Dreaming Orora Read online

  Oz promised to get Paragon and make their way towards the Forgotten Island. They had no plan of attack or how to rescue Fitch yet, so they were basically jumping in blind.

  Fitch tried to do some cooking to pass the time but alas, not that either. He tapped on each corner and side of the cell, trying to find a weak spot. Unfortunately, no such thing existed. He could still equip his armor, so naturally as a paladin he equipped the heaviest set he had and rammed his shoulder against all sides of the cell. Aside from giving him minor pain, no luck.

  So he sat on the only piece of furniture provided, a small wooden chair in the center of the cell and waited.

  He sighed and highlighted the wake up from Orora option when a light began to grow towards him. Someone holding a torch. He jumped up and moved towards the bars. Few more seconds and Tala stood before him with two men dressed in dark armor.

  “You bitch,” Fitch said.

  “Ah,” she smiled, “sorry kid, but orders are orders.”

  “What the hell do you want from me?”

  “We want you here since those idiots,” she looked at the two soldiers behind her, “let the other prisoners escape.”

  Both men behind her lowered their head, “sorry ma’-”

  She raised one hand, “I don’t care. You’ll deal with him once he’s back. Just prey he doesn’t call the reaper on you.”

  The two soldiers exchanged a look.

  “The Dark One?” Fitch said, “You know you can just log out right?”

  “And you know he can wait for you forever?” Tala said, “Unless you are willing to lose your character for good.”

  “Wow,” Fitch said, “some boss you work for.”

  “Shut up,” a voice came from afar. Another light approached before revealing Talion behind it. He stood next to Tala. All three bowed their heads. “I thought I told you not to talk to the prisoner.”

  “Sorry sir,” one soldier said, “She was-”

  “I told them to bring me here,” Tala drew closer to Talion, he grabbed her hip and jerked her towards him making sure their bodies touched and planted a kiss on her mouth.

  Fitch perplexed and his face furrowed. Then the stupid realization hit him, they were probably not brother and sister. He took a fast screen capture; this should disgust Oz as well. He smiled.

  “Why are you smiling?” Talion said.

  “None of your business,” Fitch’s stupid smile didn’t leave his face.

  “You might as well delete your character now and save yourself the time,” Talion said.

  “Wait,” Tala said, “he doesn’t even know about it,” she came closer to the cell, “you don’t even know why you are here, do you?”

  “Nope, I just know that you are sick people enjoying the misery of others.”

  Talion drew closer, “you don’t know why we got you? That is rich.” His gaze drifted for few seconds before looking back at Fitch, “do you still have the dark pillar?”

  Now it was Fitch’s turn to drift, he ran through his inventory. He recalled seeing something of the sorts. Then he found it in his bag, Dark Pillar – West, the item they found on the Trent King. He researched about it sometime after acquiring it, but everyone online said it was a useless item. An item introduced for a later quest that never came to be.

  He involuntarily examined the pillar and it materialized and rotated in front of him. A dark smoke column standing on its marble base rotated few inches away from him, the others fixated on the thing.

  “This thing?” he said.

  “Yes, do you even know what it’s for?” Tala said.

  “No, and I don’t care. It’s an Ex item, otherwise believe me I would’ve handed it over here and now if it meant my release.”

  The two traitors exchanged a look, “wait, so you are willing to part with it?” Talion said.

  “I don’t know how to do that with an Ex item, but sure.”

  Talion thought for few seconds, “ok, here is the deal. We’ll have our men posted where the MC spawns. When we give the go, all you have to do is drop the item. I think that’s easy enough?”

  “I can drop it now if you want.”

  “No,” both Tala and Talion said. Talion closed his eyes and sighed, “we need to have our people stationed there. I’ll see to this personally with my men. When I’m there, Tala will give you the signal.”

  “Ok,” Fitch said.

  “As for now,” Talion said walking away signaling his men, and woman, to follow, “we’ll have to keep you here.”

  Fitch watched them walk away taking his only source of light. Darkness crept back and anything beyond the cell bars disappeared. No point in shouting for help, Fitch thought that he stroked a pretty good deal, better not do anything that’ll make them change their minds. In the meanwhile, better check the net.

  He logged back into the forums, few people viewed his submission. Some replied, thanking him for the warning. No offers for help though. He didn’t specifically ask for it in his post expecting the whole thing to blow up fast. After all, how could they possibly imprison him for long? Apparently they were capable.

  Stuck in a jam? Beastmen all around you? Your party is about to bite the dust? Don't forget your two-hour.

  A devastating ability unique for each job that can literarily change the tides of the battle. Do be careful though, it’ll probably accumulate a huge amount of hate towards you.

  21 – Ashes to ashes

  Maia tried to send a PM to Rain and Borg. Three times she tried prior. No luck. To her dismay, she couldn't send someone not in her friends list a private message if she did not talk to them face to face in the last twenty-four hours. Naturally, she did not add both men to her friends list and due to work obligations, she had to pull double shifts last weekend which meant more than a day had passed since she last logged in.

  To top it all up, she found herself back at the small fishing town, Paya. She cursed again and again under her breath. How did that old man fooled her? How did she allow herself to trust total strangers? She sighed and decided to move on. No harm no foul and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and whatnot. She tried more self-confidence boosting stuff to forget what happened. Mental note: this shit doesn't work.

  During her two days off the game she managed to read few news articles and follow major updates on Orora. The Dome remained up, which made it a good place to aim for. She got dumped by the old man, but she sure as hell was going to return the favor. He won’t be getting the reward money for that Hok guy without her cut.

  A more pressing matter presented itself at the moment though. Paya did not at all looked how she left it last. The Altana statue stood in its correct place, around it however, half burnet shanties, mud swamps filled with blood and a remnant of a pier. Half ships hanged on to dear life above the water and other wood pieces floated in earnest. The entire place took a dark tone to it. Smog and ash filled Maia’s lungs with every breath.

  She walked about, her eyes inspecting the damage. Was this thing normal? Wild fire perhaps? She looked beyond the town gates, but it all looked peaceful as far as she could tell. Clearly the fire started from within. She looked back towards the sea. The ships and their remains exhibited no sign of smoke or burn marks. The destruction suggested vandalism rather than fire. A guild, or Beastmen attack? If the game supported this kind of world changing event, Maia couldn’t help but smile thinking of the possibilities.

  She approached a small partially burnet hut. The wooden plates squeaked below her feet as she stepped towards the door. Small pieces of the roof hung low, threatening to fall any second.

  “Please,” a voice came from inside said, “please let us be.”

  Maia jumped back, “Oh, I’m sorry,” she stopped for a moment, “Whoever did this to the place, I’m not one of them.”

  A shaking face peeked behind a slab of wood, “You, you are that assassin Recruit Maia. Thank Altana, did they leave?”

  Thrilled that an NPC actually remembered her, Maia reali
zed just how much time she wasted in this place. She turned her face left and right, “no one was here when I came.”

  The man opened the door and stood before her, she recognized him as an old fisherman who offered her a quest few days back. “Oh,” the man shuddered, “they came out of nowhere. Started killing and burning people.” He gazed beyond her, he didn’t seem to be looking at something in particular, “dark flames it was. Dark men they were.”

  “Who and why were they here?”

  “The dark army they called themselves. We only heard tales,” The man trembled, “all true. They were all true. They killed us again and again.”

  “Well, you will respawn anyways.”

  “Not always young lady,” the man said, his eyes focused on Maia now, “not always… and the pain.”

  The game, Maia noticed, had a threshold for pain. It would reduce the feeling to mere inconvenience or minor pinch, nothing drastic. Perhaps that did not apply to NPCs. Moreover, what about the not always respawn part? Do NPCs die for good? “I thought you always respawn by the Lady Altana.”

  “If that was the case our heroes would still roam the land and the likes of this Dark One would be extinct.”

  Maia realized the need for her to study more on the lore of this world. It seems people could actually lose their characters for good. “What were they here for?”

  “They kept asking about someone. They didn’t say whom. They just kept asking where is he? The exiled.”

  “The exiled? Hok? That doesn’t make sense, why are they looking for him here? They should be at the Dome.”

  The man pointed at the open ocean beyond the ships rubble, “They summoned their dark ships and took off. One ship after the other.”

  Maia followed his finger, “Ladara. They must be heading there.”

  “You,” a shout came behind them. The man flinched, jumped back and slammed the door behind him. Maia turned to see the source of the sound. Three dark figures in dull armor brandishing their weapons walked towards her.

  “Some are still here,” the old man said, his voice trembling behind cover, “hide.”

  “I’ll be damned if I did,” Maia said and grabbed her weapon. To her dismay, a staff came in her hand. For some reason she thought she was an assassin. Not good. Too late to back down, she raised her staff and started casting a fireball spell. The staff’s tip glowed red, it crackled and smoke rose as she prepared to release.

  The sword hit her on the side before she could fire. She jumped few feet back, her HP took a nose dive below one third. Really not good. One more hit and she would hit the ground. She grabbed the staff with both hands and stood fast bracing for the next hit. So much for helping the old man. At least she could see her home point from here. Not sure if that was a good thing or not.

  A scream came behind the man charging at her and the farthest of the three dark men jerked violently to one side dropping to the ground with a thud. The two men turned around, screamed and charged towards the opposite direction. Maia peeked her head to one side, she couldn’t see beyond the two men.

  A man in silver set of armor jumped to one side and swung his sword. It hit one of the soldiers on the side tossing him few feet away. The man spun around and bashed the third with his shield. He lunged forward and stabbed him couple of times driving him to the ground. And just like that the fight ended.

  The dark figures disintegrated in the air and the fine looking soldier walked in their wake towards Maia, sheathing his sword behind his back. His breastplate, featuring an eagle spreading its wings, shimmered in the sun. What an entrance.

  “Prey hope you were unharmed milady?” the man said, now few feet away from Maia looking at the carnage the dark army left behind.

  Milady? Who talks like that? “Oh, I’m fine Sir Knight.”

  “Knight?” the man chuckled, “pardon me milady, but perhaps where you come from a Knight is a distinguished honor. For us it’s the starting rank in the army.”

  “My bad, what should I call you then handsome gentleman?”

  “Bale-”

  “Warden of the East,” a faint voice said behind her. She looked around to see the old man bug eyed in admiration.

  “Yes, Bale, Warden of the East,” Bale said, “What on Altana’s name happened here?”

  “The dark army my lord,” the old man said, “glory be Galawar, we are saved.”

  Bale lowered his head, “I’m afraid I’m alone here, but I’m sure the West point got news of this. You should gather the people and move there.”

  “No one is there my lord,” the old man said, his voice trembling and fading in disappointment, “the soldiers been called to Galawar and no one was manning the outpost for some time.”

  Bale’s face wrinkled, “That’s odd, I didn’t get word of that.” He looked around, “In any case, I don’t think they’ll bother you anymore. I will, however, have to go to Galawar. I’ll pass by the West point to check and send help here.”

  “Oh thank you my lord.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, but I will pass on the message to the army in Galawar. Mark my words: we will have our vengeance. For now, I’m afraid I’ll have to bid you farewell,” he nodded to the old man then shifted to Maia, “Milady.”

  “May the Lady Altana guide your way,” the old man said.

  Bale walked away and just like that Maia stood alone next to the old man once more. Other NPCs started to come out of the destroyed huts to greet and talk to Bale, who made his way towards the entrance of the village. They formed a mob around him slowing his pace, but he still continued his way through.

  With all the NPCs around, Maia noticed the lack of any other players, “Where are all the players? The Recruits?” Maia said.

  “Some were here when the attack started, but most ran when the Dark One appeared. No one wants to meet The Reaper. You asked how someone couldn’t respawn anymore, that’s one way.”

  “The Reaper? Some kind of monster?”

  The old man regarded her as if talking to a kid not knowing the ways of the world. As far as this world was concerned, she qualified for a kid, “A creature from the depths of the Dark Realm. The Lady Altana can’t bring death by his hands.”

  Mental note: stay clear of this reaper. Maia viewed the pier one more time fearing the answer. “I guess no ships are leaving towards Ladara for a while?”

  “Not until we get back on our feet, no. And Gods only know how long that’ll take. Your best bet will be the airship port at Arandal.”

  “Yeah, the cost of that is kind of out of the question.” She searched her head for some other route, nothing came to mind. Perhaps she’ll need to research online for her answer.

  “Well, you are welcome to stay here until we are back on our feet.”

  Maia gave the pier one last look, hoping for something or someone. Perhaps it’s better not to get involved in this dome business for now. Enjoy the game for what it’s and have fun here. She could help the people here in the meantime. Few more minutes and players will start to pass by this place to see what happened. Who knows? She might get lucky and hitch a ride.

  22 – The people’s justice

  “Seems people on the outside are arranging a large scale attack tomorrow,” Eric said, “It might help us.”

  “I’m kind of stuck,” Jack said, “at work and in game. Besides, you know how I feel about most idiots in this game. You’re more than welcome to try and contact them.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. Worst case we can use it as distraction to bust you out. When are you coming in?” Eric said.

  “I have few more hours here, then I’m open for few days,” Jack said, “better get this done before the Halloween holidays, cause I’m sure everyone will be busy with the events and forget the Dome and the Dark One,” people might even dress as the Dark One, Jack sighed. Another moment of silence took over before Jack spoke, his voice dropping, “How is Karin?”

  “No notable change.” Eric recited like a doctor informing his nurse. Sad
ly, by now he must’ve gotten used to it. “Not sure if that’s good or bad. I do speak to her whenever I’m not online, doctors say it helps…” He said, his voice fading. The dreaded silence persisted longer this time.

  “Anyways,” Jack needed to break the dread, “my break is almost over, I’ll catch you later man,” he said and terminated the call. Time to head back to work. Today he was on shelf arrangement and restock duty. Not as busy as manning the register, but you still talk to few insufferable customers every now and then.

  Jack grabbed three cans of corn from the trolley and placed them atop the existing pile on the shelf.

  “Excuse me sir,” a voice said next to him, Jack turned around to see a young man. A kid. “Do you have Orora cards?”

  Jack looked at the kid, seventeen or eighteen at best. Orora was an eighteen plus game. Aside from the usual suspects to categorize a game in that rating, ODI only wanted players who reached their growth limit in terms of height. The game could adjust few inches later but as a start, it needed to stick to the initial build. Hence, kids were only NPCs in the game. But, it wasn’t his job to verify this kid’s age now. If the customer asked for cards then either they got the game or needed it as a gift. Age restriction did not apply on the cards.

  “Yes we do, this way,” Jack walked with the kid towards the entrance for the card-issuing machine, “are you playing the game?”

  “Yes, just started though, I’m kind of a noob.”

  Jack touched the screen to turn on the display, “everyone was at some point.” He punched few selections and several options came before him in the screen, “what kind of package are you looking for?”

  “Package? Any difference?”

  “The longer you prepay the cheaper it gets.”

  “I see.” He looked at the options available, “I guess the six months is fine for me.”

  Jack punched the machine some more and payment options popped on the screen. The kid forked the money and received his card. “Do you play?” the kid asked and Jack nodded, “Oh, what’s your in game character name? We might meet?”