to enchant his suit. She might have gone to bed at ten, midnight, two? Whatever the case, it felt like she slept too long, well into the morning and nearly noon. Could these dreams have something to do with that? They seemed to be more common when she was asleep for a long time. Maybe that was a clue?
“Breanne wanted to know if you still wanted to play with the mirror?”
“Why wouldn’t I want to do that?” Heather asked.
“I dunno, you might have changed your mind,” he replied.
Hardly, she mused. The mirror fascinated her, and thus far, everything in Hathlisora's letter had turned out to be important. Logic told her the mirror was too and finding out how was now a driving motivation. Webster tapped at her foot as she rubbed a leg with oil reminding her he was here.
“Should we go play with the mirror?” she asked him as he bobbed in yes.
“Webster says we're going to play with the mirror. I will be in the workshop in ten minutes or so,” she said to the door.
“I will let everyone know,” Frank replied.
She listened to hear him shuffle off and leaned back against the wall. “I guess my bath is over,” she said and looked down at Webster. He let out a shrill purr as she pet him with a foot. “Well, let's get ready.”
She wrung out her hair with a towel and wrapped it up before slipping back into her dress. She walked barefoot down the hall, heading for her room, but made a quick stop in the kitchen first. With a cookie in mouth and four more in hand, she arrived at her room to collect her bone champion and scythe. She also grabbed the letter and quickly headed down to the workshop.
She found her friends standing by as she walked in, her hair still up in a towel. Legeis was already in his armor suit as he stepped a few paces, walking near perfectly. Breanne was in her elvish form, wearing a dark green gown belted in light tan. She looked like a woman of refined nobility, with a haughty expression on her face. Umtha stood in a corner with a very different face. She looked unhappy and watched Heather with a frown.
“Are you ready?” Breanne asked as she noted the towel.
“I was taking a bath,” Heather remarked as she walked across the room. “I don’t want to wait any longer. I have too many tasks to take care of, and a promise to Gwen to keep.”
“As you wish,” Breanne said and stepped aside.
Heather noted the concern on her face. She always looked so young in this form, a girl her age at most, yet Breanne was four times older. Knowing didn't change her opinion at all. To her, Breanne was just another young woman. She realized that was more of her judging people by looks, something that came so easy and natural. Her eyes glanced to Frank, and she saw a friend, but also the monster he played. With a sigh, she led her bone champion to the room with the mirror.
“What do we think will happen?” Quinny asked.
“I am hoping it will show us something important,” Heather replied as she studied the sequence in the letter. “A clue to what is going on and how I am involved in it.”
“I still think this could all be the visitors creating some kind of grand adventure for you,” Frank insisted.
“Maybe,” Heather replied as she lowered the paper and looked at the dark surface before her. It still seemed to move, like clouds reflecting in the water of a still pond, but nothing of importance could be seen.
“Push the buttons already,” Quinny said excitedly. “I want to see if ghosts will come out like your book.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
With a laugh, Heather began to push the buttons, causing them to glow with their respective colors. When she pushed the red button a second time, there was a sound like breaking glass that filled the room. She hesitated on the last button and took a deep breath before pushing it.
The mirror was changed, but it wasn't. The surface rippled like water, but inside it was the same, gray mist-like clouds that slowly moved. Now and then, they saw a blue flash but couldn't make out what it was.
“It’s moving,” Quinny said.
Heather dared to dip the point of the scythe into the glass to watch it vanish into the surface.
“It’s like water,” Quinny said.
“It must be a portal,” Breanne said. “Another door to someplace else.”
“But is it safe to go to the other side?” Frank asked.
“We can’t see what’s on the other side from here,” Heather said and looked closer. “I will go in first.”
“Let me do that,” Frank offered, but she smiled and looked down at Webster.
“Ready to do something reckless and stupid?” she asked.
The spider bounced and made a shrill skreee! She nodded at his approval and closed her eyes as she stepped into the glass. It felt a lot like Breanne pulling her through a wall, a sensation of swimming in thick cold water and then nothing. Opening her eyes, she stood in a dark place Illuminated by a yellow light behind her, and strange poles with blue lights ahead. She looked back to see the mirror was more like a window on this side. Her friends were looking right at her but clearly couldn't see her. Webster crawled through at her feet and shook off as if wet before moving to her side. Her bone champion rushed in with sword drawn as if there was a danger right behind her. Once it was on her side, it looked confused and even stepped around a bit as if taking it its surroundings.
“Well, this is strange,” she said and looked around. There was nothing to her left or right but darkness that seemed impenetrable. Above was something, a dark cloud that appeared to be only a few meters above her head. Below her feet was a flat gray soil, like ash and fine gravel. It was cracked and dried as if after a long drought.
There was a strange noise like a low hum. It rose to a loud peak then fell away in seconds. It would be silent for ten seconds or so then return. Oddly there was a flash of blue every time it happened, causing her to look to the nearest pole light. It was a head taller than she was, made of metal no wider than a broom handle. At its peak was three metal rings arrayed around a glowing blue crystal. As she watched, that crystal sudden flared up, giving off the strange hum with a bluish flash. As the flash went off, she saw the darkness around it retreat, being pushed away from the pulse. To her amazement, the darkness seemed to be trying to roll back in. It flowed like water on the beach only to be driven back by the next pulse.
“Heather?” Frank called.
She turned to see he was through the glass, and Quinny was coming out of the surface with her eyes closed.
“Frank,” she said with a relieved sigh. “What is this place?”
He looked around and stepped away from the mirror, staring at the nearest blue light. Breanne came through behind him, quickly followed by Legeis in his suit, and then Umtha, as they gathered in the strange empty world.
“This is crazy,” Quinny said as she peered into the dark. They all looked over when a hum and flash went off and saw how the darkness pushed away.
“I don’t like this place,” Breanne said. “Something about this is wrong.”
“It’s like an empty world,” Heather said. “No stars, or seas, or anything.”
“But why would that mirror come here?” Legeis asked.
Heather looked about and fixated on the blue light as it flashed again. There was another a dozen meters beyond it, and another beyond that. It was obvious they marked a path to someplace through this barren landscape.
“We follow the lights,” she said, pointing with her scythe. “They must go someplace.”
“Is this like the dream you have been having?” Frank asked.
Heather looked around and shook her head. “No, my dream feels more like a real place; this feels like nothing.”
“It is nothing,” Breanne said. “For all we know, this is the buffer.”
“The buffer?” Heather asked as she thought of the letter. “It did say we were working on hiding things in the buffer.”
“This can’t be the buffer,” Frank insisted. “We aren’t dead or using an interface.”
Heather nodded but thought of the letter. The visitors didn’t understand humans, and in particular, were not prepared for their cheating. They attacked the game engine itself, maybe that included the buffer.
“Go back!” Umtha pleaded. “This dead place.”
“Dead? Dead, how?”
“Go back,” she pleaded again. “Things in the darkness.”
“That’s not very encouraging,” Breanne said as she tried to peer into the blackness that lurked just beyond the light.
“So, what do we do?” Quinny asked.
“Let’s follow the lights and see where they go,” Heather insisted, pointing with her scythe again.
They set off staying as close to the center of the path as possible as the darkness seemed to writhe beyond the radius of the lights. Closer inspection showed they were made of polished metal with runes cut into the handles making four lines up to a crown of three rings. The crystals inside appeared to be quartz and glowed from the inside. They hummed softly but rose in volume sharply right before they pulsed. Legeis took a moment to examine one but couldn't find any logic to how they were made or used. All they knew was it seemed to drive back the darkness and keep it at bay, revealing a path into oblivion.
An hour of walking later and Quinny finally asked if they thought any monsters lived in this empty land. Heather hoped not, for fear of how horrible a beast from a sea of blackness would be. Surely the way Umtha delivered her warning made it seem dangerous. It was only then that she remembered her bone champion and turned about to look for him.
“Is something wrong?” Frank asked.
“I left my skeleton behind,” she groaned. “He was acting very strange once he came in here. I don't even know if he was following us.”
“Did you tell him to stay behind?” Frank asked.
“No, but something was wrong with him. When you all started coming through, I lost track of it and pushed on.”
“Honestly, I am grateful,” Breanne said. “Something about that skeleton is off.”
“Everything is off to you,” Heather remarked.
“No, I see it too,” Frank said. “It behaves possessively of you.”
“Of course it does, it’s my guardian,” Heather remarked.
“No, it’s something more. Like he is thinking on his own. He even disobeys you and moves sometimes,” Frank reminded.
“Huh, he does do that,” Heather said. “He was even in my room this morning when I ordered him to wait in the hall. I just assumed that was normal.”
“Nothing about that is normal,” Breanne said. “I have seen a lot of pet classes, and I don’t recall any of them having pets that choose to move to another room or door to guard you.”
“As if I need another mystery to solve,” Heather complained. “I don’t want to go back and look for him after all the distance we have walked.”
“I would rather go back,” Quinny said. “This place freaks me out like the darkness is just waiting to devour us.”
“Or the things in it,” Breanne said as she peered into the void. “I can’t tell if there is nothing there, or I just can’t see it.”
“Something is blocking our sight,” Legeis agreed. “I can’t see anything with my goggles. It’s like staring into nothing.”
“Nothing doesn’t writhe and reach out for you with tendrils,” Breanne noted as she pointed to the darkness to point out how it moved.
“How many of those lamps have we passed now?” Quinny asked.
“At least a hundred,” Frank replied. “Their light overlaps just enough to keep a visible trail.”
“This must be going somewhere,” Heather insisted as she too grew fearful. How long could they keep walking through this place? The emptiness of it made her skin crawl, and the repetitive hum of the pulse was grating on her soul. Sooner or later, they would have to turn back and abandon this journey. Maybe whatever this was was better left alone.
“I see something,” Breanne said and pointed ahead.
Heather saw it too, a shape in the barren soil. As they got closer, they could see it was a body, little more than bones sunk into the ground as if the wind had blown the dust over it. One bony hand clutched at a broken dagger; the other was missing.
“This does nothing to make me feel better,” Quinny said as they leaned over the body.
“Is this a player?” Heather asked as she dared to touch the skull.
“Who knows anymore,” Frank replied. “The rules don’t work the way I thought they did.”
Heather heard the pain in his voice as his view of New Eden changed. She hated to see his enthusiasm for the world fade, but there was something wrong with it. She dared to fish around the bones as Webster helped but found nothing of interest.
“Why are there no clothes?” Quinny asked. “Shouldn’t there be armor or something?”
Heather stood up and brushed the dust from her dress. “Maybe it’s been here so long they decayed.”
“The world isn’t that old, and there’s no weather here to decay it,” Frank replied.
“Maybe the darkness eats clothing,” Quinny offered.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Breanne scolded but didn’t sound at all convinced.
“Wait, I see something else,” Frank said and pointed. They turned to look, and way out in the distance to the right was a blue flash from another pole.
“That one doesn’t reach us,” Heather said as she peered into the blackness.
“There is another one to our left,” Breanne added, drawing their attention to a second pole too far away to reach.
“So, this is some kind of crossroads?” Heather asked.
“But two of the paths are blocked,” Breanne said. “We can only go back or continue straight ahead unless we want to risk crossing into the darkness.”
“I will pass,” Quinny said. “Going back sounds like the best option.”
“Go back,” Umtha agreed.
“We can’t go back now,” Frank said. “This body got here from someplace, and we might be near the destination of this path.”
“Or we could be a week's worth of walking away,” Quinny insisted. “Besides that, humming noise is driving me crazy.”
“It is a little disturbing,” Breanne agreed. “It’s almost alien.”
“Let's move on,” Heather replied. “We walk for one more hour, then turn around.” The landscape was featureless dusty gravel that made thin clouds as they walked. The only alteration it made was the slow undulations of dunes, rolling like some bleak desert. The dust trailed in their wake, their passing the only disturbance to the air. They discussed the letter and who the man and woman she shouldn't trust were as they walked. The letter said she would know who it was referring to, but she had no idea.
Frank was particularly interested in the suggestion about changing resets, so no progress was lost. Breanne agreed that it would be very useful in a world where resetting monster players was considered a sport. Heather was more interested in the references to the buffer as the key. What was being hidden in the buffer, and how was it retrieved?
As they talked, a distant light appeared as did more objects on the ground. Approaching carefully, they discovered more bodies, but this time they had equipment. Swords, armor plates, worn packs, and cloaks were on every body. The skin was gone, and some of them looked to be burned as they lay in the dust. Heather leaned over one to see it had a gold chain. She pulled at it, dislodging the head from a neck, and lifted the chain to reveal a sword dividing a sun.
“What is this?” she asked, holding up the necklace.
Frank look alarmed as Breanne leaned closer in wonder.
“Allamure, the god of justice,” she said.
“What does that mean?” Heather asked as Frank pulled another amulet up to reveal it was the same.
“They all have them,” he said, pulling up a third.
“Then they must be the same,” Breanne agreed.
“Could somebody fill me in on what they are all the same of?” Heather asked, growing annoyed.
“Paladins,” Frank said. “These are dead paladins.”
“What?” Heather asked and looked about. “Why are they here?”
“And why haven’t they respawned?” Legeis asked.
Nobody had an answer, so Heather sighed and suggested they move on to examine the light. She pocketed an amulet, and Quinny helped herself to an ornate sword with a curving blade. She gave it a few swings as it began to glow with a soft light.
“Yay, a magical sword,” she exclaimed and held it up. “I will name you box cutter.”
“Why box cutter?” Frank asked.
Quinny shrugged. “I can’t think of anything better.”
Heather smiled and moved on, grateful for the moment's respite. The bleakness of the world and the pulsing hums were draining away the last of her sanity. As the light they approached came closer, she was relieved to see it was another mirror. Two more armored bodies lay just before the oval disk of the great mirror. They could see a dark room beyond, made of gray stone.
“It took us to another place,” Heather said. “Maybe another lair.”
“But where?” Quinny asked as she leaned closer. “Why are there no lights in it?”
“And why are there more bodies outside it?” Breanne asked, drawing attention to three more skeletons on the floor just beyond the mirror.
“Hmm,” Heather said and looked at the two in the dust. “Let's test something.” She stepped back and spoke with a clear voice. “Rise and serve.” The skeletons lay motionless in the dust, her command to make them undead having no effect. “What?” she asked and tried again to little avail.
“You can’t make them undead?” Frank asked in shock.
“It should work,” Heather insisted and tried once more. “I feel the spell working, but nothing is happening.”
“Let’s get out of this place,” Quinny insisted. “I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.”
Heather nodded and stepped to the mirror. She reached out to touch it with her scythe. The surface rippled like water allowing the scythe to pass through. She crossed over into the dark room with a bold step and waited as the others came through one at a time. Just as Umtha stepped through, there was a sound like breaking glass, and the mirror went opaque, its surface nothing but dark clouds.
“Did we cause that?” Heather asked.
“I don't know,” Breanne said. “I wonder if we can be trapped on the other side?”
Heather looked around the dusty space as Legeis held up a flashlight and began to inspect the mirror from their side. It looked identical in every way to the one they stepped through, but the room was smaller. Frank examined the three skeletons to find more holy symbols confirming they were paladins.
“This is strange,” Heather remarked as she looked around. “There are no doors.”
“Or tunnels,” Quinny said.
“I can dig us a tunnel,” Frank offered as he approached a brick wall. It was covered with the dust and cobwebs of disuse as he put a hand to it.
“Let me see if I can find a passage,” Breanne said as she went spectral. She floated through a wall and was gone several moments as they others waited around.
“Where do you think this is?” Legeis asked.
“It could be anywhere,” Heather replied. She had been wondering the same thing and hoped Breanne would return soon. For now, she was grateful they were out of that void and away from the pulsing hum. Something about the sound they made was tortured and unsettling, and exposure to it was grating.
“So that's like a magical tunnel,” Frank said, looking back to the mirror.
“I thought magical tunnels were supposed to be instant,” Quinny asked.
Heather looked back to the mirror and noted the buttons on each side. She guessed it was operated the same way, and they could go back if needs be. As the minutes ticked by, Breanne finally came out of the wall two dozen paced further down.
“Did you find anything?” Quinny asked.
“I found more than enough,” Breanne said in a dour tone. “You will never guess where this is.”
Heather shook her head. “I have no idea.”
Breanne smirked and floated to the wall, pushing a brick that caused the wall to slide away. Carefully they looked into the room beyond as Heather squinted to see in the dim light.
“Why does this look familiar?” Frank asked.
“I can’t believe it,” Heather said. “We’re home.”