The Dragon's Revenge Read online

  Over the fluttering of the nearby banners could be heard a distant explosion and the ringing of metal on metal. I didn’t move my attention from the two generals, behind them, the walls of the city briefly glowed orange.

  ‘Enough, brother,’ said the General of Sword, ‘let’s kill th—’

  I leapt onto him and bit at his face.

  With a fluid, swift motion the General of Bow took a step back, nocked an arrow and shot Grythiss through the left eye hole of his helmet.

  ‘Oh, nicely done,’ Braja applauded. ‘See you soon, Tyro.’

  A moment later, both he and Raitha were dead, also shot by the General of Bow. In front of me, the General of Sword made a dazzling move that cut at my head with the katana and my ribs with a wakizashi he had drawn with his left hand. I must have been within an inch of being decapitated. The combat messages, however, showed that I was fine.

  You have been hit by a katana for 0 damage.

  You have been hit by a wakizashi for 0 damage.

  This was great. Even level 100 mobs couldn’t hurt me!

  The General of Bow had a dagger out, he chopped through the shaft of an arrow near the head and stabbed me in the heart with the sharp wooden point.

  You have been hit by a wooden stake for 17 damage. It has impaled your heart. You are dead.

  Chapter 20

  Dead Again

  Damn. I was still respawning at my starting point in the woods near Safehaven. And Wolf Form was greyed out. Was I still a vampire even? It seemed so; my related ability options were all available. Assuming I was, I needed to find a dark room in the next couple of hours or I would have to stay out of the game until the next sunset. Where could I go? The pirate caves were close and the mobs, at least those on the outside, trivial. North-east then, at a run. Tempting as it was to use my Great Bat ability and feel the experience of flying, I thought I should save it as I had no idea how often it became available.

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Report please, Sapentia.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Entire wipe. Except four or five under mind control.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Anyone get in?’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Not I know.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Report please, Glarinson?’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Everyone clipped up, I’m not sure if anyone got away though.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘I did. Rubblethumper here, half-orc warrior, level forty-two.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Me too. Serethina, half-elf bard, forty-four.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘And me. Scarlet, elf, hunter, twenty-seven.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Silva, cleric, thirty-seven.’

  With every speaker, my heart rose. After these four, however, there was silence.

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Anyone else?’ I waited a few seconds. ‘Shame. That’s it, folks. The raid is over. Get some sleep, we have an important meeting in the morning to go over a new strategy.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Wait just a minute,’ came a thick American voice, loudly, ‘no one go anywhere. We still have Molino and his group to rescue.’

  I answered right away, [Channel Rescue] ‘The problem is, the General of Bow and General of Sword are in Fort Hellsmouth right now. Those two alone can wipe us.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘We could try flying in. Or a team of rogues can sneak in. There’s nothing to lose,’ the same voice continued aggressively.

  [Channel Rescue] ‘I’m calling the raid off and recommending sleep before phase two of this project.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Just who do you think you are anyhow? I suppose you have to stream videos of yourself to be popular in the modern world of gaming. But that doesn’t mean you know anything about Epic; some of us go back to when it was being Beta tested. And Molino is one. Come on everybody, he’s level fifty-nine, we have to give it a try.’

  [Channel Rescue] ‘What’s your name?’ I asked patiently. This guy wanted a row. Probably he thought he had the backing of Blackridge. Tomorrow, however, he’d see which way the wind was blowing.

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Tombalinor, level forty-four human bard.’

  After forming a group out of myself, Braja, Sapentia, Grythiss and Raitha, I found Tombalinor and made him raid leader. Then I quit the raid.

  [Channel Rescue] ‘Tombalinor, you have raid leadership. Good luck. And I mean that. For those who want to try, by all means go ahead. I remain convinced the best thing we can do now is unclip and prepare for a long day tomorrow.’

  The raid channel surged up with voices, some agreeing with me, most of the loud ones urging people to stay. There were a few reasonable questions about what would happen tomorrow. It was all too chaotic though and I simply muted the channel.

  [Group] ‘That went pretty well, apart from the messy end, didn’t it?’ I asked my friends.

  [Group] ‘Most good,’ replied Sapentia, ‘let us unclip and view board of players.’

  [Group] ‘You did great,’ added Braja, ‘don’t worry about Tombalinor and the bozos. They won’t get anywhere.’

  Raitha spoke up for me too, [Group] ‘I am very proud of you, Tyro; as far as I am concerned you took the maximum possible advantage of your unique condition and no one could have freed more of our players than you did.’

  [Group] ‘Thank you, Raitha, I appreciate your saying so.’

  [Group] ‘Lizardman alssso ssay sssame. Lizardman jussst regretsss being killed before hitting General of Ssssword.’

  [Group] ‘That reminds me, what about your bodies and your gear? You all have those magic items to retrieve.’

  [Group] ‘I will bring you all to them in morning. Now, I’m tired.’ This was Sapentia.

  [Group] ‘Good idea. I’m still a vampire though, so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow night for mine. Not that there’s much on my body I need. I wouldn’t mind removing the exp penalty though.’

  [Group] ‘Unclipping,’ announced Braja, ‘see you on the other side.’

  [Group] ‘It will take me fifteen to twenty, I need to run to a cave.’

  Once I reached the coast, I turned left to jog over silver sands. The moons were dipping towards the black treeline to the west. In addition to the sound of the wind rustling the wild grasses of the dunes, I heard a strange noise from all around: it was a like a musical note, a call too resonant and all-embracing to be a creature in the sea. It was a lot like the effect you get when you wet a finger and run it at the right speed around a wine glass. And maybe that’s what it was. Without slowing, I searched out the source of the sound more closely and reckoned it was the sand itself. Huge sheets of glistening sand were sliding into the sea, thin layers, just the very top of the beach, and it was this that seemed to be creating the thrilling chime. What a game, that it could create such wonderful effects, even if for most of the time there were no players around to appreciate them.

  In the distance, I could see the black outline of the cliff I was aiming for as it blocked the stars. One day, I should learn the constellations. Closer, the moonlight was still strong enough to make out the caves I sought, as well as a pirate standing on the beach and looking out to sea. Unfortunately for him, the You require blood message had been flicking onto my UI for some time. Since I didn’t have a weapon and wasn’t entirely sure that I could bite like a vampire in half-elf form and since my Summon Bats was greyed out still from earlier it had to be Summon Rats to deal with him.

  A scurrying, eager horde of rats soon flowed around each other and circled me as I walked forward. When I was close enough that the pirate saw me and turned, alarmed, I triggered the Attack Target command of the rat swarm. He lasted only a few seconds and of course, I got no experience from this, his level was too low. I did, however, mime biting the body at the neck and drinking blood, which successfully brought up the message: You have drunk the blood of a pirate.

  For good measure, I repeated the same trick on the three pirates I encountered as I went deep enough into their cave system to be sure I was going to be well away from direct sunlight. Then I uncl
ipped.

  Stepping out of my rig, I felt a wave of tiredness run up my body. Not that I could let fatigue determine my behaviour, for there were lots of people waiting outside of my room, not just my friends. Most of them were smiling and a round of applause broke out as I came into the Den. For me? It must be. This was quite a turnaround. Even Blackridge was there, clapping with the rest, nodding and smiling. You had to give it to him, he knew how to play a part.

  A woman, relatively old in this company, with greying hair tied back in a ponytail held out her hand. ‘Merci, Tyro.’ She pronounced it Tear-ro.

  ‘Woan?’ I guessed.

  ‘Indeed.’ She shook my hand again and let go. ‘Many thanks.’

  ‘And from me too, Blackstorm, Oveidio.’ I was offered a handshake from a thin male, forties, goatee, dirty blonde hair, wearing tracksuit bottoms and an old EVE online T-shirt. I took it and he nodded cheerfully.

  There were plenty of pats on the back and expressions of gratitude for me before I could stand and look at the player board. It was a lot healthier after our night’s work. True, the top twenty, from 59 down to 45 were all still red. After that, though, we had Serethina, the half-elf bard recently released from the southern gate at 44 (just ahead of the guy leading what could only be a small raid given how many people were here, Tombalinor, 44) and that would make a big difference to plan B.

  ‘Say something.’ Braja was behind me. ‘Explain what’s going to happen.’ He pulled up a chair and looked at me with his earnest, brown eyes. My heart sank. Kids from our school weren’t encouraged to speak in public (mostly, we were told to be silent) and I found it daunting. Moreover, it had been a long raid, everyone was probably tired. Still, I was pleasantly surprised when I got up to a few cheers. The hubbub in the room died down after Braja created a ringing sound by tapping his penknife onto the metal arm of the chair.

  I looked around at a room of attentive faces, most of which held friendly expressions. Near me were Raitha, Grythiss and Sapentia, and I could sense their support. ‘Thank you everyone. I think we achieved a lot tonight. Sorry it couldn’t have been more.’ It suddenly occurred to me that Molino and his high-level party could be in the room, although more likely they were standing by a rig in case the chance arose to enter the game and escape Fort Hellsmouth. ‘We still have a chance of completing our mission and killing the dragon.

  ‘Tomorrow, we’ll explain the plan to everyone. In short, we need to use trade skills to create three or four Arrows of Dragon Slaying. Then, Raitha and I will hunt Mikarkathat and assassinate her.’

  There were a few cheers and whoots at this. Not so many though, on the whole the audience looked thoughtful. And why wouldn’t they? If I were being told this news, I’d be wondering was it really possible to take out a top boss with a few arrows and also what this meant for my next task.

  ‘I’ll assign jobs tomorrow. Higher-level characters will be farming for rare items in difficult regions, the lower-level characters will be concentrating on maximising their trade skills.’ There was a groan or two. ‘Sorry, but the idea of all of us reaching level one hundred and hammering the dragon in a conventional raid is no longer feasible. If you really hate trade skills, you can journey to remote areas and farm ingredients.’ I paused, intending to get down, but several hands shot up.

  One was that of the grungy, androgynous person who had challenged Watson about pay. ‘Yes?’ I pointed at him.

  ‘No offence. But when were you put in charge? And will we still get a bonus if the dragon dies?’

  ‘About four hours ago, when Middlehampton went well. And I assume so. You can ask Watson if he doesn’t mention it at the meeting later.’

  I took another hand. A small woman in her twenties, dark hair. ‘I really hate trade skills, but I’m only level eight, monk. Can you put me on a gathering mission?’ Lots more people now had a hand raised high.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘I’m really tired and this isn’t the place to drill down to that level of detail.’ Then inspiration struck. ‘Please let Mr Blackridge know your preferences and I’ll do my best to address them.’ With that, I stepped down, leaning on Braja’s shoulder to do so and hurried out. Behind me conversations broke out and lively chat filled the Den, mostly it had an eager tone.

  My team were with me as we rode the lift down to the lobby.

  ‘Well done,’ said Braja, ‘especially dumping the collating job on Blackridge.’ He gave a chuckle.

  With a star-painted fingernail, Sapentia pressed for the lift. ‘Let’s share ride around to everyone’s hotels.’

  When the limo pulled up - the night-time air was warm here and the scents of the city completely different to Dublin, more intense, like you sometimes got from the air conditioning outside a restaurant. Or maybe that was because there were several restaurants nearby – Braja took the front seat and nudged me, looking earnest.

  ‘You all go in the back. You’ve something to tell them.’

  For a moment I had no idea what he was talking about, my daydreams were miles away, planning the next step of the project. Then, with an unpleasant adjustment, I realised he meant the macro and how I cheated for the shield.

  With Sapentia sitting to my right, Raitha opposite me and Grythiss opposite her, and with the lights of the city streets regularly filling the car with pale, white light (making them all look even more tired than they already were), I explained about the way I had altered the roll for the shield.

  ‘It was wrong. I regretted it right away. And I regretted it even more when Watson appeared in my life and blackmailed me about it. And I won’t ever do something like that again.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Grythiss, ‘I’d have done the same. When we get back to Epic, we have the perfect raiding tank in Raitha now. Until they add new content, we can take on any of the top bosses.’

  Hopeful, I turned to Sapentia. Her face, however, was sour. ‘It does matter. You suck, Tyro. Everyone sucks.’

  ‘He did it for me.’ Raitha looked across at her with a soft expression. ‘It wasn’t selfish.’

  ‘It was wrong! Unfair to others!’ Her fist banged the window, making the driver look up at the mirror. Sapentia folded her arms.

  We drove in silence then, until at Braja’s hotel. Without a backward glance or a goodnight, he left the vehicle and closed the door. As we pulled out into the road again, I looked across at Sapentia, who shook her head and muttered something that sounded like ‘Ekuzo.’ I had a feeling she’d sworn at him, or me.

  My stop was next.

  ‘Night all. See you later for the meeting…I’m going to group us up in an interesting spot.’

  ‘Good night, my friend, sleep well.’ This from Raitha.

  With a tired-looking gesture, Grythiss waved at me; Sapentia didn’t even catch my eye.

  After a quick - astonishingly powerful - shower, I stretched out under the cool sheets of the large bed, lying on my back, worrying about Sapentia and Braja. Worrying about the meeting to come and whether how to manage the discontent from the trade-skillers. Yet behind these concerns was a warm glow of accomplishment that spread through me and would have sent me to sleep had it not also brought with it the thought of telling my mum about the successful raid. Why not? Now was a good time, she’d be home from work.

  She picked up on the third ring. ‘Hello Tom, what time is it there?’

  ‘About four in the morning I think.’

  ‘You’re up late?’

  ‘Just in from a raid. It was a good one. And Mum, they’ve put me in charge…’ With that, I was off, telling her about the trapped characters and about me being a vampire, so it meant I had a bit of leverage in the tactics. Normally, Mum would cut me off from this kind of Epic-related chat, knowing I’d run on for ages. I guess she must have missed the sound of my voice though, as I was able to explain everything. And she even said, ‘I see’, or ‘well done’ at appropriate moments.

  ‘What about you?’ I asked at last. ‘Any news?’

 
Mum sighed. ‘Work want me next week and I can only book Friday for a holiday. I won’t be able to come to San Francisco.’

  ‘Oh, Mum.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I’d love you to be here and see the city.’ I hesitated, then added, ‘You wouldn’t have seen much of me though. Other than sleeping and eating, all my time is spent in the game or organising.’

  ‘That’s what I thought; it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to come.’

  ‘I’ll make sure they give us the cash equivalent. We can have a holiday somewhere else another time instead.’

  ‘It’s not in the contract though; so don’t fight anyone over this. If I don’t come to San Francisco, that’s my own fault.’

  ‘I think they might. This means a lot to them, millions, billions maybe. A few thousand doesn’t matter to Yuno. And, I’m not supposed to say this, but the investors for this particular game are the founders of Blackcoin. They have insane amounts of cash to throw around.’

  ‘To launder you mean?’

  I laughed. She didn’t. After a short silence, I spoke again, ‘I’d better get some sleep.’

  ‘Thanks for calling, Tom. And Tom?’

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘God knows we could use the money, but at the end of the day, it’s not everything. We are doing okay; we’re happy, right?’

  ‘Happy?’ I thought about my life back in Dublin. ‘You work too hard. Sometimes we run short. We don’t have anything in the bank for if something goes seriously wrong and I hate school. But, I guess I’m happy, sure. Now that you let me play Epic anyway.’

  ‘Tom, you’re smart. You’ll end up with a decent job, four or five years from now. I’m just saying, you don’t have to do anything for Yuno or Blackcoin for my sake, for our sake.’

  ‘I know, Mum.’

  Then she said something unexpected. ‘I love you.’

  ‘Love you too.’