Jace should have been used to the unique environments the game kept providing, but he still found himself in awe with each new location. His group materialized in a large open-air room that reminded him of the lobby of a tropical island hotel. The roughly hexagonal space glowed with early morning sunlight. Their travel node stood nestled in one corner while the opposite end of the room held large, ornate double doors that Jace guessed led toward Vulder’s throne room. The four other corners held single doors leading to what looked like private residences.
Between the doors, fenced off by plants or rope railings, open-air greeted them. Blue sky dominated the view, but Jace had been correct when he had indicated to Psycho that they were headed toward the top of the city, and when he looked down through the openings, he got a unique view of the haphazard city below. They were hundreds of feet off the ground. This high up, a cool breeze flowed through the room, creating an exquisitely pleasant temperature.
In the room’s center, several couches, chairs, and tables sat scattered about. Small collections of furniture gathered in front of each of the single doors. Potted palm trees and flowers had been arranged throughout the room, along with several forked poles upon which snakes coiled themselves.
Jace guessed the smaller doors led to apartments for the players who had reached the top level of the trials. He saw three characters sitting outside one of the doors, reclining on a couch and two chairs, while a fourth character sat by himself before a different door.
“Welcome, Jace Thorne,” a woman said, rising from the couch. Her two male companions stayed seated. “We’ve been expecting you.” She took a few steps toward Jace but didn’t leave her ring of furniture.
The level 21 woman wore an attractive dark brown leather outfit. Straps and buckles cinched a vest tight over a blue blouse. She wore a skirt down to her knees made only of loose strips that offered little concealment with black leggings underneath. He saw several knives strapped to her upper legs, and the low-density skirt let her reach through it to retrieve her weapons easily. He saw several other blade handles scattered about her torso tucked under straps of leather and guessed she had many more daggers hidden where he couldn’t see them. Her dark hair and South Pacific facial features led Jace to believe this was Golda Baccay, the Philipino casino owner who laundered money for terrorists. He tried to remember her in-game name from their research.
“Odalga,” he replied with just enough confidence to make it not sound like a question.
“Excellent,” she confirmed with a smile. “I am honored you know me. However, I expect you do nothing half-assed and researched everything you could before venturing into our humble city.”
“I don’t believe the city is yours quite yet,” Jace said.
She laughed. “Too true, too true. And don’t think for a moment you will be able to throw your hat in the ring. That ship has sailed, which leads us to the only real question we have to discuss. Why are you here?”
Jace didn’t answer and instead walked toward her. Odalga’s demeanor changed instantly, assuming a battle-ready pose, her hands inches from several different daggers. {I’m guessing she is a rogue sniper,} Gracie chimed in. {Usually, they use a short bow or crossbow, but I’ve known a few who specialize in thrown weapons.}
Jace smiled at the woman, taking in Gracie’s information without appearing to be on the receiving end of a conversation. “I was notified upon entry to this room that this was a Peaceful environment,” he said as he drew closer to the leather-clad rogue, eyeing her fighting stance.
“And everyone knows you break the game rules,” she replied, easing up slightly. She only half looked at him now, eyeing instead the group that trailed just behind him. Snowy didn’t seem to suffer as much with the breeze alleviating much of the heat, but she didn’t like the snakes spaced periodically through the room and wrinkled her nose in disgust as she passed each one. Gropmhy stayed close to the wolf, having acted like her medic for the past half hour and now appreciating the protection the animal provided against the serpents. The goblin was just small enough that some of the larger snakes might want a snack. Draya now clung to Psycho’s arm as she didn’t know where to walk or step. Everywhere she looked, she saw either a dizzying drop-off through an open wall or a snake sticking its tongue out at her. Psycho held his sarcastic comments in check and led her safely through the room.
Jace didn’t stop walking until he found an oversized, stuffed chair that would support his orc frame. There wasn’t enough seating for all his companions, so Draya and Gromphy shared a loveseat while Pyscho stood behind his leader. Snowy relaxed on the floor next to Jace, and the big orc reached down to scratch the wolf’s ears. “Please,” he nodded toward the couch where Odalga had been relaxing when they entered. “Take a seat. We have much to discuss.”
“Don’t tell him anything.” Everyone turned toward the voice to look at the lone character sitting in front of a different door. He was dressed as a Middle Eastern priest. “He has no purpose here. He’ll get himself killed, and then we can get on with our business.”
“Oh, don’t mind Iman Jaheed,” Odalga said, bringing everyone’s gaze back to her. “He’s always grumpy and no fun. He takes this all too seriously.”
“Perhaps you don’t take this seriously enough,” he replied.
The rogue shook her head and took a seat on the couch. Her two companions both looked native to this region: a dark-skinned dwarf with a white beard and two hammers hanging from his belt sat next to a bald wizard wearing olive robes with deeply tanned skin. Neither of the NPCs said anything and only stayed ready to defend their leader if need be.
“So,” she said, picking up a drink of orange liquid from a side table. Jace thought it must be the realm’s equivalent of a mimosa. “Why are you here?”
“I expected three of you,” Jace replied, dodging the question for now.
“Chago is probably asleep,” she replied. Jace assumed this was Hidalgo Cortex, the human trafficker from Mexico. “It is about 9 am in the game,” Odalga said, glancing to the east side of the room where the rising sun illuminated a large section of the floor, “which is the middle of the night for him . . . and you, I assume. You are an American, right? Your operator must be burning the midnight oil.”
{Coffee is my only friend,} Gracie said.
Jace said nothing. Odalga waited for a moment and then continued. “I assume he has alarms set up in the game and is probably dragging his drunk ass out of bed as we speak, and we will see him soon. Until then, you only have me.”
Jace angled his eyes back toward the priest. Odalga had called him Jaheed. “Oh, he doesn’t count,” Odalga interpreted the look. “And he knows it. That is why he is always so grumpy. Sir Ahbid Alibaba calls the shots for his team. He’s just a lackey. Ahbid left him behind to make sure I didn’t tell you too much. I’m sure he is recording all this for his operator as we speak.”
“He is a . . .” Jace started in a low voice.
“A player like us?” she asked. “Of course, he just isn’t very good.” She chuckled, and the dwarf beside her laughed. “No, his boss was up here earlier. You just missed him. When we got word that you had arrived, we had a brief argument about why before he took the twins and went below ground. You see, he thinks you are here to rescue . . .”
“Silence, wench!” Jaheed cried, leaping to his feet. “This is what Ahbid feared.”
Odalga laughed at his antics. “I’m not going to tell him. Besides, if your boss is correct, he already knows.” She turned her attention back to Jace. “But you couldn’t know that she is here, could you? The three of us,” she threw a glance at another door where Jace assumed Chago’s apartment resided, “are the only ones Vulder told. No one else knows she came.”
“And do you even know why she came back?” Jace asked.
“Back?” she questioned. “Oohh, you do know things. So she was here before. Before all of . . .” she motioned to the grand room and Vulder’s quarters beyond the double doors, “. . . before all of this took place. She has a history here?”
“Of course she does,” Jaheed said. “You haven’t figured that out yet?”
“Do you want to be part of the conversation or not?” Odalga scolded, shouting across the room. “Either come over here and learn something, or shut up.” The priest didn’t walk over and settled down. The rogue turned back to Jace. “What is her name, just so we are on the same page here?”
Jace saw no harm in telling her. “Delilah Sorek.”
She smiled. “Good, then we don’t need to be coy. Ahbid thinks you came for her, so he went down to ensure her continued incarceration. I didn’t think it was possible you even knew she was here. Clearly, I was wrong. I don’t see Esther with you, so perhaps she is down below trying to free Delilah, and you are just a distraction.”
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{I’m going to switch to monitoring Esther,} Gracie said. {If Ahbid is going down to Delly, she will need my help more than you will. Wave if you need me.}
Jace gave no outward sign of the communication. He knew the magical device Gracie and Gromphy made to allow an operator to communicate with an NPC was supposed to be impossible, so Odalga telling him this shouldn’t have given him anything to act on. Typically, when companions were apart from their leaders, no form of communication existed.
“Is that it?” Odalga asked. “Are you just a distraction?”
“Why do you think I’m here?” he replied.
She bit her lip. “I thought you were here to make a play for the throne. It is the type of arrogant move you would make. Just as impossible as rescuing Delilah, but maybe I’m wrong about that too.”
“Perhaps I am here to fulfill the prophecy,” Jace said.
Odalga laughed again. “I do like you. How would you even know of that? No one but the three of us have ever heard it. Two other players rose to this level before, but Vulder assured us they never discovered it.”
“Water from rock, life from sand. Ruled by one perpetually. Savior comes, the Son of Cam. Whose rage brings forth liberty.” Jace said, remembering the lines Pok had quoted in the cutscene.
“Ha!” Jaheed leaped from his chair and ran toward their grouping. “You are wrong. The second line is: Rule passed down perpetually. Your information is wrong. Whomever you paid is feeding you false . . .”
“You are truly an idiot,” Odalga cut him off. “You’re worried about me telling him too much? He got it wrong on purpose just to see what we know, and you told him.”
Jaheed flinched a few times as if he wanted to retort, but he knew she was right. He swallowed his pride and walked back to his chair. As he sat down, he spun it around so he could pay closer attention to the group, and Jace thought he cast a spell.
“So you know the prophecy,” Odalga returned to Jace. “And that is why you are here? To rescue Sonan and have his rage defeat Vulder? That isn’t going to happen, and that isn’t what the prophecy is about. I’m afraid you’ve come here for nothing.”
Jace leaned back, trying to figure out how to play this. Psycho spoke up first. “What if we tell you why Delly came back, and you tell us what you think the prophecy means?”
Odalga was shocked. “You let your NPCs negotiate for you?” she asked, not even looking at Psycho.
Jace shrugged. Psycho continued. “Jaheed over there, just cast a truth spell. I am Honest. Jace is Honest. We won’t be able to lie without getting caught.”
“But it isn’t a fair trade,” Odalga said. “One involves the fate of a single female, the other the fate of an entire empire. If I use the information you give me to have Delilah join my party, but you use the information I give you to wrestle Kamora and the desert kingdom away from us, that would be truly foolish of me.”
“Do you think that is possible?” Jace said. “Do you think I can convince Vulder to turn this city over to me without doing the trials? What if I tell you that I have no interest in ruling this kingdom? Jaheed can tell you I am speaking the truth. My winter wolf hates the heat, my mage hates snakes, and my elf prefers trees.”
“Esther would love it here,” Odalga challenged.
“The entirety of the realms is Esther’s playground,” Jace countered. “She loves it everywhere.”
Odlaga sat in silence for a few moments. “Fine, we have a deal. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
Psycho took a step back in surprise at the comment, and Jace laughed at his literal interpretation of the common Earthly phrase. “Okay, we’ll go first. Do you know how Sonan was captured?”
Odalga hesitated and cast a glance over at Jaheed. It was clear to Jace that she didn’t know, but she worried her competitor might. The priest didn’t respond. Eventually, the rogue shook her head. Jace answered his own question. “Delly caught him for Vulder. Dreller, one of Vulder’s warriors, whom I assume is still active, hired a group of mercenaries to track down Sonan once he entered the city. Delly was a member of this group, and she was betrayed. They cursed her with a succubus and tricked her into seducing Sonan. When she did, she sucked strength from Sonan and made him easier to capture. They locked him up and shipped Delly to the Gilded Swan.”
Again, the rogue looked toward her rival. Jaheed shrugged his shoulders and nodded, confirming nothing had been a lie. She returned to Jace. “Sonan is still incredibly strong.”
Jace nodded and smiled. He found that as an Honest player, he could skate past most truth spells by making sure he never lied. He didn’t have to tell the whole truth, just enough, so it wasn’t a lie. If they were questioning Esther, she would have to tell them absolutely everything to pass the test. “He used to be much stronger,” he said, hiding the full truth.
“What is the story behind her choker?” Odalga asked.
Jace nodded, assuming they would know about that. All magical items were typically removed from prisoners. The jewelry in question would have been identified as special, and then when it couldn’t be removed, it would raise questions. “It prevents her from summoning her rage,” Jace said. “With the added strength she stole from Sonan, she could likely rip herself out of any cell you put her in.”
“And it can’t be removed?” she asked. “ My smith,” Odalga motioned to the dwarf beside her, “Chago’s enchanter and even the iman over there have all struck out against it.”
Jace shrugged. “Pok and Kelrick crafted it together with samples of Delly’s blood and hair along with intimate knowledge of her rage abilities.” Jace saw Odalga’s face scrunch up at the mention of the two characters from Delly’s past. “I assume you know those two people.”
She nodded. “Unfortunately. Kelrick isn’t anything to worry about, but that dark elf summoner is trouble. A few weeks ago, he went very goth. He was mysterious before, but now he makes my skin crawl.”
Jace restrained a smile and was happy none of his companions spoke out of turn. They all knew Pok was a necromancer. Prior to Delly’s intrusion, when Odalga was first introduced to him, he must have been a summoner. Gandhi had made the change for a reason, and Jace was sure it went beyond Delly’s quest. The game’s AI had tried to use existing characters to facilitate the female barbarian’s backstory, but a slight change had been made.
“I believe Delly returned here to seek vengeance against her former companions,” Jace said. “If, or when, Vulder steps down and puts one of you in charge, you can gain Delly’s trust by helping her to kill the four characters who betrayed her.”
“And that is what you you are here to do?” Odalga asked. “You think you can walk through those doors and kill Vulder’s closest advisors?”
Jace had nothing to say to that.
“Or you think once one of us takes power, we would trade four level 18+ characters for one level 10 barbarian who can’t enact her rage?”
Jace shrugged. “I showed you mine.”
Odalga laughed. “Yes, you surely did. Color me unimpressed.” She paused. “Fine. I’ll tell you. You’re as likely to disrupt our plans as you are to succeed in yours.” She gave one more glance over to Jaheed, and the priest nodded. “You don’t have the whole prophecy. Vulder does not enslave the city. The plague enslaves the land. The liberty Sonan’s rage will bring is in regard to the curse on the land. The thick-headed barbarian doesn’t see that yet. His arguments have become more eloquent in the past couple of weeks, but he still insists Vulder is the problem. However, once the Prime Regent is gone and replaced by one of us, and the plague remains, he will see the light. The source of the plague is in a tomb several miles from the city.”
She pulled out a gold medallion with a large sapphire from inside her vest. “We’ve all been through the trials and been named patrons of the land, Children of the Desert. The location of the tomb was revealed to us after our ascension. We’ve all been there, but none of us can enter. We’re guessing only Sonan can. Once that happens and he defeats the curse, setting the land at liberty, the kingdom will be restored, and one of us will be its king or queen and have more power than any other player in the realms.”
“And how will Vulder make his choice?” Jace asked.
Now, it was Odalga’s turn to be quiet for a while. “We don’t know. In the past few weeks . . . something’s changed. He now speaks of his departure from the city as if it’s his death or possibly a transformation into something else. Before we were sent on quests with regularity, all designed to strengthen the city and prove our loyalty to the land. Now, we’ve been mostly waiting. He says a new challenger will arise that will threaten our claim on the throne, and once they are defeated, the transformation will take place.” She paused. “And now you’ve shown up.”
“You think I’m the new challenger,” Jace said. “You think Vulder anticipated my arrival weeks ago?”
“Ahbid insists you are not,” Odalga said, not answering Jace’s question. He was about to push for her belief when they were interrupted.
“I agree.”
They all turned at the new voice to see Chago emerging from his door. He dressed as a Latin bullfighter with twin swords strapped to his hips. “Sorry I am late,” he said, tugging on his gold-embroidered vest as if he had just hastily put it on. Odalga had joked that the trafficker had been roused from a drunken stupor to log in. His character in the game suffered no banes, but since his movements were controlled by his brain back in the real world, any intoxication should be evident. Jace detected a slight wobble in his step.
“Not all of us live on Asian time,” he continued. “Welcome to our home, Jace Thorne. I hope your stay is short and painful.” Jace assumed the player had been alerted because of his arrival, so his lack of surprise at his presence was expected.
“Where are your lady friends?” Odalga asked, seeing the player was alone.
“I don’t keep my companions chained to my bed when I log out,” he replied. “They are free to seek their own adventure. I’m sure they are off slaying a dragon right now.” When Odalga didn’t have a response to that, he turned to Jace. “You are not the challenger.”
“Were you listening to us?” Odalga asked, looking around the room. She focused on several of the snakes, wondering if they were enchanted.
“I heard enough,” the flamboyant man replied. “Enough to know you are both stupid. Delilah is the challenger. It is obvious. Vulder’s tone shifted when she arrived. Jace just said she is out to kill the people who betrayed her. You mentioned his four advisors and Dreller, but Lord Vulder is the one who hired them to curse her. Surely, she is after him too.”
“And how will she manage this attack when she is locked in a cell?” Odalga challenged.
“Where is Esther?” he asked back. They both looked at Jace, but the orc’s face remained placid. “Are we sure Delilah is still locked up?” Now, they both turned to Jaheed, seeking an update on his partner’s expedition. He didn’t offer one. Chago shrugged. “Ahbid is right. Jace is here to free Delly, and she will threaten Vulgar’s life. He will fake his death, choose one of us to replace him, and disappear. With him presumed dead, Sonan will no longer insist on killing him and will follow our plan to end the plague.”
Odalga wanted to argue further, but the doors to Vulder’s private chambers opened, and Jace recognized Dreller from Delly’s cinematic cut scene. He still wore the scorpion armor with the poison flail on his hip. “Lord Vulder will see you now.”
The three other players turned at once to the summons and bowed, giving Jace a moment to talk to his companions. “I think I know what is going to happen,” he said. “It will be rough, but we should be able to make it.” As they rose and followed the other characters into the throne room, Jace gave hasty instructions, hoping Esther was all right.