Yggdrasil Fallen, LitRPG Series

Book 1, Part1: Obsidian

Chapter 1: Silderson

Andre sat bolt upright, cold sweat dripping down his shaking chest and brow. In a panicked rush Andre ran his trembling hands over his cold sweat drenched body. He didn’t know what exactly he was looking for, just that he had to be sure he was still intact. His joints ached, muscles and lungs burned as though he had just finished a hard sprint up a trail to a mountains peak. His entire body felt as though it were vibrating in response to the death he experienced in his sleep, as though it weren’t sure it was still alive. Andre could still feel the tightly wrapped leather of his machetes grip, smooth yet tough against his fingertips. He could still feel the rush of wind against his skin as he raced desperately across the plains. Despite the sweat clinging to his body sapping heat in the chill air, he could even feel the warmth of the everglow construct washing over him. Shaking his head, satisfied that everything was where it should be he stopped to stare at his still shaking hands.

“Holy hell, its been a while since I’ve had a dream like that… it was so real so…. Terrifying.” He thought to himself as the dream replayed itself over and over in his head. He sat for a while longer, recounting all the vivid dreams he’d had in the past, how real they’d all felt; like he was living out a completely different life. Eating, drinking and fighting for survival all the while searching desperately, working hard towards something he wasn’t even sure was possible to achieve… much less what that actually was. Just that if he failed the consequences would be dire, not just for him but for a much larger scale of life than he could possibly fathom.

Andre took a deep breath, trying to focus his mind away from the dreams, away from those “experiences” and on what he had to accomplish today. His head twinged with the warning pulses of an oncoming migraine, reverberating through his head in mild quakes, threatening deeper pains.

“Why the hell does this have to come about today?!” he spoke loudly, as he kicked the cool sheets off his drenched body, towards the foot of his bed.

“I really don’t need any of this, at least not today” he muttered as he grabbed his phone off the bedside table, 5:40.

“Great, too late to go back to sleep but too early to really be productive yet, may as well make some coffee and review the blueprints for the client meeting later”. Andre climbed begrudgingly out of bed, dressed himself and wandered into the tiny kitchen of his one-bedroom apartment, a very meager living space, but he’d never been one to want for much.

Setting the kettle to boil Andre poured a cool glass of water from the fridge and with it took a couple ibuprofen in an attempt to stave off the oncoming migraine. He’d suffered with them all his life and knew all the warning signs of especially bad ones and had developed through trial and error a regiment to help prevent, or at least lessen their impacts. Today it was especially important his methods worked as the new client he was meeting later proffered a chance to completely turn his business around. In his thirty years of life he'd had several businesses fail: from small devices he’d invented to make life easier, or services he could offer the communities he’d lived in. Only to have each and every one fail for one reason or another, usually to his own accumulated disinterest.

“Hahaha, I guess you couldn’t exactly say my last business failed per say; more over its just not practical here in the mountains” Andre thought to himself, reminiscing on what promised to be the real winner in all his ventures before he had made the out of the blue decision to uproot again and move deep into the Colorado Rockies.

“But I do love this place, the peace and quiet does the soul good”. Andre was stirred from his thoughts by the whistling of his kettle as the water came to a boil.

“Crap! I got lost again!” he growled, as he pulled down his favorite whole bean coffee, grinder and French press from a cupboard nearby and promptly set about preparing his morning pot of fresh ground/pressed bean juice of life. As his coffee steeped, the warm rich earthiness of it stirred memories from the prior night’s dream again.

“Is it possible this was just another in a long series? These dreams, they all have been so real they always leave me questioning the boundaries of sleep and waking. Does everyone feel whatever they experience at least as they’ve dreamt it? Or is it just me who experiences such dreams as though I’ve lived them, to include the horrifying death that ended last nights’ saga?” He mused to himself as he poured the steaming deep black liquid into his favorite mug.

“I’m such a simple man” Andre laughed to himself in yet another attempt to again break his mind away from the prior nights experience as he stirred in sugar and half n half. The harsh black coffee, lightening while the creamy richness spread in hypnotic spirals throughout his favorite morning drink. Looking out the window above his kitchen sink, Andre slowly sipped his hot beverage, watching as the sun made its first appearance over the summer greened mountain peaks.

“It’s been 6 years, and I still haven’t learned the names of those peaks… will I ever?” he pondered, feeling the warmth spreading through his body easing the gripping quakes in his head while sharpening his senses. Turning to the blueprints on his kitchen table, still where he had tossed them the prior night.

“It’s a simple life, nothing like the horror of those dreams, but at least it there’s beauty in it… now…?” Andre thought to himself as he began to pour over the prints. Sipping carefully at his hot beverage he began making notes, carefully plotting which walls would need to be removed and the proper order to remove/brace them so they could be rebuilt within the spaces without sacrificing structural integrity while meeting the approved design specs for the property.

Not long into working on his order of operations for the third room he planned to work on; his phone buzzed:

“Were you able to get those prints we left for you?” It was a message from the owner of the contractors company that had provisionally hired him for the demolition/framing work on this project. While they had known each for a relatively decent amount of time and while Andre was deeply grateful for the work, he still found himself quite annoyed at the disturbance

“Ugh, I can’t believe he’s already messaging me” Andre muttered, reading the text message, and noticing it was only just now 6.

“Doesn’t he know people are still asleep at this time, I guess nothing changes.”. He mumbled to himself while staring at his phone. He fully understood that while he was just a subcontractor on this project and the owner of the company hiring out work was just doing his due diligence, Andre was still annoyed that he was being questioned so early.

“If nothing more than for continued professional respect.” Andre sighed, running his hand over his tired face.

“Yeah, I’m reviewing them now, I’ll be ready for the meeting at 8”, he responded.

“Good. Make sure you’re early. Meeting may be at 8, but I want you ripping into walls by 8:15, this guy is real eager to get this project going”. Groaning to himself, Andre said to the blueprints:

“Yeah, 8:15 is sooooo realistic with that meeting at 8…” Andre halted mid-sentence, something had caught his eye, one exterior wall in particular backed up to a cliff face was flat as expected, but the interior side… it was… wavy?

“What the hell…?” It was a wall marked for demolition.

“Sure boss, I’ll do my best to meet that goal, but I’m not going to short the clients time with me”, he responded while staring at the prints.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Why is this client so intent on meeting with the demolition guy anyways” Andre said to himself as he continued to stare at the prints.

“I guess I’ll find out” his eyes still affixed to that odd exterior wall. With the dream still prominent in his mind, and the odd prints in front of him, Andre sighed “todays really shaping up to break this mundane stretch.”

“Ok, Great. Thank you, Andre. I greatly appreciate your work on this project! If you have any questions before we meet with the client don’t hesitate to ask. I really want us 100% prepared to handle any of his questions.” The text message came through as surprisingly kind, for everything knew of this boss.

“He must really be on edge dealing with this guy… probably a bit of an asshole. I guess I should be as prepared as I can be.” Andre groaned to himself as he set about how he planned to match the blueprints for each room in the house, slowly drinking his coffee as he went.

“I’m going to impress this guy, and really make a name for myself! This company will flourish!” Andre thought as he resumed examining the remaining rooms on the blueprint.

*******************************************

The rising sun had just broken between the mountain peaks, shining through a pair of large paned windows further illuminating a sparsely adorned office cluttered with drafting tools and large rolls of paper. Hanging on the wall are several dusty framed certificates of accomplishments, next to a shelf containing awards from years long since passed. Standing in the middle of the room at a fold out plastic and metal framed table two men of obvious vastly different stations in life overlook a set of unfurled blueprints, weights at each corner holding it in place. A man dressed very casually in dirty blue jeans with a red plaid shirt took one last look at his phone before setting it down.

“He’ll be there, and he claims to be reviewing the prints” Curt, a stereotypical middle aged pudgy balding man said, to the well-dressed gentleman sitting across the desk from him.

“Must be looking to impress, answering at this early of an hour. You sure this is the guy?” the gentleman responded.

“The guy or not, he’s the one we’ve got, the rest are back logged for weeks” Curt stated, in his signature short, but to the point manner. “What exactly are you looking for?”

The gentleman stared Curt down, “What makes you think I’m looking for something?”

“Well, you’ve bought a long-abandoned property in the middle of nowhere at a price that would make most cry, yet, the blueprints require an almost full demolition of the property, and you’ve requested someone from outside our company do the demolition work for you, when we could have easily handled it all in house at a much cheaper rate, if only you’d be willing to delay the project by just a few weeks” Mused Curt, “just has my partner wondering what your goals are.” A long silent pause fell between the two men, cold tension filling the air.

“Do you really think this is the best way to go about conducting your business? I feel you are being well compensated for the work I have requested…” The suited businessman glanced down at the blueprints spread out on the table before running his hands across their surface. “And I must admit you have done such a fantastic job thus far, the architect you suggested for these prints certainly is a miracle worker in CAD” he paused again, eyes not leaving the prints sitting spread out between them; seemingly collecting his thoughts.

“I’m truly impressed with how quickly he brought these plans to us, well within my desired timetable. But. You questioning me at this stage of the process does concern me with regards to the reliability of future hires on this project.” He finished, almost biting off each of the final words, fully emphasizing their impact. The sun rising behind them cast brighter light between the pair; illuminating an almost sinister glint in the eye of the well-dressed man. Curt stood, stunned by the threatening intonations behind the words of the other man. What felt like hours passed, the tension between them having not wavered in the slightest by the mans words. In reality it had only been moments before Curt regained his disposition.

“I apologize if you mistook my curious inquisitions as a matter of protest to how you wish things to proceed, as co-owner of this business it is my responsibility to ensure that along with meeting your expectations; our workers, both subcontracted and permanent hires are fully aware of everything that is expected of them… whether on blueprints or not…” Curt finally spoke, very carefully at first but then building steam while finishing with the almost suggestive air of a man well versed in underground dealings.

“I can respect that, so long as you do not try to contest everything I request; only handle it with grace and decorum.” The man replied, a sly smile playing at the corner of his lips.

“Good, now while this guy I’ve subcontracted is more than qualified and skilled to handle this scale of project and as much as I like the kid; I really think it would be best for everyone involved if we delayed this project for at least a week so I can have a full crew finish it in half a day, as opposed to the likely week it would take the sub. In fact, I’m sure I can clear up some workers to start as early as the end of next week.”

“So long as my checks clear, I don’t really care what you think. If you’re guy is as qualified as you claim, he should be able to get everything taken care of within the timeline I’ve allowed.” The businessman venomously spat back. “Now, tell me more about this “Andrew”. As you’ve poignantly stated: this timeline is very tight, and I want it done right, thorough, with precision. Why did you select him above anyone else?” The gentleman spoke slowly in a very concise manner having regained the little composure he’d let slip, the entire time continuing to stare Curt directly in the eyes.

“He goes by Andre, while his legal name is Andrew, he hates his parents for it. As for why him? He worked for us when he first moved here several years ago, we know what to expect. He may have struck it out on his own, but I trust him to get the job done. Plus, he’s cheap.”

“Fair answers. If you say he’s the guy, he’s the guy. I do have several areas of concern with the property to discuss with him in our meeting later; while these blueprints are absolutely exquisite, there are several areas of concern for me. But I have some things to address before our meeting onsite, so if that’s everything, I’ll be on my way.”

“Are these areas of concern something you’d care to fill me in on before we meet with him? Maybe I could also be thinking about possible solutions if they present too much of a problem.” Curt responded, eager to see his company off but not willing to throw Andre to the wolves.

“They are but trivial matters and would be better addressed at the site where we can actually put eyes to the potential issues.” The man responded, very matter-of-factly.

“I can fully respect that answer. But Mr. Silderson, why the meeting here this morning to just text the demolition guy?”

The gentlemen turned to him with a sly smile, sliding on a bowler cap, “I have my reasons Curtis Sanderson, never you need worry about it.” With that, he strode out of Curt’s office, the door banging loudly behind him.

“What the in the actual hell was that all about?” Curt muttered to himself staring around his now vacant office space.

“We were supposed to review the final changes he’d requested before meeting Andre at site, and all he cared about was Andre himself…” He continued muttering, struggling to wrap his head around the absurdness of the interaction.

Upon exiting the office complex, Silderson slid into the drivers seat of his slick black vehicle before pulling out his phone and dialing a number:

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Came a rather grumpy, tired voice on the other end.

“I apologize sir, things are moving quicker than I’d originally anticipated and I felt it important to inform you that I’ll be meeting with a purported demolitions expert within the hour.” Silderson coolly replied.

“Very well, I guess I can let this transgression go, IF you can tell me exactly why you felt this so important enough to report as to wake me so damned early.” Came a grouchy response.

“We did not anticipate beginning the excision for at least another week, I felt it important to bring you up to speed; possibly delay if you felt it necessary.” Silderson answered.

“There is no need to delay but please keep a close eye on the site and keep me informed as to any developments that might warrant a delay or civilian evacuation.”

“Of course, sir, modus opperandi. I will say though, I am a bit trepidatious about this individual our contractor has hired. While Curtis claims he’s an expert, I can’t help but feel he’s just some kid who started his own company with minimal experience that Curtis is trying to help with a big-ticket job.” A long silence followed before Silderson received an answer:

“It frankly doesn’t matter to me so long as the project moves forwards, even if the kid gets himself killed in the process due to inexperience. Just keep your eyes on the site and report back any developments.”

“Very well sir, I will report back at the end of the day with an update unless developments warrant an earlier call.”

“Thank you, and… Silderson?”

“Yes sir?”

“Don’t wake me with such trivialities in the future. While I respect your adherence to hierarchal management and decision-making confirmations, this discussion could have waited until a later hour to happen.”

“Yes, Sir. I apologize once more.” Setting his phone down in the dash, Silderson began to bang his head against the steering wheel.

“Damnit all, just what is this little transgression going to cost me this time?!” he bemoaned himself. Pausing, he glanced at his rearview mirror to see Curtis standing in the window of his office, staring at his vehicle.

“Doesn’t matter now, I’d best get moving.” He muttered as he started his vehicle and pulled out of the lot.