Dreaming Orora Read online

  “I’m surprised we run into anyone here,” the man said in a broken Asian English accent, “especially after the dark army passing through.” The man dismounted few feet away from them, the woman followed suit, “Unless, you are working with him?” he squinted and looked each member of the party in turn.

  “We could say the same thing about you,” Tala said stepping forward for a more in your face approach.

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Myth-” Oz said

  “-None of your business,” Talion stepped forward cutting Oz off.

  The man smiled and jumped back on his Vagrant, “We are heading to the Forgotten Island. I hope we don’t have to face you on the other side.”

  No one offered him any response. He looked back at them and just like they came, they disappeared leaving nothing but dust on their wake.

  “The Forgotten Island?” Fitch said.

  “It’s rumored that the Dark One is using it as his headquarters,” Tala said. “They must have a death wish.”

  “And next time,” Talion stood in front of Oz, “don’t just stupidly blab what we are doing.” Talion summoned his mount while Oz made funny faces behind him.

  “Please tell me I can kick his ass?” Oz PMed Fitch.

  “Two more hours and you probably won’t have to see him again.”

  Just as Tala said, by the half hour mark they reached the foot of the mountain. Looking up, Fitch failed to spot the tip from all the cloud formation. Good thing they didn't need to go that far. The mines entrance was visible one third of the way.

  “Well, almost there, but you got to be more careful here guys,” Tala said, “Mobs here are tougher than the ones in the field. The mines should prove more so, but with proper planning we should be fine.”

  Oz walked past Tala, “nice pip talk.”

  Tala pushed past him, “and I should be ahead of you all.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Oz slowed down his pace to be next to Fitch, “I think she likes me,” he said in a low voice. Fitch just smiled back.

  It took them another half an hour to trudge the mountain to reach the mine’s entrance. They had to climb left and right as the pathway snaked. At times they had to also deviate from the beaten path to avoid some menacing looking mobs. Good thing the pathways had ample room to maneuver. Fitch never saw the need to look down and trigger his fears either.

  The hole on the mountain’s face had wooden beams to support the boulders atop it. If the absence of any noises besides the howling wind didn't reflect the mine’s current popularity, the deserted carts, shovels and used torches sure did.

  “Man, this place sure is a ghost town,” Fitch said.

  “Stay on your toes,” Tala said, “you never know what’s inside.”

  The lights inside dimmed and few sparsely placed torches illuminated the narrow pathway. They continued walking for few minutes before coming into an opening to a huge hollow mining area. Few tunnels on the other side of the hall probably lead deeper. Purple chunks grew between rocks all around the area, mythril ready for the picking. Few mobs wandered around minding their own business, far away to pose a threat.

  “Damn, all this mythril. Does anyone have mining skills? Tools?” Oz said drooling over those pieces.

  “Not the time,” Talion said taking calculated steps forward. Tala stood absent minded at the opening they just came from, checking the map perhaps.

  Oz approached a chunk of mythril. He took a knife and hacked at it to no avail. He stashed his knife back in his bag and walked towards the entrance. He tensed midway, “Oh Fuck. Seriously?”

  “Don’t tell me,” Paragon said.

  “What?” Talion pulled his sword out.

  “Power failure. I got fifteen minutes to log off. Damn it.”

  “Damn it man, what the hell. I thought you fixed this,” Fitch said.

  “You and me both,” Oz said.

  “Now what?” Talion said.

  Oz let out a heavy sigh, “Listen, last few times this happened it took the power at least three hours to come back. No point of you guys waiting. Just go ahead with the quest.”

  “No man, we’ll wait. You came this far,” Paragon said.

  “It’s ok. I’m sure I’ll do it later. Listen, I don’t have much time. Let me at least go to the entrance and log off there.”

  Oz run towards the exit. Fitch exchanged a look with Paragon, “are you sure about this?” Fitch PMed Oz.

  “Yes, yes. Just go, I’m logging out already,” with that Oz dropped off the party.

  Fitch looked at Paragon “So?”

  “I’m sorry to say this,” Talion said, “but we are already here. The hard part is done and we can’t wait for your friend. You can actually do it yourselves from here, so you can do it with us or wait for him.”

  “We can do it now and then help him with it once he’s back,” Paragon said.

  “Yeah, at least we’ll know what we are getting into,” Fitch said.

  “Well then-” Talion said.

  Fitch forgot about Tala before she cut Talion off with a huge sigh, “-I guess this is as good a time as any. Talion we need to move now.”

  “Yes, dear,” Talion said.

  Talion took out his sword and started changing his armor. “Finally I can get out of this filth.” The pieces he dawned bulged over his body. He looked at least twice his former size. Fitch watched in disbelief. Those pieces should be at least level ninety plus. He walked towards Paragon who just dropped from the party.

  “What the hell?” Fitch said.

  Talion raised his hand and slashed. Paragon stumbled back and screamed in the public chat, “Damn it, what the hell?”

  He took out his staff and tried to cast something, but another slash made sure he didn’t. Then another, and another. Paragon stepped back and screamed, “Fitch, what is going on?”

  Fitch turned his head left and right trying to comprehend what was happening. Talion continued pummeling Paragon who tried to dodge. Tala on the other hand was in the middle of casting something. “Guys, what the hell?” he screamed in the group.

  “Fitch, drop the party,” Paragon said. Fitch couldn’t react before the message appeared on his display, Preparing to teleport.

  “What the?” Fitch said and small beams of light erupted all around him. “Damn it,” he jumped to the menu and went to the party option, but it was too late. Darkness engulfed him and all voices vanished.

  The world started to form around him once more. A message told him that he was kicked from the party, behind it stood Tala in a dark room.

  “Welcome to the Forbidden Island,” she said and Fitch felt a hit to the back of his head and his display went dark.

  You’ve been put to sleep.

  17 – The Dome

  Another ship, another turning stomach. The wizard’s advice about it being all in her head sure did not help. And concentrating on other stuff only managed to make Maia more nauseas. Where were the pirates when she needed them?

  Once the four of them decided to move after this Hok guy, Maia did some research about him. She found little to no info despite his infamous status. Some underground and shady forums talked about him and how he used to be a good guy caught in unfortunate events, that info did not interest her. She could care less about how he got his reputation. She needed to know how he looked like and if there were any recent sightings of him.

  That info floated around the uncertainty valley as will. He could change his hairstyle, color and facial hair without any issues. He could also cover his head with whatever armor or piece of cloth. The search sounded like a fruitless endeavor from the get go. Yet the old man believed he had a good idea.

  Banned by ODI, this Hok person should not be able to ever log in Orora again. Yet some people claimed that they saw him online. Along with the emergence of recent authenticated screen shots of him sparked the crusade. At the same time a huge series of events started to unfold in the Orora world. This could not be all a coincidence.
/>   The old man knew Hok possessed one of the items needed to defeat the Dark One. Thus, Hok would be drawn towards the Dark One in an attempt to end this quest. And what other place would they both be converging to besides Ladara?

  “But you said there are four or five more items needed for him to get this done?” Rain said back in the small motel room.

  “Four,” the old man held four fingers up, “and I know for sure that he did not get a hold of all of them, yet.”

  “So why would he be there?” Maia said.

  “I don’t know,” the old man shrugged, “it just sounds better than any other ideas you had.”

  “Sure beats whatever those two were doing,” Maia pointed with her thumb towards Rain.

  “We can go on forums and online sites and ask for him there,” Rain said ignoring Maia’s comments, “I’m sure he’ll answer once we tell him that we are on his side.”

  “You seriously think he will? Seriously?” Maia said, “he made a point in concealing his identity until now, I don’t think he’ll risk his plan by announcing it to the public. Besides, you said some people are helping this Dark One,” the old man nodded, “he won’t be an idiot and expose himself to them.”

  “Well,” Rain stood up, “Ladara it’s. Shall we teleport somewhere close there?”

  They later found out that Maia never been there, so the only option for her would be to hitch a ship from Paya to the Western continent of Keynara. From there take a short walk to Ladara. The guys agreed to join, it should give them time to bond and get to know each other better. And who knows, they might run into someone important.

  This time they rode a huge two-story ship. It had a big waiting area below deck and more chairs above to accommodate a fair number of seafarers; still it looked almost empty to Maia. And with its bulk, it still rocked back and forth, gentler than the ferry, but in prolonged doses it generated the same effect.

  Rain had a line casted to one side of the ship and Borg after playing some card game alone, and later pounding his fists on the ground violently, went down in the cabin and didn't come back up since. They had the option of logging out and coming back when the ship docks. An option Maia didn’t have because she never been to the other side. Still the guys decided to stick with her.

  The old man sat on the benches bolted in the middle of the ship, meditating, or sleeping, Maia could not tell. His head bobbed and rocked back and forth with the ship.

  “If I throw up here will it be only here on the real world?” she stood next to Rain overlooking the endless blue.

  Rain laughed, “I don’t know really. Never saw anyone throw up here. You have to try.” He hooked his line with a small worm and tossed it back in the water.

  “It’s all in your head girl,” the old man said.

  Maia turned around to see the old man, eyes still closed, head bobbing, obviously awake. She put her hands on her hips then walked towards him, sat to his side and spoke in low voice in the public chat, “So old man, how about this wizard thing? How to go about being one?”

  The old man raised his head and smiled, “One does not pursue the profession, the profession pursues him.”

  Perhaps the old man was crazy just like Rain suggested when she first told him about this wizard thing. The old man refused to take his anon off, his clothes could easily be mistaken for that of a mage. So they couldn't really tell if he’s what he claimed to be. She saw him perform some great magic tricks, but she couldn’t tell if any other mage jobs were capable of doing the same.

  “So you are telling me I can’t be a wizard just like that?”

  “One day, if you are worthy.”

  Maia shrugged; nothing comes easy. Must be a sick and twisted quest to unlock it. “Ok,” she said in the party chat, “how much longer?”

  “Oh what fortuitous luck,” a voice boomed behind them.

  Maia spun around to find a man grinning ear to ear. His face somewhat familiar but she couldn't quite place it.

  “Boys,” the man turned around, “it’s the bitch and her old man.”

  Few more men turned around to see them. Perhaps in the dim lighting of the crescent moon or Maia was just too sick to notice, but she just recognized their pure black attire. The same group of pirates from the earlier ferry stood over their head. What luck?

  “It’s payback time,” the man took out his sword and so did his men. Still in her early levels, Maia did the only thing she could do to defend herself, she looked at the old man.

  “Um,” Rain jumped between the man and Maia, “Do we have a problem here?”

  “Beat it sticks,” the man said, his gang gathered behind him, “this is between us, the bitch and the old man.”

  “Hey Borg,” Rain said in the party chat, “we need you up here stat,” then he took out a dark green spear and banged its butt on the ground, “you kind of have to go through me.”

  The man laughed and looked back at his men, “the more the merrier sticks.”

  “Oh, I forgot to add that he’s with me,” Rain said and moved to one side. Everyone looked at the door leading towards the lower dick. Borg stepped out hunching over as to not hit the top of the door. He took out a morning star and dashed towards them.

  The men were taken aback, “What the fu-” their leader didn't finish before the metal hit him cross the face throwing him towards his men. They managed to balance him before he dropped on his back.

  “You are dea-” he tried to say but Rain took a step forward and stabbed the air once, twice, three times. Maia kept up with his moves, but the amount of spears firing towards the pirates was faster than she could follow.

  She felt a gust building next to her before noticing Borg spinning his weapon in a circle above his head creating what looked like a mini tornado around him. After gaining enough momentum he charged towards the men. Rain jumped in the air leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Maia looked up but she couldn't see him.

  The pirate leader and one other man remained standing after Borg ravaged through them like a bowling ball through the pins. They looked confused with a hint of anger lingering behind.

  “You filthy little shi-” he tried to finish but Rain’s spear crashed next to them like a thunder bolt followed by a sizable explosion. The two men remained on the ground. Rain dropped after to grab his spear and jumped few feet back. He landed next to Maia and grinned.

  Rain and Borg high fived one another and raised a thumb up to Maia. Not bad for failed bounty hunters, Maia smiled.

  “What’s so funny girl?” Rain said.

  “Nothing, that was impressive. Thank you for saving me.”

  “Well,” Rain said, “no one bad mouths our friends and get away with it,” Rain walked to the body of the dead pirate and got close to his face, “You hear me?”

  A man announced the approach to their destination port. That managed to draw a smile on Maia’s face. Those pirates provided some entertainment at the very least. She went to one side of the ship to see the landmass felling up the view on the horizon. A bigger port town than Paya grew before her and the closer she got the clearer she could see the amount of people congregated there.

  They stepped off the ship when it finally docked and Maia stood in awe of the scene before her. The only major city she’d been to so far was Arandal, even there she didn’t witness amass this large. The docks were rather peaceful and calm, but beyond their gates chaos ensue.

  As soon as she stepped out of the gates of the pier her walk came to a crawl. People stood shoulder to shoulder. It reminded her of that one time she managed to be in Times Square during New Year’s Eve. The thing looked good on TV, but not at all in real life.

  She had to look left and right before taking a simple step. Sometimes movement would come to a complete stop for few seconds with no idea what was the hold up. Only to be moved again with the current. The constant hum did not help either. Good thing the party chat existed.

  “What is going on here?” Maia said to no one in particular.

&
nbsp; “If I’d take a guess,” Rain said, “that,” he pointed up at a far point to their West.

  Maia followed his finger and just now noticed the huge purple haze in the distance. “Oh, that’s the dome isn’t it? That’s what we are here for?”

  “More or less,” Rain said.

  “And all those people are heading there?”

  Rain studied the crowd around them, “some might be here for the spectacle.”

  They walked in the main street leading outside the port town. Shops lined up on both sides of the street. But it looked like some people took the opportunity to set up shop in a make shift bazaars in between the permanent establishments. Not that Maia would know the difference, but it’s a dead giveaway when you see items displayed on a piece of cloth between two brick and mortar shops.

  They crossed the main gate of the town in hopes of some breather, but the crowd persisted. Small tents and camps peppered the general direction leading towards the purple dome. Some guilds sat what looked like a mini headquarters along with flags, a small perimeter fence and their own decorations. Maia passed some people singing around a campfire; a small crowd cheered them on.

  “I guess you are right,” Maia said, “people just enjoying their time.”

  “It’s a game,” Rain said, “of course people are here to enjoy their time.”

  They came across a few people huddled in a circle humming and singing. They all wore dark red hooded robes. Maia stopped, trying to make out what they were saying. She could only make out a soft hymn, but no lyrics.

  One of them took a step forward and raised both hands, “For there to be darkness, there need not be light. Yet, for light to be, a shadow must too. The return of our heroes is at hand…”

  “What is the deal here?” Maia said.

  Rain grabbed her hand and pulled her away, “trust me, you better off not knowing.”

  Maia looked back at them, “what are they?”

  Rain drew closer, “Religious fanatics believing that when they die they go to the Heroes Realm and await their heroes return to save this world. The Order of the High Realm they call themselves. Crazy people,” Rain twirled a finger around the side of his head, “like I said, just stay away.”