Kappa woke on her own a few hours later and moved quietly among the sleeping, trying her best not to wake them, towards me. I had spent the last few hours thinking. I thought about everything; the humanity of this world, Jessica and what I had done to her, Silas and how he must be feeling, my parents and finally, the Code. What was it, where did it come from and how the hell did it make all this happen? I was beyond thankful when Kappa finally came over to relieve me because any more time in my head without sleep and I’d be worried about my sanity.
“Nothing?” she asked quietly as she sat down beside me next to the embers of the fire. She sat cross legged a few feet in front of me.
“Nope.” I said through thin lips as my eyelids grew heavy and my head started to drop.
She smiled watching me fight off sleep and said, “Go, I got it from here.”
I tried to move but my body, having been firmly rooted to this spot against the earthen wall of the mine for the past few hours, felt ready to sleep now, “Mind if I just try sleeping here?” I said through half closed eyes.
Kappa picked up a stick I had used to prod the fire with, “I’d prefer it,” she said almost eagerly. She poked the fire as embers climbed into the dark of the mine and through my half closed eyes I saw her put another piece of wood on the fire. I was on the cusp of sleep when a thought that had been rolling around in my mind over the past few hours slipped out.
“How did you like it?” I asked, my head nestled against the mine’s wall fitting comfortably in the little alcove I had found.
Without looking, probably assuming I was half gone, she asked, “Like what?”
“Sleeping.” I said with a groggy smile, she turned towards me and with pursed lips joined me in leaning against the wall.
She sighed as if recalling a good memory and said, “I was wondering if you had thought about that, I forget how smart you are,” she said with a smirk.
“Made you, didn’t I?” I shot back through slightly slurred words. My eyes were fully closed now as we talked.
“You did a fine job of it,” she said dismissively then added, “go to sleep.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” I said and though I couldn’t see it, I could hear her facial expressions change. She breathed a heavy sigh and said,
“At first I was curious how to do it, I watched Jessica lying out and Silas getting comfortable. I’ve lain down in bed a hundred times and time will pass but admittedly but that was all in Dunn before all of this. I was nervous.” She kicked a little at the dirt floor sending soft red clouds of sand towards the fire, stalling the story, “I watched Jessica do what she did and just lay down like her, I closed my eyes and…”
“Mhm,” I let out a confirming grunt as if to say I understand but she continued,
“No, I saw something.”
“What’s that?” I asked, my brow furrowed despite my eyes still shut.
“It was… a vision maybe? Something that was… it was… I saw you, all of us really and we were back in the real world but I felt out of place.” She said as if trying to remember, “You and Jessica were…” she struggled a bit to find the words, “together I guess,” I could hear the way her head turned towards Jessica who slept off to Kappa’s left. She paused again and said, “Then I saw you die Lester, I saw you dead.”
Still with a furrowed brow I listened intently, unsure of how to process this new information. Could Kappa see the future? Did her being a part of this world give her some sort of power? I began to wonder when she continued,
“Then, for some reason, Koala’s were there and my blood ran cold…”
A grin spread across my face and for the first time since she started talking I opened my eyes. I could see that her eyes were wet as she recalled the vision but I interrupted.
“It was a dream.” I said with a bit of a laugh.
“A what?”
I shook my head, “I can’t believe in all that we’ve experienced I never told you about dreams. I guess nightmares in this case,” I chuckled softly to myself as I closed my eyes again but I could hear the tension in Kappa’s voice.
“No, these felt real,” she objected as I took a long breath,
“They always do,” I said, then added, “…but sometimes you have really good ones and they feel real as well.” I thought for a moment on my last great dream and I couldn’t remember it.
The realization made me sad and as I began to drift Kappa said, “Does that mean I’m human?”
I raised my eyebrows, my eyes now refusing to open anymore, and said, “TBD.”
As I drifted off to sleep I could hear the fire hungrily lick the log she had placed on the coals before us. The snapping of wood felt welcoming, like coming home as Dunn began to drift away. Just as the last moments stayed with me however; just before I succumbed to sleep and rested my weary head, I swore I felt Kappa kiss me.
As I slept I dreamt, just as Kappa did.
At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. I don’t think I even realized it was a dream. My entire world was thrown upside down upon entering Dunn and in my slumber I didn’t fully comprehend that what I saw wasn’t real.
In my dream I saw a figure on the cusp of the darkness but as my eyes adjusted I could tell it was Mr. Miller, my gym teacher. Seeing him in stark contrast to the world of Dunn, a world I was in only moments ago, felt comforting for a moment until I saw his grin. He smiled at me wide and cynical; a mocking smile that I could feel burn into me. As the scene filled with light I could see he was standing in the Gym, standing above me now as I lay on my stomach. The entirety of the class standing to my left while he stood over me, “Five more pushups,” he said in a cold voice, “No one leaves for lunch until you finish.”
I looked to the class, the people who were supposed to be my friends throughout this time in my life. Most tried to turn away, pretend they couldn’t see me tearing up and just as I thought the dream couldn’t get worse Mr. Miller knelt down and in a voice loud enough for them to hear asked, “Are you seriously crying?”
When I opened my eyes I saw Silas standing over me, his large Goblin eyes inches from my face. I was startled a bit but since I was still stiff against the mine wall I couldn’t do anything but open my eyes and stare back. It took me a good minute before everything came back to me; where we were, what was happening, why there was a Goblin looking at me… but luckily it all came back.
“You were crying.” Silas said flatly and after a question asked, “Are you awake?” It was more a statement than a question.
“I am now,” I said and as I gave him his answer he took a step back and turned to the others, who were breaking camp.
“He is awake now,” Silas said flatly and Jessica thanked him. She walked over to me and offered me a hand up.
“He’s been standing over you asking are you awake for the past 5 minutes.” she said with a kind smile, clearly annoyed but happy at how clearly Silas cares for me. My back was stiff and my neck had a cramp in it. I wiped the water from my eyes and I began to stretch.
“If only sleeping worked like the game,” I joked, each shared a knowing nod as clearly the bedrolls offered little protection from the stone-covered, uneven flooring of the mine. It didn’t help that I had failed to remove my armor before sleeping and so I essentially passed out in a sweaty coffin. I felt over for my gear and checked and adjusted my gloves and pants before feeling my neck and face. I paused on my lips and remembered the feeling of being kissed last night. I turned towards the others only to realize that Kappa wasn’t there, “Where’s Kap?” I asked innocently,
“She went out to hunt while we broke camp,” Jessica said.
Killian chimed in, “I offered to help but ye girlfriend is a feisty one,” he said with a smile and Jessica’s eyes shot towards me with a confused look,
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said with a confused look and started towards the tunnel entrance, Silas who had been eagerly pacing for me to wake, followed. I stopped at the entrance and turned back to Jessica, Killian and the old man who had been on his knees searching through a pile of debris, “How long has she been gone?” Jessica shrugged.
“Tough to tell time here, maybe half an hour?” she said with a doubtful tone.
“I’m going to poke my head out and try to find her,” Jessica was about to object but the Old man began hollering and her attention turned,.
“Gold!” he squealed loudly as Killian hopped over to him and bent down beside him, eyeing the small hole the old man had dug out from the pile of stone,.
“It be fool’s gold” Killian said towards the old man.
“It’s Gold!” the old man shouted back angrily.
“Do ye think ye know better than a dwarf? I was born in the mines…” Killian started and as Jessica started towards them I left the mine and stepped out into the early morning light.
Silas slipped out behind me and we started moving through the woods. The morning light cut through the canopy of trees above us and I was reminded of the afternoon Kappa and I had walked through the woods, when I had showed her how I could change their colour. It was breathtaking here, the babbling of water was in the background and birds sung within the trees but somehow I yearned to return to the woods by my home. I turned to Silas to share my thoughts but he was looking down at his feet and I realized that for the first time since the bar in Dunn, he and I were alone.
“How are you doing buddy?” I asked and Silas answered without looking up.
“Good.”
“You sure?” I asked with a concerned tone.
“Ya,” He answered without a beat.
“Are you worried about Mom and Dad?”
“Ya.”
“We’re going to find them and we’re going to get all this sorted out okay?”
Silas was about to say ‘ya’ when I heard a loud grunt near us and the sound of heavy footfalls approaching us. I drew my sword instinctively and Silas nocked an arrow in his short bow as we turned to the sound of the approaching creature. It grew closer and closer as we readied ourselves and in a burst of leaves a large creature emerged from the thicket. I was about to swing but Silas, realizing what it was sooner than me; stepped in front. With an outstretched hand he approached it and with the passing adrenaline of the moment my eyes adjusted to see the Kenga before us. The Kenga was a large cow like creature with doe-like eyes and a thin coat of brown fur. Its head was more like a dinosaur however and as I watched Silas approach a smile crept upon my face.
The Kenga was one of his creations; one of the first creatures he brought into the game and as he touched its face with his open palm, I beamed with a sense of pride. My brother was rare to touch anything, especially an animal, yet in this world – eye to eye with a creature of his own making, drawn out in pencil and marker – he did. The creature breathed through thin nostrils and made a gruff sound but Silas didn’t stir and after a long beat I heard movement from the thicket to my left. I turned quickly to see Kappa emerge, her bow drawn at the creature and softly I shook my head no. She nodded in understanding. The two of us watched Silas pet the creature for a good five minutes. When he was done he turned to us with a beaming pride and we all went back to the mouth of the cave, just to meet the others as they left.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
We decided to stop in a clearing by the river so that we could fill our waterskins and talk to the old man. He had been excitedly dancing back and forth from the minute we exited the cave and now, basked in the sunlight of the early morning. He sat on a rock in the middle of the clearing with each of us around him, soaking in the rays with arms outstretched. Just past Killian who sat beside me was Silas and after a few minutes I turned to them and said.
“I’m going to ask him what he knows about mom and dad.”
Killian had hopped down off his rock, spilling water from his skin down his beard and excitedly said, “I’ll do it laddie, let me pull me weight,” He marched over to the old man and said, “Now ye listen here, you’ll be talking or I’ll let me axe do the questioning, understood!?” As Killian’s fierce voice echoed in the clearing causing a score of birds to fly out from the tree line. After a moment he turned back to Silas and I slowly and said, “Now, what is a mom and dad?”
I rolled my eyes and gestured with a thumb for Killian to sit back down and with a pout he did. I stood and casually began to pace, “Okay old man, what do you know of the two people? A little older, they look like me? They were probably captured as well?” I asked trying to lead the questions and allow him to finish my thoughts but he didn’t talk. Instead he just sat with his arms open bathing in the sun. Jessica who had just returned from the river to hear my question shrugged at me and sat down on an overturned tree as I tried again, “Old man, who was in the cage with you?”
Killian hopped down from his rock again like a feral animal and picked up his axe this time, walking towards the old man he said, “Let me at him, I’ll get him ta talk,” Killian wore a menacing gaze and didn’t break stride until just before the old man but he simply sat unmoving; basking in the light, as if the dwarf wasn’t there. Kappa who was last to return from the river sat down next to me and went to speak but before she could Silas hopped out of the tree he had sat in and began walking towards him.
As he did the old man turned down from the sun and looked at the Goblin, “What is your name?” Silas said.
Without missing a beat the man said, “Buckles.”
“Hi Buckles, do you know where my mom and dad are?” Silas asked flatly in a way that only he could and after a moment Buckles scanned over the rest of us. We sat in a half circle around the man and my brother. As his eyes met mine I nodded with a pained expression and after a beat Buckles turned back to Silas.
“They were in the cages, with me for a while. Nice people. Pretty mother,” he said and I raised an eyebrow, “but they were taken by the man in purple.”
I turned towards the others and Killian who shrugged in doubt. I was also unsure of what the man in purple was meant to mean but Silas, being as smart as he was, asked Buckles, “Did he have a sigil on him?”
Buckles nodded and Silas cleared space on the ground for the old man to draw it as we stood and approached. With each stroke from his boney finger my stomach dropped and by the time he was done I knew who had taken my parents, “Millicent.” I said, the name caught in my throat like a cough and I turned around. Kappa who looked equally disheartened said,
“How on earth would he have even gotten them?” but as soon as she asked I knew the answer was already resurfacing in my mind; the carriage. The one we had hidden from that passed us, it held the same symbol and I knew that it belonged to him. For a moment I was cast with self-doubt, and nervously I looked around at the others, “He took them in his carriage, the one we hid from.”
“How do you know?” Jessica said more concerned than doubting.
“I saw the symbol and recognized it immediately, I thought it was better not to share.” I said with remorse, Kappa looked disappointed at the dishonesty and Jessica noticed.
“It’s your first mistake a long line of right decisions; don’t beat yourself up over it.” Jessica said and Kappa’s eyes tightened, studying her face. Then they shot towards me and I tried my best to avert my eyes, “Where would he take them?” She asked as Kappa continued to study my face, “Kappa? Lester?” she asked again after a beat without an answer and Kap turned her attention back to the task at hand.
“His castle probably.” She said as my head ran hot with blood. The thought of the castle and it’s labyrinthine like under halls made me sweat, “but we’re far too low level to try that yet,” she added.
We each stood quietly considering our options for a moment before Jessica said, “Okay, well, let’s put a pin in that. Sarah is still out there too,” Kappa nodded and in an instant began drawing the map of Dunn in the sand after a few seconds, Killian made a clicking sound with his mouth and we all looked towards him. With an outstretched hand he held a parchment and quill towards Kappa.
“Much easier than dirt, lassie,” he said with a wink and another double click of his tongue. Through gritted teeth Kappa snatched them both and Killian remarked about loving fire in a woman.
She drew out the map expertly just as I had added it to the game and when completed, she asked for a second sheet to which Killian agreed. As she drew I nervously looked at Jessica who smiled wide back at me, I motioned for her to join me off at the side and the two of us stepped away, “What’s wrong?” she asked,
“I need to tell you something, something I have been meaning to tell since yesterday,” I said. I was more nervous for this than for any Orc we had encountered thus far. I could tell she was equally nervous but underneath there was an excitement that scared me and because of this I started in a really dumb way. In my pea-sized brain I thought that if I let her know that I cared about her first, before letting her know how I had changed her without her consent, that she would be happier. I was wrong.
“I really like you,” I said trying to barrel through but as I went to speak Jessica stepped forward and kissed me.
Sigh, who the hell am I kidding; she didn’t kiss me, I made her kiss me. Lester thy name is scumbag. Real talk people; you know in those movies where the person says, oh no I had no option they kissed me! Ya, that doesn’t really happen in real life, not when one of those two people is someone like me, in REAL life scumbags like yours truly has every opportunity to step away, to throw up a hand and say, NOPE or to just put a stop to the whole scene. But no, not me and not when you had the willpower of a squid. See, deep down I wanted her to kiss me, I really, really did. It’s why I was in this mess; because I had to step into something I shouldn’t have and altered someone without their consent. If I had anything other than a pea brain than you bet your ass I would’ve stopped it but I didn’t and so we kissed.
I’d be lying if I didn’t forget my utter guilt and just enjoy it. It was life affirming and dreamy and as quickly as it had felt good it felt bad, very, very bad. I stepped back and quickly looked in the direction of the others, none of whom saw and then back at Jessica who was grinning.
“I, wow, I” was all I managed to stammer out before Kappa had finished the map and called us back over. We came back to the others and with fresh sweat on my brow leaned over the map.
Kappa had drawn my street and the surrounding streets with surprising detail on the second sheet of paper. With an impressed wow, she asked Jessica to indicate where her friend may have been.
“Well,” Jessica thought for a moment, “It’s likely that she was home since it was the weekend and she wasn’t working, so… there.” She said pointing at the top left of the map. Kappa pulled out the first map she had drawn of Dunn and laid it on top to reveal the location, or at least the general area, of where Sarah would be.
“Redmarsh,” Silas said, the first to recognize the location and we each breathed a sigh of relief. Jessica saw the smile upon our faces and joined suit asking,
“What is Redmarsh and why are we happy about that?”
“Redmarsh is a main city and it’s under the guard of the king which means…” Kappa said before looking to me to finish her thoughts,
“…which means Sarah is most likely safe. Additionally it’s the best place to be if we want to level up and on the way to the castle and end game.” Kappa smiled wide at me and I back at her.
“It’s also only about a day away so we should get there by nightfall” as she spoke a crack of thunder sounded out over the mountains behind us and Silas looked up. I felt fingers wrap around my hand and as I looked down I saw that Jessica was holding me. I smiled at her but could feel Kappa’s eyes on me and as I looked back to her the pit of my stomach sank. She knew and as the disappointment washed across Kappa’s face Jessica stepped forward to interject.
“Let’s not be cliché here, this stuff happens, please don’t hate me…” Jessica began to say to Kappa, however Kappa wasn’t looking at her, and she stared daggers directly at me. Jessica who saw she wasn’t meeting Kappa’s eye turned to me and could see the colour draining from my face. After a beat Kappa said, “Tell her now or I will.”
Jessica looked at me in confusion and as Killian and Silas watched on I began to tell her how I had altered her code to make her like me. With each word I felt more and more disgusting, more and more vile. I was revealing myself to be a villain. Somehow in my mind I had convinced myself that I could make things better, that when it came out I could make things right again as if Jessica’s stoic face was one that held forgiveness. But at the end of my story, it was not.
“Lester,” she said at first with a sense of hesitancy. My heart leapt hoping the next words were something along the lines of we all make mistakes or thank you for telling me but that was Jessica and that wasn’t what I respected about her so much. To want any other result than the one that she gave would’ve been wanting a different person, “you are a monster.”
Her face was almost one of disbelief and as she studied my face I could almost see her heart breaking. Kappa was also watching my face and as the sky darkened above me another crack of thunder echoed out across the sky.
“Jessica I’m sorry.” I stammered and as the words left my mouth her flat almost expressionless face of quiet disbelief melted into anger,
“Don’t you dare apologize to me now,” She said through gritted teeth and she took a half step towards me, sending me back stumbling a bit, “You had an entire day to tell me and beyond that,” she said shaking her head hard enough to make her voice warble as she spoke, “You have NO RIGHT to change me in the first place.”
She walked away from me pacing like an animal back and forth as if ready for an attack. Nervously I waited and as I did said, “I know, and…”
“If you say you’re sorry again I will knock your teeth out.” She said, her nostrils flaring as she did. She turned to Kappa, “and you knew.”
Kappa kept her composure and nodded, for a moment she hesitated and then said, “Yes, but he told me that he told you in the bar the minute we met you here.” She averted her gaze from me equally hurting her best friend but knowing he deserved it. Jessica’s eyes were wet with tears but the fire in her voice was powerful.
“You, you are no better than Jeremy or Zach or any of the million disgusting boys who think they can change the way I act,” she said clenching her fists as she spoke, “w-who think that they can decide what I want or speak for me.”
Kappa’s eyes were down and for a moment they flicked towards me, I could see a moment with in her of indecision where she wanted to say something and I shook my head no. She was right. Every part of me knew she was right. I fought hard to beat back the soreness in my throat, the feeling of tears welling in my eyes but in the end, I could feel the hot streaks of water down my cheeks as I stood there, watching the woman I loved curse me.
“I will never,” she stopped pacing and stood before me, “and I really want you to look at me when I say this Lester, Raydor whatever your name is, look at me,” she said it so fiercely that the crack of thunder that sounded for the third time seemed minor in comparison. I looked at her and when I did she said, “I will never love you.”
She stepped back and took a breath as the dark sky, as if on cue, finally stopped holding back the rain. Large wet drops fell with hollow plops on my armor and the tops of my boots as everyone stood around anxiously.
“I’m going to find Sarah, Lester I’d prefer if you didn’t come but ultimately we’re alone out here and there aren’t that many…”
“I won’t come” I said back, wiping the rain that fell from my eyes. Jessica was only slightly surprised and after a beat nodded.
“Where are you going to go?” Kappa said with a bit of concern,
“I’ll…” I started and looked around at the woods as if a sign was waiting, “I’ll figure out a way.” I cleared my throat and wiped my nose again and said, “We only need a few levels before we can take on the Castle and that should be together.” I shuttered as the cold rain ran down my back, “I’ll level up and meet you in Redmarsh in three days?”
I squinted through the drops of rain at Kappa who nodded and Jessica turned away. After a few seconds and another sound of thunder, without turning Jessica said, “Let’s call today Monday. We’ll meet on Thursday morning at…” she said looking to Kappa.
Before she could answer Silas spoke up over the drops of rain, “The Red Lantern Inn” he said and began walking towards Jessica and Kappa, who for the first time since the argument started looked concerned.
Jessica turned to Silas and said, “Don’t you want to stay with your brother?” Silas looked towards me and shook his head no. Any tears that I had tried to keep at bay fell freely at that and through a sob I nodded in understanding as if to say I get it. Kappa was clearly upset by this but Jessica nodded curtly towards me and said, “He’ll be safe.” As if to reassure my feeling and all I could do was to give a thumbs up in the now pouring rain. Buckles joined Silas at his side and as I turned to Killian he picked up his large axe and stood beside me.
“I’ll stick with ya laddie,” he said and despite him being the last person I wanted to be stuck with the gesture meant so much that I patted him on the back. We stood on either side of the clearing through the thick falling rain as we parted ways; Jessica left first followed by Silas and Buckles and Kappa last. As she turned away from me I could see the hesitancy in her face but the pain behind her eyes and with a look that said, I’m sorry but you brought this upon yourself she turned and left. Killian and I stood alone in the clearing.