“You can't run!” he shouted as she turned to face them. The narrow confines of the passage through the shadow meant she couldn't fly over them, and blinking would be risky. She turned to face the paladins in pursuit and raised her blazing scythe.
The group came to a halt twenty paces away as their leader stepped forward, glaring at her with a proud smile.
“Your game is over, Hathlisora. We know what you were planning, and the wizards are already dismantling your magical wards.”
She tightened her grip on the scythe as the blade burned brighter with her anger. One way or another, she was going to complete her plan, even if she had to start over from the beginning.
“You have no right to keep me here!” she shouted. “I want to go home.”
“Then you should have gone,” he answered.
“I am not leaving without my friends,” she hissed.
“At what cost?” he replied. “Your salvation for our ruin?”
“It isn't right, and you know it,” she countered. “What happened to you, Mathius? You used to be my friend.”
“I'm sorry,” he replied with a bow of his head. “But I happen to like it here.” She barely avoided the holy blast that came from his weapon and raced forward with a howl. The two blades met as the other paladins rushed to join the fight. She was immediately cut in the leg, and one of her leathery wings was torn. The ground glowed with golden light burning her as she stood inside, slashing wildly. She dared to blink behind them but was immediately thrown back by a concussive force. A nearby Paladin rushed to finish her off, but she reached out with her right hand. The skin of the hand and arm was covered in slick green scales with spikes down one side. It burned with an intense red flame as the black talons on her fingers tore right through the Paladins armor.
He yelled in pain and fell away as a sword cut for her throat. She blinked again, arriving just outside the golden glow as Mathius leaped out of the light, sword raised.
“You should have accepted his offer,” Mathius shouted as their weapons collided. “He bent over backward to appease you!”
“He lied to me!” Hathlisora shouted as her scythe cut wide to drive him back. “And she cheated me of my form.” She took a breath and breathed a line of fire that scorched his armor but was slashed across the shoulder in return. Scrambling back, she raised her left hand, a blue ring glowing brightly on her finger. The sword slash sent pain racing up her arm as fingers came free, the ring flying into the darkness out of her reach.
“Nooo, my ring!” she yelled and scurried back, clutching her ruined hand. A sword point hovered in the air before her face as Mathius stood, towering above. The other paladins gathered behind him, eyes glaring through plated helms as she trembled.
“It’s over,” Mathius said.
“It may be over,” she replied with a smile. “But the darkness take you all.”
A shrill noise filled the air, like steam escaping under pressure from a pipe. The light of the magic totems turned red and began to flash as Hathlisora started to laugh.
“She used a command phrase to shut them down,” a paladin cried.
“We’re too far from an exit,” another added.
“Turn them back on!” Mathius shouted, thrusting the tip of his sword at her throat.
“I hope you're not afraid of the dark,” she said with a smile as the light around them faded away. Terrible screams filled the air as the world became a void of blackness, and all sense of space was lost.
Heather tore the ring from her finger, casting it away in the hopes those terrible screams would end. Frank was at her side as she covered her ears in reflex, trying to muffle the sound that played in her memory.
“What happened?” he asked as she tried to catch her breath. She rocked in his arms, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. It played like a movie but with her as the main character. She was that woman with wings and a scaled arm that burned with fire. She saw the anger on the faces of those men and felt a sense of contempt for who they were. They were there to stop her and bring the plans to ruin, but what plans?
“Heather?” Frank asked again as he held her up.
“I saw something,” she replied as she shook. “As soon as I put the ring on, it was like a movie. I was in the tunnel, and the paladins were chasing me.” She looked across the ground to where the blue ring lay, a white mist gently rising from its surface. “They cut that ring from my hand and were about to kill me. When I realized I couldn't run any further, I commanded the magic poles to turn off. The darkness came in, and all I heard were screams.”
“Yoouurs,” the bone champion said as he pointed to the ring.
“I don’t want it,” Heather said in a weak voice.
“You were glowing with the blue light again,” Quinny said as she cautiously approached. “As soon as you touched it, you started to glow softly, and when you put it on, you flared up. Your eyes were pure white for a few seconds.”
“I didn’t notice,” Heather said as she gathered her wits. “It all happened so fast.”
“What happened to the ring after it was cut off?” Frank asked as he gently released her.
Heather remembered it fly into the darkness, vanishing as she screamed no. she conveyed the image as best she could to her friends' concerned looks. She looked back to the ring as the bone champion continued to point and carefully stepped closer.
“Not going to tell her to leave it?” Quinny whispered to Frank.
“Something bigger than what we understand is going on,” Frank replied. “As much as I have been against it, I have to admit that the ring might be important. She should at least bring it with until we can learn more about it.”
“The crown, the bracelet, the ring,” Breanne listed off. “It’s like things she lost are finding their way back to her.”
“She is being led to them,” Frank said. “Umtha led her to the egg, which brought her the bracelet and the letter. The letter led her to the tunnel, which delivered the ring.”
Heather didn’t hear them as she bent down and carefully picked up the ring. She held in her palm and looked about herself carefully to notice the faint blue glow.
“This is very disturbing,” she said and pulled open a pouch at her waist. She dropped the ring inside with the bird statue and Gwen's kingdom heart before tying it tight, thankful that the blue glow faded. “We can worry about that later.”
“How many things do you have on your list to worry about later?” Breanne asked.
“What can I do about it?” Heather argued. “I keep following the path, and it keeps leading me to things that lead to more things.”
“At least we know how those paladin skeletons got in the void tunnel,” Quinny said.
Heather looked up as she realized Quinny was right. Hathlisora killed them by allowing the darkness to swallow them up. The shadow was dangerous, and the lights their only protection. Now she wondered if using the tunnels was wise. What if one of the poles failed as they passed and the darkness consumed them? Would their bones be lying in the shadow, unable to respawn?
“We need to get ready for the trip,” she said to steady her nerves. “I am going to see if I can afford one of these vaults. If not, I will raise as many skeletons as I can and use them to carry our stuff. Pack up what you guys want to bring and bring it to the tower. Anything we can't get in one trip is being left behind.”
“You sound rattled,” Frank said with a sad look in his yellow eyes.
She was surprised at how expressive he could be with no nose or eyebrows. With a deep breath to settle her nerves, she turned to the bone champion and took its hand. “come on, I don't have the strength to restore you fully. You will heal faster in the graveyard.” She led it away as the others watched her go before falling in line behind. They spoke about what needed to be done and how quickly it would go. Breanne had next to nothing to move, a few clothing and personal items that one skeleton could easily carry. Frank had little that wasn't purchased with points as well and would need only a single skeleton to cart away some coins and a few weapons he'd collected. Quinny had a larger trove of weapons and some armor she was keeping to try and dress a few zombies. It was functionally useless for them, but she liked the idea of making it look like dead players.
Heather had the most items, including furniture and clothing stolen from Moon's town. She languished over the idea of leaving her bath behind until she remembered the pool in the caves. Still, it would be nice to have a smaller tub, but it would take five skeletons to carry it. She languished over how to move all the items she wanted until Legeis made a brilliant suggestion. With the goblins help, he could build another palanquin with her tub as the cart. Then she could pack the tub with stuff, and eight skeletons could lift it all and carry it away.
She placed the strange glass ring on the desk in her study next to the book of necromancy. For a brief moment, she considered putting it on again but thought better of it. Instead, she took the bone champion to the balcony and told him to stand at the railing and look out over the yard. She sat on the couch nearby with Webster beside her, talking about moving to the swamps. Umtha paid her a visit to discuss building the new cart and moving the goblins. They spoke for nearly an hour before she left to begin organizing the march.
The sun moved to twilight as she went down to get a bowl of vegetable stew. Her mind dreamed of cookies as she ate the relatively simple meal before going to bed. She cast another heal on her bone champion before closing her eyes with thoughts of the ring on her mind.
The morning felt right as she awoke to the sounds of Webster's tiny snores. She snuck downstairs to discover a pile of oranges on her magic plate, picked from the magic tree the night before. Everything was sleepy and quiet as she peeled one and took a bite. a
“Feeling any better?” Breanne asked as she stepped into the room.
Heather struggled to wipe the juice from her chin as she chewed the orange. Setting it aside, she turned to face Breanne, who wore an elegant black dress with long flowing sleeves.
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“Where did you get your outfits?” Heather asked.
“I shopped in the player cities when it was still possible,” Breanne answered before folding her arms. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I’m fine,” Heather said with a shrug and began to dig another wedge of orange out. “I am looking forward to the move. I think it will be good to have a clean start where nobody knows our secret.”
Breanne smiled, stepping with flowing graceful steps stand across the table from her.
“May I?” she asked and gestured to the oranges.
“Go right ahead,” Heather replied and watched Breanne swipe an orange from the plate. They sat together and ate the fruits, talking about the previous day. Heather pried into how Breanne felt about Skullman, and she explained how happy those days were. They adventured together with a small handful of good people. Unfortunately, there were others who, while friendly to hero players, saw the monster players as subhuman. As they talked, Monica came into the room happy as could be and offered to make them some eggs.
They talked more as the kitchen filled with the scent of eggs cooking when there was a thump from down the hall.
“Webster, are you jumping around again?” Heather shouted. It was quiet for a moment, but the thumping returned in three sharp raps.
“Is that knocking?” Breanne asked.
Heather shrugged and made her way down the hall to the front entryway, where two skeletons stood guard inside the door. She thought to call the bone champion before opening the door, but the incessant knocking made her reach for the door and pull it open. Two men stood on the other side, one a dwarf with a thick dark beard and the other tall thin man with a bald head.
“Margus! Eribold!” Heather yelled excitedly. “I am so glad to see you both.”
“Ah, it's good to see you too, lass,” Margus said with a bow.
“We hoped to find you well,” Eribold said with a dip of his shaven head. “We worried that maybe something had happened to you.”
“Friends of yours?” Breanne asked as she stepped behind Heather.
“Ohh,” Margus said with a stern gaze. “You have an elf maiden in yer company. One as pretty as a rose in a summer garden.”
Breanne laughed as Heather tried to contain a snicker.
“Do you keep that character up all the time?” Breanne asked.
“He tries never to drop it,” Eribold replied as Margus bristled. He looked about the tower and nodded his head. “You have done well for yourself.”
Heather nodded and invited them in, giving them a tour of the lower floor before remembering her eggs. They ended up eating oranges and eggs in the kitchen as the two visitors explained their journeys in the north.
“There are whispers about you in every tavern,” Eribold said. “But for every rumor, there is another to say it was false. You have managed to fool quite a few people, haven't you?”
Heather sighed and told them of the litany of adventurers she turned away.
“We even met a paladin just north of here who told us there was nothing but monster players and a flower singer down here,” Margus added.
Heather felt a twinge of concern for Breanne at that remark, but Breanne didn't react. She took a bite of her eggs as the two went on to recount what they learned in the cities.
“How is Dixie?” Heather asked.
“She is doing fine,” Eribold replied. “We haven’t seen her in a week, but she is leveling up nicely.”
“Aye, level twelve when last we met her, I think,” Margus added.
Heather was grateful to hear that and even more grateful when they reached into their packs to present gifts.
“We thought you would like some of these,” Eribold said as he rolled out a large scroll of paper. Heather smiled to see it was a map showing hundreds of named places. Cities, towns, keeps, and the like all across the landscape. It even listed spawns, and known world generated dungeons.
“That will come in handy,” Breanne said as she looked it over. “Not much of it has changed since last I was in some of this.”
“Where are we on this map?” Heather asked.
“That's the beauty of it,” Margus said as he pointed to the edge. “Your not. The people in the north don't care about anything beyond the settled areas. The south spawns are hardly used, and the only major city is a ghost town over here by a big swamp.”
“Nobody seems to play there for some reason,” Eribold added.
“Well, isn't that interesting,” Breanne said as they looked to see the swamps were barely on the edge of the map. “Isolated and forgotten.”
“Not forgotten,” Heather sighed. “Moon will show up sooner or later.”
“Aye, we had a run-in with some of her goons,” Margus said and stood on his chair to trace a finger on the map. “Here, in Elliston, we ran into people claiming to represent her. They told us she would pay good money for any info on you. When we refused, they attacked.”
“Oh, I hope you didn’t die over me,” Heather said.
“Hah!” Margus laughed. “Old Eribold has gotten good with illusions, and I am pretty sharp with the ax now. We mopped the floor with them and ran off the last one to tell Moon to stuff it.”
“The funny thing is they said you were hiding someplace nearby. They assumed we would know where,” Eribold added.
“That must be the city we came out in,” Breanne said.
“Came out in?” Margus asked.
Heather explained the three women and the portal they left open. She went into detail about her short adventure in the city and their encounter with Moon.
“So she had good cause to believe you were nearby,” Eribold said as he rubbed his chin. “I wonder how she manages to run a network of spies and agents?”
“She uses anybody who will listen to her,” Heather replied. “And she can seem very sincere. Those two rangers of hers already came back with friends. I barely managed to hold them off as they attacked my tower.”
“We haven't seen them at all,” Eribold replied. “But they are more likely to keep a low profile and stick to the hunting lodges and camps. If they made one attempt, they will make another.”
“Well, they better do it quickly because we're moving,” Heather said. “In a few days, there won't be anything here but some flowers to remember me by.”
“Then we came just in time,” Margus said. “Sure'n, we would have been upset to find the place empty.”
Heather nodded and then had a sudden idea. She worked it out for a moment before looking down at the map. “Do you two know any players looking for a good place to level?”
Eribold laughed and chewed and orange. “We know tons of them. The leveling is slow in the north unless you duel other players.”
She nodded and put her finger on Gwen's city by the swamps. “Tell them to come here. The swamps are crawling with low to mid-level monsters, and the city has almost no players. We're moving to the mountains north of the swamp to set up a new home.”
“Is this wise to tell them where we are going?” Breanne asked.
“They are my friends,” Heather said. “I trust them to keep our secret.”
“Didn't Skullman just tell you that they can get that secret from them?” Breanne reminded.
Heather understood her point of view, but this was a chance to jump-start the cities recovery. If Margus and Eribold spread the word that the city was open for business and monsters were plentiful, the players would come.
“I just want them to tell people the city is open,” Heather said. “They won't tell anybody about us.”
“They won't have to,” Breanne cautioned. “I mean no disrespect to you both, but too many people know Heather's secret already. They must never find out where she went.”
“We wouldn't tell a soul,” Margus insisted. “But, I can't vouch for what might happen under magic. There are whole classes based around charming and mind control.”
Heather waved a hand to dismiss the situation. “Why would anybody think to pull you two aside and ask you where I was? It would be like winning the lottery to grab the only two people in the whole world that knew.”
“I admit it is unlikely,” Breanne agreed. “But all the same, we should be careful.”
Heather nodded and went to speak when suddenly, a black shape leaped from the doorway. It landed on the table with a graceful thump causing Eribold and Margus to jump back.
“Spider!” Margus shouted as he grabbed for his ax. “Things as big as a cat. Must have come in from outside.”
“No, no, wait!” Heather cried and swept him up into her arms. “This is Webster, my familiar.”
Margus and Eribild exchanged glances then looked back to Heather with confusion.
“You have a spider for a familiar?” Margus asked.
“He's a cute jumping spider, and he's my friend,” she insisted and set him back on the table. They watched Webster beat the table with one leg as Heather looked at him crossly. “Now that isn't very nice. They didn't know who you were.”
“Talking to it,” Margus laughed. “I never get used to that telepathy those things have.”
“I should summon one soon,” Eribold added. “I want something like a squirrel.”
“Aye, get a squirrel, then we will have something to cook if we ever get lost in the wilderness,” Margus added.
“I wish there was something we could all do together,” Heather said as she played with her eggs. “It would be fun to adventure as a team.”
Eribold and Margus exchanged a look before Margus spoke up.
“Well, there be a cave on the hills north of here. We were thinking of exploring it on our way back.”
“A cave?” Heather asked.
“It’s near where Moon’s ruined town is,” Eribold said. “We don’t recall it being there before, but we didn’t do much exploring of that area. It might just be a cave though, or bear den.”
“Or it might be something better,” Margus insisted. “A good opportunity to find some treasure.”
“Oh, please,” Heather laughed. “This world has no idea what treasure is.”
“Not so,” Margus laughed. “We must have found a good five hundred coins in that last dungeon we explored.”
“And some magical potions,” Eribold added.
“That’s not fair,” Heather said in irritation. “We hardly ever find anything.”
“Just depends on what you kill,” Eribold replied.
“We should get Quinny, Legeis and Frank then go check it out,” Heather insisted.
“I thought we were trying to move,” Breanne reminded.
“One more day won't hurt anything,” Heather insisted as she stood up. “Let's go find the others and go on one last adventure here before we move far away.” She noted the roll of Breanne's eyes but ignored it as she excitedly led them back to the front hall. She paused to consider taking the bone champion but decided against it, worried that the tunnels might be cramped with an army of undead following along.
Outside they made their way to the graveyard to find three adventurers in basic gear battling the skeletons. Two of them were human women, one in flashy leathers and using a crossbow, the other in similar leathers but using an assortment of throwing knives and darts. The last was a cat man with a lions mane. He wore robes and fought with his bare hands. As they approached, the three looked up and waived.
“Hello,” Heather called as they approached.
“Aren’t you four a little high level for this place?” one of the women said in a sarcastic tone.
“Excuse me?” Heather asked.
“Oh, don't pretend you don't know,” the other woman said. “Your gear gives you away. What are you level ten?”
“What has my level got to do with anything?” Heather asked.
“You're here stealing kills that will barely move your experience when we could really use it,” the first woman replied.
Heather looked shocked to hear them being rude and briefly wondered if she could catch them all in a grave blight.
“Ah, pardon us,” Margus said, stepping forward. “We were just checking the tower. Nothing much in there but a bunch of empty rooms and a skeleton.”
“Figures,” the lion man said. “We have killed two dozen things, and nothing has any loot.”
“If you're looking for loot, you gotta go into the lower tunnels,” Margus replied. “It's the same kinda thing as up here, but all the treasures down there. We haven't been down there for days, so it should be fully spawned and ready.”
Heather tried not to smile as Margus directed them to a nearby mausoleum to show them where the entrance down was. They didn't even thank him as they made their way in, sure to run into Frank or one of his minions before long.
“That was evil,” Eribold commented when they were out of sight.
“Aye, if it worked on us, it will work on them welps,” Margus spat. “Serves em right for being so rude.”
“Why don’t we go and get Quinny first,” Heather suggested. “We can come back for Frank.”
Quinny was sitting on a rock outside the barrow mound, talking to Legeis, who sat on a log beside his armor.
“What in the name of Urlin Firehammer is that?” Margus exclaimed when he saw the hulking suit of metal.
“Eh?” Legeis replied as they looked up to see the group approaching.
“Hey!” Quinny cried and ran to hug Margus and then Eribold. “When did you guys get here?”
“Just this morning,” Eribold replied as Margus went right to the armored suit.
“How did ya manage to make that?”
Legeis shrugged and stuffed a bomb in his belt. “I made the suit by hand, but Heather helped me enchant it so it can be driven.”
“So, it works like a battle suit?” Margus asked.
“Well, sorta. It's a little clumsy and only has a couple of weapons, but I can punch hard. When I get back to a proper workshop, I will fit it out with some more stuff.”
“It’s a work of art,” the dwarf said as he looked at the craftsmanship. “It’s like a walking tank.”
“It will be when I have time to arm it,” Legeis agreed.
Heather ignored the boys fawning over the armor and went to Quinny to inform her they were going to have one last adventure here before leaving. Quinny and Legeis joined the group to return to the graveyard, where they found Frank dragging a lion man's body to a grave to bury.
“Oh, look what you did,” Heather teased. “How could you?”
“I learned it from you,” Margus argued as he shifted nervously.
“When did you two get here?” Frank asked as he threw the body aside.
“Just a little while ago,” Eribold replied. “Have you gotten bigger?”
“Frank spends all his points on toughness and strength,” Quinny said. “He's a big bruiser of a tank.”
“He was big enough when he did that to us,” Margus added and pointed to the body. “We didn’t last but a few seconds.”
“I am really sorry about that,” Heather said with a blush.
“We forgave you the last time we were here,” Eribold laughed. “Besides, I see how much fun it is now.”
“Wait, you sent those players down to me intentionally?” Frank asked.
“Aye, and they deserved it,” Margus replied.
“So, why is everyone here?” Frank asked, looking to Heather for an answer.
“They saw a cave near where Moon’s town was. We are going to go investigate it as a group.”
“I thought we were preparing to move?”
“We can do that after,” Heather suggested. “Come on, one last quick adventure before we go.”
Frank shrugged and looked to the body. “I guess there is no point in burying them. I won't be able to keep the points anyway.”
Heather smiled and took a deep breath. Today felt normal for a change and signaled a good change for the future. They would be able to build a proper home with enough players coming to grow rapidly. Frank would have his expansive graveyard, Quinny, a large dense forest, and she would have a proper bath. Yes, today was a good day with good friends. Tomorrow would be even better.