I hesitated, unsure if I should allow her to touch my hand. She was another Player, after all, and I knew the moment we touched, she would inspect me. But she had already heard Prajio and I’s conversation. She already knew my in-game name.

I reached out and took her hand.

She yanked me to my feet. “Help me with the girl,” she said. “There is no time to waste.”

I complied, and we helped Tara to her feet. She was conscious but didn’t have full control of her motor skills yet and couldn’t walk on her own. This observation made it clear that the Dalari had been awake for quite some time and only pretended to be asleep.

Tara had an arm around my shoulder and another around the Dalari’s as we dragged her away from the fire and into the night.

“This way,” the Dalari said, taking us northward.

“We should go back to Danver,” I said. “We can find somewhere safe there.”

“Nowhere is safe when Prajio fucking Vrentris is hunting you.”

“You know him?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

“Everybody knows who he is.”

“Why?”

“Stop asking questions,” she snapped. “He’ll be waking soon, and his ears are sharp. If we are to survive the night, we must make haste.”

I shut up and did my best to step quickly and delicately to hide my trail. It made little difference as Tara was clumsy on her feet and frequently dragged them when she couldn’t keep up with us. After a few minutes of dealing with her unsteadiness, I decided enough was enough and threw the girl over my shoulder.

The Dalari gave me an approving nod and jogged forward.

“Would now be a good time to say, ‘I told you so?’” Val said in my mind.

‘No, now is not a good time, Val.’

“Hmm. That is a shame, as I have just been dying to say those words to you. Please let me know when you are ready to be appropriately and thoroughly scolded by your betters.”

That was a one-sided conversation I was not looking forward to. But Val had the right of it. My stupid in-game name was my downfall, and spending so much time with Prajio had been careless. It was beyond foolish to believe that we could be friends, that he wasn’t just as bad as all the other Kurskins. It was so easy to forget that to the other Players, this was a game. My world was their playground, and we humans were their toys.

My situation was not improving, as I was dangerously close to another Player, this one a Dalari, who was already aware of my curious nature. The only reason I hadn’t already sprinted away into the dark was because Tara needed me.

It was my fault she was in this situation. Sure, she had set me up to die, but it was the Master Control’s hand guiding her. I had abandoned her when she needed me the most. At that moment, when she had cried out for help on that cold stone floor, I had acted like a Player, not a person. This was the result of my callousness.

I gritted my teeth and trudged along. By now, Prajio was surely awake and royally pissed off. I didn’t know his entire suite of skills and worried he had some trick to track us. The Dalari seemed to think the same because she showed no signs of stopping.

Eventually, Tara could walk independently, and we increased our pace. The Dalari forced us to walk through two different streams to break up any trail we may have been leaving. She took us higher into the mountainside, and the terrain grew rocky and ragged. We were carefully hopping across a boulder field in the dark when the Dalari stopped.

“I will need you to lower her down to me,” she said.

Confused, I just shrugged and nodded.

She sat down and slid down a gap in the giant boulders. A few seconds later, she called up, asking me to help Tara get down.

Tara looked at me nervously. Her eyes were unfocused, but I could tell her senses were returning. She didn’t know what was happening, only that something was wrong. I gave her a reassuring grip on her shoulder. “I think we can trust her. You can do this. Take my hand, and I’ll lower you in.”

Tara complied and sat down on the edge of the boulder. I held her hand as she slid off the rounded side.

“I have her,” the Dalari said as Tara let go of my hand and slid the rest of the way down.

I looked around, just to make sure there were no slithering silhouettes hunting me in the distant darkness. I saw nothing suspicious, so I slid down the boulder like the women before me.

When my feet hit the ground, I found myself underneath a section of the boulder field. Some larger ones reached the floor, but most were securely stacked above us. The chamber was shallow, and I had to duck to avoid accidentally hitting my head on a low-hanging chunk of stone.

I held Tara’s hand as the Dalari led us deeper. After about twenty feet, she stopped, and I nearly bumped into her in the dark. I heard a rattling noise followed by a creak.

A faint light grew before me. It was just a tiny pinprick but slowly intensified enough for me to see its source. It rested in the palm of the Dalari’s hand. It cast her sharp features in a delicate light. Despite her alien nature, she shared many human characteristics. She was beautiful, but that was to be expected. All the stories said the Dalari were beautiful creatures.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The light pushed the darkness away, revealing a small door had been opened. It was about waist high, embedded between the base of two massive boulders.

“Come,” she said as she crouched and limbered through the small doorway.

“Ladies first,” I said to Tara.

“Since when did you become a gentleman?”

I smiled. “It’s just something I’m trying out.”

She smiled back, her eyes still not fully in focus. I helped her as she made her way through the door.

I followed right behind, crawling on my hands and knees. The inside was awash in the Dalari’s light. There were two bedrolls on the floor and two small chests. There were other odds and ends about, along with a small table with no chairs.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“A secret place. The explorers among my kind create them, so that others may find succor.”

“How do you know about this one?”

“I helped build it, along with the group I traveled with. Although nature did most of the work, we just found it.”

“What happened to them? The group you were with?”

Her face turned hard. “They were not the type of people I thought they were.”

“I know what that’s like,” I said, glancing at Tara.

Her face transformed into a sorrowful expression, and I immediately regretted saying that. I put my hand on her shoulder. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry I left you.”

Her chin quivered, and she leaped towards me, enveloping me in a hug. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

I hugged her back tightly before releasing her. “How are you feeling without the witch’s potion?”

She hugged herself. “It’s getting better every day. I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

“I don’t think you ever will, Tara. I’m glad you're okay.”

I turned to the Dalari. “Thanks for saving me back there. What’s your name?” I tried to sound casual and hide the terror from my voice.

She looked at me with a small smirk on her face. “You may call me Ersabet. And I already know your name, John McClane.”

The emphasis she added on my name made it clear she knew the origins.

“Tell me, Mr. McClane, what level are you?”

I stood there, frozen like an idiot. “Level?"

She looked at me suspiciously. “I understand a man in your position would be hesitant to admit the truth, but I am one of the few Dalari on this planet who would not kill you for speaking it.”

She smiled at me. It was warm and inviting. “In fact, I might even be inclined to help you.”

‘Val, some guidance, please?’

“She has somehow deduced that you are a Player. Based on her confidence level, she must have good reasoning to believe it is true. I don't think you will be able to sway her. You can’t trust her, but the cat’s already out of the bag. Whatever you tell her, do not under any circumstances mention me.”

“Before I go on and admit something I shouldn’t,” I said. “How about you tell me what you think you know about me?”

Her face remained neutral. “If you insist.” She walked closer to me, the light in her palm casting us in a pale brightness.

“Your name is John McClane,” Ersabet said. “Do you know why that is odd?”

“You explain. I listen. That’s what we agreed to.”

She waved a hand. “Fine, fine. John McClane is the name of a popular action hero. I have never seen the film, but I am familiar with this character’s existence.”

Ersabet looked at me intently. “I am also familiar with a famous line from that film. Do you know what it is?”

I shook my head, heart in my throat.

“Yes, you do,” she said. “You said it to Prajio right before I bashed him over the head with a rock.”

I was so busted.

“What were those words again, John?”

There was no reasonable explanation for how I knew that line. I didn’t know why I had said it. It had just felt right, and the look on Prajios’ face had made it worth it…until now.

“Have you forgotten?” Ersabet said. “I believe the line was ‘yippee ki yay… mother fucker.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I did say that.”

Tara held up a hand. “What are you all talking about?”

Ersabet turned toward Tara. “My dear, you may listen to this conversation, but please, do not interrupt it again. You need not worry over the content.”

Tara bowed her head and took a step back. Poor girl.

Ersabet turned her attention back to me. “So, we have determined that you are aware of the origins of the name John McClane. It is the only way you could know that stupid one-liner."

“Tell me, Mr. McClane,” she continued. “And please, I beg of you, speak true. Have you seen Die Hard?"

She already knew I was a Player, but if I admitted this, she would know I remembered the old Earth. The real Earth.

I took a deep breath. “I watched it every Christmas."

She looked confused. “Why would you watch an action movie for Christmas?”

“It’s a Christmas movie. Trust me.” If she were going to kill me, she would have already done so. I hoped.

Ersabet laughed. Unlike Prajio, hers was sweet as honey.

“I do not trust you, John, or whoever you really are. There’s still more I must know.”

I shrugged, resigned to the truth. Mostly. “What do you want to know?”

“Are you a Player?”

I nodded once.

She looked unphased. “How?”

I shrugged again. “It just happened.”

She stepped closer to me. “Do you remember your life?”

The question offended me, and I leaned toward her, suddenly angry. “I remember everything. I remember you genocidal freaks stealing my planet. I remember my wife turning into dust before my very eyes. So, yeah, I remember my life.”

Ersabet didn’t say anything. Tara’s mouth was open in awe, but I didn’t think she was comprehending any of this.

“Sorry,” I said scornfully after Ersabet didn’t respond. I took a step back. “Did I overshare?”

Ersabet put a hand on her chest. “You remember the world before the Creation Event?”

I nodded my head. I thought I had just made that clear.

She took two steps back from me like I was poison. “You must hate me. You must hate us all for what we have done.”

I look at her flatly. “Yeah, that’s about right. But I won’t kill you if you won’t kill me.”

“And I won’t kill you,” she said. “If you won’t kill me.” She grinned at me. “Although you couldn’t if you tried.”

“I think I might surprise you.”

“The Voxals would pay a fortune for you,” Ersabet said.

“You thinking about selling me?”

“It was only a thought. Now, I’m thinking we work together.”

“In what way?”

“In that we travel together, and I aid you in your quests.”

“Why come to this world just to help me? What’s so special about me?”

“Only once in the history of the games has there been an unsanctioned Player. It’s been thousands of years since it happened.” Ersabet was sounding a little too excited about this. “This will be the biggest story in the galaxy when it gets out, and I want to be a part of it.”

“I don’t want it to get out,” I said forcefully.

“Not anytime soon, of course, but you can’t keep up the charade forever. Eventually, word will spread among the other Players.”

I looked at her. “You’re the only Player that knows. If word gets out, it’s because you spread it.”

“Do not forget about Prajio. He is not dead. He heard you say that stupid phrase, too. I can assure you, Prajio will come to the same conclusion as I.”

“Oh,” I said sheepishly. “Shit.”

Ersabet looked at me sympathetically. “We will rest here for the night and continue this conversation tomorrow.”

“What is happening? I don’t understand.” Tara said quietly.

My heart broke for her. “The world is not as you know it to be. That’s all I can say right now.”

Ersabet moved towards Tara and guided her to a bedroll. “You need rest. Tomorrow, your mind will be clear.”

I doubted that. The spell she was under would wear off, but Tara would not forget this conversation, and her mind would be anything but clear.