The initial stairway emptied into an impressive treasure room. Piles of gold and jewels lay along the cavern floor with a clear path between them. The mounds of riches rose well above ten feet and produced their own light as the room glowed brightly.
“Is this what we came for?” Ezra asked, his voice coming in gasps. Lexi assumed it was more wealth than the man had ever seen in the game or otherwise. It was the most she had ever seen, and her husband had been a millionaire.
“No,” Pieter said. “Don’t touch anything. I assume we can take some of this when we leave, but we are all dead if you touch it now.”
“Then what do we do?” he asked.
Lexi was also curious. She knew the next step but didn’t know how Pieter would convince one of the players to sacrifice themselves.
“Up ahead are two golems,” Pieter explained. “They each hold massive rubies in their hands. We need those stones to get through a portal further on. It requires a successful pick-pocket check to remove them. You have that skill, right?”
Ezra nodded.
“Good, that is why you are here. I expect your cooperation if you want a share of this treasure.”
The rogue nodded. Pieter turned to Lexi and motioned ahead of them through the winding path between the mounds of gold. It was only another minute before she drew up sharply; just around the next turn, behind the large pile of gems and coins, stood the two golems guarding the exit. She knew they wouldn’t activate until someone tried to move between them, but she didn’t know how Pieter wanted to play it.
“The golems are just ahead,” she whispered.
“It’s okay,” Pieter said. “They won't hurt us. We just need to take the gems.”
Ezra rounded the corner in the path to see what he was up against. The statues were each shaped like a half-monkey, half-man creature with their hands cupped before them and a ruby the size of a pineapple resting in their palms. They flanked the exit to the cavern, an arched passage four feet wide and seven feet tall.
“I just need to get the rubies?” he asked. “I don’t need to sneak or fight anything?”
Pieter nodded. “Just the rubies. It isn’t a hard check. Pickpocketing isn’t a common skill, so it isn’t difficult.”
Ezra nodded, swallowed hard, and crept forward. The light from the gold ensured he couldn’t hide in the shadows anyway. The monkey golems stared straight ahead as he approached, with no hint of motion. They were fifty feet away, and Lexi’s stomach turned with each step the rogue took. She felt sorry for him. Unlike the rest of them, he hadn’t died yet, and it was always an alarming sensation when it happened for the first time. Now, with his pain settings cranked to maximum, it would be even less pleasant. He might not ever want to log in again.
The golems were just under six feet tall as they crouched on squat stone pillars, and the rogue could almost look them in the eyes. He resisted that urge and activated his thieving skills as he tentatively reached for the first ruby. As soon as he touched the gem, the golems reacted. The first punched him hard in the face with its suddenly animated stone fist. He flew the short distance to the second monkey creature, who Grappled him by securing his arms in his massive hands. With a howl, the second creature ripped the limbs from his body.
Ezra screamed in pain but was quickly silenced as the first creature slammed its fists down on his head, and he crumpled to the floor in a bloody mess. It took less than two complete rounds, and the golems were back on their perches, holding their rubies as before.
“Sacrifice accepted.” The voice was deep and guttural, resounding through the player’s souls.
Kaylee barely heard it because she was screaming.
“Silence!” Pieter shouted. “Get a grip! He made a mistake. I never said the mission wasn’t dangerous. You’ve seen someone die before in this game.”
Kaylee tried to stop screaming, but it took a moment. Lexi tried not to laugh at the halfling’s squeaky voice. “That was . . . You didn’t say . . . His screams were . . .”
“What did you think would happen if he failed his pickpocket check?” Pieter replied. “Come. We are wasting time here.”
Lexi and Pieter walked forward, but Kaylee didn’t move. “No,” she said. “I will not go with you. No treasure is worth that.”
Pieter sighed. “You were both going to be killed in the arena,” the mage argued. “You know that. I am giving you a chance for a different fate.” He motioned to the loot surrounding them. “I will split this with you, and you don’t have to give half to the Admiral.”
“Gold is useless to me if I’m dead. And with my settings turned up, any fate in this cursed cavern is worse than I would have faced in the arena.”
“Then don’t fail in your task,” Pieter said.
Lexi saw the light go on in the halfling’s eyes at that comment. The priest didn’t have an operator. She didn’t know that Ezra hadn’t failed a roll. There was no check to be made. If you touched the rubies or tried to step through the archway, the golems killed you. Warriors far more potent than Lexi had attempted to kill the creatures, and they all ended up like the rogue: a pile of bloody body parts on the floor.
Lexi sensed a spell from the halfling as she looked hard at Pieter. “What is my task?”
As a druid, Lexi had sensed the magic. As a mage, Pieter probably knew what the spell was, or, at least, his operator would. Lexi could probably guess. The two characters were only one level apart, and she didn’t think Pieter could defeat a truth spell from the priest. If he lied, she would know it. With the first stage cleared, she could turn around and walk out of the cavern.
“Shortly after we leave this cavern,” Pieter started, speaking evenly, “we will come upon a field of lava. Sticking up from the molten rock are short pedestals we can jump between. They eventually get pretty far apart, and you might need help, but with Lexi’s aid, you should manage. One of these landing spots is actually the blunted horn of a demon, waiting just below the surface of the lava. As a priest, you will be able to detect which pedestal that is. Then we won’t have to jump on it and be eaten.”
Lexi was impressed. From what she knew about the module, that was entirely truthful. She turned to look at the halfling. The priest was aligned with a demon. Detecting another’s presence would be as easy for her as sensing the spell she just cast was to Lexi. “And beyond that?”
“The third trial is especially terrible,” Pieter was forced to admit, “but you don’t need to worry about that. Lexi is in charge of passing that one. If you succeed in the next few minutes, I promise you won’t have anything else to worry about.”
Lexi knew that the priest was receiving game information, telling her everything the mage said was accurate. Kaylee sighed and nodded. “Very well, but if I sense that either of you is lying to me or operating deceitfully, I can defend myself.”
“Good,” Pieter said. “Shall we continue?”
Kaylee looked at the gruesome scene before them. The golems still guarded the exit. “Don’t we still need the rubies?”
“No,” Pieter said carefully. Since the rubies would have never helped them anyway, he needed to be careful what he said. The priest’s truth spell would last an hour if they didn't enter combat mode. “Ezra’s death served as payment to exit.” He left it at that, and Kaylee accepted the answer.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The two taller players stepped over the dead rogue first, and the golems made no move against them. The halfling tried to jump over the pool of blood and barely made it. Lexi sighed. Kaylee would definitely need help during the next stage.
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The walk to the next section took a few minutes through dark, cobweb-filled passages. The interior was built in the classic dungeon style, with large stone blocks paving the floor and lining the walls. Several jutted at odd angles or were chipped and broken away, implying incredible age, but Lexi felt confident the digital environment wouldn’t collapse on them. However, no one had ever passed the module before, and in the movie, the cavern did self-destruct to a point.
The druid put those thoughts out of her mind as they approached another giant cat head with its mouth open and a glowing light beyond. The illumination was more orange than golden this time, and with her environment settings cranked to full, Lexi could feel the heat washing over her like a sauna. She shortened her fur to adjust to the temperature.
“Another tiger?”
Lexi turned around to see Pieter walking beside Caylee. The mage had asked the question, but the druid was focused on the halfling. No, it wasn’t a tiger; it was the gaping jaws of a cheetah. This next stage required speed and agility, while the first required strength to fight off the monkey golems. Surly Pieter knew that, but if he was lying, Caylee would have been alerted and reacted. Lexi saw no indication from the priest.
{I don’t think he knows,} James said, interpreting his wife’s reaction. {You are a bit obsessed with cats, dear. What is obvious to you might not be to others. The walkthroughs don’t mention the type of cats represented in the cave.}
Lexi understood. And, with the mouths of the cats stretched so wide open, it was hard for her to tell the difference. She didn’t respond to the question, assuming it was rhetorical and not wanting to give the mage any additional information. Instead, she focused on Kaylee and pushed the narrative Pieter had initiated. “Do you sense anything?”
The halfling nodded. “There is heat ahead, but it is not demon fire. Still . . . there is something.”
“We will take it slowly,” Lexi said, motioning for the shorter player to move beside her. The pair stepped into the open cheetah mouth and proceeded down the glowing tunnel, the heat almost overwhelming.
They emerged on a cliff edge a few seconds later, overlooking a massive lava field roughly the size of a football pitch, including the sidelines. Roughcut stairs led 30 feet down to the edge of the pool. Stone pedestals stuck up out of the lava like hexagonal lily pads. They were numerous near the shore but decreased in number as they traveled across the expanse until, at the far side, there was only one clear path to take. Also, the close pillars were short, barely poking out of the lava. As they traveled across, they grew in height, forcing the player to jump up and over. This was necessary because the distant ledge stood at least 20 feet above the level of the lava.
Players had tried to fly across the field, but traveling over the lava anywhere but above the pillars resulted in geysers of molten rock shooting into the air to knock trespassers out. Even if a player successfully navigated the assault, the demon on the far side still leaped out of the lava and ate you.
Lexi’s eyes focused on the last pillar before the far side. It wasn’t made of stone but polished ivory. Several of the taller pedestals were made of marble, and it was hard to tell the difference if you didn’t look for it, but she had seen several videos of players leaping toward the last pillar and it rising out of the lava as the broken horn of a massive demon. She didn’t look forward to seeing that sight up close but trusted the module would follow its usual rules.
“There is something out there,” Kaylee said after standing still for several moments. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”
“Good,” Lexi said, starting down the stairs. “Then it should be easy to detect.”
“But . . .”
“No buts,” Pieter said, coming up behind her. “Get moving.”
Now that they had passed into the second stage, the cheetah's mouth had closed behind them, and there was no way back to the surface until they dealt with this level. Kaylee couldn’t have gone back if she wanted to. Reluctantly, she followed Lexi down the stairs.
The stepping stones were shorter, closer to shore, and smaller, only a foot in diameter. The druid stepped out onto the first one, her leopard paw taking up little room, and she hopped lightly from one to the next. Kaylee thought to follow her exact path, but the stones the taller woman had stepped on sunk out of view after only a few seconds.
The halfling was forced to take an alternative path. The first few steps were easy for her short legs, but as the pedestals rose, she needed to concentrate harder to make each jump. By the fifth step, she took too long, and lava washed over her current location, burning her boots and dealing significant damage to her health. With her pain settings turned up, she screamed in agony.
Lexi was beside her in a flash and heaved her off the sinking pillar. As the stepping stones got taller, they also got wider, and the two players could squeeze onto a single platform. “You need to be faster,” Lexi scolded. “Besides, where is your fire protection?”
The priest let loose a string of curses aimed at the druid as her feet still burned. Since the halfling was aligned with a demon, she had harm spells, not healing, so Lexi cast a spell on her to repair the damage to her feet. Likewise, Kaylee could deal fire damage but not naturally protect against it. She had a ring for that and dumped enough mana into it to last ten rounds.
The pair had spent too long on this pedestal, and it had sunk almost to the level of the lava, leaving them with a challenging jump up and forward. It was no problem for Lexi, and she hauled the halfling behind her. They moved effectively through the field of pillars now, jumping from one to another. To keep the ruse up, Lexi asked the priest if the demon was directly ahead of them or if the next pillar was safe. After a moment of contemplation, Kaylee always gave the affirmative.
Once they were over halfway, their number of choices dwindled, and the distance they needed to jump became too much for them to do it together. Instead, Lexi cast her strength boon and allowed her right hand to resume its five-fingered form. After confirming the next landing spot was safe, the druid threw Kaylee to the target and then jumped afterward. The halfling almost lost her balance, but Lexi arrived in time to catch her.
Afterward, every pillar was slightly larger, though the height and distance also increased, so the flight was farther, but Kaylee adjusted and didn’t fall off. Soon, only three more landing zones remained before the far cliff wall marked the edge of the lava pool.
“It is close,” Kaylee said, concentrating longer than usual.
“But not the next one?” Lexi confirmed. She looked over her shoulder and finally saw Pieter making his way across the stones. He had to wait until the end because he needed a running start to make the later jumps, and he didn’t want to run into the two women.
“No,” Kaylee confirmed. “Nor the next one.”
Lexi threw the halfling toward the pillar, jumped after her, and threw her again. Even before the halfling landed on the tall post almost six feet in diameter, she cried out in terror. “It is here! The next one is alive. We can’t go on!”
Lexi alighted gracefully next to the priest and hoisted her by the back collar, preparing to throw her again. “No!” the smaller character said. “You can’t. It will kill us all!”
“No,” Lexi said. “Only you.” Despite their level difference and the druid’s massive Magic Defense, she didn’t want to take any chances and heaved the diminutive character toward the last pillar before the priest could muster an attack spell.
Lexi was prepared to backflip off the platform to the previous one if a fire attack came her way, but Kaylee wasn’t coordinated enough to prepare the spell, and since she was flipping through the air, there was no guarantee which direction it would go. But primarily, the priest didn’t get off an attack because she froze in terror as soon as she started her flight toward the ivory post.
The horn’s base was connected to the red skull of a demon so enormous it would give Godzilla nightmares. The massive creature rose from the lava like a bodybuilder climbing out of a swimming pool, molten rock flowing off its red skin pulled tight over huge muscles. The single horn extended from the middle of its forehead above a devilish face, smiling with a mouthful of wicked teeth. As soon as it appeared, everyone in the cavern needed to make a Death Save against its fearful aura. Lexi failed barely and was shocked for a round. James informed her that Pieter and Kaylee had also failed and were paralyzed.
The demon only emerged from the lava up to its abdomen, but the top of its head was still 50 feet high. It caught the flipping halfling with its mouth like popcorn tossed in the air. The demon’s appearance only lasted one round – six seconds – and it sunk back into the lava until its single horn stood proudly fifteen feet before Lexi.
“Sacrifice accepted.” The raspy voice echoed through the cavern.
Once the demon was gone, Lexi’s shocked condition ended, and she leaped toward the horn, trusting the module was reliable. The landing spot stood rock-solid beneath her, and she didn’t waste time jumping to the relative safety of the far shore. Once on solid ground, she turned to watch Pieter follow behind.
The pillar he had been paralyzed on had sunk too far to proceed safely to the next pedestal, but he was still short of halfway and could jump sideways first and then advance. The unathletic character needed to keep up his momentum to complete each jump successfully, and toward the end, Lexi didn’t think he would make it, but he pumped one of his items with mana and cleared the last three gaps easily.
The two players regarded each other without speaking. They had both been responsible for killing one of the players. Death was common in the game, even expected. And these players had signed up to play, knowing they would be killed at level 12. Still, it was different, and they weren’t so cold-hearted as to not realize it. But they weren’t finished and continued to the next stage.