The sand gave way and Matt started sliding down the dune, sinking, stumbling, skidding. He took fast steps, trying to regain elevation, but the ground had other ideas. In a tangle of feet and limbs, Matt tumbled to the base of the dune.

“Damn it,” he whispered, staring up at the sky. They’d been walking for hours. It was getting late.

Matt let his arms rest, outstretched against the sand, absorbing the warmth through his hands and elbows. He was glad he’d decided to put his weapons away. His hat felt loose, but at this moment he didn’t care.

He saw the dark-robed man, drilling a beam of energy into his shoulder, twisting fire and lightning—pain. He felt that helplessness, again, from when he’d stood beside the tree. Fire and lightning, a cyclone, driving deep into his flesh, incinerating muscle, skin, and bone.

That fucking guy, Matt thought, forming fists and pounding them into the sand.

The three moons stared down at him, from the pale blue desert sky—a reminder of just how far this was from home. The little pink moon was almost a full circle. And then something else pink popped into view.

“Whatcha doin’?” Princess Valkyrie asked with a smile. The silver and diamonds of her new mini-crown glinted in the sunlight. It was the size of an apple and mysteriously stayed put atop her head.

“I’m inspecting the ground for danger,” Matt said.

“Hee?” said Wiggles, tottering at Val’s side.

Val held out a hand and Matt accepted it, pulling himself upright.

“Thanks.”

Fallyn and Kurtis waited back and the top of the dune. Fallyn was shielding her eyes with a hand and gazing off in the direction they’d been heading.

“I miss anything important?” Matt asked.

“Nah,” Val said.

Matt was beginning to think that they should have gone back to the abbey and hiked this way in the morning. That wasn’t the first time he’d fallen and they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The dunes weren’t steaming or doing anything weird, like their last time in the desert with the crows, but there was nothing but sand. They were nowhere and there was nothing.

Matt slogged back up the dune, step by receding step. Then a yellow message began to scroll: ‘ANNOUNCEMENT. 27 days remaining until the Megabowl. Travelers must be Level 17-20 to enter. Winning party will be admitted to The Continuance. Prosperity and profits for all.’

“Aaaaaaaah!” Kurtis clenched his fists and yelled at the sky.

“Yeah,” Matt breathed. He paused his ascent and frowned up at his friend.

The message scrolled again and again. Matt did the math. He was pretty sure that the contest was on the 27th day. So, that meant they had 26 days to get at least six more levels—about a quarter level per day. But each one had been taking longer.

How long will Level 16 take, Level 15?

Matt tried to focus on the quarter-per-day idea, but a pit formed in his stomach all the same. He shook his head and focused on his friend.

“You okay there, buddy?” Matt called up to Kurtis.

Kurtis sighed. “Let’s just keep going.”

Matt rejoined his friends at the top of the dune. Fallyn led their procession, followed by Kurtis, then Matt, then Wiggles and Val. Their party followed the dunetop for several minutes before Kurtis opened up.

“Maybe we should give in,” the cat-man finally said. His shoulders had slackened forward and his feet were dragging a little. The sunlight on his colander hat was blinding. “I mean, if everyone’s doing it.”

“You mean the gankers?” Fallyn said sharply, glancing back over her shoulder.

“Yeah.” Kurtis swished his tail forward and held it in an oven-mitted hand. “They’re everywhere. We have a lot of XP to go. You saw the announcement.”

“Wiggles and I say ‘no,’” Val said from the back of the line. “That’s two votes.”

“You heard them in the woods,” Kurtis said. “Easy XP.” He raised both hands, to do what Matt thought was air quotes, but it looked like he was doing the chicken dance.

“You really think it’s that good?” Fallyn challenged.

Kurtis shrugged. The tips of the orange hairs on his shoulders glowed in the late afternoon sunlight. “If we get them before they get us…” He spread his hands wide.

“I don’t…” Matt said. He wasn’t sure how to explain it. He was angry at the dark-robed ganker—at all the gankers. He wanted them to know they were wrong. He wanted karma to catch up with them. But he couldn’t kill anyone, could he? Even if it wasn’t true death, the pain of what happened instead was beyond words. “I don’t want to send anyone to that place.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Maybe it’s how we’re supposed to play the game,” Kurtis suggested.

“It’s not a game,” Matt shot back darkly.

They trudged across the sand for a few moments in silence.

“I don’t know that I’m ready to compromise my morals either,” Fallyn said quietly.

“Then it’s settled!” Val cheered. “To the quest hub!”

“Weren’t we going anyway?” Kurtis muttered.

Matt grimaced and was glad his friend didn’t see it. He walked silently at Kurtis’ back.

Val tried to alleviate the awkwardness by telling them stories of her life before. Matt learned way more about call center office politics and Bedazzling headsets than any sane person needed to know.

“I kinda took the job as a short-term thing.” Val shrugged. “Wanted money for travel. Guess I got the travel part.” She held up both hands.

How does this girl find the silver lining in everything? Matt marveled as they crested another dune.

“That’s close enough!” a man yelled.

There were four figures standing below Matt—three women and a man—in front of a white octagonal tent. Matt held up his hands innocently.

“I said stop,” the man called, holding a bright red staff with both hands. The top of the weapon looked like it had been burnt off in a fire.

“We’ve stopped,” Matt said, hands still raised. “We’re friendly.”

“We mean you no harm,” Fallyn added.

“Hey, I know him,” Val said, ignoring the man’s warning and taking a few more steps. “From the abbey. I like your new shirt.”

The man eyed Val and stood tensely, anchored to his staff.

“He’s not one of the gankers,” Val said. “Uh, you guys are still anti-gank right?”

The man opened his mouth, working his jaw. He had short brown hair and a very short beard. He did look somewhat familiar.

“They’re cool, Jim,” the brunette beside him said, resting a hand over his.

“I remember them,” the woman with black hair said. “The cat guy and that cute beaver pet.”

“Cat guy?” Kurtis grumbled from Matt’s side, barely audible.

“Hey, truce?” the first woman yelled.

“Sounds good!” Val yelled back, then took long quick strides down the dune.

Matt met Fallyn’s eyes. She raised an eyebrow but started down to the tent. Matt and Kurtis followed.

“Greetings travelers,” the fourth figure said. Matt had assumed she was a member of the strangers’ party. The quest-giver had blond hair and wore a long robe that matched the color of the dunes. She held a black bow at her side.

“This is Gretta,” the man said gruffly, nodding to the NPC. “Talk to her later though. Come in the tent first. I don’t trust you yet.”

Matt noticed that the man didn’t put his weapon away or turn his back on them, as he sidestepped to the white canvas opening. Matt paused, giving the strangers a chance to enter first. Val confidently strode in, tugging Wiggles by a tiny hand. For a moment Matt worried what he’d be walking into. But it was too late. He followed Kurtis through the entrance.

Inside, it looked like all the other tents. The octagonal space had the same movie posters on its walls; the same twinkle lights hung above. Val was hugging Wiggles with one arm and a white cat pillow with the other. Kurtis had plucked the orange cat pillow from the giant gray mattress and was busy trying to squish it between the couch-bed and the wall. The three strangers sat close together near the far side of the room. Matt took a seat in the middle, giving them some space.

“You can’t attack anyone in here,” the woman who’d recognized them said. She looked Asian, but Matt didn’t trust his guess at her heritage beyond that.

“Neat.” Kurtis looked up from his project, then placed his hands on the mattress at his sides. He kept his back to the cat pillow, crossing his legs.

“Nice kicks,” the black-haired woman continued with a smile. “I’m Sydney. This is Lauren and Jim.” She nodded towards them. “I don’t think we were introduced before.”

“I’m Matt.” Matt shrugged.

“Fallyn.” She held up a hand in a small wave.

“I’m Val and this is Wiggles. That’s Kurtis. He’s grumpy today.”

“Hey!” Kurtis protested.

“What?” she said innocently. “You are.”

“I am Kurtis Aoki and I am not grumpy.”

“It’s nice to properly meet you,” Lauren said.

Jim eyed Matt suspiciously.

“I swear, we’re friendly.” Matt felt compelled to say it.

Jim looked like he lived at the gym and could snap Matt in two in an instant. Then it clicked: Jim had been the man in the mummy-bandage top who’d shoved Dirk that first day in the abbey. Jim now wore a purple silk vest with gold embroidery, which showed off his menacing biceps.

“Say ‘Hi’ Wiggles.” Val moved the beaver’s hand in a wave. The animal looked to have succumbed to her smothering.

“We’re just a little jumpy,” Lauren apologized. “We got hit twice yesterday. More at the abbey.”

“We got our revenge,” Jim grumbled.

Matt stiffened.

“And we lost Stephan and Ian just before that,” Lauren added.

“I’m sorry,” said Matt, wary at Jim’s admission. “We lost someone too. That… deletion was so sudden.”

“Oh, we heard about that!” Sydney chimed in.

“Yeah, we saw that message on our way into the mountains.” Jim scratched his facial hair. “Didn’t make sense at first. But then there were stories floating around at the abbey. What’s yours? Can I ask?”

“Yeah, we…” Matt struggled to find the words. His mind oscillated between the right way to speak about Anika and the news that they had killed people. Matt was angry at the gankers, FRC, everything—but he couldn’t get his head around that. They had killed people too. “She…” he tried to force the words out. Maybe it was self-defense? “She…”

“Her name was Anika,” Fallyn rescued. She spoke of Anika’s kindness and genuine curiosity. She reminded Matt of her bright smile and conversationalism. “And then she was gone,” Fallyn said. She pressed her lips into a line and tucked her hair behind an ear. “There were two others with us in the beginning as well. We’re not sure whether it happened to them too.”

“Thank you for sharing,” Lauren said gently. “I’m sorry for your loss too.” She pulled her straight brown hair over one shoulder and ran her fingers through its ends.

Matt concentrated on his breathing. Anika was a slippery slope to his parents and the rest of the world.

“If it wasn’t that event,” Kurtis ventured. “What got your people?”

Jim scowled and Lauren’s lips tugged into a sad smile.

It was Sydney who spoke. “You know that green gas?”

“Yep,” said Kurtis.

Matt nodded slowly.

“Yeah, well, we’re immune now but not back then. Those two ran ahead. Guess they were curious? I remember them yelling, ‘It’s fine, see,’ but we hung back. We wanted to go straight to the quest hub.” She paused and met Lauren’s eyes.

“We were generally more cautious than those two,” Lauren added.

“It was three against two,” Sydney continued, “so they gave in and jogged back to us. And it did seem fine at first. We just kept going about our day and didn’t think anything of it. But then the next morning…”

“They didn’t wake up,” Jim growled. “This fucking place turned their skin gray and hard and they were done.”

“We tried to wake them,” Lauren said, “but there was nothing we could do. Jim couldn’t heal other people yet. And I doubt that would have worked.”

“We looked for help,” Sydney asserted. “We tried. That stupid NPC acted like he didn’t hear a thing I said. And when we went back to try again… I barely touched Stephan. I was gonna try to shake his shoulders but I didn’t even… The body just disintegrated.”

“Fucking FRC,” Jim said.

“Fucking FRC,” echoed Sydney.

Now, that was something Matt could agree with.