We had been sitting in the bushes by the back entrance of the mine for well over half an hour waiting for Killian to return. He had told us that he needed to use the bathroom and insisted it would only take a minute but as the time passed I began to grow more and more worried. Suddenly Kappa nudged me, “He seems a bit off, no?”
I nodded yes in a slow wide nod that Kappa snickered at and I leaned in, “I wonder if the AI is trying to correct itself.” I said half thinking as I spoke, “Killian is meant to have his clan even when he becomes a companion, but since they left him his programming is directly conflicting with the AI’s choices. He must be experiencing conflicting emotions.”
“Aren’t we all,” Kappa said flatly, then almost catching herself continued, “I think that’s an interesting theory but I think there is a far more likely one,” she paused turning to me and I waited in anticipation, “he’s a looney.” She smirked and I laughed quietly just as we heard a bellowing scream in the distance.
“What the hell was that?” Jessica said in a loud whisper but before I could react Killian came crashing through the thicket panting.
“Alright, let’s go in!” He said and began running for the back entrance.
“Killian!” I tried to say in a hushed tone but he was already gone for the Cliffside. With a sigh I stood up and followed, the others doing the same. Under the starlight I could barely make out the tight gap that hid the mine but felt for it against the dark wall. Killian had already entered and as I felt the warm breeze of the mine on my hand I moved inside, the others following.
I entered the fire lit final room to see the wooden pathways of the mine tracks and the pile of bones that I had added for flair. At the end of this mine, the area we were now in, you’d confront the head Orc Grundlemend but it seemed that Killian had caused enough of a stir to draw not just the big bad away but also three of his guards. I spotted the large chest in the corner that I knew contained a number of gold pieces and some other trinkets and nodded towards Kappa to check it out. By the entrance to this room there was a short hallway where the cages they had kept slaves in and if my parents were alive, they’d be there. As I approached I could hear the wild and energetic grunts of Killian down the hallway.
I snuck to the doorway and leaned out to see Killian in the next room. He was standing on a large stack of boxes swinging wildly at the Orcs below him hollering and laughing with each missed shot they fired. He kicked one in the head and grabbed for a rope swinging to the next stack of boxes without so much as taking a scratch. It was clear that he was capable of this fight and as I turned back to the others I realized they too were watching this.
“Wow,” said Jessica as Killian did a somersault over three Orcs and pulled them down to the ground in one fell swoop.
After a moment we stepped back into the room. Silas had to be pried away from the sight he was watching in awe and when he turned his attention back to us I said, “Silas, you and Kappa clear this room and that chest,” I gestured towards the large ornate iron chest in the corner, “Jessica and I will check the other room for mom and dad and if Killian comes back in…” I paused considering what to say next when Silas finished the thought.
“Tell him good job?”
I nodded and said, “Sure let’s go with that,” as we each went about our tasks.
Down a short brownstone hallway just off the main chamber, the firelight of the slave pen greeted us. Entering we saw an empty chair, presumable for the guard and three large cages however only one had anyone in it. I ran over to see a thin, wiry old man sitting along the bottom of the cage,
“Were you alone here? Have you seen two people about five feet tall, dark skin wearing strange clothes?” I asked frantically in loud whisper. The man turned up towards me slowly and nodded yes.
“Where did they go?” I said impatiently. He smiled wide and whispered,
“Let me out and I’ll tell you,”
I looked over my shoulder to the opening and realizing time was running short I fumbled through my satchel for a lock pick.
“Have you ever picked a lock?” I said to Jessica as I searched,
“No, have you?” she said nervously watching the entryway,
“No, but Raydor has,” I said retrieving the pick and placing it in the metal lock. I began to turn and maneuver the lock anxiously and after a few moments or trying the pick broke.
“Damn,” I said as the old man giggled, I turned to him and scowled, “zip it, grandpa,” I turned to Jessica and with a nervous grimace said, “I don’t think my lock pick is high enough,”
“What do we do?”
Just then a light began to flicker from the hallway. Jessica turned nervously towards me as I looked for a place to hide in the room but there was none, she nodded to me as if to say we got this and she ran beside the open door. I followed suit and stood on the other side of the door with my sword drawn.
The Orc entered the room and ran right past us. It had tufts of grey hair spurting from his ears and the top of its head and as it slowed to a walking pace, it sniffed the air. In the flesh the Orc was terrifying; its large stature was equal to mine but the stench and animalistic way it carried itself was absolutely horrific. Jessica and I locked eyes and with a nod we charged the creature from behind.
We managed to push it back a great deal but with a large swipe it disarmed Jessica and I lunged for the creature. It took me in its arms and threw me back against the cages sending pieces of ancient bone and broken metal out upon the floor. My head spun as I saw Jessica stand in front of the creature, crouched and ready for a fight.
“Aren’t you a pretty little thing,” it hissed through black fangs. I noticed it didn’t have a weapon and neither did she. Jessica shook her head in disappointment as the creature eyed the floor and spotted her dagger. “I bet your flesh tastes good,” he said and lunged for the floor. Jessica spun around and grabbed for one of the large wooden beams that leaned against the open cages. Despite her small stature she wound back and swung at the creature just as it was bending over to grab her dagger. With a loud thunk it connected and the creature fell forward, unconscious. She panted wildly for a beat and in a disheartened tone said, “The demonization of Orcs without seeking to understand their motivations betrays a racist belief that some peoples are inferior to others…”
Both the old man in the cage and I shared a look as she wiped her brow and said, “…like, come on man. Be better.”
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The Orc groaned signifying it’s unwillingness to get up again and dropped its head against the stone floor of the cage room. I looked up towards Jessica with total affection but just before she could see it I watched her face contort in a bizarre expression; one of pain and confusion as if having a mild seizure.
“Jessica? Are you okay?” I said frantically taking a half step towards her. After an instant it was done and she looked towards me with a thousand yard stare. She looked through me and after a moment said, “I think I just levelled up.”
I shook my head a little bit with a smile, clearly impressed by what had transpired, and watched Jessica stare and study an invisible screen. After a beat I looked back towards the old man in the cage and studied the lock. It was solid and not easily broken. After a beat a thought washed over me and I turned to Jessica,
“Jessica, level up your Lock Pick!”
Her eyes flicked towards me and for a second considered her options. With a half nod she turned back to staring blankly forward. I turned back to the old man only to see that he was uncomfortably close to the cage and yelped a little in his face. Unfazed he cackled; the black, broken teeth within his dry lips shaking as he did. I nodded slowly, waiting for Jessica and after a moment of him studying my face he said, “You are not an attractive person,”
“What? Neither are you,” I said offended as he howled with laughter, jumping up and down in a fit of joy. “I look fine,” I said turning to Jessica with hesitancy in my voice and as if asking for approval said, “I look handsome don’t I?”
Jessica stared blankly at me and after a beat I said, “Still levelling up?”
“Nope.” Her blank stare now reflecting her disinterest in the question and after an awkward moment she pushed past me as the old man hooted with laughter again. She arrived at the lock and with an open palm she waited for my lock pick. She fiddled with it for only a few seconds before the lock clicked open and fell to the floor, the cage door swinging open as she did, “Let’s go,” she said to man who grinned and began to climb out. The man was wiry and starved, his gaunt face sported a long grey beard and his skin was almost grey in the dim torch light. His bald head had dark spots and the deep circles around his eyes told a story of a long time without the light of day. We moved over the Orc and back out into the main hallway.
Kappa and Silas had emptied the chest by the time we came back down the short hallway and into the throne room. Killian was no longer grunting from the direction of the front and as my eyes met Kappa’ I asked, “Should we go look for him?”
I could see Kappa’s internal debate; her extreme dislike for the dwarf versus her strong sense of moral code and after a few quiet seconds she breathed out a labored, “I guess so.”
Jessica, who had been supporting more of the old man’s weight, said, “Silas and I have him, why don’t you two go get Killian.”
Silas, confused as to the inclusion of his name, walked over to Jessica and the old man in a bit of a daze and tried to help while touching the man as little as possible. I nodded and Kappa drew her bow and the two of us moved back down the room towards where we had last seen Killian.
The hallways had a few signs of fighting but the Orcs we had seen were nowhere to be found, nor was Killian. We continued down the one way mine shaft until we reached a large opening. There, two layers below us; Killian was fighting the last of the Orcs. His grunts echoed in the chamber as Kappa and I rushed down the winding stone path to where he fought. Killian grunted with each swing of his heavy axe and as our feet finally reached the bottom he drove his axe into the Orc. My heart drummed in double time and my mouth ran dry as I watched the axe cleave into the creature.
I had spent years developing this game and longer playing games of the same kind. Death was a part of these games; it was how you levelled up and how you were meant to dispose of the baddies. Seeing it now however; seeing it first hand and watching Killian’s axe sink into the creature was a completely different experience. The beings in this world; the humanity within Kappa and the life (or whatever one would call it) that Killian held, they were all tangible now. They were breathing and at the very least, alive.
I slowed to a walk as Kappa continued on ahead to help Killian down from a pile of crates and as they shared a squabbling back and forth I looked down at the dead Orc which lay at my feet. I sheathed the blade I had drawn and crouched down to look at it; the dark eyes no longer capable of the light they once may have held…
Look, all of this is to say that this got to me. It’s one thing to see Orcs get beheaded in Lord of the Rings but let me tell you – it is MUCH different seeing it first-hand. I mean, what’s the difference between seeing this and seeing a murder? In the alleyway I had seen a dead body but somehow that seemed more far away, less real than this. All of this started to feel heavier the way I thought, the way I experienced it all started to feel real. I was thinking less and less about the people left behind and more and more about the world of Dunn around me. What I had seen, it got to me in a big way and as the three of us headed back up to join the others, Kappa noticed my change in demeanor cause she hung back to talk.
“Are you okay?”
“Ya… No, maybe I don’t know.” I said as I kicked a small rock along the mine shaft. Kappa waited for me to keep talking, knowing that I had more to share, “I don’t know I guess I didn’t expect to see an Orc’s head get chopped off for some reason.”
Kappa nodded in understanding, “It’s one thing to think about, another to see.” She said thoughtfully.
“Yes but also, it’s this place Kap; I love it, I truly do but I can feel myself slipping a little. Losing a little of myself, not in a big way but… I can feel my mind believing this place.” I sighed, “Like when Jessica said we’re thinking about this like a game, that ability she has to still be her, I’m losing a bit of that feeling.”
I looked down at my open hands and studied the large strong fingers beneath the iron gauntlets, “I guess I feel more like Raydor than Lester, and as much as I thought I’d prefer it, I miss it a little.” I turned to Kappa and realized that she was crying, “What? Did I say something wrong?” I said worriedly.
“No,” she said sniffling a little, “I just know how it feels to be out of sorts in a body that doesn’t feel like it’s yours.” She smiled softly in the light as we turned a sharp corner practically crashing into Killian.
“Mind yer voices!” he shouted, “There may be more up ahead,” he said cautiously as I stepped around him and took the torch.
“Yes, it’s our group numbskull,” I said as I entered the room with Silas and Jessica. I put the torch down and for the first time surveyed the area and after a long beat said, “maybe we should camp here for the night?”
At first Jessica looked nervous but after she considered the alternative of sleeping outside she nodded softly. I could see the strength fading in everyone fast and at the mention of sleep it was clear how much we all needed it. As much as I wanted to find mom and dad, it would be useless to try in our current state.
“Night-watch?” Silas said, “Should we take turns,”
I agreed and I offered to take the first watch. Kappa offered second watch after a few hours and I moved to the edge of the tunnel. Despite the relative warmth of the air outside, the mines were cold and so while the others unraveled their bed rolls I dug a shallow hole and built a small fire. I could catch Jessica watching every once in a while as I built the fire. Each time I felt a pit in my stomach when I caught her eye knowing that her feelings for me were forced. Once the fire was built the others began to fall asleep (including the old man) and I sat by the crackling fire and stared blankly into the looming dark of the tunnel.