The Dragon's Revenge Read online

  All the time I contemplated the scene, the wolf had been staring at me with unblinking grey eyes. When I finally moved, it continued to watch me and scrabbled around slightly to try to follow me as I circled: presumably the wolf intended to attack me if I came too close.

  ‘It’s all right,’ I said as soothingly as I could. ‘It’s going to be all right. I just have to untie that cord.’ Without dwelling on the wisdom of the decision, or I would have talked myself out of it, I’d resolved to set the wolf free. If I could do so safely.

  Round and round I went, looking for an opportunity to climb the far side of the tree to the wolf. And although the wolf wanted to follow me, the rope got tighter as it scrabbled to face me, until with a whine of pain and exhaustion, it stopped trying, head against the trunk. Laying my rabbit on the ground, with a deep breath and a test for the firmness of the ground (that is, the rigidity of the tracker pad), I ran and sprang for a branch. Snarling and suddenly overcoming its agony, the wolf whirled back around the tree, loosening the rope. It jumped at me, but was too late.

  ‘Take it easy, friend. You’re almost free.’

  I climbed to where the rope was tied and with some effort, loosened the knot, allowing the cord to fall to the ground. Immediately the wolf rolled around and around over the ground, as if trying to bite its own tail. As it did so, the howls the wolf emitted were long, loud and awful. But then it stood up, hip back in place, silent. The wolf gave me a long look before limping over to my rabbit, which it picked up with its powerful jaws before moving slowly (on three legs) off into the forest.

  ‘Hey! That’s my lunch.’

  Oh well.

  One day, assuming Yuno didn’t go bankrupt and close the game, I knew that Klytotoxos the Hunter would be an absolutely awesome and respected avatar. For now, however, I only had one thing going for me, which was my Set Traps skill. It took time to make cords, but that’s what I would have to do and try to trap a monster or creature that I felt less squeamish about killing. At least I could explore the forest as I went around setting traps.

  Moving towards the south-west, where the density of trees increased, as did the size of their trunks, indicating a much older forest, I was on the lookout for fruit. And sure enough, there was a short, dark tree with pink and white blossoms that looked like it was supporting clusters of cherries. Only they weren’t exactly like cherries in the real world. I picked one of the red berries and tentatively nibbled at it.

  You have discovered the skill Gathering (1).

  Great. Progress, of sorts. Hoping that message meant the fruit was not harmful, I ate a dozen of the pseudo-cherries and picked a dozen more for later, which I had to keep inside my shirt for want of the backpack my first incarnation had carried. I didn’t like the forest so much here, the ground began to rise and fall in a series of short but fairly steep hills, which meant I either had to walk in the valleys and feel vulnerable to an attack from above, or walk on top of a hill and be easy to spot, or else on the hillside and feel an uncomfortable tilt of the ground beneath me.

  Turning back, a motion on the ground caught my eye. These half-elven eyes were good. Even in dim light I could focus on very small details. It was a yellow snake. I had no remorse about killing snakes. I targeted it.

  Fern snake: Challenging.

  Right. That meant it was level 1. And I had no weapons. On the other hand, it wasn’t moving and it lay, perhaps half-asleep, under a sturdy-looking branch. After a short search, I found a decent-sized (moss-covered) rock, about as heavy as I could manage with one hand. Then I pulled myself into the tree with my other hand and made my way to the branch above the snake.

  Somewhat alarmingly, the branch dipped as I moved out on it and if this had disturbed the snake, causing it to move away, my plan would have failed. With delight, however, I saw that the snake had not moved and the fact that I was now only my own height above the ground was a big plus in being able to hit the snake. Aiming for its head, I worked my way to the point I was directly above the creature, then let go of the rock. Thwamp!

  You have killed a Fern snake. You gain experience.

  Happily, about half the red bar of experience penalty had gone!

  Although the system alert reassured me that the snake was dead, I was very careful in removing the rock from the body. Snake meat was edible, right? I didn’t fancy it though. I’d rather get fruit from trees and bushes, or rabbit from my traps. Snakeskin, on the other hand, would be good for a backpack. How cool would that be? Or a waistcoat. I was feeling cheerful. With any luck the snake would be on a fast enough respawn timer that I could do this again soon. In the meantime, I got a stick and moved the body to a patch of red earth that was visible where the turf covering of the forest floor had broken open due to the sharp rise of the hillside. I also placed the rock beside the base of the tree.

  After a circuit of my traps - nothing yet - I came back to the Fern snake. Nothing there yet either. Never mind. A few more traps. A few more cherries. And there it was. A lovely yellow snake. The timer was about an hour. Climb. Go out on the branch. Line up the shot. Thwomp!

  You have killed a Fern snake. You gain experience.

  Hurray, I was back in black: I’d made a little progress towards level 1. Three more of those would do it. This would be a good time for a break. So standing by the tree, safely away from the snake’s spawn point, I unclipped.

  Stumbling slightly as I adjusted to the - rather dull-looking - real world and actually walking on floors, I exited the room and went down the corridor to a vending machine, where I selected water and a cheese sandwich. As I stood there munching (and worrying about the crumbs, should I try to sweep them up? There was a bin nearby), Felicity, my orientation guide, came out of another of the rig rooms. Clearly, she intended to come to the vending machine, but seeing me she turned around, looking anxious and awkward, and hurried towards the control room instead.

  My arm, which had been raised in greeting, fell back to my side. With a loud ‘tut’, to express how rude I thought this kind of behaviour was, I finished my sandwich and (ignoring the crumbs) set off back to my rig and plan for snake squishing.

  Three hours, two rabbits, and three more flattened Fern snakes later I heard a beautiful chime and saw flash of golden stars.

  You have gained a level. You are level 1.

  At last! The feeling of relief I got from the moment was surprisingly intense. Until now, I hadn’t realised just how much I was suffering from being stuck on 0. What had made the situation all the more unbearable was the knowledge that Blackridge and the others could see from the scoreboard that I was still on 0. Probably, they joked about it. Well, 1 wasn’t much, but it was progress.

  My new attribute point I added to Dexterity, bringing me to 15. My hit points were now up to 16, which made me feel a lot more sturdy. Nothing else had visibly changed, I guessed though that the cap on my skills, which had previously been 5, would have been lifted to 10. That gave me something to do for the hour before my next snake, work on my main skill and main way out of the tough spot I was in. Perhaps due to my improved Dexterity it felt that my rate of success with Set Traps was higher. I’d reached 10 in the skill before it was time to drop a rock on a Fern snake.

  One problem with my strategy, quite apart from the fact it was boring and unimaginative, was that the experience reward now that I was the same level as the snake, was a smaller proportion of what I needed to get to level 2. I’d have to kill another 10 or 12 of them. Mind you, since I didn’t have a bow or even a dagger, finding a more interesting and rewarding mob to fight was out of the question.

  Given that I could potentially level my bowyer skill to ten, surely that would allow me to make functional bows and arrows? What did I need to do so? I decided to take a break and read up on the skill.

  With a little less tension in my stomach as I crossed the control room, I noticed that the whole floor, the Den, was noticeably busier with people of all ages. And what was pleasant was that several of the new people
smiled at me. I even got a ‘hello’. Newcomers, obviously, who weren’t aware I was out of favour. But it felt good all the same. On my journey out to San Francisco, I had assumed there would be a sense of comradeship between everyone involved in this project and I’d been looking forward to making new friends. The clash with Blackridge, however, had cut me off from the regular Yuno staff. Maybe the new arrivals would be more open and friendly towards me.

  Refreshed and thoroughly informed about the art of bow and arrow making (I could use rabbit gut for the string and wood from a variety of trees, with yew being best, but, sadly, I needed a knife too), I was on my way back to find a rig when a small, dark-skinned young man with extraordinary brown eyes stopped me in the corridor.

  ‘Are you Tyro?’

  I nodded.

  ‘I’m Raitha!’ he said, with a flash of bright, white teeth as he smiled with delight.

  ‘Oh, I should have guessed from your accent. Great to meet you, man!’

  ‘You too.’

  And suddenly we were embracing. So this was my best friend of the last four years. I liked him; he smiled easily.

  I took his arm. ‘Let’s go for something to eat and I’ll fill you in. I’m not off to a great start.’

  ‘Certainly. Let us do that. But first, I must say something. It has been in my thoughts for the whole journey.’ Raitha looked at me seriously. ‘Thank you. The four thousand dollars a month means a lot to my family and me.’

  I waited for a moment. ‘Is that it?’ I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  ‘Is it what?’

  ‘Is that your prepared speech? How long was your flight? Surely you had time to come up with something more substantial and heart-warming?’

  ‘Man, you’re so unmoved. You suck at being a comrade-in-arms. I will admit that my speech could have been longer and no doubt it would have brought you to tears, but for the fact that Blade of Reckoning was one of the options among the movies; I watched it twice.’ His dark eyes were full of amiable mischief.

  That’s something you didn’t pick up on in-game, the subtleties of non-verbal communication.

  Unlike yesterday, when it was nearly empty, the canteen was busy and had a sense of energy and community. I’d only recently eaten, so just picked up an apple and a bottle of water. Rubbing his hands with a gesture of eager anticipation, Raitha piled up his tray with a burger, fries, baked beans, a bowl of ice-cream and a slice of apple pie.

  ‘America, the land of great food.’ He said this with utter sincerity. ‘I’m going to avail of it to return home without a trace of my current look of emaciation.’

  ‘You look fine,’ I replied. And he did: slender brown limbs, fit and healthy-looking. ‘But don’t let me stop you piling on the cholesterol.’

  ‘Oh, you could not keep me from this tray of delicious food without a Forcewall at least.’

  There was a considerable mix of age groups represented by the people eating and chatting at the tables. No one seemed to be as young as me though, which made me feel a little proud, if isolated. Raitha and I sat near a balding, older man who was reading a hard-copy of the Epic 2 guide, which he held in one hand, while his spoon was in the other, occasionally being dipped into some soup.

  ‘So you’re a male,’ I said.

  ‘You knew that, though. Didn’t you?’

  ‘I suppose so. Should I still call you Raitha?’

  I had to wait for an answer while he chewed and swallowed a very large bite from the burger. ‘Yes, yes of course. I shall be Raitha in the game and that’s where we will be spending most of our time. My birth name is Yatish, but you may call me Raitha. I prefer it. Please, treat me like you did before this meeting. Like I am a female warrior.’

  ‘How old are you?’ I hadn’t meant to ask the question, in case it sounded rude, it just came out when I studied Raitha’s face. It was a kind face, open, but one that could have been that of an eighteen-year-old or a twenty-eight-year old.

  ‘Twenty-two. You?’

  ‘Seventeen.’

  ‘I think I knew that. You are a remarkable young man. When you lead raids, I feel that you are much older than me.’

  ‘Thank you.’ I swallowed the bite of apple I had been chewing. ‘It’s strange that when I enter the game, I really do feel older, smarter. A better person all around.’ I gave Raitha a smile to show I didn’t entirely believe this. Yet, perhaps it was true.

  Leaning forward, I dropped my voice to nearly a whisper, ‘Raitha, I have to confess to something I’m really sorry about.’

  ‘What?’ His look of puzzlement - as if he could not believe there was anything I could possibly do wrong - was heartening. Just this minute, however, I had decided to bite the bullet. This was a very painful moment and a risky one.

  ‘I used a macro on the roll for the Shield of the Dragonslayer to make sure you got it.’

  There was a long pause as Raitha’s eye’s bulged with surprise and his eyebrows shot up. He nearly choked on his burger, then looked wildly left and right before returning his brown eyes to mine. When he had cleared his mouth, he let out a long breath, then lowered his astonished eyebrows and stared at me sombrely for what felt like a very long time.

  I could feel myself blushing.

  At last, he spoke. ‘Tyro, you are my comrade. You meant well, I understand. If you had acted for yourself, that would have been very wrong, we could not be friends. Yet you acted for me, for future raids with our other friends.

  ‘It was still very wrong, yet not so awful when properly considered. You probably need to hear me say this: I forgive you. Now, let us never talk about this again. This is a fresh start. This is Epic Two!’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Having smiled at me with a look of deep, earnest affection, Raitha now sank back in his seat turning his gaze to his apple pie and giving a roll of his head from side to side. ‘You almost spoiled my dessert.’

  ‘Sorry about that.’

  ‘Now, while I enjoy this wonderful apple pie, you must tell me about the game and we shall plan how to defeat the dragon once more.’

  With lowered voice, not wanting my words to reach our neighbour with the book, I ran through my experiences at Yuno headquarters, starting with my refusal to obey Blackridge and then detailing the difficulties my hunter faced in levelling. From time to time Raitha paused in his obvious enjoyment of his dessert, to give me an intelligent look, but he didn’t interrupt. When I concluded with a modicum of pride in my Set Traps skill, he flashed a white smile.

  ‘What class do you think I should play?’ he then asked.

  ‘I was assuming a warrior again, to be the main tank in raids.’

  Raitha nodded. ‘I thought that would be our approach too. Instead, I have a better idea. Like you, I will create a hunter and like you she will start in Palernia. In fact, in every respect I shall copy you. That way, there is an excellent chance I shall spawn near you. Then I can eat your rabbits. More importantly, you can borrow my knife to make bows and arrows. With these weapons, we shall level up together.’

  Reaching across the table, I held his lower arm. ‘That’s brilliant, my old friend. Twins. We shall be twins.’

  Chapter 8

  Twins

  Walking back through the control room, side by side with Raitha, I felt full of energy and when Blackridge looked across from his busy position before the map, I met his sneer with a confident smile. The building was filling up with players; there must have been twice as many people present now as yesterday. What a project. And what expense, although the cost of running this operation was probably trivial in comparison to the amounts Yuno had invested in creating the game.

  It was even difficult finding a room with two rigs side by side, and as we looked in through the windows, a young man wearing shirt and tie - which was unusual from what I’d seen of Yuno Industries - and holding a clipboard asked Raitha for his name.

  ‘Raitha,’ my friend answered.

  ‘Would that be Yatish Poathur?’

 
‘It would.’

  ‘Great, welcome to Yuno Enterprises. The General has asked that you create a wizard near Port Wyvern.’

  The look that passed over Raitha’s face was a delight. He was obviously struggling to control an impulse to give an angry response. In the end, he simply raised his eyebrows questioningly and shrugged. ‘I play in partnership with Tyro.’

  ‘Ahh, of course.’ The young man gave me an indecipherable look. ‘But we are a team here, working towards a carefully balanced raid group.’

  ‘I understand why we are here and I intend to do my best for the sake of the goal. Your General might be an excellent raid leader, but I have never met him. Tyro, on the other hand, I have stood side to side with in thousands of battles. We have been in every kind of tactical situation from two-person encounters to large raids. And in that time, I have come to know and’—he paused—‘it would not be too strong a word to say, I have come to “love” him. Tyro is my comrade. I will not be separated from him.’

  With a mock, self-depreciating shrug - what can I do? - I opened a nearby door and we both went inside, leaving the Yuno company worker in the corridor looking anxious and shuffling a little from foot to foot. Probably, he did not relish reporting this encounter back to Blackridge.

  ‘My goodness, a harness and a two-footed tracker pad.’ Raitha paused beside a player who was clipped up and running, spinning the pads beneath her feet at great speed.

  ‘It does take a bit of getting used to. But after an hour in game, you won’t even be aware of it.’

  ‘Very well. Let us clip up.’ There was a definite excitement and sense of anticipation in his words.