Enchanted Ever After (Mystic Circle) (8 page)

“In the game?” He chuckled. “Magic.”

“Oh, of course. I still can’t figure out how we can smell stuff
in the game.” Maybe there was scent on the visors, or they emitted fragrance in
bursts like air fresheners.

Another amused laugh from Lathyr. “Magic. Now turn and look at
the other two realms...our time is running out.”

“Huh.” But she did turn, scanned the white-blue-violet mist and
the castle in the air, perched on a huge puffy white cloud with streaks of
violet. “One guy explaining the realms to me? This is a lame opening, I could
write better.” Too late she realized she’d been offensive. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t write the scenario,” Lathyr said coolly. “We will
have a virtual guide. We were given permission for the new game no more than a
fortnight ago. Ms. Emberdrake has been concentrating on the game itself.”

Kiri winced. Yeah, she’d offended him, maybe Jenni, too. She
swallowed. “I’m sure it’s amazing.” She pushed a little. “And that’s why you
need me. I can help.” She waved again, still enjoying the butterflies. “Okay,
that’s the Air Realm. Castle in the clouds is a big clue.”

“That’s right. The denizens of the Air Realm are elves and
airsprites.”

She twisted from his grip to stare at him. “Elves? Really
elves?”

“Yes.”

She couldn’t prevent a girl-squeal from emerging. “Awesome. I
could be an elf?”

“In the Air Realm, yes.” His voice remained cool. Ah, well.

“How big are they? Bitty like Santa’s elves or big and—” sexy,
no, she wouldn’t say that “—hunky like Tolkien’s elves in the movies?”

“They are usually taller than regular humans, but more
slender,” Lathyr said austerely. Kiri guessed her “hunky” irritated him as much
as “sexy” might have.

“Oh. And airsprites?”

“They might be considered your elves—though I believe
airsprites appear as described more often in huma—literature and art depicting
fairies.”

“Oh, small then?”

“Yes, they are humanoid-looking when they care to be.”

“All right. You’ve already done a lot of work on this
game.”

“Yes,” Jenni said in her ear again, in a slightly choked voice,
like she was laughing? “Though not so much on the opening.”

Kiri winced again.

“And we will have eight races, and only eight,” Lathyr
said.

“Oh, no humans?”

“Not at this time,” Jenni said. “Thirty-second warning, Lathyr
and Kiri.”

“Oh.” Scanning the Air Realm, Kiri didn’t see any great detail.
She could definitely make a contribution there, if it really was only sketched
in.

She turned to the red-yellow Fire Realm. This appeared very
detailed, as if it might be the best developed realm—red and sandy rock
formations, desert, sand dunes of white and brown. Multicolored hot flames
dancing in the air, even forming into sheets of heat waves distorting the rest
of the picture. “Wow, Jenni, Fire Realm is great. You must have worked hard on
it.”

“Thank you!” Pleasure radiated in Jenni’s voice.

“Fire Realm has djinns—” Lathyr began.

“Djinns like genies?” Kiri asked.

“Yes, djinnmen and djinnfems as the major race,” Lathyr
finished.

Kiri imagined herself in a turban, maybe a metallic golden one.
Gold lamé with a big ruby. Tacky but wonderful. “What kind of costumes do you
have?” she asked. And did djinn manifest from smoke? Did they have lamp
domiciles? Did they fly? Or have flying carpets?

“Not nearly as good a range of costumes as our game Fairies and
Dragons,” Jenni said with regret.

“Oh.” Kiri cleared her throat. “
Yet.
Not as good a wardrobe
yet.
I can
help with that.”

“I like your attitude,” Jenni said. “And what I’ve seen of your
costumes in our times playing together in Fairies and Dragons, you’ll be a great
help.”

Kiri was glad she’d already deleted all hideous fashion
mistakes.

“The minor folk are firesprites,” Lathyr continued. “Like
airsprites, they are significantly smaller than humans, perhaps as tall as
eighteen inches as the maximum. Again, they tend to be less substantial than the
major folk, the djinns.”

“Time,” Jenni said. “Logging Kiri Palger and Lathyr Tricurrent
out of the opening to the prologue of
Transformation
.”

Chapter 8

KIRI BECAME
AWARE
of the mesh chair under her butt. Her nose missed the scent of
magic, and tears nearly squeezed from her eyes at being back in the real world.
Stupid! She swallowed hard, made sure her eyes were dry before she pulled off
her visor. Her monitor had gone into sleep mode. She wanted to jiggle the mouse
to see if she might recapture the view from the hill.

“Well, Kiri, what do you think?” Jenni was right there, staring
down at her. Kiri pulled off her gloves harder than she’d anticipated because
her palms were sticky. Looking up at Jenni, Kiri had to blink a bit because the
woman actually looked a little red, like she’d gotten a sunburn.

Kiri rubbed her eyes, her fingers definitely smelled like her
own sweat, and said the first thing that came to her mind in response to Jenni’s
question. “I’m starving.”

“Hmm.” Jenni’s brows dipped. “Maybe I’d better talk to my
kitchen staff.”

Kitchen staff, in an office? Jenni sauntered to the door.

“No, no!” Kiri amended. “Don’t worry about it.”

On her way out, Jenni tossed over her shoulder. “Sounds like
the virtual reality might burn some energy.”

Lose weight while game playing. Oh, yeah, a win-win situation.
“If that’s true, the marketing possibilities are incredible,” she said to
Lathyr. He looked just the same. “Are you hungry?”

His smile was slow and male. His eyes didn’t really linger on
her. Not really. “For food? No.” He sat in the last chair, his trousers still
with knife creases. Kiri felt a little wrung out, glanced down to see if the
slight dampness between her breasts showed. No. Good.

“I am more accustomed to the...ah, game, than you.” He swiveled
until he faced her and set his arm along the edge of the desk. The keyboard
platform was still tucked under it.

“More accustomed to the game? You don’t strike me as a
gamer.”

His smile frosted. “Not often in this alternate reality.”

“Huh.”

His gaze turned considering. “Perhaps I should say that I am
more accustomed to a magical atmosphere.”

Like that made sense.

Jenni walked in with a steaming omelet. “Here’s a mushroom,
spinach and cheese omelet for you, and an English muffin.”

Kiri stared. “I love mushrooms, spinach and cheese.” She always
stocked all three items. Amazing that the kitchen here had something like
that.

Jenni’s smile was close to a smirk. She set the plate, a paper
napkin and a fork down on the desk beyond Kiri’s monitor. “Eat up. We’ll have
to, um, generally keep track of the physical energy drain with regard to the
virtual reality of the game.”

Scooting over to the meal, Kiri dug in, but only ate a
scrumptious bite before replying. “Like I told Lathyr, losing weight while
gaming is one hell of a marketing point.”

“Ah, hmm.” Jenni frowned as she returned to her own seat. Like
Lathyr, she faced Kiri and put her arm on the desk. Unlike him, her fingers
drummed on the polished wood. “Well, the hardware is very expensive. I’m not
sure how widespread we’ll be disseminating the game.”

Kiri stopped midbite. This was her game, her career, her
future. “What? It’s not going to be an online massive multiplayer game like
Fairies and Dragons?”

Jenni’s brown eyes widened. “Yes, of course, the general
software...and available in stores, too, to lead people online to
Transformation
. But the gloves and visors are
currently quite proprietary intellectual property items.”

“Oh.”

“We may allow only some players to buy into the virtual reality
aspect of the game,” Lathyr said.

Discrimination. For the rich? Kiri chewed the omelet. The
flavor should have stayed the same, but it hadn’t. Bitterness on her own taste
buds maybe. “Like who?” she asked.

Again Jenni answered smoothly. “Like those who do extremely
well in the general game. This isn’t the only game to have tiers of players,
according to who wants to pay and who wants it free,” Jenni pointed out.

“Oh,” Kiri repeated. She drank some raspberry fizzy water—it
went unexpectedly well with the eggs. Her taste buds had perked up. “That’s all
right then.”

Lathyr snorted.

Jenni chuckled. “I sense a discrimination by skill level,
here.”

Kiri nodded. “Choice and skill. You make the choice as to how
long and involved you want to be with the game, and develop your skill.”

“Meritocracy,” Lathyr said.

He actually sounded dubious.

“Americans believe in that, even though it isn’t true,” Jenni
said, her accent British. And Kiri belatedly remembered that Jenni lived in
Denver, but had grown up in England.

Kiri stuffed egg in her mouth, drank and hurriedly finished her
meal. “I’m so sorry for this, eating on the job.”

Jenni shrugged. “Not a problem.” She glanced at Lathyr. “We’re
easy enough on this project, and have some wiggle room.”

“Thanks.” Kiri stood and picked up the breakfast stuff.
“Kitchen?”

“We’ll take care of that,” Jenni said easily. “I’ll show you
the bathroom to wash up.”

“Thanks.” And was Kiri going to be embarrassed and repeat the
word all day long? She put the plate, crumpled napkin and fork on the counter
and followed Jenni down a still-empty hallway with a murmur of voices sounding
only behind one door.

“This is the executive area and like many executives, ours work
more out of the office than in it,” Jenni said, as if catching Kiri’s
stares.

“Um-hmm,” Kiri said. She hadn’t ever worked on an executive
floor so didn’t know what to expect.

“What do you think of the game?” Jenni asked.

Kiri didn’t have to fake a smile. “I really like the concept
and the taste I got of it.”

“Good.” Jenni waved at the women’s bathroom door.

When Kiri had finished, Jenni was still in the corridor,
talking on her cell. “That is correct. Later.” She hung up and smiled at Kiri,
stuck the cell in a pocket. “Ready for full-immersion and to start play?”

Sounded a little daunting, but Kiri nodded. “Absolutely.”

Another wide smile with sparkling eyes. “Good.” Jenni actually
rubbed her hands. “This project is going to be a winner.”

“I hope so.” And Kiri hoped she was a part of it.

Soon she was back in her chair, green chamois gloves on, visor
wrapping around her head.

“Initiating game,” Jenni said, and Kiri heard it both aloud and
as words vibrating from the visor.

To her right, Lathyr said, “I’ll accompany you initially once
more.”

“Thanks.”

Meld magic swept Lathyr up and to the pocket dimension of the
game. Rock slid through him, nastily. At least the transition was fast enough
that it didn’t absorb his water magic. His toes—feet in shoes were not as hardy
as his webbed ones—tried to dig into the earth, but he found himself standing on
the stone bottom of a cave, a place just large enough for himself and Kiri.

“Wow,” she said, sounding breathless. He glanced at her temples
and the tracery of veins he used to mark humans’ heartbeats...and had to glance
down.

Her skin was brownish, what humans would think of as deeply
tanned. Lathyr kept a mild look on his face. Like all Waterfolk the actual
color—blue, green, gold—didn’t matter. Her ears were large with fleshy lobes,
her features broad, her figure sturdy with not much waist but ample breasts and
hips. Lovely, heavily lashed chocolate-brown eyes with split black pupils looked
up at him as she smiled at him—with pointed red teeth.

Also beautiful was her golden-brown hair, the color of light
honey with hints of true metallic gold and streaks of wheat-blond—all earthy
comparisons for an earth elemental.

“You’re a dwarf,” Lathyr said.

She literally jumped, then appeared surprised as she didn’t
rise in the air as much as a human would have.

Staring at her feet, she said, “A major earth elemental.”

“Yes. And one that other dwarves would find beautiful.” If
there had been any other dwarves in this area. But no dwarves or other players
were here, only in the Earth Palace, which was her goal.

“Thank you, sir.” She looked at her clothing. “Hmm. A robe.”
She skipped forward and back a dwarf pace. “Comfortable and I can move in it. A
nice, fine weave.” Then she turned in place. “This really feels real.”

“Yes. Your robe should have some protection spells woven into
it,” Lathyr said.

Kiri cleared her throat. “Jenni?”

“I’m here,” Jenni’s voice echoed from the walls.

“How do I know what powers and equipment and spells and
qualities I have?”

“You have a belt with a pouch. The info’s in there.”

Shock crossed Kiri’s face. “I have to stop and open a pouch
and, what, read my data?”

“Welcome to real life, kid. It ain’t all gesturing and chanting
up earthworks,” Jenni said. “And you’re at beginner level.”

“Huh.”

“Take a look at your staff against the wall.”

“Ooooh.” Kiri trotted the three steps to the wall and picked up
an intricately carved staff that appeared to be solid gold.

“It’s light,” Kiri said. “Like balsa wood.”

“Gold leaf,” Lathyr said.

“Real gold?”

He knew the smell of gold. “Yes.”

“I suppose that’s a plus,” Kiri said, but a dubious note had
entered her voice. She found the dark brown suede pouch, though the minute she
touched it, a piece of paper popped into her hand. “Nice. But it’s too dim—” The
staff brightened to a steady yellow light.

“Okay. That’s pretty,” Kiri said, then, “I don’t like the looks
of this character, though. Magic user—sorceress—and magic users tend to be
squishy.”

“Squishy?” asked Lathyr.

“Not many hit points, easily defeated.”

“Ah. May I see your paper?”

“Yes, how good are these spells?”

“That, I believe, you would have to ask Jenni. I am here to
show you how to use them.”

“Sorry, Kiri,” Jenni said, “but that’s how your innate
qualities manifested you into this game—as an earth elemental, dwarfem magic
user. But you also have healing powers you can use on yourself.”

“That’s something,” Kiri said, this time absentmindedly, as she
stared at the paper. “All right. My robe has a high-level defensive spell woven
into it. That’s good, and I can also draw a shield around me.”

“A stone dust shield. That will protect you, but it will not
allow you to throw offensive spells at your enemies.”

“A trade-off,” Kiri said. She didn’t seem as concerned as
Lathyr was. He knew the spells she was being given were those practiced by true
dwarves. But of what use was a purely defensive shield, except to huddle behind
like in a fort—or a cave? He disapproved of the notion—but much of mer magic was
based on movement.

She took back the pitiful list. “I have two offensive spells
here, beginning level, I imagine. One is ‘stiffen enemy’ and the other,
‘barricade.’” Looking up at him with her beautiful eyes, she asked, “How do I
cast these?”

For the first time Lathyr was glad that he’d spent a few
decades in a seaport as mostly human. The town had held an unusually eclectic
mix of minor Lightfolk, and he’d fought with them against sea monsters, the
occasional land monster and some bloody-minded humans. At the time, he’d seen
the spells often enough, and he’d learned the few that Kiri would be able to
master in each realm during the short time she’d be given.

It only took three minutes for him to show her the gestures,
make sure she had them memorized, before she went to the cave opening. Looking
at a winding path, she touched her information sheet again. “My goal is to reach
the Earth Palace and make my curtsy to the Dwarf Royals before receiving quests
from them.”

“That’s right,” Jenni said. “Though due to your limited amount
of time, once you reach the palace, we will call it done in the Earth Realm,
then will renew the settings so you will manifest in a different elemental
realm.”

Kiri’s shoulders squared as she nodded. “That’s right.” She
took a step out, and glanced back at Lathyr, who hadn’t moved. “Aren’t you
coming?”

“I’m afraid you are on your own,” he said, keenly regretting he
couldn’t help her. “My presence here is limited to this cave.” And he was
beginning to dislike the smell. The magic had gathered around Kiri and moved
with her.

“Oh.”

“Fare we—” The last syllable was cut off and rock jabbed at his
nerves again as Meld tech-magic moved him from the “game” back to the tall
building in Denver.

Lathyr vanished from Kiri’s sight. She was on her own. Her
heart jumped in her chest and she wiped her palms on her robe. Her staff stood
upright beside her. Magic.

She inhaled deeply. Wow. Magic had a scent in the game, like
sleeping under a tree full of spring blossoms and having them drop down and
cover her, fragile and pink. Wonderful, wonderful fragrance.

Against the wall she saw a brown leather pack that turned out
to be full of food and journey items and medicines. Kiri picked it up by one of
the straps and her brows rose. “Also light.” She studied the bulging bag,
shrugged and slipped it on her back.

So she left the cave and stepped into warm sunshine...which
appeared to be more yellow, too. Hmm. She’d see if she liked that; it did seem
more cheerful.

How closely would Jenni and Lathyr be watching her? She didn’t
know, but time to get on with the game. Fun and stressful all at once.

* * *

“Welcome back,” Princess Jindesfarne said to Lathyr.

Lathyr shuddered as he pulled off his visor and placed it on
the counter. “I do not like that construct. Real and game.”

“Face it, Lathyr, you don’t like games.”

“I have no problem admitting that.”

The princess chuckled throatily, her cinnamon-colored brows
winging up. “But you do like our charge, Kiri Palger.” There was a beep from the
machine in front of the princess and she swirled toward it, fingers racing over
the keyboard.