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  “But, he’s a coward, a conniving scum fu—” A blast of icy wind tore through the ruined clearing, bringing with it a fresh layer of snow.

  “Even men like him can regain their honor.” Ajax thought of Cynthia, and her noble sacrifice by remaining to defend York, knowing full-well she would die. All to divert the Republic of Dern’s attention away from the Sinjharian invasion in the east. “Lillus and I will not be here to fight the wraiths if they should return. We must go to the Oracle. Someone who is not an outcast like us, needs to warn the army of the threat of the void, so they know what is coming.” Ajax glanced down at Ivan who watched him intently. “He can be the one to convince them the wraiths are real. He saw them kill Sejanus, and the other riders. He even saw them kill the dragons.”

  Ajax removed the Slithers of Deception from his inventory. Glancing at the first page, he made sure the Imperator’s message was still visible.

  The void is already here, and there is nothing you can do to stop its spread. The voices speak to me, even as I write this. They tell me that the void wraiths know you now, and they are coming for you.

  With the utmost contempt,

  Imperator Ithilda.

  PS: I hope that Demon Mage is dead. If she isn’t, she soon will be.

  The message was still there. Still as biting and terrifying as the first time he had read it. Holding it in front of Ivan, he let the man read the words.

  Ivan blinked rapidly. “I know that writing. I know these papers.” He closed his eyes. “All of us noticed a change in Ithilda. Maybe...” His eyes opened again and he studied Talon. “But I guess it doesn’t matter. Just do it, Talon. I still have one life left.”

  “Not anymore.” Ajax quickly told them what Lillus had said about the resurrection systems being compromised. With the Item ID system having issues, there was no doubt in Ajax’s mind, that Lillus had been correct. The life they had now—would be their last.

  Shaking, Talon put the tip of his sword against Ivan’s neck. The two men stared at one another for a long time. Then Talon stepped away and turned his back to the injured dragon rider. “Go, Ivan. Leave, before I turn around and kill you.”

  Ajax helped Ivan to his feet. The dragon rider nodded in thanks. Casting a few Lesser Heal spells on him (using what little mana he had), Ajax got Ivan to near full health. “Head to the village south of here. There is a hospital there, with some doctors who should help you.”

  Ivan only nodded again.

  “Tell the army everything,” Ajax said. “Warn them of what is coming. No matter who you are, or what you have done, this one thing overrules everything. The entire human race rests on your shoulders, as it does my own.”

  Now Ivan reacted. “You know, listening to you just then reminded me of the NPC, Sir Gimond of the Hour’s Flame. He once led the Elite Dragon Riders. But once us humans came to make Visaria Online our home in exile, he was discarded with the rest of the obsolete NPCs.” Ivan shook his head sadly. “That man could inspire loyalty and confidence by his words. The way he spoke made all around him listen and believe.”

  Ajax blushed. “You’re not the first one to tell me something like that.”

  “I’m sure I won’t be the last, either.” Ivan glanced at his blackened, frostbitten arm. “Damn, it hurts.”

  “The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get to the hospital and get it treated.”

  After patting Ajax on the arm, Ivan turned and strode past the remains of his brethren and their dragons, and headed into the trees.

  CHAPTER 6

  DRAGON PORN

  THEY HAD FLOWN NORTH for five hours and passed into the Fallen Empire of Pendrax. A dead, silent place, of forlorn ruins, half-buried skeletons of dragons, giants, and ogres long since passed from Visaria into the digital Spirit Realm. During the Dread North Wind expansion pack, the Dread Legion of Pendrax marched in the thousands across this blighted land—now they slept forever under it. Once, players had roamed this area, but now they were gone too.

  Humanity’s numbers had dwindled. Before the downfall of the real world, several million players had been logged into Visaria Online on any given day. Now, the player population had become a pale shadow of those numbers, and less inclined to put their lives at risk when dying had such dire consequences. Few ventured beyond the human lands into the empty world beyond.

  If only the forum trolls were still around to proclaim that the game was dying, and laugh at how few players were still logged in!

  Not knowing the local history of the area (unlike inherently knowing the history of the Imperium upon spawning) Ajax brought up the historical information on the local region in the Visarian World History Encyclopedia into his field of view. Scanning over it, he read only the brief TLDR summary at the end.

  The players of Visaria, both Sinjhrian and Dernese, had united together under one banner and fought in a huge climactic battle with the Dread Legion, during the dying days of the Dread North Wind (tm) expansion pack (the second major expansion pack for Visaria Online). As the battle had been fought, a far smaller force of players from a hardcore raiding guild worked at breaching Mage King Pendrax’s inner sanctum at the Heart of Rage raid zone. It had taken them hundreds of party wipes, thousands of gold in potions and countless hours of grinding mats for item upgrades.

  After many attempts, they’d breached the inner sanctum and were subsequently slaughtered to a man. When they returned from the graveyard, they had brought reinforcements. Almost all the players who were logged into Visaria Online at the time took part in the epic final confrontation with the raid boss.

  From low levels, to max level 18’s (max level these days is 25), each player had their small part to play in the battle. Even the gold farming bots (which the developers of Visaria Online are tirelessly working to get rid of!) had been sent to partake, because once Pendrax fell, the players would be granted access to the Dread Legion’s vast treasury. A treasury filled with cash shop currency (including Premium Gold Currency) and random loot boxes.

  One player would even get a unique pet, the Cantankerous Drunken Drooling Dimwitted Dancing Dwarf (say that out loud three times!).

  Many players died in the battle with Pendrax. Most fell to the ceaseless waves of adds (mostly made up of Fel Demons and Infernal Blights) or to Pendrax’s two bodyguards, both fallen heroes of Visarian history, from the time before the first player had stepped foot within the digital world.

  But eventually, Pendrax had been defeated, his final words a dire warning for the next great threat to Visaria: the Siren Queen of Knossos, Medusa, the final raid boss in the Odyssey expansion pack.

  Ajax dismissed the information panel and yawned. Reading more than a few sentences of history always bored him, more so when the history belonged to a make believe-world. A cold wind blew by, and he shivered. Well, not so make-believe anymore. Visaria is our one and only home now, and will remain that way for who knows how many more years.

  He checked on Lillus for the millionth time. Still asleep, her hp at full. For the first few hours after leaving the dead dragon riders and void wraiths, he had healed himself, Lillus and Talon. Not wanting to use their valuable mana pots, he had relied on his passive mana regen. He and Lillus would need to see a doctor again, but it could wait. Other than the pain and bruising, (and some nasty gashes), he felt pretty good.

  I just wish Lillus was awake. There is so much we need to talk about. He glanced at his inventory panel. The moldy broken pineapple was still a black ball, with the same item warning. What the hell had happened back there? Why haven’t I been able to think about the broken pineapple until now?

  The item had been in his inventory since he respawned on this life. An odd item, for sure, and yet he had never once questioned its existence. Almost like he had been forbidden from doing so. But how could that be? Had the Oracle given it to him to protect him from the wraiths?

  Too many questions, and no way to answer them. He held Lillus’s hand. Please, wake. I need you.

  As n
ight approached, Firesoul began to glide closer to the ground. “We will rest soon,” Talon said, looking over the side of the basket saddle.

  “My mate waits for us, just ahead.” Firesoul grunted. “And she’s most displeased with you.”

  Talon’s mouth fell open. “Me? Why?”

  “She blames you for getting me into trouble.”

  “Great.” Talon buried his face in his hands and pretended to cry. Or at least, Ajax hoped he was pretending. He couldn’t be sure.

  “Look on the bright side,” Firesoul said. “At least you’re not the one married to her.”

  THEY LANDED BESIDE the dark ruins of a large keep, its crumbled walls and towers little more than rubble. Ajax carried Lillus from the basket saddle, and held her in his arms as he dropped to the ground. Talon landed beside him. “So, where is she?” He asked.

  Firesoul said nothing, his eyes on the entry to the ruined keep.

  Flames lit the dark interior of the building, revealing the head of a huge red dragon. Finally, Firesoul spoke. “Dawnspark, my love, let him explain—”

  The dragon burst from the keep and ran right at Talon and Ajax. Talon fell back with a cry. Heart racing, Ajax backed away, and tripped over a broken chunk of rubble and fell onto his butt. “Gah...”

  “Dawnspark, please.” Firesoul pleaded.

  With a fiery snort, the red dragon stopped, her head looming right over Talon. She gazed down at the rider with all the menace of a void wraith.

  “I’m sor—” Talon began.

  “Don’t say that word,” Dawnspark snapped. “You know I hate it.”

  “Ahh... ”

  “You better have a good reason for getting my husband involved in your little escapades. Especially, when they involve making him an outcast, and seeing him have to battle our own kind.” She snorted flame so hot, it no doubt singed Talon’s eyebrows. The dragon rider cowered before her. “He could have been hurt, he could have been killed!”

  Ajax could only watch the spectacle. Had Lillus been awake, she’d no doubt be mocking his dumbfounded expression about now.

  Talon tried to get an explanation in. “It wasn’t—”

  “Now everyone in the Dragon Keep knows what’s happened, and old Bertha, the scaly queen of gossip, will be filling everybody’s ears with how my husband and his rider are now the most loathed individuals in the Imperium. Everybody, I tell you, everybody will know,” Dawnspark wailed. “We’ll be the talk of the town for years to come.”

  The dragon’s head plopped to the ground and she let out a great big belly sob that shook the ground. “I’ll never be able to live this down.”

  Firesoul came over and draped a wing over her. “My love, listen to me. This has nothing to do with Talon. You can blame Ithilda for this.”

  “Oh, trust me, I blame her, too. I’ve never liked her anyway.”

  “Yes... As you’ve said, on many occasions.”

  Long seconds of silence passed, before Dawnspark flattened herself on the ground like a fallen bird. Talon stopped cowering and quickly got to his feet. He walked over to Ajax and helped him up.

  “What are we going to do?” Ajax whispered, holding Lillus tight.

  “Let’s leave them to it.” He glanced back at the two dragons with a wry grin, no longer showing fear. “They need some time to sort themselves out.”

  As Talon lead him toward the ruined keep, Ajax watched the two dragons over his shoulder. Fireseoul had climbed onto Dawnspark’s back and wrapped her in his wings. She made strange grunting sounds under him, flames flickering in her mouth. Ajax frowned. “Are they—?”

  “Can we have some privacy, humans?” Dawnspark snapped, sending a puff of smoke their way.

  Dear, god. What the hell were the Visaria Online programmers thinking?

  Ajax hurried into the keep, shaken to the core.

  CHAPTER 7

  OF NPCs AND MEN

  AJAX SAT IN THE CORNER of the entry room of the ruined keep. It had once been a five player dungeon called the Infernal Keep, and had once been infested with minions of Pendrax. Now it was a silent, cold ruin, surrounded in blasted land where nothing grew. The player summoning stone in the next room had broken in half; it’s artistically designed magical glyphs still dimly shining with a white and purple luminescent glow.

  After re-wrapping Lillus in the blanket, Ajax rested her head in his lap. Across from him, Talon cleared a space for himself to settle for the night. A cold breeze blew in through the entrance, causing Ajax to shiver. At least the roof remained relatively intact, as it provided shelter from the falling snow.

  After Talon had settled, a few minutes of silence passed. Stroking Lillus’s face as she slept, Ajax decided to engage the dragon rider in conversation. “Thank you, for helping us.”

  Talon sighed. “My life has been turned upside down.”

  “All because of us.”

  The dragon rider laughed bitterly. “No, something like this has been coming for me for a long time. But I guess I expected a knife in the back, not to be cast out of the Imperium by the Imperator herself.”

  Ajax couldn’t see him in the dark, but he thought the dragon rider might be crying. His voice had been taut, his words filled with emotion. “Why didn’t the other riders like you? It must’ve been more than you just being a free spirit.”

  It took Talon a long time to answer. “I informed the Imperator about their corruption. Sejanus and Malizhar, the Supreme General now leading the armies in the east, conspired together to enrich themselves and kill those that got in their way. On top of that, they stole from NPCs, murdered them, tortured them, did all sorts of vile things. Even to NPC children.”

  Ajax was well aware there were players out there who cared nothing for the lives of NPCs. He recalled what Captain Cynthia had done and how she had ordered the slaughter of a whole village of NPC peasants. As much as it disturbed him, Ajax could on some level understand the mindset.

  It went something like this.

  Who cares if you hurt an NPC? They’re not real people. They might be programmed to act like humans, even to feel human emotions, but being digital constructs, they would never understand what it truly meant to be alive. A living and breathing person, birthed into a world governed by the laws of the One God, rather than a human game designer’s imagination.

  When an NPC loved someone, when they wept in grief, screamed in pain during childbirth... Were the feelings real? Or were they nothing more than a complex set of programs modeling the NPC behavior on that of a human to give a convincing representation of a living person? Did the NPCs even understand what they were feeling? Ajax knew they could develop their own opinions on things, agendas, relationships, but were they things that had come about because of programming or free will?

  Lillus would love to ponder questions such as these, Ajax thought. She’s the smart one!

  Many players tried to have as little to do with NPCs as they could. Ajax had barely dealt with them on this incarnation of his digital life. He’d never gotten to know one as more than a temporary acquaintance, never looked them deep in the eye as they’d spoken to him to see if there was a soul inside. Never truly cared whether they were there...

  Perhaps, that’s why the elite female guard who had escorted them to the Imperator back at the Dragon Keep seemed to hate humans so much. She would not dare say she hated players, for who knows what would happen to her if she had, but by cussing humans, she avoided retribution.

  An unsettling thought occurred to Ajax. What if there were NPCs out there that had grown sick of players? What if they refused to help in the coming war?

  He recalled the rumor he’d heard on the way to Yantar about an underground movement of NPCs forming, and how they’d stolen weapons from the army. Could they be planning a rebellion? After they had gotten the weapons, the rumor said they went north into the Fallen Empire of Pendrax. He glanced at the dark shadow of the entryway. Lucky, this place is vast, so we shouldn’t run into them.

  The last
thing they needed was to run into another bunch of enemies.

  “Do you know what the Imperator did when I told her?” Talon’s rhetorical question broke Ajax out of his thoughts. “Nothing. A big, fat, load of nothing.”

  Ajax frowned. “She doesn’t care about her NPC subjects?”

  “Not. One. Bit.”

  Everything Ajax thought he knew about the Imperator seemed wrong. Now it truly felt like the starter preset character traits that were imposed on players when they began a new life (allegiances, their knowledge of the world, maybe even their desires) were less like a head-start into the world of Visaria—and instead a set of iron shackles. Players had some freedom of choice, but some things, like allegiances and loyalties, were set upon choosing a faction. Perhaps if he hadn’t been made to look up to Ithilda, been able to see her for what she truly was, he might have predicted her betrayal and never gone to see her in the first place.

  “It sounds like the only reason Ithilda remains the Imperator is because us Sinjharians are all forced to worship her.”

  This caused Talon to laugh. “That, and her dragons. Did you know that once a day, she would feed an NPC to her two dragon consorts to intimidate her NPC servants and us of the Imperium Guard? The dragons would tear the unfortunate victim in half, and then after they had gorged themselves, Ithilda and the two beasts would retire to her chambers and... well, I’m sure you know what happens next.”

  Ajax shuddered at the very thought of the twenty-five-foot tall Imperator laying with dragons. “She sounds utterly despicable.”

  “She is.” Talon shuffled around. “So don’t feel so bad about what happened. I’m glad I’m an outcast now, as I no longer feel obliged to look up to her.”

  The conversation turned to their plans.

  “I think we should keep going northwest for now, to make sure we’re well beyond the borders of the Imperium before we turn south,” Talon said. “But, I’ve never been this far north, nor has Firesoul, so I’m not sure what is out here.”