Osiris waves his hand and I feel myself move. I step forward, then turn around to see my body still frozen. Part of my mind is having trouble processing what is going on, but I force myself to keep moving and focus. I turn my attention back to the god, to see him studying me.
“I apologize for my poor timing, but it took me a while to find you.” Osiris looks up to the sky. “And I’m afraid I can’t stay long without risking the others finding you.”
“That… That’s fine.” I say, turning to him. “What are you doing here?”
He smiles, “I’m here to offer you a deal. One that will be quite valuable in this situation.”
“What kind of deal?” My eyes narrow, as I look around at the scene of devastation around me. This god’s timing is awfully convenient.
“I would like to become your sponsor. This means that I would help you survive in The Game Of The Gods. As a first gift, I would…” Osiris walks up to me, his steps leaving no prints in the snow. He looks at the carnage, “There’s nothing I can do for that man,” He motions towards Xian Lee. His eyes move to Ana and Henrik. “But for the other two, my gift to you will be… yes. If those two die here, I will hold their souls for you to retrieve.”
“Why don’t you just help me kill him?” I ask, motioning towards Isfet.
Osiris shakes his head. “There are rules we must follow in this little game of ours. I can only do this much due to… unique circumstances.”
I gulp, look at my own body, then at the other motionless Beta Testers. “So you’ll help me save them? That’s very generous.”
“I aim to win this game, Ezekiel.” He looks at me, and his eyes become a swirling dance of light and dark. “I believe that you can help me do so. This is but a pittance compared to what I can do for you.” he frowns, his eyes looking into the distance. “I don’t have much more time here, Ezekiel. If you accept my deal, then say so now.”
I frown, disliking how little information I have about this whole situation. Still, when I look around at the situation, I know that I don’t have much choice. I can barely react to Isfet when he moves. Without Henrik protecting me, I would be dead. Plus… Henrik’s injury doesn’t look light. No matter what, he’s out of the fight, but I suspect that he won’t be able to come back from a wound like that.
I look at Osiris, as he waits for my answer. There’s many things he’s leaving out, I can tell, but it doesn’t feel malicious. I frown, trying to remember everything I know about the god Osiris from Egyptian mythology. He was killed, then brought back to life for a single day by his wife Isis. I pause. I’m making assumptions, I can’t be doing that in this kind of situation.
“Are you the Egyptian god Osiris?” I ask.
Osiris smiles, “No. But our stories were once one and the same. Much of what you know of him will apply to me. Time is ticking, Ezekiel.”
My body relaxes as I make my decision.
“What do I need to do?” I ask.
Osiris smiles. “Stay alive,” He motions to the two other Beta Testers, “As soon as the Paladin of Set leaves, you must return their souls to them.” He tosses me an item and I hold it up by the little bit of string strapped through it. It’s a cross with a circle. “The Ankh will hold their souls until then. Ah. Use identify on it.”
“[Identify]?” I ask, not sure what he means.
Ankh of Osiris (Legendary)
Contains two souls for up to two days. Will heal bodies when souls are returned.
Single Use
For a brief moment, I consider saving it, and not using it here. My eyes move to Henrik, who is slowly falling to the ground, then to Ana, who carries fear in her eyes.
I don’t have the heart to do something like that.
“Do you accept my sponsorship, Beta Tester Ezekiel?”
I meet Osiris’s eyes and nod. “Yes.” I put the ankh around my neck.
“Good.” He waves his hand and I’m thrown back into my body.
Time resumes, and droplets of Henrik’s blood splatters across my face. Osiris is gone, and it takes me a split second to move again. Gunshots echo out, only for them to stop a second later as a sword punctures through Ana’s chest. The Ankh around my neck heats up as some kind of energy flows into it.
Isfet turns towards me as Ana collapses to the snow.
I take a step back, and he steps forward.
“SHADE!” I call out.
A shadowy hand meets Isfet’s swords, buying me a split second before the sword glows with a strange power and cuts through my Shade’s arms.
That split second is all I need as I step into the shadow of the spire.
[Shadow Walk]
The world takes on a darker hue as a sword slashes through me. I gasp, ready to be dead, but instead, my body flows backwards, falling deep into the shadows and dodging the deadly blade.
Isfet frowns, just staring past me.
He steps forward into the shadows, then steps past me. After a second of just looking around, he sighs, “Yes. Yes. You said he was the weakest, so I saved him for last. Can you find him? Yes, I know. Very well.”
He turns away from me, then walks to the entrance of the spire.
I collapse to the ground, letting out a breath of air I hadn’t realized I was holding. I look down and am surprised to see myself not making any impression on the snow. “Are you alright, Shade?” The words are strangely distorted, but The Shade still hears me.
I will heal.
Thank god, or Osiris I guess, I was worried when I’d seen the swords cut through his arms. I look at Isfet walking away and sigh. I guess it’s a waiting game for now. The message had said that we would be returned to our starting locations after an hour, Isfet will have to leave by then.
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The hour passes slowly as I wait in the cold and dark of the shadows. My mana depletes slowly, unless I try to move. Standing still in the shadows, it seems to take a single point per minute. Walking seems to take twice the amount. When I choose to look deeper into the shadows, I see things, places I can go. But now isn’t the time for that, I’m not sure if I’d be able to make it back and I have two lives to save.
Eventually a message pops up,
Congratulations on surviving the first event of The Beta Test! You have almost completely stopped the infestation and you weren’t killed by your fellow humans.
Be proud of yourself Beta Tester.
199,995 Beta Testers participated in the South Pole Event. Out of those;
8,045 Beta Testers were killed by the infestation.
33,864 Beta Testers were Killed by Other Beta Testers.
0 were killed by Humans.
Two members of the rank #3 team, Team 160 lived through the event.
Rewards are being assigned…
Congratulations! You have received a Humble Abode (Rare) and 85 gold
Would you like to return home now?
Yes/No
I dismiss the notifications and ignore the last one, instead focusing on Isfet as he steps out of the tower. He holds something in his hand, turning it over. It disappears into his inventory, and he looks up at the sky with a long sigh.
“If you are still here Ezekiel, then I will warn you. This is not the end. These creatures are just the tip of the iceberg compared to what approaches our planet. You will have to take whatever power you can in order to survive. I pray that you find success and that we never meet again.” With that said, he clicks on a screen I can’t see. A normal wooden door appears on top of the snow in front of him, he opens it and steps through. The door closes behind him and he disappears.
I deactivate my ability and the snow crunches under my feet. I turn to the two dead beta-testers, their bodies white from the cold.
First I step over to Henrik. His eyes stare up at me soullessly. I kneel down next to him, and hold onto the Ankh above my chest.
“I don’t know exactly how this works so uh… come alive? Be re-souled? [Activate Ankh]?”
Energy flows from the Ankh into the boy, and his body heals at a visible rate, his cheeks flushing with color. A crack appears in the Ankh as Henrik takes his first breath.
He looks stable enough, so I move over to Ana, and repeat the process. The Ankh shatters into splinters in the snow as her eyes flutter open.
She immediately pulls her gun on me and I step back. She blinks several times, reading through messages until she puts the gun down.
“You-” I don’t hear what she says as someone tackles me from behind.
“You saved us!” Henrik says, hugging me tight. “I was dead. Did you see that Ana? I was like so dead.”
I chuckle, and ruffle the kid’s hair.
Ana sighs, her eyes moving to Xian Lee, where his frozen head still rests in the snow.
“Where’s Isfet?” She asks.
“He took the portal home.” I answer, looking up from the boy that is still hugging me as tight as he can.
A small smile finds its way to her face. “Thank you.That was not a… pleasant experience.”
“I can’t imagine.” I take one last look at the dead Beta Tester and the frozen landscape. The bodies of the eyeless we had killed are still visible. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m ready to go home.”
Henrik lets go, then turns away. “Right. Home. Ez… You are in America, right?”
I nod. “Seattle Washington.”
“Could I go with you?” He looks up at me, his eyes pleading. I pause. I mean, I don’t even have a place of my own, and convincing my mom would be an ordeal.
“Are you afraid of something at home?” I ask.
After a long moment, he nods. “It is not safe for me back there.”
I meet eyes with Ana.
“I’ll figure something out, so yeah, come with me.”
“As long as you’re taking one person…” Ana tilts her head questioningly.
I snort. “Yeah, you can come with.”
“Thank you. It means more than you realize.” Her honest smile catches me off guard, and I freeze before my mind catches up.
“Yeah, of course.” I hurry to answer yes on the prompt to get out of here.
Another door sits on top of the snow, this one looking an awful lot like the door to my room. I reach out and open it, revealing the small room I call home. A simple computer desk, an unmade bed, and a window looking out on a backyard just two feet wide are all I can see.
I step through, then hold the door open for the other two. They follow me in, and I close the door.
“My room isn’t very big, but you guys can stay here for now.” I pull my phone out and message my mom to tell her that I’m having some friends over. I’ll deal with Jacob later.
Henrik runs and jumps onto my bed, “Yes! I’m finally out of that stupid place!” He rolls around in my blankets with a smile.
Ana and I share a glance. She shrugs, then moves to sit on the edge of my bed. “I’ll figure something else out soon, but thank you for letting us stay.”
“Of course.” I say, looking at my phone to see that my mom had responded. “Looks like my family is busy until late. Oh, I just remembered.”
I pull out my inventory and grab the [Humble Abode]. A black sphere appears in my hand. I look at it for a second before remembering what I’d done with the Ankh. “[Identify]”
Humble Abode (Rare)
Owner: Ezekiel Olson
Claim an area as your own to upgrade, change and enhance.
I turn the black sphere over in my hand. Does that mean any area? I’m tempted to use it right now for this house, but it’s a small house and my family rents. I don’t think the landlord would be happy to suddenly have a lot of changes on his property, he can be a bit of an ass.
But if it’s any area, then what about my friend’s property? I know that Len owns a couple of acres that he’s not doing much with.
Before I can decide anything, my phone starts buzzing.
I pick it up to see messages coming from my board-game group chat.
Check out the news!
Whoa, no fucking way.
Jake! My little sister is in this chat.
No, serisly! Chk it out!
I move to a different tab, and pull up the news. Several headlines run across the top of the screen begging for my attention.
Unexplained phenomena in Salt Lake City. Utah warns citizens to stay inside.
Salt Lake City Attacked!
Global damage! President of France makes statement.
I click on the first story, and my breath stops as I see images straight out of a movie or tv show.
Giant skeletal creatures stand on top of buildings, while flocks of rotting birds fly though the sky. Blurred figures are pictured fighting even more skeletal creatures.
“Holy-”