Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds (28 page)

Luke nodded.

“We can’t let this happen,” he said.

“The Elemental Crystals are Guild Event items. They should be lootable at death.” Kaoru paused, and leaned in a little closer. “Luke, you have to be careful. It’s not going to be an easy fight. You can’t take them on your own.”

“All I’m going to do is have a nice chat with Megwin,” said Luke. “Nothing more.”

Tess followed him as he walked away from Kaoru. She grabbed his hand and pulled him around the corner as he was going by the guild hall.

“Luke, do you want my opinion?”

“What?”

“You and Kaoru might as well be on the same wavelength, given how you approach problems.” Tess was frowning, and waited for Luke to meet her serious gaze before continuing. “This is insane, Luke. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Tess, I don’t have a choice,” said Luke.

“Yes you do!” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it in between hers. “We can wait, and play things safe.”

“The Arbiters are already onto us,” said Luke. “They raided the guild meeting. Who knows where and when they’ll strike next…”

“And because of that, you’re going to lead an attack against another guild?” asked Tess. “This isn’t just about me worrying for your safety, Luke.”

No, it’s not. It’s about your safety even more than mine, Tess.

Luke reached his hand out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “The plan can still be saved.”

Tess stared at him for a long moment, and then stepped back.

“Please Luke,” she whispered. “Don’t do this…”

She turned and walked through the door of the guild hall. Luke stood where he was for a moment, and then began walking for the gate of Dunidan’s Rest.

I don’t have a choice.

Luke moved across the desert at a running pace. He’d grabbed some fruit from Tess’s garden before he left to recharge his stamina.

There were suspiciously few Arbiters in the Inner Plains. Luke tried not to be to paranoid as he continued on to Megwin’s Bay. Tess’s concerns rattled around in his head, he could feel doubt beginning to creep in.

He saw some players adventuring in the grasslands. Luke watched as one passed in front of him, a stout looking archer with a lance draped over his back. Luke passed the archer’s group, nodding as he went.

Luke went up and over a large hill, and then slowed to a stop as he reached the other side. Megwin’s guild hall was just up ahead. As he drew closer, several figures came into view and he heard the tell tail signs of a battle.

Somebody is already attacking?

Luke broke out into a sprint, closing the distance as quickly as he could. One of the players was casting magic, and as Luke arrived on his scene, he blinked in surprise.

Arex?

The red mage was slinging spells and appeared to be waging a one man assault against Megwin’s guild. Luke unsheathed his sword and moved to engage one of the guards holding the perimeter.

He was able to get close enough to launch a strike before the guard had time to react. His first attack took out half of the player’s health. Luke followed immediately with a second, killing blow.

CONJURE SWORD 3

MIRROR IMAGE 3

Several more players moved from the main guildhall to Luke’s right flank, intent on doing him harm. Luke started to launch his conjured swords, but Arex launched a large fireball at them, dealing splash damage and knocking a couple of them back with a burst of flame.

“What are you doing here?” Luke yelled to him. Arex locked eyes with him for a moment, but didn’t answer.

He’s never been very talkative. He may be on my side for the moment, but I still can’t trust him outright.

Luke moved to finish off the players knocked down by Arex’s spell. He hesitated. They were clearly in no condition to continue fighting.

“Please…” said the player, his voice weak and ragged. “I’m… all in.”

Luke slowly lowered his sword. Before he could do or say anything, Arex appeared next to him. He pulled a dagger out of his robe and stabbed the player in the heart without any hesitation.

Luke stared at the mage. Before he could say anything, another one of Megwin’s guild members moved to attack him from the side. Luke raised his sword to block the blow, retaliating with his conjured blades. They ripped through the attacker, zeroing out his health bar before Luke realized what he had done.

Two of the guild members that had been scattered by Arex’s spell stood up and moved to intercept Luke. He rolled, letting his mirrored decoys absorb their initial attacks.

PIERCE ATTACK 3

The players were standing back to back, and Luke drove his sword through the first and into the second. Their health bars began to sink, and Luke could see fear and death in the first player’s eyes.

We’re slaughtering them. I thought this was going to be a challenge, but it’s a massacre.

Arex cast a neon red spell that sucked the remaining life force out of the last two players. He watched as Luke pulled his sword free and wiped it off on the grass.

“Why are you helping me?” asked Luke. They stood outside the barred door that led into Megwin’s guild hall.

“I’m not helping you, I’m punishing them.” Arex started toward the door, and Luke followed behind him. “Megwin cheated my guild in our last trade deal. The player we sent to get an explanation is still missing.”

Arex held his hand up at the door. His body glowed for a second, and then a clicking noise came from the handle. He leaned forward and pushed it open.

“They never bothered to install proper locks,” said Arex. “Convenient.”

Luke didn’t say anything. Megwin and one other player were seated in the back of the room, watching them approach. They looked resigned, as though they’d already given up.

“You win,” said Megwin his hands held up over his head. “You win. We surrender.”

Luke still held his sword in his hand, but made no move to attack.

“Come on, though,” said Megwin. “You would have done the same thing in my position! Kato, you already were doing the same thing under the guise of ‘saving Yvvaros’! This is just a power grab and we all know it.”

“The messenger I sent. Where is he?” Arex took a step toward Megwin, and he flinched back visibly.

“I thought he was a spy,” said Megwin. “I did what any intelligent guild leader would do!”

Arex pulled out his dagger and readied a spell in his free hand.

“Please, don’t let him do this!” Megwin looked to Luke with desperate eyes.

“That messenger did not have a physical body to return to,” said Arex. “You killed him.”

“I’m all in, too!” Megwin was crying now, both hands clutched in a hopeless prayer. “Please, you have to stop him! You’re the hero! You’re the Hero of Kantor… please.”

The player next to Megwin made a move. Luke wasn’t sure if it was to attack or retreat, but he wasn’t interested in finding out. All of his conjured swords shot forward and skewered the player to the wall behind him. His body went limp, held up only by the swords piercing him.

“No…” said Megwin. “He was-”

Arex let loose with his spell. When it hit Megwin, the guild leader froze in midsentence.

“It’s a paralyze spell,” said Arex. “I want to take my time with him.”

What was he going to say? Did I kill a player that had gone all in, just now? What about the players outside, the ones guarding the hall?

“Arex…” Luke chewed on his lip as conflicting emotions flooded through him. The mage knelt in front of Megwin’s frozen form, rummaging through his pockets.

“Here,” he said, tossing the red Elemental Crystal to Luke. “I believe this is yours.”

Luke looked at it for a moment, and then back at Arex.

“I’m not going to let him live, Kato,” said Arex. “If that bothers you, either attack me or get out.”

Luke shook his head.

“It doesn’t bother me,” said Luke. “And that is what bothers me.”

He turned and left the guild hall, not bothering to step around the blood pooling around the entrance outside.

CHAPTER 31

“Is it done?”

Kaoru was standing outside the gates of Dunidan’s Rest when Luke arrived back. She’d bought new armor, apparently, and it clung to her body tightly. A purple cape hung from her shoulders, and a whip similar to the one her other avatar had been equipped with was in her hand.

“It’s done,” said Luke. “We can summon Makorin whenever we’re ready.”

Kaoru nodded.

“Good. We don’t have any time to waste. Let’s set out tonight in the real world.”

Luke shook his head.

“Are we going to have enough time?” he asked. “I mean, we still have to reorganize the guilds.”

“I’m worried about what will happen if we wait, even for just a day.” Kaoru frowned. “The other guilds are going to hear about what’s happened. Some of them might start losing conviction, or worse, planning to try what Megwin tried.”

“Alright,” said Luke. “I just have to take care of a couple more things.”

He found Tess tending to her garden in the back of the compound. Luke walked over to her and stood, not interrupting her from her work at first.

“Hey,” he said. Tess didn’t look up from the garden.

I’m doing this for her. She doesn’t understand. I’ll do whatever it takes.

“I’m worried, Luke.” Tess looked up and locked eyes with him. “I’m worried about you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Tess,” he said. “I still have my body. I can die and I won’t-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” said Tess. “Is it going to be worth it, in the end? You’re trading a part of yourself away, and for what?”

I don’t have a choice. I wasn’t strong enough. I’ve never been strong enough.

“I’m not a hero, Tess.” Luke swallowed hard, and then forced a smile onto his face. “I’ve never been a hero. They called me one after the battle, treated me like I was a leader… like I was special. But I’m not.”

“Luke…”

“Tess, I’m just a teenager,” he said. “I’m just a kid that grew up on video games, and manages to get really lucky. I didn’t want this, I never wanted this, but it’s here, and I have to…”

I have to protect her, no matter what it takes.

Tess saw something in his face, resolve maybe, or perhaps a strange breed of confidence. She walked out from the garden slowly and took both of his hands into hers.

“I’ll never judge you for what you have to do, Luke,” she whispered. “Just promise me that you won’t give up on being a hero.”

“I promise.”

Kaoru was walking toward them from the gate. Luke kissed Tess and then let her go back to her garden.

“I’m going to send out the signal letters,” said Kaoru. “This is it. In a couple of hours, we’ll have soldiers from all of our allied guilds gathered here in Dunidan’s Rest.”

Luke nodded and raised an eyebrow.

“There’s someone I have to check on, in the real world,” he said. Kaoru gave him an understanding nod.

“You should do it now. It will take a bit for me to get our army into formation.” She looked out across the compound. “I’ll log out once everything is set. There’s a bus leaving for Plattsburgh this evening that we can take with Wi-Fi. We’ll be able to be in Yvvaros while we’re on the way to the world state server, and make sure that everything is running smoothly.”

There’s no backing out. We either win, or Yvvaros will be lost.

“Alright,” said Luke. Tess walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. Luke leaned his head back and kissed her, letting his lips linger on hers for a long moment.

“You should get started,” whispered Tess. “This is it.”

Luke nodded.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said. “Don’t worry, Tess. This is going to work.”

He reached into his bag and pulled out his journal, and immediately after scribbling his name, he was back in the real world.

It was midafternoon, and Luke’s room actually felt a bit chilly. He sighed and pulled the headset off. His body felt weak. Luke wondered how many days, weeks, of playing Yvvaros and doing little else his health could take.

He slowly stood up from his desk, stretching his arms and remembering what he needed to do.

Ben. I have to check up on Ben.

Luke hurried downstairs, only stopping to pull on his shoes before heading outside. The hospital wasn’t far from his school, and Luke walked along a familiar path to get there.

The foliage of the trees was slowly beginning to turn red and orange. He’d been playing Yvvaros for the past few weeks, and the world had continued on, changing from one season into another.

It only took him a couple of minutes to get there. Part of him wished that it’d taken longer. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Ben, or what his friend was going to say to him. He wasn’t even sure that Ben would be conscious, or even if he’d still be…

There’s no point in thinking like that. Ben is strong, he’ll pull through this.

In truth, Luke felt as though he shared in responsibility for what had happened. Ben’s drug use had never been hidden from him. He’d watched as it had intensified over the summer, continued when Luke had assumed that he’d cut back as school started up, and then peaked as he was delving into the depths of Yvvaros.

He headed through the automatic glass hospital doors and into the lobby. A receptionist was behind the front desk, and Luke walked up and waited for her to notice him.

“Hello, what can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for my friend,” said Luke. “His name is… Ben Dobson.”

The receptionist typed something into the computer. A couple of silent seconds went by, and then she frowned and looked up at him.

“He’s in room 122-B,” said the receptionist. “Down the hall to the right.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m not sure if he’ll be awake or not,” she said. “His condition is stable, but his case was very serious.”

Luke nodded.

He’s alive. That’s enough of a victory for one day.