Darkness Stabs: Dark World Book 1 Part 2 Read online

  SecOps directed that question at System. Then she added, “and where the hells is Guide? Isn’t she supposed to meet all new characters coming into the game? Wouldn’t she know more about this ‘Whispers’ character?”

  System looked at Scrum Master and saw that the odd twitching in her left-hand index finger showed up once more.

  “Um, she is tied up with something, I believe; otherwise, she would’ve been here, I’m sure.” Scrum Master offered as an answer. “System, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe we’ve trapped Whispers in a very high-level quest and on Atsia Minor. That will limit his influence within the main world, we hope.”

  System then realized something must be going on out of the ordinary for Guide to be absent and even more extraordinary for the cover-up he was seeing. He did a quick search, which he could do better than anyone, and found Guide. He couldn’t understand what he found, though.

  Ignoring Scrum Master’s false need for support, he stated, “I found her. I think she’s in a bind. She’s been trapped inside of an item, and per the directives of that quest, she can’t be released by anyone except and unless the quest giver releases her. The odd thing is that the quest giver has the status of ‘dead.’ I don’t understand this. What’s going on?”

  Scrum Master breathed in heavily and said, “Yes, I see the quest you’re referring to. I think I have to confess that I was surprised when I saw this too.”

  “Wait, you knew where she was?”, Product Owner asked Scrum Master, and everyone else just stared at Scrum Master with the same questioning expression.

  “Now, let’s conclude our meeting, and then I’ll continue looking into this, OK?” Scrum Master had the nervous tick again and seemed to be trying her best to downplay everything.

  System thought the meeting had just gotten very interesting so he decided to dig a little deeper. He did a quick read-through of the logs surrounding the quest and then spotted something exceptional. The player that had received the quest and who was stated to receive a massive amount of XP from its completion used the handle David Gosling. Surprised by this find, he blundered.

  “David Gosling!” he said aloud.

  The room got really quiet, and then Scrum Master set the tone for the explosion of conversations that followed when she said, “Oh, the stupid crapidy biscuit fell on the crapidy floor.”

  CHAPTER II

  Rendezvous

  David looked at the three men who were just staring back at him with dumb shock.

  “So, is pissing off a goddess something that happens in a game?” David asked.

  David had just repeated, word for word, the final message, last of a number of messages that had been hidden from him by Starlight Girl, goddess of shine and beauty.

  “Well, this might be a good thing.” WhoDadi5O was the first to speak up. “Maybe this is a really good thing. This message is actually from one goddess telling you that another goddess is declaring war against you. First of all, that message gives away a lot about how the dynamics of this world actually work. It would seem that the gods, and goddesses, are acting as if their agendas weren’t aligned all the time and may, in fact, be opposing at times.”

  “Ya, that mother goddess clearly wants you on her side,” RamenBaby interjected.

  “Exactly!” Continued WhoDadi5O. “The trick is going to be to hold out and not declare any allegiances while at the same time surviving whatever this ‘Starlight Girl’ has in store. It may not be possible.”

  David was sure that he didn’t want any trouble, but it sounded like these players had a way of using the situation towards some end. He continued to listen, hoping that whatever they came up with would keep him safe and be beneficial in some way.

  “Hey, not-the-daddy, didn’t you say that dagger quest had to do with a dead god or something like that?” TwerkinJerkin directed that question to WhoDadi5O in the ribbing sort of way David was starting to associate with the three players’ long-standing friendship.

  “Ya, that dagger quest said something about that. Well, that means they can be killed, so something is interesting about all this. If a god can declare war on a player and some quests require a god to be killed, then that makes killing one of these gods a possible boss fight, right?” WhoDadi5O waited for the effect his words would have on the other two.

  TwerkinJerkin and RamenBaby started nodding slowly, and the three players got quiet as they seemed to go deep in thought about this possibility. David just looked back and forth between them, waiting for someone to break the silence.

  “Well, let’s follow this train of thought over the coming days, but I’m going to suggest we keep this to ourselves as we don’t want the wrong members in the guild getting an edge before we’ve figured out our strat.” WhoDadi5O ended the subject, and the other two players nodded their assent.

  David continued looking between the players expecting something more definitive, but it was doubtful anything more was forthcoming. “So that’s it? Just don’t commit to anything and hope for the best?” David said this with one final hope that someone would have more to say.

  “Well, just keep your head down and don’t piss off any more goddesses for a few days.” TwerkinJerkin offered as a semi-sarcastic suggestion.

  The three players chuckled at the comment, and David gave a quick snort, humorously accepting the verdict. He felt somewhat hopeless as a player, so he decided, privately, to focus his efforts on just keeping out of the spotlight and, more importantly, avoid answering any more of the princess’s questions in the future. Clearly, it was far worse luck to answer than not to.

  David saw the evening was coming quickly as the light, coming through the water-damaged floorboards above them, was beginning to dim. He half tempted a look at his wrist, expecting to see a wristwatch, and then realized this world didn’t have that technology.

  “Well, it’s getting late, and it is getting harder to see in here. Let’s patch this mess up and see if we can all head out of here before this stink becomes a permanent part of our lives.”

  TwerkinJerkin promptly started passing David the tools and pipes. RamenBaby had, thankfully, brought back a torch with him as well. The three players let David focus on the work and even lent a hand near the end when the finishing touches required a bit more strength than David could muster on his own.

  The four men, having ensured that the work had been finished and that the leak had been stopped, headed out of the pitch-black basement and out into the evening air, using the torchlight to guide them through the halls on the way out. David’s opinion of the players had improved after the talk with WhoDadi5O and completing the fix to the busted pipes. He wondered if he might have actually started down the path of friendship with the three but pushed the thought away as it seemed far more likely that they were using him for some advantage.

  As the three stepped out, it was something of note to see the lamp posts being lit with fire and the city taking on a more mysterious appearance. David took it in for a spell and then, realizing that the men were simply waiting around for him to dismiss them, quickly did so. A moment after he had disbanded them, they all started shouting and reveling at the large portion of experience and reputation points they had received.

  The XP and the reputation points weren’t too much of a surprise for the three players except that everyone, including the city guards, had received both XP and reputation. This surprised the three players and even David as he had understood that the norm was for the players alone to get rewarded in this fashion. The four players simply shook their heads in confusion as the events of the day only seemed to add to their list of questions.

  The entire group soon split into smaller groups, and David soon after found himself headed in the direction of the Dragon’s Tongue Brewery and Tavern, alone.

  As he walked through the streets, he saw many interesting things, but the one single thing of note was how, as if in fear,
everyone seemed to be headed to their rooms. Up and down the sidewalk, he spotted people entering buildings, disappearing with visible urgency. It gave him a little bit of the creeps soon after, as he found himself completely alone and in the darkness of the evening with only the fire from the posts to show him the way and give him company. As he got ever closer to the bar, he began hearing the music and overall ruckus from the place, and this helped to calm his nerves.

  Then, after a little while, he spotted the unmistakable sign for a bar, which consisted of a mug of ale filled to the brim and a lovely froth flowing over. He had expected the tavern to have the name somewhere printed, but it did not. He was only certain of being in the right place when he noticed that a poorly drawn and faded depiction of what might have been a dragon’s head was present behind the frothing cup of ale. It struck him as odd that the people in the city would simply agree that this place was called what it was based purely on a poorly constructed sign on its exterior.

  “Well, at least we hope the dragon has a tongue.” He said as he entered through the doorway. He stood inside, barely past the entrance, and began looking over the patrons. Most were drinking or just making a poor display of themselves with the barmaids. Then he saw, with relief, that the two Elven travelers had indeed come to the brewery as they had planned. He spotted the two sitting at the rear of the establishment, to the far left. He realized too that MoonGlider must have noticed him first as she had sat facing the entrance and, at present, was doing her best to avoid making eye contact with him. “A woman scorned...” He mumbled to himself.

  David planned to walk around the edge of the establishment so as not to interfere with any merriment but took two steps before the bartender, a rough-looking man in his older years, called to him.

  “Hey there, lad, you be wanting a place to stay the night, eh?” The man clearly was talking to David, but it took David a moment to understand what he said, on account of an odd accent the man had. In the meantime, the singing died down as many curious patrons were simply watching to see what would happen next. David, noticing the looks, wondered if there weren’t many things to keep them entertained in this place. The tavern wenches noticed this too and started clapping with the music as if to restart the engine that kept the coin moving and their purses full.

  David turned back to the bartender. “Ehhh, yes, I need a place to stay the night.” He replied in a somewhat uncertain tone. He then walked over to the bartender’s station and then turned to see if MoonGlider was still pretending to ignore him. It bothered him a little that she had sent him some messages and that he had, though through no fault of his own, managed to miss these entirely. He had only been in the caravan a few moments, he thought, and yet the pair had left. He would have to ask them about that and, hopefully, make amends for whatever damage that stupid ‘Starlight Girl’ had caused.

  Of course, looking back at MoonGlider, like he had, showed him she was definitely interested enough to pretend not to be. As he turned back to the bartender, he thought he sensed her eyes stabbing him in the back.

  “Well, if you haven’t yet made up your mind, I would best be finding a place quick if I was you. I have a room still. If you’re looking to get out of the night and out of the sights of that beasty, the one that’s been doing all the killin recently, then you better be getting somewhere safe soon, eh?” The bartender fixed David a concerned look and then waited to see what David’s decision would be.

  “Well, I don’t know what ‘beasty’ you’re talking about, but I’ll take a room if you have one.” David started putting two and two together. He found that the behavior of the people outside, and that of this bartender, seemed to be all centered on some creature to which this bartender was referring. He then thought of that early morning encounter with the holy knight. David suspected that his new wolf friend, the Blue Druid, could be related to all this fear, and yet it couldn’t.

  “Oh! Haven’t you heard about the killins then? Some animal, some say a werewolf, has been doing some nasty work with the people in Madrea. Some say this evil has come to our city. You must have only just arrived then? Well, come on and pay up, and I’ll tell you all about it. It’ll be two silver coins a night.” The bartender waited for payment but instead saw David’s face turn red. Then he noticed that David quickly looked towards the far side of the room where the two Elven travelers were sitting.

  “Um, well, I’m actually with them,” David said, pointing slightly towards the back of the room where the two Elves were sitting. He said this quietly as if not to let others in the establishment hear. He also hoped not to let the two travelers hear since he felt he already owed them for the clothes earlier that day.

  “Oh, Sir! My apologies I didn’t see. How stupid of me. I am just now seeing your title, Sir, David Gosling. My mistake! I just presumed from your clothing; you were simply another traveler. We’ve had so many in and out of here this week. You are, of course, welcome to stay in my rooms upstairs at no charge. Perhaps you will send some business my way?”

  The title of ‘Sir’ others were seeing above his person was beginning to change his dealings with others and for the better. Impressing Gwarm had been worth the effort, and it wasn’t something he could ignore or take for granted. He realized how a little quid pro quo could work in a society such as this, and he further considered the bartender’s request. He wasn’t interested in finding out, firsthand, why travelers were getting killed. If he stayed the night in the rooms above the tavern, he would at least have better sleep than the previous night in the woods, he reasoned.

  “I’ll take you up on that, and I’ll mention the tavern to travelers I meet, of course.” David wasn’t sure if adding, ‘Oh! And visit the Dragon Tongue for good ale’ would make for a natural conversational insert, but he’d give it a try if it meant he could stay indoors for a night.

  David nodded to the bartender after accepting a key for what, he hoped, would be a quiet and clean room. He was about to walk over to the two travelers when he decided to double-check his message windows. Sure enough, his recently acquired nemesis was still at it.

  You have been offered a reputation quest with Jonsey Brig, the owner, and bartender of The Dragon’s Tongue Brewery and Tavern. You will earn one point of reputation with Jonsey for every promotion of his establishment. Do you agree?

  - System Message

  This message has been blocked by, you guessed it, ‘Starlight Girl.’

  - The Narrator.

  David closed the message and opened the next one.

  You have accepted Jonsey’s offer and will begin earning reputation points with him when you promote his establishment.

  - System Message.

  ‘Starlight Girl’ at it again.

  - The Narrator

  He was about to let the frustration of missing the messages get to him when he had a strange and seemingly unnatural thought. ‘Who is this ‘Narrator’? Is he a character like the gods and goddesses in this virtual world?’

  He carefully made his way over to the table on the far side of the tavern and would’ve continued his musing over ‘The Narrator’ when he saw a quick glance his way from MoonGlider. She had spotted him approaching once more and was redoubling her efforts to look away.

  The females in this world, so far, hadn’t been giving him an easy ride, he thought. Well, at least not to his recollection. He had escaped out of the caravan that morning in what, he hoped, had been the nick of time. That experience was still nagging at his psyche, however. He had been in the caravan, but for a few moments, he was certain. Yet, he had stepped out fully clothed in the new digs, and the condition of the caravan lady as he left the caravan was... disturbing.

  He came to the table, and MoonStriker, at seeing him, instantly greeted him. MoonGlider gave him a slight nod and refused to give him much of a welcome, however.

  “Hi there, friend? We weren’t sure you would show up.” MoonStriker said.

&nb
sp; “Hi...” David paused, not sure what to say. “Can I join you?”

  “Well, sure, have a seat and let us order you an ale. From the looks of things, you probably have a story to tell.” MoonStriker said this and gave his sister a quick look, which said more than words.

  MoonGlider gave David another look, and then recognition of something crossed her eyes, and it seemed that she was on the edge of forgetting her mood towards him. Then the moment passed, and she regained her aloof demeanor once more.

  David sat down next to MoonGlider as she had afforded him space to her left despite any suppressed dislike. ‘So she’s upset and yet still approachable,’ he thought with some relief.

  “Well,” David started right after sitting. “I have to say that I’m sorry for my apparent lack of communication this morning at the caravan. I didn’t know it then, but I had upset a deity in this world, and she was blocking many of the messages afterward. Of course, I didn’t realize she was doing this at the time, and this afternoon I found I had managed to offend this goddess significantly. She has actually declared war against me.”

  David paused to see the looks of shock on both of the travelers’ faces.

  MoonGlider was the first to speak up. “Well, how did you manage that, I wonder?” She said this with a clear note of sarcasm.

  MoonStriker, eagerly, but with more of a conspiratorial demeanor added. “Oh ya? Tell us how you managed that bit of fun.”

  David chuckled at the contrast and noticeable difference of interests and proceeded to tell them about the hidden portal at the eight ponds and the trip through the portal. He then finished the tale by telling them about the bit that had made the goddess, first, take notice of him.

  They both stared at him with obvious glee and burst out laughing. The bartender arriving with the mugs of ale almost spilled the contents on himself and miraculously managed to keep the mugs in hand. Some of the ale spilled onto the floor, but that didn’t seem to bother him as much.