Heather held up the shredded yellow dress with a sigh. She was grateful it was a magical dress and would repair on its own, but it would take a full day. Until then, she would wear the fancier blue one she stole from Moon. It was more fitting of a princess; she thought as she sat quietly in the palanquin.
“You don’t look happy,” Breanne remarked as Heather gently stroked Webster.
“I wasn’t prepared for that,” Heather replied. “I still don’t like the idea of dying, let alone doing it as a broken defenseless wreck while that horrid thing ate me.”
“It took you by surprise, is all,” Breanne encouraged. “We knew something was out there but had no idea where it was. We figured we would locate it first or slip out of the valley without ever seeing it.”
Heather nodded and continued to stroke Webster as her mind raced. She needed something to distract her from recent events, so she decided to ask some questions.
“I know the necromancers were rounded up and reset, but where are they now?” she asked.
“Well, first of all, I am sure not all of them were caught, or at least not caught right away,” Breanne replied. “As for those who were reset, who can say? I have never heard of any of them speaking out. It's almost like they vanished.”
“Do you think they are in prisons someplace?” Heather wondered, remembering that there were prisons someplace in the world.”
“I know there are prisons in many big cities,” Breanne replied. “Kevin supposedly had a special prison for serious trouble makers, but I couldn’t tell you where. Kevin is very good at keeping his secrets.”
Heather agreed, but a thought came to mind, something Gwen said in passing when they were talking about Hathlisora. She told Breanne all about the conversation, focusing on the fact that Kevin was once a companion of her group.
“That’s interesting,” Breanne remarked with a concerned look. “Why did you turn down the offer to have her contact her friend to learn more?”
Heather looked down as her hand stroked the purring spider. Logically it made sense to try and learn more, but in her heart, she believed Frank was right. They were safely hidden away; why alert anyone to where they were and risk having to run again? She explained it to Breanne, who agreed but suggested another idea, they could meet this person instead of bringing him here.
“I didn’t think of that,” Heather replied as she sat up. “Then I could get answers without revealing where I was hiding.”
“He might even know more about the necromancers and where they can be found,” Breanne added.
“Even if he doesn’t, they are someplace, and there must be a way to locate them,” Heather said as her mind worked on the problem.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Breanne asked.
Heather nodded. “Hathlisora was working with them, and you said they were all working on a major project. Her letter said it was a way to change the respawn and reset system.”
“We don’t know that was the project. It could have been something else,” Breanne argued.
Heather understood her point of view but couldn't think of a bigger project than altering a core mechanic of the world. Surely this was the secret project, and she was fascinated to know how they planned to do it. They went on to debate the possibility as the palanquin wound its way through the mountains.
The mountain passes continued to roll by as they followed the pull of the green bracelet. Heather had them stop from time to time to hold her arm up and get a bearing, turning them in the right direction. They encountered another flying creature with a lion's body but an eagle's head and wings. It swooped on them a few times, but a hail of spells drove it off, screeching as it went.
Heather eventually decided to get out and walk, taking in the mountain landscape that was both peaceful and beautiful. The air was cold, but she didn’t mind as all around were spectacular views. Above her towered peaks and sharp ridges covered in snow as they progressed along a lower ridge-line. She was amazed at how blue the sky looked from here and how crisp the air felt. Never in her dreams did she believe she would one-day cross mountains on foot, yet here in this odd world, she did just that.
She took a deep breath and looked to the palanquin where Webster was yawning with a little squeak. He climbed out and went to the roof, looking to the sky as if to watch for danger.
“Are you alright?” Quinny asked from ahead where she walked side by side with Frank.
“I'm fine,” Heather replied. “It was a very sudden and scary thing, but in the end, it wouldn't have meant a thing.”
“It would have meant us going all the way back to the graveyard to get you,” Quinny said. “That would have been a huge delay.”
“No delays!” Umtha barked from where she sat perched over the acorn where the egg was hidden. “Must return egg!”
Heather looked back for only a moment, then hurried her pace to catch up, coming to stand between Frank and Quinny.
“Is she getting grumpier?” Quinny asked in a low voice.
Heather smiled at the questions she herself was wondering. “She is upset that I was nearly killed while she was ahead scouting.”
“It was a sound idea to scout ahead for an ambush,” Frank suggested. “She complained that she should have brought her warriors.”
“And the moment we encountered a player town, they would have been all over us,” Heather replied. “We need to draw as little attention as possible until we get where we are going.”
“Where are we going?” Frank asked with a glance. “We don't know anything, but the direction, do we?”
“No, we don't,” Heather replied as she held the bracelet up. “All we know is it's that way,” she added, pointing the other hand. “It could be a thousand miles from here.”
Quinny looked back with her featureless mask revealing only the jet black eyes. It had an intimidating effect of feeling cold and predatory, a silent warrior who lacked mercy. She made eye contact and thankfully reached up and plucked the mask from her face, revealing the nearly white skin with a slight scars on her cheek and lip.
“Does it matter how far it is?” she asked. “We’re on an adventure, and that’s all that matters.”
“We have lairs to work on and take care of,” Frank reminded her.
“All that will be there when we get back,” Quinny replied and turned the mask over to look at it. “Besides, it's going on adventures that made those lairs possible. We wouldn't even know Breanne if we hadn't gone on the great pizza adventure.”
“Ha,” Heather laughed as she thought about pizza and wondered if maybe it was time for another trip.
“We would be safer if we stuck to our lairs,” Frank insisted, but Quinny wouldn't let it go.
“Oh, common! Look at all the fun we're having. We have amazing outfits and cover stories that allow us to go almost anywhere. When are you going to have an opportunity like this again?”
Frank reached up to scratch at his head before remembering the helmet and dropping his arm.
“I know your right,” he said. “But every time we leave, we take a risk that could cost Heather everything.”
“This is for Heather,” Quinny argued and glanced her way. “Will you tell him to stop being so worried. He has been all tense since that thing grabbed you.”
“It ran faster than we could and almost got away with her,” Frank pointed out. “If she hadn't had that bird statue, she would be respawned in her tower right now.”
“And living with the memory of being eaten,” Heather added.
“See,” Frank pressed.
Heather smiled and reached out, taking each of their hands. “I agree with both of you. It would be nice to stay in our lairs and be safe, but we also can't let those lairs become prisons. Just because your monster players and I'm a necromancer doesn't mean we can't explore the world. We have just as much right as anybody else, and in this case, we have good reason to go.”
“Yeah, Umtha would be in the graveyard every day yelling at you,” Quinny laughed.
Heather sighed. “Yes, there is always that.”
Frank grumbled, so Heather latched on to his arm and pulled at him. “Frank, are you still worried about what we're going to find?”
“You know I am,” he replied. “This won't end with the egg. We're going to find something that will take us in another direction and another after that.”
“You’re worried we will be following the trail and never home,” Heather surmised.
Frank let out a sigh, and she realized how important building his lair was to him. Not only was it important, but just recently, he had been able to build a massive lair with many of the things he dreamed of. He looked forward to seeing players tackle his challenges, but she took him away before he had a chance. She felt guilty and wondered if she had once again been absorbed in herself pressing her will on others, especially him.
“Even if there is, we don’t have to follow it,” Heather suggested. “We should go straight home after this and spend a good long time in our lairs. I don’t want to leave again until we have seen hundreds of players adventuring.
Heather watched as he nodded slightly but didn't reply, his mind obviously thinking of being back. She began to wonder why he agreed to come but knew the truth before the thought even materialized. He came because of her. Frank always went where she led, taking great care to protect her. In many ways, he was like a second bone champion, standing strong against the foes that came to harm her. Now she wondered why he did it and could only assume it meant he had feelings for her. Quinny intimated it a few times, but Heather wasn't sure. Now that she thought about it, how often had she played it right back? Wasn't she the one who fed him cake and went insane when that lake monster attacked him? What about the time she laid on his chest, sharing the panel with him as they talked? She was just being a friend, wasn't she?
“We could always play in our lairs for a bit and then do the next part,” Quinny offered, drawing Heather out of her contemplation.
“Let's hope there won't be a next part,” Heather replied.
“There will be,” Frank commented and looked down at her. “This is just beginning.”
“Frank, please,” Heather urged and clung to his arm. “I am just waking up to how wonderful this world can be, and you were always there to tell me it was. Please, don't lose that enthusiasm. I want you to show me everything.”
“I'm sorry,” he replied and looked ahead. “I got worried when that thing dragged you away, and we couldn't keep up.”
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“You were smart enough to know we could follow her skeletons,” Quinny said as she looked over. “You always know how to find her.”
Heather smiled and swung his arm, trying to cheer him up. “I thought I was the one who was the most rattled by that attack,” she said and looked up to his helm. “Frank, I am fine. You did all you could, and we both know it would have amounted to nothing more than some lost time.”
“You don’t like dying,” he said and looked down. “And I don’t want you to.”
She smiled as she tugged at his arm. “I hate it, but let's admit it, it's part of the game. You and Quinny have some deaths.”
“I have a ton of them,” Quinny said. “I used to try to play right outside a village. I thought people would appreciate it, but all they did was gang up on me.”
“I have a couple too,” Frank added. “But I guess I am starting to understand that part of what makes you special is how hard you strive not to let any of us die. It's part of what I like about you.”
“Aww, Frank’s learned how to be sweet,” Quinny cooed.
“Please,” Heather said with rolling eyes. “He has always been sweet. I wish I had been in my right mind to see it sooner.”
“Why?” Quinny asked. “Are you planning on asking him out?”
Heather suddenly felt nervous as she turned to glance at Frank to see him look away nervously. Quinny giggled in the background, and Heather was sure her face was flushed red. Her earlier thoughts about Frank and his feelings came to mind as she realized she was still clinging to his arm. How easily she had done that, fully relaxed in his presence. He wasn't a monster anymore but a dear friend, and she relished his company.
“Frank is a good friend,” she said to break the awkward silence. “We all owe him a great deal.”
“He saved our butt’s in Moon’s town, that’s for sure,” Quinny agreed.
“I was just helping my friends,” Frank replied. “You would have done the same for me.”
“Ha,” Heather replied. “I don't know. I was so self-absorbed back then.”
He turned his head, looking down with intense yellow eyes as she felt small all of a sudden.
“You don't know?” he repeated. “Aren't you the girl I told to run when the death knight attacked, but you refused to leave me? Didn't you risk being discovered just to save my life? You hardly knew me, but you were willing to fight that group of players to save me. You can't say you don't know because you have already proven you would.”
Heather realized he was right and started to blush as Quinny giggled. She always panicked when Frank was in danger, even going to dangerous extremes like overtaxing her power to save him. She began to wonder what it all meant and why she hadn't noticed it before.
A screech split the air causing them all to look up as the sound echoed across the peaks. A moment later, something akin to a dinosaur stepped around a rock ledge; standing on two legs, it towered eight meters to a large reptilian head with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It looked directly their way and let out a roar that made her blood chill before taking its first step toward them.
“It's Godzilla!” Quinny said as she pointed her sword its way.
“It looks more like a dinosaur from that movie,” Heather said.
“What movie?” Quinny asked.
“The one on the island where they clone all the dinosaurs. It looks like the rex one.”
“It’s called a tyrannosaurus rex,” Quinny laughed. “Did you ever pay attention to any of the movies you watched?”
“Whatever it's called, it looks like it,” Heather said as she released Frank and summoned her scythe. They all looked her way as the blue crystal shaft formed in her hand with a strange zapping sound.
“What?” she said, noticing their stares. “I want to see what I can do with it.”
Frank shrugged and moved ahead as the monster roared and came running in, powerful legs shaking the ground under their feet. The bone champion ran forward, his black sword starting to burn with green flame. Umtha barked orders that set the invisible goblins into motion as Breanne flew out of the palanquin in her spectral form.
“All right, let's give this a try,” Heather said, holding her scythe in one hand while pointing with a broken bone at the charging beast. She fired a rotting bolt that left a green trail in the air as it flew, striking the monster in a splash that left an open wound.
“That didn't do much,” Heather remarked and went for another spell, loosing a blast of twisting green lines that did a little more damage but not enough to slow it. Darts of shadow began to collide with the beast, as did white streaks of electricity fired by Umtha. Frank and the bone champion collided with claws and sword, sinking into massive legs that only made the monster thrash and lash out with savage jaws. Frank was clipped, as the beast latched on and tossed him while using a powerful leg to rake the bone champion. Quinny ran between the two slashes at the lower belly as the monster tried to turn. She ran behind it, avoiding the tail before using her zombie summon to call her minions. The zombies crawled out of the earth, lashing at the monster's feet as it turned, drawing its attention.
Legeis ran by aiming an arm with a single large tube. There was a flash and trail of smoke as a rocket streaked through the air exploding on the beast's head. It was now bleeding from a dozen wounds, but it hardly seemed to notice as it chewed a zombie apart.
Heather tried to use her grasping hands, but the beast was so large it broke free easily, lashing about with clawed feet and a massive tail. Frank was up again, running into the battle with razor sharp metal claws leading the way. He leaped on the monster's back, flailing away in a gory display as it turned wildly, trying to bite him off.
“What good is this handle if it doesn't do anything?” Heather asked while holding up the scythe. She looked back to the battle as her frustration mounted and wondered if maybe she needed to swing it. “What's the worst that could happen?” she asked as she gripped the weapon in both hands. With a dash, she ran in, the weapon whistling as she sliced, cutting a line down a leg. The monster lifted the leg to stomp her, but she dashed again, racing the other way as the bone champion moved to intercept the attack.
“What are you doing?” Frank asked from its back as Heather continued to dart about taking wild swings.
“I am trying to figure out how to use this new scythe!” she shouted back. “It doesn't seem to do anything!” She rolled out of the way of a lashing tail, coming to her feet as Quinny ran past her swinging the magic sword, drawing more blood.
“You are supposed to fight from range!” Breanne yelled from the palanquin.
“Take bad risk!” Umtha added before throwing another bolt of electricity.
Heather stepped out of range as the beast fell to one side and managed to throw Frank off. Quinny and legeis scrambled out of the way as a dozen dark shapes screeched and leaped on the monster's side. The goblins attacked with long daggers, stabbing wildly as the beast began to flail.
“What do you think you're doing?” Breanne asked as she floated up behind Heather. “Wasn't your last close call enough to keep you out of harm's way?”
“I was trying to figure out how to use the scythe,” Heather protested. “I can’t keep picking things up and not learning how to use them.”
Breanne gave her a firm glare as they turned to see Frank, Legeis, Quinny, the bone champion, and all the goblins piling on the flailing monster. In moments it began to weaken and came to a lifeless halt as the others stepped back.
“That wasn’t so hard,” Legeis said as he reached over his visor to wipe the blood off with a rag.
“Yay, we killed a kaiju!” Quinny said as she sheathed her sword.
“Hardly,” Frank replied. “A monster that is kaiju sized would have been able to step on us all with one foot.”
“Let’s hope we never see one of those,” Heather said as she tried to imagine it.
“If we do, you will probably run to it,” Breanne quipped.
Heather turned on her and met her stern gaze with one of her own. “I need to know how to use this,” she said firmly. “I need to know how to use all the things I found.”
“I understand, but you were nearly killed hours ago. Did you need to charge in here when they could obviously handle it,” Breanne countered.
“That's exactly why I needed to charge in because they were handling it, and the risk was low,” Heather replied.
“No take risk!” Umtha barked from the palanquin. “Must return egg.”
“Great,” Heather replied with a roll of her eyes. “I have two mothers on this trip.”
“I don’t mean to be bossy,” Breanne said as she slowly faded back into her highborn elf form. “I just think you should have sat this one out. You can’t be at your best after what happened.”
“I told you I was fine,” Heather remarked. “Honestly, I have been thinking about that attack. I must have hit a dozen trees and rocks. I didn't break my arm until near the end, but why was I still even conscious?”
“Because you have health,” Frank said.
Heather sighed and closed her eyes, remembering how Frank explained this weeks ago and how her panel showed her current health. None of that made sense in reality, though, so she looked to him with a shrug.
“So?”
“So when you are injured, it comes out of your health pool, allowing you to survive something that would have killed you in the real world. Here you suffer minor injuries unless one of two things happen, the monster gets a lucky critical hit on you, or your health falls below twenty percent. Once your below twenty percent, all attacks have a chance of causing a major injury, and critical hits can cause critical injuries.”
“That makes no sense,” Heather pointed out as she tried to think it through. “So you're saying somebody can impale me on a sword, and so long as I have the health, I can walk it off?”
“No, so long as you have the health, the sword won't impale you,” he replied. “The hit will knock you back and take off some of your health. If your health was below twenty percent and he got a critical hit, then he might have impaled you.”
“But you were impaled that day in the graveyard when we first met,” Heather protested.
“Heather, I was much lower level and fighting a higher level player. They reduced my health to like ten percent before he managed to do that.”
“This is very hard to rationalize,” Heather said as she began to pace. “I know you explained it before, but the thought of being able to shrug off what should be a life-threatening injury is strange.”
“Nah,” Quinny interjected. “It just takes some getting used to. Once you have been beaten up good a few times, you develop a sense of how many times you can take a punch.”
“She’s right,” Breanne said. “I know it doesn’t make sense that you would be able to take a sword to the chest five times and be more or less fine, but that’s how it works.”
“Think of it as a force field,” Legeis offered. “It absorbs the damage until the field breaks. You only feel enough of the attack to know you have been hit until it fails, then every hit really counts.”
“I guess that's a better explanation,” Heather said and lifted her scythe. “Now, why on earth doesn't this thing work?”
“You must not be using it the right way,” Frank suggested.
“I held it while casting spells, and I used it for attacks. How else am I supposed to use it?”
Frank went to scratch at his armored head and gave up with a sigh, moving closer to stare at the weapon instead. “Hmm, do you remember what Gwen’s panel said about it?”
“It was made by Hathlisora and attuned to me,” Heather answered.
“No, the other stuff, it said it was a magical staff of focus and that one of its powers was channeling.”
“So what does that mean?” Heather asked, not following his logic.
Frank pointed to the staff and shrugged. “You have to focus your spells through it like you did that day in the swamp when you cast that rotting spell on the hydra.”
Heather thought back to the battle and nodded as she remembered burying the scythe into the monster as she cast, delivering the spell directly into the beast. She held the weapon up and wondered how to do that with other spells and decided the best option was to test it with a rotting bolt.
“So I just point the handle and cast?” she asked, holding it out.
“I have no idea, just try something,” Frank urged.
She nodded and pointed the flowery end of the shaft at the dead body of the dinosaur. She repeated the quick words of rotting bolt as the staff made a sudden humming noise. A bolt the size of her head raced out, with a green flash, exploding on contact and showering them in a hail of gore.
“Oh!” Breanne said as she wiped a chunk of flesh off her dress.
“It worked?” Heather said in alarm.
“That was awesome!” Quinny cried. “Do it again!”
“Please don't,” Legeis groaned from above, where he was throwing bits of carrion from his armor.
“I don’t need the bone chip anymore?” Heather said in surprise as she looked to Frank for answers.
“I don’t know how it works, but I do know other classes use magical foci. Maybe we could ask one of them how it works.”
Heather nodded with a smile, turning the staff over in her hands. “Well, I see no reason not to use this for everything. Why fire a bullet when you can fire a missile?” It was Legeis who spoiled her good mood with his reply.
“Remember when I scanned that thing and told you it stored magical power. I bet every time you use it to boost a spell; it drains some power. Eventually, it will run out, and you will have to find a way to recharge it.”
“Of course, there's a limitation. I should have expected nothing less,” Heather sighed.
“Your spells have always been effective without it,” Frank urged. “You can save the scythe for when you need something big.”
“Boo,” Quinny said from the side. “I want her to explode things all the time.”
“For heaven's sake, girl, don't you get enough gore in the graveyard?” Breanne scolded as Quinny shrugged.
“Well,” Heather said as she looked over the weapon and gently swung it. “I guess having some extra power to draw on won't hurt, and I don’t pass out when I use it.”
The ground shook, and they all looked back as a large reptilian head came around the cliff ledge. It was easily three times the size of the previous one with scales that matched the rock's color. Its large eyes fixed on the group as it came around the ledge and started to charge.
“Is that kaiju enough?” Quinny asked.
“Not even close, but that’s still very dangerous,” Frank said as they started to back up.
“What do we do?” Heather asked as the beast stomped around the edge, its massive size shaking the ground and causing rocks to slide.
“We run,” Breanne said. “That thing we killed is a baby compared to this.”
“Great, another angry mother,” Heather groaned, running for the palanquin. She went to climb inside when she noticed the skull tucked in the corner. She looked at the scythe and then back to the skull as Umtha shouting something in goblin, sounding every bit as panicked as she felt. Quickly Heather snatched the skull as the others reached the palanquin, and the monster that towered some fifty meters tall roared with a deafening wail.
“Run!” Frank urged, but Heather moved ahead, holding the skull and scythe awkwardly between her hands.
She stared at the upper body of the beast, afraid that aiming anywhere else would risk missing. With a quick chant, she thrust her hands forward, trying to focus on pushing her power through the scythe. There was a brilliant flash of light as the skull's eyes burst into white flames, and as Heather released an aura of fire engulfing her but causing no harm. It flew like a meteor, streaking across the sky with a burst of shrill laughter like a thousand skeletons cackling at once. The impact was colossal, causing the beast to falter as a crater erupted on its shoulder. Blood and gore exploded in every direction, falling like rain as the monster wailed and turned away, rushing off unwilling to suffer another terrible strike.
Breanne held out her arms, shaking them to dislodge the blood and viscera as she glared at Quinny.
“Are you happy now?” she asked in a mocking tone.
Quinny was busy wiping the red from her outfit while a bit of flesh hung off her wide hat.
“Not exactly. I wanted to see them explode so I could watch it, not wear it.”
“Heather?” Frank called as all eyes turned to her.
She stood motionless in the road, blue sparks of electricity sporadically flashing about her in thin lines. A strange static caused her hair to float as the dress ruffled as if in a wind. She and the staff glowed with a soft blue light as the ground around her burned, charred in the skull's fire.
“Heather, are you alright?” Breanne asked in alarm, moving quickly to come to her side.
Heather dropped the scythe as she looked at her hands, the blue light pulsing around her.
“Heather?” Frank asked again as he walked around her to see her face.
She looked up in alarm holding out her hands for him to see.
“What happened to me?” she asked as her voice trembled.
Frank didn’t hesitate to reach out, taking her hands in one of his and covering them with the other. He leaned down so she could see into his visor as he spoke softly.
“You’re fine. This has happened before.
“But I always went unconscious. why am I still awake?”
“It must be a side effect of channeling through the staff. It’s allowing you to access the power safely, like you said.”
Heather jumped in alarm as little sparks of electricity arced out and struck Frank, who didn't even flinch.
“This is safe?” she asked as little sparks flashed between his fingers.
“Trust me; you will be fine,” he insisted. “Take a deep breath and focus on something you like. Think about the cookies you can have in a few minutes.”
Heather laughed and nodded with closed eyes, trying not to think about what just happened. She felt the tingling subside, and with it went her panic. She opened her eyes to find Frank had taken his helm off and now looked at her with a pained expression. She held up a hand to see the color was already fading, and the sparks were gone.
“Well that was, surprising,” Breanne said as she continued to wipe at her outfit.
Heather noted the gore then looked down before crying out in disgust. Oh great! Now, what am I going to do?”
“About what?” Frank asked.
Heather held out the blood-stained arms of her outfit. “I don't have another dress!”