Hundreds of years ago the Gods grew weary of Man. They had forgotten their creators, abused their gifts, and showed only fear and hate toward those who were not like them. The Goddess Danu stripped the world of magic, sealing it and all magical creatures within the Veil, including the Gods themselves, until a time when Mankind could be redeemed. Now that Veil has been breached and creatures of myth and legend have begun to reappear. Some of these creatures are good while others are creatures of instinct, driven by their baser needs, but there are evils as well; Man's past sins and nightmares given form. Now Mankind will face a great cataclysm if they, and those who would become their allies, do not work together to forge a new future.
Caleb, his sister Karin and his fiancée Jess have signed up to be some of the first to play this new VR MMORPG that takes realism to the next level. For them it will seem like three and a half months, a vacation like no other. Caleb was looking to playing around with magic, but there's just one little problem. Due to a glitch in the character selection he's going to be living that virtual life as a girl, and not just any girl, but a princess. Will he hang on to his masculinity or will he just go native, and how will this affect his life when he returns to the real world?
I tiredly turned the key in the door and stepped inside, muttering, “Home sweet home.” Jess was upon me as soon as I entered the door, wrapping me up in his arms and kissing me passionately, demonstrating that not only was he home from his job at the bakery, but he was definitely in male-mode today. His breasts were bound, his hair tied back in a low ponytail and he was wearing a guy’s t-shirt and jeans. Okay, maybe I should explain a bit. Jess was born Jessica Phillips and is my girlfriend/boyfriend, in fact we were thinking about getting married. We met about seven years ago in college through the LGBTQ support group, since I was bisexual and Jess was trying to figure out who she was. It turned out that s/he’s bisexual and gender fluid and that the two of us hit it off as soon as we met.
“How was work Caleb?” Jess asked as soon as he let me come up for air.
He was grinning from ear to ear and I had to wonder just what he was up to as I shrugged and responded to his question. “It was a long day Jess; we were shorthanded with two people in our section down with the flu and our main server went down. I had to double and triple check for hardware issues, and then I discovered that it was some new virus. I managed to quarantine it until it can be added to our anti-virus program, but it took most of the day to isolate it and get the server back up. Stupid idiots shouldn’t be answering personal emails and playing games and shit at work.”
“Well I’m sure we have something that will cheer you right up,” he replied, still grinning like an idiot.
“We?” I queried. Then, as my younger sister poked her head out from the kitchen and waved I couldn’t help but smile. “Hey Karin, what brings you here?” Karin and I had always been close, despite the three years of age between us and it wasn’t often that we got to spend time together these days. Since I had started my job as an IT systems manager, and she had landed a job as a graphic designer/advertising manager for Pegasus Entertainment, we were both just too busy.
“It’s good to see you too bro,” she said as she ran from the kitchen to give me a hug. Once she had released me she grinned and extracted a pair of what looked like laminated VIP passes. “I come offering gifts. Merry Christmas.”
I took a look at the passes which bore the names “Caleb Sanders” and “Jessica Phillips” and wondered aloud, “Apocalypse Dawn Tester Pass? What’s this about sis?”
“Apocalypse Dawn is going to be the first big VR MMORPG game released by Pegasus Entertainment,” Karin quickly explained. “It’s planned to go into beta testing sometime early next year, but we’re doing a big pre-launch run that will be invite only. Four different servers will be running the game from secure locations here in Vancouver as well as New York City, Tokyo, and London. Two hundred and fifty people will be invited per server for a total of one thousand people worldwide. They’ve invited some big name gamers from popular games, but most of the invites are reserved for employees and family, and since my boss gave me three invites I thought I’d give the other two to you and Jess.”
I looked over the passes curiously, “I don’t see any information on where to get the game or server info or anything like that, and it almost looks like a backstage pass for a concert or something.”
“It kind of is,” she replied with a shrug. “You won’t be logging in to this game, but visiting the server site itself to join the game in a new form of VR tech. It’s not just a headset and motion controllers and such. This is a full immersion system, I tried it using a premade character the other day and it’s nothing like anything else on the market. The graphics are so realistic and with the sights, sounds, smells even the textures, it’s just like being there. Even the sensations you get from your character’s body feel real. We would be spending two weeks real time in the game, but they’ve made it so that It messes with our perception of time, so to us it’ll feel like over three months living in the game. I could have sworn that I was in there a few hours, but only twenty minutes had passed in real time.”
“Whoa! Two weeks in a game?! What are we supposed to do about eating and stuff?”
“Well, our bodies will be kept in a sort of sensory deprivation tank to keep outside sensations from distracting us and we’ll receive fluids and all the necessary dietary requirements intravenously while we’re in the game. There’s sensors and such to keep track of our life signs and vitals too, so we’d be pulled out immediately if anything even seems close to being a problem. Think of it as a free three month vacation,” she pushed eagerly.
“We’d be going in on Christmas day and coming out on the eighth of January, so we could probably manage it with vacation time,” Jess added, clinging to me eagerly, his eyes pleading.
I looked from Jess to Karin, and then back to Jess again and let out a sigh. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“The best part!” Jess said with a grin that threatened to split his face in half.
“I thought of you and Jess, because when I went in the pre-made character was a male, and it was… an extremely realistic experience,” Karin added with a blush. “Anyway… one of the races available to play are Kitsune; they’re shapeshifters and they can be male or female, whatever they feel like at the time. I thought that it might be a good experience for Jess.”
As long as I had known Jess, he had always wanted to know what it was like to actually be male when he was in a male frame of mind, not just binding his breasts and dressing the part when he was in a masculine mood. This would be like a dream come true and I would have had to have been a fool to not see that… or to refuse to play a part in it. “Okay,” I finally said, “we’ll do it. Tell us about this game Karin, I’d like to know what we’re getting ourselves into.”
Apocalypse Dawn was a game set in present day, or the very near future, and the plot was kind of fantasy, meets zombie apocalypse. Karin produced some of the advertising materials and read them out loud for both mine and Jess’ benefit. “Hundreds of years ago the Gods grew weary of Man. They had forgotten their Creators, abused their gifts, and showed only fear and hatred toward those who were not like them. The Goddess Danu stripped the world of magic, sealing it and all magical creatures within the Veil, including the Gods themselves, until a time when Mankind could be redeemed. Now that Veil has been breached and creatures of myth and legend have begun to reappear. Some of these creatures are good while others are creatures of instinct, driven by their baser needs, but there are evils as well; Man's past sins and nightmares given form. Now Mankind will face a great cataclysm if they, and those who would become their allies, do not work together to forge a new future.”
“Okay, I guess that could be interesting,” I admitted. “It doesn’t really tell much about the game itself though sis.”
Karin shrugged. “It’s basically a survival game and players are encouraged to cooperate rather than compete, but each server will have a mystery ‘Apocalypse Dawn Prize Package’ for the party that gathers the most experience during the testing. You’ll have to choose a race and class beforehand, but most of the character generation will be done in game. After choosing their race and character class, characters will receive a starter weapon for their class and have nine points that they may use to choose equipment and skills, though at least one point must be used for a character class related skill. Don’t worry about choosing skills you have in real life though, since those will carry over into the game.”
She showed us some of the materials then and things became a bit clearer. Each of the four servers was named after one of the four seasons and while some races would be available on all servers, each server would have a playable race that wasn’t available on the others and some of the other races may have minor differences in appearance customization or abilities from their counterparts on other servers. Karin thought that this was because they wanted to appeal to local tastes and possibly have cross-server competitions in the future or something.
Our server would be the Autumn server and the only one that would have the Beastkin as a playable race. Other playable races included Humans, Dwarves, Kitsune, Atlanteans, Witches, and four types of Fae: Sprites, Yseil'dhraí (High Elves), Nyiir'dhraí (Wood Elves), and Tokh'dhraí (Shadow Elves). The classes included Magus, Priest/Priestess, Assassin, Thief, Warrior, Gunner, Scout/Ranger, Artificer, Smith, Druid, Support, Soldier, Special Ops, Brigand, Medic, Shadow Walker, Entertainer, and Bard. Overall the game looked like a mix of modern warfare, and swords and sorcery in an apocalypse setting with monsters.
It looked like an interesting magic system too, with only the Fae, Kitsune, Witches, and Atlanteans having access to it. The only way for Humans to gain access to magic is by taking the path of a Druid and using rituals, potions, and herbs, or by making a pact with an elemental. The only exceptions to this being Witches, who are Humans born with the ability to use magic, and Priests, Priestesses, or Bards, who are given items imbued with power by a patron God or Goddess.
Jess decided right away that he wanted to play as a Kitsune Priest/ess and Karin was thinking of building a Shadow Elf Assassin. I wasn’t too sure, but I really wanted to check out the magic system. Finally I said, “I’m thinking about playing a High Elf, but what’s with all of these required skills? None of the other races have them. And seriously… I get the Kurinshal, elvish martial arts could be useful, but governance, fae culture, and faerie dance? That would use up four of my nine skills, with only one of them being remotely useful.”
“Well, High Elves are supposed to be rare and they’re essentially royalty, they’re sheltered and trained to lead their people from birth, so from a story standpoint that makes sense,” my sister explained. “I think it might be so that not everyone chooses them though, since the Fae in general seem to be the best magic users in the game and the other elves seem just as versatile with less of a downside. The High Elf racial ability for our server lets them learn faster and have better memory so they probably learn new skills quicker, but I don’t think many people are going to want to try them with those required skills at the start. Unlike the other Fae, they all have the same hair color, eye color, and skin tone too so there’s not much character customization available either. They might have to end up making some changes to that race before beta testing.”
I shrugged it off. “I don’t really care much about character customization or choosing a bunch of badass skills off the bat, it’s supposed to be a fun vacation so I really want to play around with magic. I guess I’ll just try a High Elf Magus and see how it goes.”
“Yeah, but keep in mind that you only get the one character, so you’ll be playing it for the entire time we’re in the game,” Karin cautioned.
“All the more reason to choose something I can have fun with,” I told her after a moment of thought. “Besides I doubt I’ll be the only High Elf in the game.”
The next day Jess and I booked our vacation time and Karin came over for dinner and to spend the evening with us so we could go over the game materials. We wanted to have a good idea of what we wanted skills-wise and equipment-wise before we started the game, so we could start off well prepared. For my High elf Magus I would have my main class skill called Magus Arts and for my weapon I would get an item called a spell focus which would take a form suited to my character. I was required to take governance, Fae culture, faerie dance, and Kurinshal (elvish martial arts), but for my other skills I chose ambidextrous, small firearms, Elvish language, gymnastics, and then magic crafting for my class-related skill. Since all characters had to choose a patron deity for our characters I had chosen Danu for mine, since she was apparently the Goddess of Magick, among other things.
Jess would be playing a Kitsune so her main class skill would be Cleric Arts and she would have a Hoshi no tama as the cleric’s version of a spell focus. As a Kitsune her deity of choice would be Inari. For skills, Jess decided on first aid, firearms, Japanese language, potion making, magic crafting, herbalism, hand-to-hand combat, piloting, and ride motorcycle. She had decided to start her character as female and had chosen the name Reiko. I hadn’t really chosen a name for mine yet, but I was leaning toward Talik or something.
Karin had chosen the name Nishalle for her Shadow Elf assassin with the patron Goddess Mórrígan. Her main class skill was Shadow Arts and for her weapon she had chosen a Barrett XM500 long range sniper rifle that came with an ammo pouch. For her other skills she chose anatomy knowledge, sniper, gymnastics, Kurinshal, kendo, stealth, pick locks, thrown weapons, and Elvish language.
Besides trying to plan our characters skills we tried to get to know their races a little better as well so we could figure out strengths and weaknesses. Karin and I would both be playing types of elves which were part of the Fae race so we learned about the Fae in the game in general first. There were supposedly many different types of Fae, but the chief four among the allied races were the Sprites, Yseil'dhraí, Nyiir'dhraí, and Tokh'dhraí. The Fae all shared a weakness to Cold Iron, which was a poison to them and burned them when they touched it, but they could be around it so long as they weren’t making physical contact. Yseil'dhraí meant ‘The Chosen People’ in Elvish, while Nyiir'dhraí meant ‘Wood People’, and Tokh'dhraí meant ‘Night People’.
The Yseil'dhraí, or High Elves, which I would be playing, could see equally well in day or night and took to learning magic easier than other races, or even other Fae. They were said not to be very common though, having been almost completely wiped out by Man before being sent to the Veil. They were seen as royalty to all Fae, so they were 'encouraged' to stay where it’s safe and bear children to preserve their race, and were not High Elves by lineage, but rather their features marked them as such; on Autumn Server they were always born with copper-colored hair and golden eyes and were taller than other elves. They were taught to lead their people from birth and their station was determined by a magical tattoo-like markings on their face called the Danann’syr (Mark of Danann). High Elves were born rarely, normally to High Elf parents, but they could also be born to Wood or Shadow Elf parents if there was some noble blood in the family line. As a race they had bonuses to agility and balance, but a minus to strength. They also had a racial ability called ‘Scholar’ which allowed them to learn faster and have better memory than other races.
The Tokh'dhraí, or Shadow Elves, had even better night vision than other elves, but they were mostly nocturnal and sensitive to bright light. They were also more prone to be chaotic or evil than any of the other ally races. Good shadow elves were often fiercely loyal to High Elves and become royal guards, while evil ones became Shadow Walkers, which were kind of like necromancers. They had dark blue skin with black, grey or violet hair and red or orange eyes and racial bonuses to agility and balance. Their racial ability was called ‘Thirst for Life’ and it allowed them to heal themselves by drinking blood and stealing their victims’ life force.
Kitsune were of course Japanese fox-spirits that could shapeshift to humanoid forms, look completely human with features of their choice, and copy the appearances of other people, but only once they turned 100 years old. With that in mind Jess had decided to make Reiko one hundred and twenty-one years old. In their fox form Kitsune could have anywhere from 1-9 tails, gaining a new tail every 100 years. They were generally gifted priests and priestesses and had natural abilities to create balls of light and foxfire. Their racial ability was called ‘Servant of Inari’ and increased their success rate and potency for Priest/Priestess skills.
By the time Christmas day came three weeks later we were all pretty psyched about our vacation, especially Jess. Not that I could blame her, it would be nice to live in a fantasy world for a bit and get away from the real one. Some days it seemed like all I was hearing on the news was mass murders, people going missing, some new flu, or something else equally horrible. Let’s face it, the real world can really suck sometimes and I couldn’t wait for my vacation from it. Jess was in full-on girl mode and could barely sit still as Karin drove us to Pegasus Entertainment’s corporate Headquarters in downtown Vancouver and thankfully her good mood was infectious. We got there a little early, but already there were a lot of people milling around the building’s lobby. Karin seemed to see someone she wanted to talk to though as she called out, “April!” while waving her hands frantically.
The woman who approached us was a slightly short and full figured woman in maybe her late thirties with dark brown hair and eyes. She had a girl with her who resembled her in the face and coloring enough to be her daughter and looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. “Karin! It’s good to see you came, who are your guests?”
“I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” Karin replied with a laugh. “April, this is my brother Caleb and his fiancée Jess. Guys, this is my good friend April Dawson and her daughter Danielle. April is our head of Marketing so we end up working together a lot.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Jess and I said nearly at the same time.
“Are you psyched for this Dani?” my sister asked the teenage girl.
“You better believe it! I’ve been waiting for this all month!” Danielle was grinning from ear to ear. “It kinda sucks that I can’t play an older character like I wanted, but I guess I can understand why.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked, a bit confused.
“Minors need to have signed consent forms to get into the game, and they’re only allowed to play a character their own age,” April quickly explained. “It’s because we’ll be essentially living in the game for 3 months and there could and probably will be adult situations not related to combat. She’ll have a blocker on that prevents her from seeing that kind of content and, since adults won’t be able to choose avatars under the age of eighteen either, it will clearly mark her as a minor for her safety.”
I nodded as Jess replied, “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea actually.”
“April, Karin, I’m glad you could both make it for this. I need to start my big speech and get things rolling soon, but please introduce me to your guests,” a voice spoke from behind me. I turned to see a tall willowy redhead with glasses dressed in a dark green skirt suit smiling at us.
“This is my daughter Danielle,” April said first.
“And this is my brother Caleb and his fiancée Jess. Caleb and Jess, this is Ms. Moira Llewellyn, the founder and president of Pegasus Entertainment.” My sister turned apologetically to Jess. “Sorry about this Jess, but I told her about your situation, it’s how I was able to get two guest passes instead of just one.”
“I don’t mind at all if it can make my dream come true,” Jess quickly replied, “Thank you for this chance Ms. Llewellyn.”
“Please, think nothing of it, none of my family could manage to be here unfortunately so I’m glad that I could give you the chance. Caleb,” the redhead pursed her lips in thought for a moment before her face lit up. “Ah yes! You’ll be the one playing our High Elf, I’m very glad to have you here.”
“Wait, the one? As in no others?” I asked with a frown.
“Yes, you were the only one on this server to choose it, I’m a bit disappointed really,” she answered with a heavy sigh. Then she gave me a conspiratorial smile and told me in a mock whisper, “I’ll let you in on a little secret though, as a Magus you chose the best race for it. I hope you’ll be very happy with your new self.”
I nodded, deciding that I liked this woman. “I’m sure I will Ms. Llewellyn, until our time is up anyway.”
“Please you can all just call me Moira,” she insisted. “You know what they say Caleb, all good things must come to an end. I’m sure that you’ll find a way to survive once you’re back in the real world. Now I’m afraid that that’s my cue to get things started.” With that she excused herself and headed toward the podium at the back of the foyer.
Once she had everyone’s attention, after a high pitched protest from the microphone, Moira began to speak. “Merry Christmas everyone! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Moira Llewellyn; founder, president and CEO of Pegasus Entertainment. You all do know why you’re here though, you’re here to play-test Apocalypse Dawn, a game that will expand the boundaries of virtual reality. You will be spending two weeks in the game, but to you it will feel like three and a half months. This will be just as real to you as real life. Any real world skills that you have will be usable in the game and you will perform them as you would in real life. The skills that you choose to learn during your tutorial and when you go see a skill trainer for new skills will be learned at an accelerated speed by the same technology that will slow your perception of time. I know that you’re all eager to start though so let’s get you into your F.I.Ts.”
F.I.T stood for Full Immersion Tube and Moira led us through several thick steel security doors and down into a sub-basement that was built like a bunker. The entire floor was filled with large metal tubes, big enough to fit people inside. Moria said that she believed that these F.I.Ts were going to change the gaming industry so they were taking no chances at corporate espionage. That’s why even family members of staff had to be vetted before being given an invite. We had also had to sign a beta tester contract, ToS agreement, a long non-disclosure agreement, and several waivers. She assured us all that the server, this complex, and the gear that we would be using had been painstakingly tested to be as safe as possible, even the back-up generators had back-up generators.
Upon closer inspection, the tubes were about eight feet long and four feet wide and deep. They were mostly made of a light silver metal, but they each had various tubes and cords connecting them to what looked like refrigerator-sized computer towers with indicator lights, a touch screen panel, and several readout screens. We were each given a number and told to find the tube with the corresponding number, strip down to the F.I.T suit that we had been given the week before, and wait for an attendant to help us get settled in. The F.I.T suit was basically a stretchy water resistant garment, black in color, which kind of resembled a woman’s one piece bathing suit.
When the technician arrived for me she instructed me to sit in the tube while she attached the various medical monitors, IVs, catheters, and something she called stimulation patches. The stimulation patches were supposedly to keep our muscles from atrophying. Most of this stuff wouldn’t be necessary for short term usage, but we were going to be in there for two weeks. While we were inside they would be checking readouts and opening the tubes to check on us several times a day, but we wouldn’t notice anything because our bodies would be in a viscous green liquid that would dull the feelings from our nerve endings and all of our other senses would be deprived as well.
“Now since you’re going for a non-human character, you’re probably going to feel some body dysphoria at first once you’ve completed your character,” the woman who was named Alice told me. “That will ease over time as your mind gets used to the sensations from your new body.” Then, once I was all connected and sitting in the tube filled with green goo she placed something like a flight helmet with a dark visor and oxygen mask on my head. Everything went black and I felt several pinpricks of pain at the base of my skull and several spots on my head. I couldn’t hear, see, or smell a thing and when I felt the tap at my shoulder that indicated I needed to lay down, all sensation that I had left vanished as I sank back into the goo.
I opened my eyes to a brightly lit room and looked down to find myself. I looked like myself still, or at least what I could see of me did. There in front of me was a screen floating in the air that said, “Welcome to Apocalypse Dawn. You have selected a Yseil'dhraí (High Elf) Magus as your character. Would you like to proceed? YES/NO.”
I tapped the “yes” button and a mirror appeared in front of me where my features changed. My dark brown hair became a bright copper, my blue eyes turned bright gold, and my normally pale skin stayed pretty much the same but looked smoother and softer. I was staring at my now long pointed ears as another screen popped up beside me. “Please choose your Gender.” Below that “Female” was written in cursive pink letters and “Male” in blocky blue letters. I tapped the “male” button of course, but I received a slight shock as a flashing red error message appeared. “Error! That option is not available at this time. Please choose again.”
I hit it again, but the same message popped up, and continued to pop up every time I tried it. Finally I groaned. “Aww damn. I suppose I have no choice then, it’s either spend the next three and a half months as a girl or stuck here in character limbo. I just know I’m going to regret doing this but…” I reached out shakily and tapped the female button.
Of course that just had to work so now I was looking at a pretty female elf as the screen started guiding me through various character customization options. Oh well, if I was going to be a chick for the next three months and change I was going to damned well be a hot one, for Jess’ sake. I made myself 19 years old rather than my own 27 years and I kept my height at five feet eleven inches tall, since apparently High Elves are quite a bit taller than other Elves. There weren’t a lot of options for body shape, as it would seem that tall and slender was the standard with slightly wide hips and breasts that looked to be around a large B cup, large enough to know they were there, but not big enough to constantly get in the way.
My face was gorgeous when I was finished, full pouting lips, a delicate nose, large golden eyes, small rounded chin, high cheekbones, and slender and finely arched copper eyebrows. The long pointed ears and tattoo on my face were going to take some getting used to though and I wasn’t able to change the marks like I wanted, though I did add several piercings to each of my ears, gold colored studs in the lobes and three rings along the upper half of the outer ears. The tattoos were composed of what looked like multiple pale blue cursive symbols almost like a Celtic knot that interlinked into a band that covered most of my forehead from my hairline to just above my brows. At the center was a hollow diamond shape with a symbol in the center that resembled a pair of back-to-back sideways cursive letter ‘W’s.
Since they only had long and seemingly elaborate hairstyles for my race I wanted something that wasn’t likely to get in my way, or my eyes. Seriously, do High Elves have something against haircuts? All the styles were really long, and either loose or super elaborate. For the style that I chose, it was a sort of all pinned up together high on my head with small gold circlet and then split into a dozen braids that fell behind me down to my hips with golden ornaments at the ends. It was better than having it loose and it kind of looked cool.
Thankfully I didn’t have to worry about choosing clothes. As for now there didn’t seem to be an option for it and I was in the default black one-piece swimsuit thing. So with my appearance all set all I had to do was choose a name. I was glad that I knew what names my sister and Jess were using since we all wanted to meet up once we were done with selecting our skills and the class/race tutorials, and I didn’t think that Tanik would work for this look. So I entered the name “Taelya” and hit the button to complete character generation.
I found myself at the edge of a woodland clearing and I barely had time to notice a woman sitting in what looked like an intricately carved wooden throne before I was near overwhelmed with sensations. The cool breeze that caressed my face, the feel of dew-clad grass tickling my feet as I turned to take everything in, the scent of pine and wildflowers in the air, the sound of birdsong, and the tree beside me that looked so real that I had to try to reach out and touch it. My hand felt the rough slightly dry bark and as I moved my hand along the trunk I could feel the slight scrape against my palm as small bits of bark were worked loose, flaked off, and stuck to my hand with the warm stickiness of fresh tree sap.
It wasn’t just the world around me that had my attention either. My body felt so different, so very strange and each new sensation that ran through it seemed to surprise me anew. The way my long ears twitched as I tried to place what birds were singing, the slight shiver and goosebumps rising upon my flesh at the touch of that cool breeze, and the unfamiliar weight of the hair atop my head and the braids tumbling down my back. The shifting of my breasts beneath my form fitting garment as I moved, and the lack of tightness in the groin that only seemed to bring my attention fully on my virtual body, and it’s new gender. It was some time before I was able to shake myself loose from those sensations and enter the clearing.
The woman on the throne looked up as I approached. She looked a lot like my avatar, but her hair was styled differently and she seemed quite a bit older despite her youthful appearance. While she had the same tattoo as me on her forehead she also had a pair of inverted triangles beneath each of her eyes and covering her cheeks in the same pale blue and consisting of similar Celtic knot-like entwined symbols. She also had a floating sign above her head marking her as “Queen Amoiraishe” and an NPC. She seemed to examine me for a moment before gesturing for me to come forward. “Welcome Princess Taelya, I have called you here today to teach you about your people, your duties and to teach you the skills that you will need to survive in this new world. Come now my daughter, let us begin.”
“Daughter? Well this is an interesting way to introduce the game, I wonder what the others are going through right now?” I thought to myself as I moved forward to approach Queen Amoiraishe. I was very aware of the differences in my body as I moved and each step, each sway of my hips, each shift of the weight on my chest made me feel uncomfortable, this wasn’t me, it was wrong. The technician had told me to expect some body dysphoria by just being another race though, so I had to expect this, with being the opposite gender on top. I could handle this for three months to make Jess happy, after all it was no worse than how he felt every time that he was in male mode.
As I came close enough to touch, Amoiraishe produced a rolled up scroll and held it out to me as she smiled. “First you must choose the skills that you will learn to survive in this harsh new world, read this and choose the skills that will help you to best survive and serve our people Taelya.” I unrolled the scroll in my hands and saw the list of skills that were available, with my required skills highlighted in red. I quickly tapped those first, followed by the skills that I had decided on weeks ago with my sister and Jess. I figured that my change in gender wouldn’t affect how I was going to play the character overly much, so I saw no need to change my plan.
The moment that I finished selecting my skills it was like my brain was on fire. An assault of information invaded my mind like the knowledge was being directly downloaded into my head. It wasn’t just simple knowledge though, it was memories of learning and perfecting the skills flashing through my mind like a video being fast-forwarded, far too quickly for me to get anything more than a jumble of disjointed images and words here and there. It was like in that short moment I had lived through months and months of training, but all of those memories had been thrown in a blender. When it was done I stepped back, momentarily dizzy, but feeling full of knowledge that I knew that I had not previously possessed, like my brain had just eaten a really filling meal and was trying to digest it.
“Please sit my daughter, and I shall tell you of the history of our people and your duties to them,” Amoiraishe said as she motioned to a comfortable looking emerald-hued cushion on the floor of the clearing and gestured for me to sit down. There was something strange about her voice, it was more musical and lilting and seemed different to my ears in other ways as well. Wait, she was speaking Elvish now, I’m not sure how I knew that, but I did know it, and I understood.
I sat as instructed, okay I didn’t so much sit as flow into the lotus position atop the cushion, my every motion was fluid and graceful, seeming to glide casually from one position to the next as only one of the Fae can pull off. I realized then that I should try to ignore the mental discomfort of my new form for the moment and try to enjoy the experience, and the game. I mean really, I was a freaking Fae, brimming with power and grace and I should at least try to enjoy it. With that in mind I listened as she explained the background of the Fae.
The first Fae were four elven women, created by the Goddess Danu in ancient times from her own blood, magick, and aspects of the natural world that they would all be bound to care for. Spring was sculpted from fertile soil mixed with water to give it shape and form, she had silver eyes like flowing water and hair the green of new sprouts and leaves. Summer was from a clover, placed in rich soil and grown into the form of a woman with eyes the deep brown of fresh tilled soil and hair the pinkish purple of the flower she was grown from. When the heat and warmth of a beam of sunlight fell upon a pile of fallen leaves, Autumn was born and rose from the pile as a woman with eyes filled with the bright golden warmth of the sun and hair the red-gold of fallen leaves. Winter was formed from the ice of the north, sculpted into the form of a blue-eyed and white haired woman by the winter winds.
These were the first of the Yseil'dhraí, or High Elves those who would guide all Fae to follow in their duties and they were known simply as ‘The Four’. Four was a number of great importance to the new-born Fae, it bespoke the balance of nature; four seasons, four elements, four queens to guide their people, each equal and different, but in perfect balance. Other Fae followed after; the Nyiir'dhraí, Tokh'dhraí, Sprites, and various other species, their duty to protect, nurture, and preserve the natural world wherever and whenever they could In Danu’s place. They spread out over the lands, four clans, or Courts as they would later be called, each following one of the Yseil'dhraí. The four courts became known by the names of their first queens and prospered, but seldom interacting unless one of the four queens called for a Council to discuss matters of mutual importance. One such Council was called upon the advent of Man’s dominance.
Man showed no respect or care for the natural world, their very presence corrupted it. They slaughtered all beings of magick indiscriminately and the Fae had suffered great losses. The heirs of the Yseil'dhraí became few and only Amoiraishe herself remained of the Yseil'dhraí of the Autumn Court. Those magical beings who had once kept monsters from multiplying beyond control, protected the balance of the natural world, and stemmed the evils created by Man were now weary and greatly reduced in numbers, and the balance was in peril of being lost and endangering all, including Man. The balance of nature was extremely important to the Fae, and the entire reason that they were created. It was decided that something needed to be done to protect those that remained, until balance could be restored. When that decision had been reached, the Goddess Danu Herself acted by forming the Veil and locking away all magick and creatures tied to it until Man could learn to honor the Gods, magick, and the natural world once again.
The Veil had been slowly fading for years and the more powerful of the Fae, and some of the other Races, had been able to leave the Veil and bring a few chosen others with them as magick slowly returned to our world. Man had grown more than they had ever thought possible and those who had returned attempted to increase their numbers to prepare for when the Veil collapsed completely. Now that had supposedly happened and I needed to learn my duties as a Princess of the Yseil'dhraí.
My primary duty would be to train to someday lead my people, should something happen to Amoiraishe, which was probably the reason for the required skills like governance and Fae culture. If anything happened to her, the marks on my face would change to match hers and reflect my new station as Queen of the Autumn Court, as any other Yseil'dhraí beneath me in the line of succession would have their facial marks updated as well, because magic I guess. My second duty was to ‘restore and keep the balance’, which probably meant eventually having children, though this was merely alluded to and not said directly, probably because the path to that would involve mature content. It mostly involved nurturing and protecting nature, and keeping monsters, evil curses, and the like from growing too powerful or spreading out of control, all while not dying and trying to prevent anyone from any of the Allied Races from dying as well to keep our numbers up. At least that meant that I could go adventuring with others instead of remaining in a drafty castle or something.
With all of that explained I was able to go on to class skill training and get down to the magic that I had been so looking forward to. I left the clearing and appeared in another clearing, this one with several targets lined up along the far end. Waiting for me in the clearing was once again a smiling Queen Amoiraishe. “Welcome Taelya, I have summoned you here to begin training you in the use of magick. This will be your focus, your tool as a Magus to control your magick and direct your will upon the world around you. Take it and we will begin your first lesson.”
In her outstretched hand was a gold choker with a ruby set in the front and as soon as I took it I could feel a powerful energy coming from it. I quickly put it around my neck and fastened it in place at the back. I thought that that might prove awkward at first, but I had such nimble hands now that it didn’t present much trouble at all. Once I had it locked in place the queen spoke again. “Magic for the Fae and other magically inclined beings is used by drawing on the magical energy, or mana that exists in all things. Drawing on that energy takes concentration and burns a lot of physical energy. Natural magic users tend to eat a lot and yet still be thin because of this. Men, and other non-magical races, generally have to take the path of a Druid and use rituals, potions, and herbs or make a pact with an elemental to use magick. There are exceptions to this such as Witches, who are born with such abilities, and Priests, Priestesses, or Bards who have been given an item imbued with power by a God or Goddess.”
She paused for a moment, allowing me to process that information in my mind, before continuing. “Most Magi use hand gestures, and often words or phrases, to gather the magic, specify its purpose and direct it as their mind focuses on the desired effect and target. The hand-signs and incantations used by a Magus depend on the race of the caster and how they specifically were taught, but generally the more advanced a spell is, the more energy it requires and the more complex the hand motions and chant. Since you are of the Yseil'dhraí, I will be teaching you by having you draw Elven sigils in the air while speaking them when you focus your spells. Each sigil is tied to an aspect of the natural world or a basic concept and you will use these in combination to focus the purpose of your spells, the more sigils you use the more specific and powerful a spell becomes.”
She had me start off with drawing in mana, which meant that I had to learn to sense it first. Luckily for me the Yseil'dhraí are naturals at magic so that didn’t take me too long. Once I had managed to draw mana from a stone, a tree, and the ground beneath me under her instruction it was finally time to cast my first spell. She had me start with a simple two sigil spell using the sigils for ‘fire’ and ‘to encircle or cover’. I concentrated on drawing upon the mana around me and focusing on the effect I wanted as I drew the sigil in the air before me with my right index finger, speaking each sigil as I drew it. “Tierre liantuir!” Once the sigils were drawn and spoken I pushed outward with the mana I had gathered and the target I was focusing on burst into flames.
I may have squealed in delight at my first successful spell, but then wouldn’t anybody? Once I had that spell down Amoiraishe taught me two more simple spells, one to encase something in ice and a teleportation spell that could take me either to my set home or to a specific place or person that I was familiar with. By the time I left my training to join the others in the beginner’s gathering area I was as giddy as a schoolgirl. That of course only brought my attention back to the fact that I now was a girl, at least while we were in the game. Not that I had forgotten, no my body felt way too different and wrong to me to do that, but it did bring to mind one very important question, “How can I face Jess and my sister looking like this?”
It looked like over half of the other people on the server had finished their characters as I appeared in a large area that made me think of the inside of a warehouse. At first I wondered how I was going to find them in all this, but then I realized that I had a spell for that. I gathered in mana and then spoke and drew the sigils as I focused my intent on moving myself to wherever Jess was. “Kaida Reiko!” Nothing happened and I was fairly disappointed until I realized that I was focusing on Jess, because I didn’t know what Reiko would look like and hadn’t encountered her in game yet, therefore I was not ‘familiar with her’. It looked like I would have to do this the old fashioned way, so after a long sigh I muttered, “Show usernames.”
Names popped up over the heads of all the characters around me, but it still took what felt like at least ten minutes for me to find them. Reiko was a very pretty woman with a distinct Japanese look at the moment, red fox ears poking out from her long black hair and a pair of red fox tails. She also wore a necklace with a glowing white gemstone on it. Nishalle, as my sister had told me she was going to call herself, was shorter than me at maybe five foot six and looked about eighteen in human years with long braided black hair, red eyes, dark blue skin and ears as long and pointy as my own.
The pair was standing with two other characters and looking around, probably for me. The first of the other two characters was a five inch tall female Sprite named Venika who looked to be in her early twenties. She was slender and cute with short brown hair and I thought that she might be wearing a pendant of some sort. Was she a Magus or something? The other character was really hard to miss. Lissany looked to be about fifteen and pretty with hip length black hair and green eyes. She also had tawny-colored cat ears poking out from her hair, an adorable kitty-nose, and a long tail with black bands and rosettes, so I had to assume that she was a Beastkin. Surprisingly that wasn’t what had made her stand out though, she was also covered from her neck to her toes, with the exception of her tail, in a full set of steel plate armor and had a massive wall shield hanging from her back and a one-handed war hammer and a helm matching the armor hanging from her belt.
From the age of her I had to assume that Lissany was Danielle, the girl I had met before we entered the game, and Venika was probably her mother April, one of Karin’s co-workers and friends. I had been hoping that my sister and Jess would be alone when I had to face them for the first time like this, but I should have probably known better since we had briefly talked about the five of us forming a party together before heading toward out F.I.Ts. With a sigh I gathered up all the confidence I could and casually strolled up to the group. “Hi everyone, I’m sorry I took so long, there was a small issue with my character creation.”
The group stared at me uncomprehending for a long moment before the Shadow Elf that was my sister, said, “Ummm I dunno who you are, but you might want to speak English, not everyone here took Elvish as a language skill.”
Damn, I was speaking Elvish? I sighed once again and focused on saying, in English this time, “It’s me… Caleb.”
Four jaws dropped as one and Nishalle was the first to speak. “Wow bro… err sis? That’s a good look for you… nice… ummm… hair. This is a bit of a surprise, I didn’t know you were going to play a female character.”
“Neither did I,” I retorted dryly to her last statement. “The gender selector for male wasn’t working for my Race. Looks like I found my first bug to report, ah the crazy life of a closed beta tester.”
Reiko’s face was now a mask of concern and something else that I couldn’t place at first. “Are you going to be okay like that for what will feel like three and a half months? I was told that the body dysphoria from playing a different race could be hard at first, but you’ll be playing another gender too. I wouldn’t wish gender dysphoria on my worst enemy.” Guilt was apparently the emotion I had trouble placing because she looked away from me and down at her feet, “I’m so sorry honey, this is all my fault, if I hadn’t pressured you into joining the game…”
I frowned at her and cupped her chin to raise her face so that she could see that frown. “This isn’t your fault, you didn’t want or expect this. I wanted to play this game too or I wouldn’t be here now. Besides I get to have fun playing with magic and I’ll get to walk a mile or two in your shoes and understand you better. This might be good for me, for us…if you think that you can still be attracted to me like this.” I knew that Jess was as bisexual as I was, but was I her type in this new virtual body? Did she like girls pretty and feminine or more tomboyish?
She gave me a weak smile before hugging me so tight that I thought that she was going to break my spine. “Thanks honey, I think you’re a total hottie. I’m just surprised that you didn’t choose a more tomboyish look. The dysphoria has got to be pretty bad for you like that.”
She was right, ever since I had gotten out of character selection I had felt like my whole body was sending me all the wrong signals. I may have liked looking at girls who look like I do now, but being one with the realism of the feel of these virtual bodies was filling me with a sense of alien-ness, a discomfort with myself that made me feel sick if I allowed myself to focus too much on it. I shrugged, “Yeah it is pretty rough, but I was told that it could fade over time, and sadly there weren’t many tomboy options, so I figured that if had to be a girl I was going to at least be a hot one.”
“Well you nailed that,” Lissany offered with a thumbs-up and a somewhat awkward grin that displayed her prominent canines.
“If you need help adjusting, I’m sure we all would be happy to help you.” Venika offered. Then thankfully she changed the topic. “Those marks on your forehead are those your Danann’syr? What rank are you? I didn’t think we were going to get anyone to play an Yseil'dhraí.”
“Well I’m the only one apparently,” I replied, glad of the change of topic away from my currently incorrect gender. “I’m a princess I guess, at least that’s how Queen Amoiraishe referred to me in my tutorial.”
Nishalle broke into a fit of laughter. “I… I’m sorry bro… I mean Princess Taelya. I know this isn’t funny for you… I just can’t stop picturing you in frilly dresses and acting all girly. And... by you… I mean Caleb. It’s weird seeing that and knowing it’s you in there.”
“You have no idea, and thanks sis for bringing attention back to my situation when we had just changed the topic,” I snapped, causing the Tokh'dhraí to look away in shame. “Is there anything else I can do to make this more amusing for you? Maybe with my next skill point I should take animal training so I can get a cute animal friend. Should I maybe take singing too so I can break out into song when I feel the need? Get your laughs in now, once things get started I’ll need your head in the game, after all every princess needs a royal guard and didn’t I read that your Race serves the royal family when your alignment is good?”
My sister was looking at her feet as I said the last, trying not to giggle visibly at my list, until I got to the end. “Well, yeah I kinda forgot that bit about serving the royal family though,” she managed to get out.
“Congratulations! You’ve been conscripted. You are my new official bodyguard and general lackey, you may now address me as Your Royal Highness. I do hope you can spare skill points for massage and cooking and such, I mean somebody has to pamper me.”
“Okay! Okay! I get it, I’ll stop teasing now, geeze you’re sensitive all of a sudden. I was just teasing, or have you forgotten that we do that to one another all the time,” Nishalle grumbled.
“Sensitive? Maybe that has something to do with these,” I said hefting my new breasts with a frown. “And Caleb and Karin might tease one another all the time, but we’re supposed to be getting into character and, since I don’t have much choice in the matter, you’re talking to Taelya now. And Taelya wasn’t kidding about the conscription, consider it a royal declaration and welcome to your new life for the next three months and change.”
“I think I’ve created a monster,” she said, sticking her tongue out at me.
“That should be, ‘I think I’ve created a monster Your Royal Highness’, Nishalle,” I corrected sticking out my tongue right back at her. Then in an attempt to change the topic again I turned to Venika and Lissany. “So you’re a Sprite and a Beastkin right? What classes are you? Mage and Warrior?”
“Yes I’m a Sprite, it’s kind of weird having everything look so big and I’m not used to wings, and now they’re starting to get tired,” Venika said as she landed on Lissany’s armored shoulder for a rest. “As for my class I’m a Support, it’s kind of like a multiclass that can learn skills from the Magus, Priest, Medics and Scout classes to support their party members, but I needed to take the class skill for each class I want to learn from. I’m a mix of Scout and Magus.”
“And you were right about my Race, and almost my class too,” Lissany added with another feline grin. “My Beastkin tutorial was fun, I started out human and for the first part of it I was wandering through the jungle feeling something calling out to me and then there was this Jaguar and as soon as I reached out and touched it I started to change. So now I can turn into a jaguar and a half-beast form that increases my strength, and I got these awesome kitty features. I was going to take Warrior as my class, but I got asked if I wanted to change a few days ago.”
Reiko gave the Beastkin girl a curious look, her vulpine ears and tails twitching. “You got asked if you wanted to change it? And so close to the closed beta launch? Was there something wrong with the Warrior class?”
I had to admit I had been wondering that myself, especially given my own current situation. “No, the class works fine I guess, it’s just that when I was choosing my class I noticed that the game didn’t have a dedicated tank class. I figured I could make the Warrior work for that, but I though it weird that the game didn’t have a class like that. I mentioned it to Mom and she told Ms. Llewellyn. Then a few days ago Ms. Llewellyn called and said that they had spent two weeks creating a tank offshoot of the Warrior class that they were calling the Guardian class, and she asked me if I wanted to be the one to play test it since I was the one who saw the need for it.”
“They made a whole new class just because you mentioned it?” I asked incredulously. “That does explain the shiny armor and the massive shield though.”
“Yeah, I was so nervous when I talked to her on the phone, but she said that she was happy that I had found a potential problem for the game and they wanted to fill that need, and reward me for bringing it to their attention. So I get to be the only Guardian in the game, at least for the closed beta. She seems really nice, I’m glad I got the chance to meet her in person.” She was beaming with pride, her long tail swishing happily behind her as she added, “I had to use two of my skill points for the armor and shield, but they’re exclusive to my class. They’re called the Guardian’s Shield and the Guardian’s Armor, both are Kevlar lined, so I’m hoping I’ll make a decent tank even in this mix of modern and fantasy.”
“You could probably get even more protection if a Magus with magic crafting enchants them with protective spells, though it’ll be a while before I get to that level with magic. I’ll be happy to do it when I am able to though,” I offered. “If you’re tankier that will be good for the whole party.”
Someone whistled behind me and a male voice called out, “Damn guys! It looks like we’ve gone from Call of Duty to Call of Booty. Any of you beautiful ladies want to join the winning team for this fucked up game? I’m Razor, and these are Jericho, Napalm, Risk, and Thunder. We still have a spot or two open and we’re willing to give... auditions.”
“I’d rather choke on my own vomit thanks, oh wait I already did,” Nishalle spat, her crimson eyes narrowing as she glared. I turned around to see five college aged guys, all human in appearance, wearing military combat gear, and carrying assault rifles.
“I’m with her,” Lissany agreed, her ears flat and her tail bristling.
“Oh how cute, you all match, did your moms dress you that way?” Reiko shot at them and I had to fight not to giggle. Damn girly-ness. “Who are you supposed to be?”
“Like I said,” their apparent leader answered with a smug smile. “We’re the team that’s going to win this game. We’re from H3lls-Pwn, the number one guild in Blitzkrieg Online and we were specially invited to test this game.”
“Everyone here was specially invited jackass,” Venika snapped from atop Lissany’s shoulder.
“I didn’t know this game was supposed to have pets, I sure don’t see someone like you being much use in combat situations,” Razor said, causing his friends to laugh before turning toward me, “How about you sexy? Are you up for getting to know some real men instead of all the poofs on here playing fairies and elves and shit?”
I was about ready to throttle him, and though I kept my cool for the moment my face was probably turning the color of my hair. “I wasn’t aware there was supposed to be a winner of this game,” I said coolly. “They said this is a cooperative game.”
He laughed again and the sound was starting to grate on my nerves. “You must be a n00b, this is why girls can’t play worth shit. Sure they say it’s supposed to be cooperative, but if there’s a prize package then that means somebody has to win that package. If you join us I can teach you some real gaming skills. There are all sorts of things I could teach you. You interested? I’ll even show you how to handle my glock.”
“Razor is it?” I asked. Once he nodded I gave him a slow once over with my eyes. “I don’t see anything I’m even remotely interested in. And I think you and your cronies should have read the game materials better if you plan to do much besides dying on a regular basis. Party composition, tactics, and a variety of skills are going to mean a lot in this setting and you’re not going to be able to shoot your way out of every situation. Good luck n00bs.” I nodded to the others and we headed over to the stage area where a crowd was starting to gather.
As we walked off I head Razor say, “Fucking bitches.”
“Umm… Razor, what if she’s right?’ another said uncertainly.
“Way to put them in their place,” a man’s voice said as we walked past a pair of men. “Those idiots are so full of themselves that I don’t see how they can have the inventory space for their weapons.” That caught all of our attention as my companions and I all laughed and turned to look at the speaker. He looked to be an Atlantean from the descriptions that I had read. He looked in his twenties and was close to my own height with light blue skin, silver eyes, and dark purple hair. Seeing that he had gotten our attention he offered his hand. “I’m Grell, an Artificer, and this is my best friend IRL Pete.”
Pete appeared to be human, a little younger than Grell and about 6 feet 2 inches tall with long blond hair and green eyes. He extended his hand as well and once we had all shaken politely he said, “Those guys are going to be trouble, I wouldn’t put it past them to PK so I’d keep my eyes open if I were you. I’m a Soldier class and I think those jerks were Special Ops. I wasn’t an idiot though and put my skill points into skills rather than gear.” He looked us over and grinned. ”Nice well rounded group you have here. I didn’t think anyone would choose the High Elf race and I don’t know what you have going on, but that armor is totally badass.”
We were about to answer when a familiar voice came from the direction of the stage. We turned in that direction and I saw that there was video footage of Moira Llewellyn playing in the air over the stage. “Welcome players to the closed beta of Apocalypse Dawn! We hope that you all enjoy yourselves, but now I have a few announcements before we officially start the game. First, you may all have heard that this is only one of four servers. This is true and, when there are two days left on the game clock here in AD, we will be linking the four servers so that you can all get to know your counterparts and engage in a friendly combat tournament for experience rewards that will be applied to your characters’ total XP on your home server.”
That was met with some applause and Moira had apparently expected that because she paused before continuing to speak. “Secondly, you may be wondering why there were no clothing options in character generation. That’s because we will be starting off Apocalypse Dawn with a little shopping trip, something that we like to call Deadrush. When you leave this warehouse you will appear in a city teeming with panicked people, and infested by the undead. You will have exactly six hours to make it to the safe zone on the north side of the city and gather clothing, supplies, and other gear along the way. If you die you will not be able to resurrect for one day and will lose any gear that you have gathered. If you are late you will be docked one XP for every minute late that you are. The clock starts… now!”
As soon as Moira’s voice said the word ‘now’ people began running for the door. My companions were ready to do that as well, but I grabbed Reiko by the hand and told the others, “Wait.”
“We’re kind of on the clock here… uhh… sis,” Nishalle said, seemingly eager to get into the action.
“I realize that,” I replied. “Look at them, the event is called ‘Deadrush’ and I get the feeling that a lot of those people rushing in are going to end up dead. I would rather know what we’re in for first. With our party composition running in without a plan isn’t a good idea, we have two magic users, a healer, a tank and an assassin who only has a sniper rifle at the moment. Since Lissany can’t cover all of us at once, intense close combat is a bad idea until we can gear up.”
“The girl makes sense,” Grell admitted, and I was surprised to see that he and Pete had hung back with my party-mates. I cringed slightly at being called a girl, an unwelcome reminder of the strange feeling of wrongness about my virtual body as he added, “I’m not exactly a combat class myself and all that I have to fight with right now is a blacksmith hammer. Would you mind if we joined you? It would be nice to have a party leader with a good head on their shoulders.”
“Yeah,” Pete quickly agreed, unslinging an AK-47 from his shoulder. “Maybe I can help keep the pressure off at close range, at least until I run out of ammo.”
“You’re both welcome to stick with us if that’s what you want to do, I’m sure you’ll both be useful and there’s safety in numbers,” I offered with a shrug. Then I said, “Create Party,” and sent out the invites to the pair, and to my four female companions as well.
Reiko smiled at me once we were all in the party and I could tell that she was still feeling responsible for my current condition, but she would have my back no matter what. “So, what’s the plan then Taelya?”
I took a deep breath as I thought about what to do, then finally I said, “As soon as we get out there I’ll need you to turn into a Sprite my love, and then you and Venika scout from the air. One of you will go east, and the other west, but try to be no longer than ten minutes. Look for likely areas to gather supplies, gear, and vehicles, preferably with a minimum of crowds. We’ll try to find a secure spot to wait near the warehouse entrance until you get back. Pete and I will try to give us some breathing room as soon as we’re out and Nishalle will try to find a good spot to snipe from. If they get in to close, then Lissany and Grell will finish them off. If these undead are anything like in the movies, or other games, don’t let them touch you and go for head shots or fire.”
Lissany nodded, removed her helmet from her belt, secured it in place over her head, and then equipped her shield and war hammer. “You got it Your Highness, let’s do this!”
We were the last ones out of the warehouse and the scene outside was chaos. It seemed to be night and columns of thick black smoke rose in the distance lit an eerie red-orange by the light of fires in the distance that contrasted the city lights. The area we appeared in was heavy with the scent of smoke and blood, and the faint smell of seawater, while the deafening sounds of gunfire and explosions rocked the area. A few players already lay dead, though I didn’t recognize any of them, and the rest were fighting their way northward. “Looks like everyone is heading straight north and trying to gather supplies and shit along the way,” Grell commented as Reiko turned into a Sprite and she and Venika took to the sky and darted off east and west.
“Yeah, which means supplies are going to be slim pickings along that route,” I replied. “They’re also going to be making a lot of noise and that will attract enemies. I’d prefer that we find good place to gear up that won’t be picked clean and then find vehicles to take us north as fast as possible, preferably loaded with supplies and gear.”
“We don’t even know how big this city is or how far north the safe point is,” Pete pointed out.
“Which was the other reason for sending out aerial scouts, Sprites can see as well as other Fae in low light, and they might be able to get an idea of that and a route to get us to... Tierre liantuir!” I cut short my explanation to cast my fire spell on an approaching zombie, drawing the sigils and focusing my will as I spoke the words. The zombie burst into flames and after a moment collapsed to the ground.
There were a few other zombies that had peeled off from the main combat as well, but Pete and I were able to pick most of them off before they got too close. Lissany and Grell went after any who were still twitching to finish them off by turning their heads to red paste with their blunt weapons. Nishalle, for her part, had climbed the fire escape of a nearby building and was covering us as best she could with sniper fire.
We managed to have the area around us cleared out and were looting corpses, with Nishalle keeping watch from above, when Venika and Reiko returned. Looting corpses was not like in other games I had played, and neither was inventory space, since they were trying to make the game as realistic as possible to make it seem like you were actually there, so bodies didn’t just disappear and have shiny loot bags appear in their place. Nope, Pegasus Entertainment’s slogan was “As real as reality” so in Apocalypse Dawn, if you wanted your loot, you had to be prepared to work for it. That meant that if you wanted the fur from an animal you had to skin it, if you needed body parts from some monster for a quest, you had to hack them off, and for humans, or in this case zombies, that meant searching their bodies and rooting through their pockets.
Conversely, this also meant that if we wanted to be able to carry more than we could shove in the makeshift pouch we made from some zombie’s jacket, then we would need clothes with pockets, gear belts, waist pouches, or backpacks to carry them in. Vehicles would help with that too, which was why they were on my priority list. Technically I would be able to use magic to help with that one day, but right now I only knew the three spells.
Whatever city we were in it was either on the coast or on an island, and that would explain the smell of salt water. Venika had found the water about ten blocks to the west and the zombies were pretty thick there, following groups of panicked people heading for the docks northwest of our position. Reiko though had found what looked like a large shopping mall twelve blocks east of us, and it looked to be just off a major highway running north-south. There was also a parking lot full of vehicles that we might be able to acquire.
Once Reiko had returned to her two-tailed and fox-eared human woman form, we all made our way cautiously eastward along the street that the warehouse opened onto. Lissany took the lead with her shield and war hammer at the ready and the faceplate of her helm opened, to allow her to use her enhanced senses to spot any danger coming our way. We had gone about six blocks without incident when we found the police car crashed into a street lamp. A search didn’t yield much except for the dead officer’s 9mm Glock, a spare clip, and a Kevlar vest that was in the trunk.
“Grell should have the gun, you’ll need a ranged option until we can get more gear,” I said after a moment’s thought. “Do you have the firearms skill Grell?”
Grell nodded as he took both the weapon and the clip. “I’ve got it, and I appreciate having something more long ranged than a blacksmith’s hammer but, what about the vest? I think you or Reiko should have it since you’re our mage and priestess.”
“Taelya gets the vest,” Nishalle said, with a look on her dark blue elven face that would accept no argument. “She’s the party leader and the princess of the Autumn Court. As her royal guard I’ll feel more secure knowing she has the extra protection, in case Lissany or I can’t cover her in time.”
Reiko quickly nodded in agreement. “Yup, I’ll feel better knowing that my fiancée is better protected. Besides, the vest might be awkward with my shapeshifting.” She took the vest from the trunk and handed it to me and suddenly Lissany was covering us both as the gunshots rang out. “Everyone find cover! We have a sniper!”
The bullets rang off Lissany’s shield. “Lissany! Are you okay?!” Venika’s voice called out from the open trunk of the police car.
“Relax Mom, I’m fine,” Lissany replied while using her shield to keep me and Reiko covered. “Those bullets didn’t even penetrate the shield, it’s like an inch thick of steel with Kevlar lining. Even if it did, my armor is pretty tough too. Besides, I was doing my job.”
“Is everyone okay? Does anyone need healing?” Reiko called out from beside me.
“We’re all okay,” Nishalle responded. “I’ve spotted our sniper, it’s an old man NPC with a hunting rifle in a second story window at the next intersection after the one in front of us, about a block and a half down the street. Should I take him down?”
“Don’t!” I quickly shouted as I tried to put on the Kevlar vest while staying behind Lissany’s cover. “We’re supposed to be getting Humans to trust us so we can work with them, the whole point of the game is cooperation between Races. I’m more worried about what else that gunfire is going to attract.” No sooner had those words left my mouth than the flickering street lamps of the intersection just ahead of us showed a little blonde girl, no more than six years old, running into view with over two dozen zombies chasing her as she screamed for help.
“I’m guessing that I can shoot those though Your Highness?” my Tokh'dhraí sister asked sarcastically as she lined up a shot.
“Yes! Those you can shoot! Everyone take out those zombies, but be careful that you don’t hit the girl!” I quickly snapped out the orders as I watched the girl, fear clutching at my chest. In my head I knew that she was just an NPC, and that this was probably some sort of hidden quest triggered by searching the car or grabbing the vest, but my heart said that she was a child and needed our help and protection. I felt such an intense need to keep her safe.
The little girl stumbled and fell and the zombies were closing in on her. I couldn’t let them have her, but except for the spell to teleport me to a specific place or person, my spells were all offensive. Using the teleport spell would just end up putting me in danger too. All of the various elven sigils and their meanings ran through my mind as I tried frantically to think of some way to help her, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Then I stopped thinking and acted as I drew mana from the ground beneath me, traced a pair of sigils in the air and called out their spoken names, “Tanuus ysoldir!”
As I released the mana and directed it at the girl, with my thoughts firmly on what I had in mind, she floated up into the air, up out of the reach of the zombies trying to grab at her. “Okay guys, hit them with everything you have, I’m not sure how long I can keep this spell up!” Already I was working on a second spell though, one I had already been familiar with as I divided my attention between the new spell and keeping the girl in the air. Meanwhile a zombie erupted into flames as Venika cast a spell and foxfire from Reiko lit up a second. Pete was unloading his last clip into the pack of zombies, Grell was picking his targets as best he could with the Glock, and Nishalle was exploding zombie heads with her sniper rifle.
Apparently the sniper had figured out that the zombies were the bigger threat as the fire on our position had ceased. “Tierre liantuir!” I hit one of the zombies with my fire spell, but the effort of casting that while holding another spell in place was tiring me and giving me a headache. We had another problem as well; now that the girl was out of reach the remaining zombies were moving in on our position, drawn by the sound of gunfire. There were still ten of them and it wasn’t really reassuring when Nishalle started cursing about having only one shot left, especially since Grell was well into his last clip for the Glock as well.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Lissany said as she lowered the faceplate on her helm and pulled her tail as close to her body as she could. Venika and Reiko had flambéed another pair of Zombies, leaving us down to eight left, and a pair of well-aimed head shots from Nishalle and Grell took out another two, as Lissany got to her feet and ran into the midst of the six remaining zombies. She batted two aside with her massive shield and smashed another’s head in with her war hammer before they even knew what hit them. Venika and Reiko were quick to set fire to the pair that she had sent flying with another round of spells, but from all the clicking that I was hearing, those of us with guns were all out of ammo.
“Tierre liantuir!” I set fire to another zombie that was going after Lissany from the side, my headache intensifying as I tried to keep the girl aloft as well. Another fell to the ground with a red mess where it’s head should have been, thanks to Lissany’s war hammer, and she blocked the last with her shield, before finishing it off as well. When all was done, the Beast-kin Guardian began making sure that the other zombies weren’t going to be getting up and I was able to slowly lower the girl to the ground. The battle, which had seemed to last an eternity, had in actuality taken less than ten minutes and we were all exhausted.
As tired as we were, there was still the threat of that human sniper out there and we still had to gather supplies and get to the northern edge of the city. Surprisingly the sniper hadn’t shot at us again yet, was he out of ammo like us? Suddenly an old man with a rifle slung over his back ran up and wrapped his arms around the girl. “Oh Christina! I was so afraid that those horrible creatures had gotten you!”
“That’s the sniper,” Nishalle said in a hushed tone. “Should we rush him before he can use that gun?”
“No, I think the quest may be done so let’s just wait a moment,” I replied just as quietly.
The little girl Christina was hugging the old man and said, “I was so scared, there are scary monsters all over, and I tried to run home, but they chased me. I’m okay now though Grandpa, these nice people saved me.”
‘Grandpa’ looked up at us and looked us over curiously as I stood up and carefully approached. “Sorry about the shooting, I thought you were monsters like those zombies. Ya ain’t human, but maybe ya ain’t monsters neither.”
“We’re here to help fight the monsters,” I said with my hands raised to show that I meant no harm. “I am Princess Taelya of the Autumn Court and these are my friends.”
“Thank you for savin’ my Granddaughter, I’m going to try to take her north to safety, now that we’ve been reunited. How can I possibly thank you for your help?” He paused a moment as if in thought and then nodded to himself. “Well, since we’re headin’ north, I guess I won’t be needin’ to worry about my store anymore. I’ll show you the way there and you can take anything you need.”
“Thank you sir, we’d appreciate that,” I replied with a smile, motioning to the others that it was safe to join me. He led us a block and a half to the building he had been firing from. It had a sturdy door and barred windows and the sign said Grady’s Guns an’ Ammo.
As soon as he had unlocked the door and led us inside, he said. “Take anythin’ ya like. I’m gonna load some extra ammo into my pickup an’ then Christina an’ I are headin’ north. I heard there’s a safe zone there. He snatched up several boxes of ammo and shoved them into a shopping bag and then said, “Thanks again strangers, hopefully we’ll see ya up north.” Christina hugged each of us in turn and thanked us for saving her and I have to admit that I was a bit teary-eyed, and a lot relieved, as they both climbed into the pickup and started driving north as fast as they could.
“Well that was interesting, and rewarding,” Pete said with a smile. “Good call there on the secret quest Taelya.”
“I’m just glad we were able to save her,” I replied, not really wanting to say that I wasn’t even sure that it was a secret quest, until after we had done the saving. I just needed to help her. Did I had some sort of digital maternal instinct or something? I was aware that I hadn’t really been acting like myself since entering the game, but was it due to the alien sensations coming from my virtual body, or was I just getting into character?
Still this was a big win for us and we were quick to start gathering up weapons and ammo as quickly as we could while we had the chance. Venika was too small for the weapons to be of any use to her, and Nishalle only really had the skill for sniper rifles, but the rest of us took what we felt that we would be useful and practical for us. I took a pair of Colt 45’s with a twin holster belt and four extra magazines, while Pete grabbed a Glock to supplement his AK-47, and he and Grell both grabbed a pair of extra clips for the Glocks. As for Lissany and Reiko, they each snatched up a USAS-12 shotgun with a shoulder strap, drum magazine, and 2 box magazines. Then we took all the ammo that we could find for all of our respective weapons, loaded all of our magazines, and put the rest of it, along with what spare weapons and clips that we could find of our chosen type, in a pair of large duffel bags that Venika had found while searching the back of the shop for anything useful.
Now that we at least had weapons and enough ammo to last a while we headed off toward the mall at a quick but cautious pace. We didn’t encounter anything else before arriving and by the time we got there we had just under five hours left on the clock. We entered the west entrance of the mall by breaking one of the glass doors. The mall was dimly lit and all of the stores were locked up, so it had probably been closed for the night when all the chaos had started. I was hoping that that meant we wouldn’t encounter much of anyone, or anything else, but the whole place was eerily quiet. We made our way silently to one of the mall maps with the help of balls of pale white light that Reiko had created, and when we got there we saw the truck. It was a brand new, black Ford Super Duty Crew Cab with a canopy, and a bright red and yellow sign sitting on top of the hood that said, “Win this Truck!”
“That could be useful,” I said with a grin. ”I wonder if the keys are kept in the mall…”
“Keys? I don’t need no steenkin’ keys!” Grell replied with a grin of his own as he tested the driver’s door and found it unlocked. “I think that with my electronics and computer tech knowledge, and a little artificing magic, that I can get it to start.” He got inside and was fiddling around in the driver’s seat for several minutes and then the engine came to life and the headlights illuminated part of the darkened mall ahead of us.
“Great work Grell!” Pete offered as his friend stepped out of the truck and he slapped him on the back. “It might be a little tight, but we should all be able to fit inside and we can load the supplies and stuff in the back.”
With one less thing to worry about, I laid out what we needed to do. “Okay everyone, we have just under five hours left on the clock and I’d like to give us an hour of that to drive to the north side of the city, to be on the safe side. We’ll need clothes, food, medical supplies, and various other supplies. Let’s try not to get too crazy, but get enough to last a while. We stick together for now, keep your senses peeled for any possible enemies.”
We placed the duffel bags of spare weapons and ammo in the back of the truck and drove it slowly through the mall toward the destination that we had chosen, a large chain grocery store. Nothing moved as we made our way through the mall and the quiet was making me very nervous. It was as we were on our way there that Nishalle said, “Wait, stop here. There might be something useful in that shop, and I can see three or four clothing stores that we can check out too.”
The shop that had interested my sister was called Cutting Edge Creations and was apparently geared to people interested in the SCA, LARPing, or authentic historical reenactments. They sold weapons and even some armor meant not only to look realistic, but to be sturdy enough to be used in battle reenactments or SCA duels. Inside she found a katana that she really liked and over a dozen throwing stars as well, and Grell thought that they would make for good, serviceable weapons once they were properly sharpened. She wasn’t the only one to get weapons there either, as Lissany snatched up a sheathed long sword, which joined the war hammer on her belt, and Pete chose a massive claymore as big as Reiko was tall.
They had some armor too, and I managed to get a leather breastplate, skirt, vambraces, and bracers that could be worn over clothes. Nishalle got some leather armor similar to my own, and the guys got chainmail hauberks, leggings, and hoods. Lissany didn’t need any armor, Venika was too tiny to find anything for herself, and Reiko thought that it would be awkward with her shape shifting, so they didn’t get anything armor-wise.
We made our way into the clothing stores that Nishalle had spotted next, though for each store that we entered we would have to break through the security gates, making a lot more noise than I was comfortable with. Between Nishalle’s night vision, our elvish hearing, and Lissany’s enhanced senses we weren’t able to sense any enemies nearby though. Still, the eerie silence bothered me tremendously, and Grell and Pete stood guard outside the stores while us ‘girls’ looked for clothes. We tried to be as quick as possible, but we did need to make sure that things would fit, especially undergarments in the intimates store we went to first. Well, not all of us since Venika would never find anything that would fit her tiny Sprite body and Reiko could just shapeshift to fit whatever she was wearing, though she did try to get things in mostly the same sizes that she was wearing at the moment to make things easier.
Getting out of my black bathing suit and trying on underwear in the first shop was probably the longest, and most awkward, moment of my life. Not only did being naked bring stark attention to just how wrong my body felt to me, but Lissany, Nishalle, and Reiko were doing the same thing right there with me, because there was safety in numbers. I was used to seeing Reiko naked, as Jess, and seeing her new body naked was a bit of a turn on, but having my sister and a fifteen year old girl that I barely knew doing the same thing beside me killed any desire that I might have had, made me feel self-conscious, and only increased my awareness of my body’s wrongness, especially since all of our bodies looked, and felt, so damn realistic.
I knew that Lissany would at least have her vision of this censored a bit, but still I was feeling very uncertain about this. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about women’s clothing and I needed their help, even if it weren’t for the safety factor. Reiko was leaning in and helping me with a lacy black bra when she whispered, “How are you holding up sweetheart? I know that this has got to be rough on you, but thank you for doing this for me and for making yourself so damn sexy. I’ll try to make our time here as much fun as possible for you.” Then louder she said, “Okay it’s latched, now lift your breasts and place them in the cups and tell me how it feels. You don’t want it too tight or too loose.”
I turned to kiss her. “I’d do anything for you my love, and you know that.” Then I did as instructed and placed my breasts in the cups, trying to keep down the feeling of anxiety that doing so generated in me. “It seems good, it’s not squeezing them too tight and they’re not loose in there either. The panties are comfortable too.”
“Okay I’ll grab three more sets for you in the same size then, but different colors, and maybe a few pairs of cotton panties and some sports bras as well. You might as well just keep those on, and just put your F.I.T suit back on, if you’re uncomfortable. We’ll get clothes in that store across the way,” she said as she took off for where she had found the underwear set I was currently wearing.
“How are you feeling… uh… sis?” Nishalle asked. “I remember when I tried the game the first time, it was really weird being the opposite gender, and I only experienced a few hours. You’ve been acting a little weird too, your reactions to some things… well you’re kind of acting like a girl.”
“Am I?” I wondered aloud. I didn’t really see it, but my sister knew me better than anyone. “I guess I’m just trying to get into character, it’s not like I have much choice. I’ve been meaning to ask though, what’s that green goop that our real bodies are laying in? It was all tingly, and made me numb, I’m kind of worried about how our real bodies are doing.”
“I asked about that when we got in the F.I.Ts. When I went in the first time they just used water, but that was very short term,” the shadow elf began to explain. “Since our bodies are going to be in those tubes for two weeks, they’ve been filled with an herbal solution that will dull our senses to add to the sensory deprivation and also act as a nutrient bath. It’ll be absorbed through our pores to give us additional nutrients, and it was developed for long term immersion. That’s why the F.I.T suits only cover the important bits of the body, they’re there for modesty and leave a lot of skin free to absorb the nutrients.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” I agreed. Soon Reiko returned with the rest of my underwear in a shopping bag. It seemed that she had bags for each of us, with our names written on them by a black sharpie. Once we all had a good amount of underwear in our bags we tossed those bags in the back of the truck, helped Lissany back into her armor, went on to the clothing shop across the way, and then other shops we found toward the grocery store.
We tried not to spend long in any of the shops; just going in, getting what we needed, and getting out. By the time we got to the large grocery store we all had four new sets of clothing, including what we were wearing. We kept mostly to practical clothing, since we’d probably be seeing a lot of combat; jeans or leggings, socks, combat or hiking boots, tops that were easy to move in, hoodies, a warm jacket, and a pair of gloves for all of us girls. None of it was over the top girly and I was feeling a little less self-conscious in them, especially since we had determined that dresses would not be practical for now.
Grell and Pete managed to find some clothes that fit too, and a few spare sets as well, in a store geared toward outdoors wear, sporting goods, and outdoors equipment that we discovered not far from the chain grocery store. Reiko grabbed a couple sets for whenever she was in a male form as well. They also managed three tents, a camp stove and cooking gear, a pair of propane lanterns, extra propane bottles, and enough sleeping bags for all of us, in case we had to rough it. Grell also found a baseball bat that he thought would give a little more reach for close encounters than his hammer, a few pairs of wraparound sunglasses for Nishalle to wear during the daylight hours to protect her light sensitive eyes, and some fanny packs that he thought we could use as ammo pouches. With all of us having proper clothes and armor now, we all got into our respective armor and strapped on our gear to be ready for anything before proceeding further.
Another important find along the way was a small pharmacy, where we got two big packs of toilet paper and loaded up on personal hygiene products, vitamins, any possibly useful medications, first aid kits and extra bandages, and other first aid supplies. We tried to be as thorough as possible and get anything that we thought we might have need of. By the time we were done, the back of the truck was about a third full and stacked carefully to the top of the canopy to allow us to fit as much as we could once we got to the grocery store.
At the grocery store we backed the truck as close to the entrance as we could and then we each grabbed shopping carts and split up, while keeping a careful eye on the game clock. Grell and Pete went searching for bottled water and other beverages. Nishalle, Venika, and Reiko went off in search of dry goods, canned goods, and stuff that would be filling but not take much space, like trail mix and such. That left me with Lissany who was watching me, and our surroundings, very carefully as we hurriedly pushed our carts along. First we would load her cart with fresh produce, and then move to the meat and dairy section to fill mine with meat, cheeses, and such.
Occasionally we heard sounds, which were probably the others going about their tasks, and each time the Beast-kin girl was quick to place herself between myself and the sound as she looked around cautiously. That, and the fact that she had requested to be with me for this task, prompted me to ask as we piled bags of potatoes and carrots in her cart, “What’s up? You’ve been watching me like a hawk since we left the warehouse, you put yourself between me and a sniper, and now you’re sticking to me like glue.”
She lifted the faceplate of her helm and gave me a serious look. “I’m doing my job. When I did the class part of my tutorial I was introduced to an NPC called Queen Amoiraishe to take my Guardian’s Vow. She told me that each Guardian has a person to guard above all others, and that mine would be her daughter, the princess of the Autumn Court. I’m not just a Guardian Taelya, I’m your Guardian.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to react to that, so I just stared at her as she finished loading the cart with fresh veggies. Did they game creators somehow know about the gender glitch in my race, was it a glitch at all? If it wasn’t, then why hadn’t I been told? Then there was Queen Amoiraishe, who reminded me an awful lot of Moira Llewellyn. Why the hell was my character so important in this? And why create the Guardian class at the last minute for Danielle and have her protect me? I had far too many questions and no way to get any answers for the moment.
Could it be that she wanted to show off the Yseil'dhraí as a race during the competition at the end of our time, but she needed a powerful one to represent her own server? I was the only one who had picked the race for our server, and keeping me alive would mean I would get experience and grow in my skills faster. But then why the gender thing? Was it a gender limited race and I just didn’t know? No, that didn’t make sense, it had the male option it just hadn’t worked. I was deep in thought as we proceeded to the meat and dairy section and loaded up my cart, but no closer to an answer by the time we were done.
We finished loading up the truck with one hour and seven minutes left on the clock for the event, but we still needed to get to the north side of the city and the safe zone. Once both the tailgate and canopy were securely closed we all piled into the truck, though it was a tight fit with Grell, me, and Reiko in the front and Lissany, Pete, and Nishalle in the back, especially with Lissany in her armor. At least Venika didn’t take up much space, being only five inches tall. Once we were all squeezed in though, we drove back through the mall as safely as we could to the nearest exit, where Grell gunned the engine and barreled through the glass doors and into the early morning light of the parking lot outside.
After a moment to catch our bearings I pointed toward the northwest. “There! That’s the exit to the northbound highway!” Then I cursed as I saw the horde of zombies approaching between us and the exit. “Oh shit.”
“Great, what do we do now? Should we try to plow through, find another route, or get out and take care of them?” Pete asked in concern from behind me.
“There’s no time to fight and try for loot, we’ve got just under an hour and we have no idea how far away the safe zone is,” Nishalle pointed out. “Our best bet is to plow though and hope that the highway is clear enough.”
“Yeah, but that’s a lot of zombies and they’re grouped together kind of tight, that might be a problem if we drive through them,” Reiko countered.
“One of us could try to draw them off so the rest can get away,” Lissany suggested.
“No, we’re not doing that, we all get through this or none of us do,” I said firmly. Then I turned to Venika and asked, “How were you taught to cast spells?”
“I draw Elven sigils in the air and speak them out loud, the same as I’ve seen you doing, I think that most Fae do it that way,” the Sprite replied. “It’s going to be a while before I can memorize all those sigils and their meanings and start combining them for new spells though. Why do you ask?”
“Really?” I asked, a bit surprised. It had all seemed so easy to me when I first read through them under Queen Amoiraishe’s tutelage. “Okay, maybe my racial skill is more useful than I thought then, I already have them all memorized. I have an idea, so watch me carefully in case it works and we need to do it again.”
“You got it!” She said flying into the front of the cab to sit on my shoulder so she could keep a close eye and ear on what sigils I was using.
I turned to the Atlantean in the group and said, “Grell, if this works, you’re going to know it. As soon as it does, floor it.” His response was to begin revving the engine as I started drinking in mana from the world around me. I took my time as I drew the sigils in the air and spoke them, focusing on the effect I wanted as I did so, first the two sigils from my combustion spell and then I added a third, the sigil for ‘wrath’. “Tierre liantuir hannira!” Then I released the magic, directing it not at one of the zombies in the front, but a particularly tall one near the center of the horde.
A firestorm erupted in a ten foot radius around my target, incinerating those within the area of effect and sending others flying as Grell hit the gas. We barreled through the remains of the horde, flaming zombies being knocked aside, run over, or sent flying over the hood to land behind us as we went. Grell didn’t slow us down until we were well down the highway, with the city in our rearview mirror.
It wasn’t long after we left the city that we saw a road sign that had been spray painted in black with an arrow pointing right and the words ‘Safe Zone’. Grell took the next right turn onto a gravel road through a thickly forested area that we followed, until our gravel road ended in a T with a paved road that followed the coastline north-south. We followed that road north and before long reached what seemed to be a small village on the shoreline called Haven where, in addition to several rustic looking homes, there was a lone gas station, a diner, a pub, a bait and tackle shop, a small market, some small shops, a cheap motel, a small church, a bed & breakfast, and several fishing boats docked.
As soon as we entered that village my countdown clock stopped ticking downward, with eighteen minutes and forty-seven seconds to spare. We were the first PCs to arrive it seemed, though there were several NPCs, including Christina and her Grandpa Grady from the gun store. I was strangely relieved to see them there as we pulled our truck into what seemed to be the village square, where the refugee NPCs were gathering. I wondered for a moment how I could get so attached to an NPC, it was just a game after all. It was an extremely realistic game though, one that engaged all of the senses and with that level of realism, and the strange feeling of protectiveness that I had first felt when seeing Christina, I thought that maybe the better question to ask would have been, ‘How could I not feel something for them?’
Including us, less than thirty players made it to the safe zone under the gun. To my great annoyance Razor and three other members of H3lls-Pwn were among them, though the car that they had come in couldn’t have carried much gear or supplies. Another sixty or so would arrive later, as the morning made its way into afternoon, but the rest of the players all seemed to have died on the journey, so they’d be out of commission for the next day or so, and have nothing to show for it when they did respawn in the village.
The Party XP leaderboard showed that as a party we were in first place with H3lls-Pwn a distant second. I figured that the secret quest and that big spell that I had used on that horde of zombies had contributed to that, as had the fact that one member of H3lls-Pwn had died, while our larger party was still whole. While it was nice to be vindicated by showing up those jerks, I really just wanted to get into the game and start practicing my magic more. The fact that it felt like I was actually using magic, rather than just selecting a spell from a list and clicking on an enemy, had been an even greater thrill to me than I had expected, and I was eager to learn more and try different things.
We didn’t plan on waiting around for others to arrive after the time for the event was up, since there were quests to be done in the village, in addition to some specialized quests that were tailored to each character based on their combination of class and race. Unlike regular quests, these seemed to have timers on them, so we decided to split up and do them first. Apparently Haven wasn’t really aptly named, as before we arrived they had suffered an attack from a pack of werewolves and there was a lot of damage done around town, a bunch of people dead or injured, and no electricity.
Looking over the quests, it looked like some of us had similar goals, well at least to start with. Venika Nishalle, and I all had to go find the Lennox Estate outside the village without attracting too much attention, and Lissany had to ‘escort the princess and try not to stand out’. The others would all be doing tasks around town; Grell would be looking into getting the village’s electricity problem fixed, Pete and other human soldiers would be trying to reassure the villagers that we would keep them safe, and that some of us weren’t monsters needing to be killed, while Reiko was to keep up a completely human appearance and heal the injured.
“Try not to stand out,” Lissany said with a laugh at her assignment. “Even if I take off my armor we’re all going to get attention among the Humans. Mom and Nishalle could stay hidden in the truck while Her Highness and I ask for directions I guess, but even we’re going to stand out. We’ll need to try to hide our non-human features somehow, before we interact with any of the villagers.”
I nodded with a sigh, my odd-colored eyes with slit pupils and big pointed ears were going to be hard to hide, but there was no way Nishalle could blend in with her dark blue skin as well. Lissany was going to have a problem too with her ears, eyes, tail, and kitty nose. We needed some way to hide our features and blend in, and I wasn’t sure that hoodies were going to work. Then I saw the women’s clothing shop across the square. The windows had been smashed, mannequins toppled over, and the inside looked like a war zone, but it looked like it was empty for the moment. “I think… I have an idea,” I mumbled.
“You do?” Lissany inquired. Then she looked in the direction of my glance and gave a feline grin as she seemed to catch my meaning. “Oh! I get it!”
“Yeah, it’s not really an idea I’m too thrilled with, but we apparently need to keep a low profile,” I replied with a frown. “So I guess you and I are going ‘shopping’ again Liss.”
“Venika and I will stay here and guard the truck while the others go about their quests and you two try to blend in and find out where that Estate is,” Nishalle said with a nod, though she was looking at me in concern. “I want to sharpen my weapons anyway while I have the time. Besides, I don’t really like the way the other PCs have been glancing at the truck, and all our supplies.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep her safe,” Lissany assured her. Then we trotted off across the square to look for something to wear.
My dysphoria was in high gear as we made our way out of the shop and carried our armor and gear back to the truck. I was currently wearing a bright yellow sundress with crimson flowers on it, a pair of heeled sandals, sunglasses, and my ears were tucked up inside a big floppy yellow sun hat. Not only was it not comfortable for my ears, but it also made me even more aware of them and my non-human status. That, combined with being dressed all girly and the skirt constantly swishing against my bare legs, was making me distinctly uncomfortable.
Lissany was dressed much as I was, though her color theme was a pale blue and white. Except for the occasional swishing of her skirt, her tail was hidden and since her ears were at the top of her head and not overly large, the sun hat hid them well. Her kitty nose may cause issues, but it was mostly hidden in shadows by the large brim of the hat. So she looked passable as human, though she seemed almost as uncomfortable as I was as her eyes darted around to scan the crowd. “I don’t like this,” she muttered. “I feel too exposed, and how am I going to protect you without my armor and weapons.”
“This is a safe zone,” I reminded her. “Unless there’s an event we should be safe from monster attacks here, and any PCs who try attacking other PCs here are going to get penalized XP rather than gaining it. The worst that could happen is that the villager NPCs discover we’re not human and try to run us out of town. Besides, if things really do go pear shaped then you have your beast and hybrid forms, and I still have my spell focus on. Even if I didn’t have it I could still use magic, it would just require more concentration, at least from what the game materials said.”
We had returned to the truck by this point, where Nishalle was sharpening her katana and doing her very best to look threatening to anyone coming too close. It wasn’t difficult, since she was a Tokh'dhraí assassin and just one glare from her made even me want to back away for a moment, like those glowing red eyes of hers were ready to burn right through those sunglasses and leave me a charred husk. It was still kind of strange trying to remember that inside that frightening and grim-looking assassin was my usually sweet, caring, and teasing sister. At the same time though, being both a girl and a magic-using elf myself made it easier to suspend my disbelief, especially with my currently heightened body dysphoria.
She seemed to recognize us and dialed back the scary ‘I’m gonna rip out your heart and feast upon your blood’ look she was giving us. “Sorry about that Your Royal Highness,” she said with a slight smirk, though there was concern on her face. “I didn’t realize it was you until I saw the armor you’re both carrying. Those disguises are pretty good… that can’t be easy for you to wear?”
I winced a bit at the ‘Your Royal Highness’ part as Lissany and I placed our gear in the back of the cab of the truck. “No it’s not, but hopefully it won’t be for long. Ummm... Sis, look I’m sorry about the whole conscription thing. I was maybe overreacting a little, and being a bit of a bitch. You don’t have to call me that or anything.”
Nishalle shook her head sadly before wrapping me up in a spine-creaking hug. “You don’t have to apologize, if anyone was being a bitch there it was me. It might be funny from my side, but I should have known that it’s not for you, especially since I went through the whole gender and racial dysphoria when I first tried the game. And the whole conscription thing is actually a good idea, in fact we should all address you formally, when we’re not alone or you’re not keeping a low profile. You’re going to start getting attention once people start figuring out that you’re a princess and that you’re quickly becoming a powerful Magus. Having me and Lissany as your official bodyguards/vassals gives us a good excuse to stay close to you and protect you, and it kind of works for my character too. I mean, this game is about roleplaying too, not just fighting, and none of us should be ashamed about getting into character.”
“And by none you mean me?” I asked with a sigh, well aware of what she was getting at.
“Yeah, this is supposed to be a fun vacation where we can explore new things and get away from real life for a while. Don’t be afraid to do that, see it as an opportunity to get in touch with your feminine side, play with magic, and have some fun,” she suggested as she released me from her arms. “We’ve never really had a normal brother-sister relationship, we’ve always been not just close siblings, but best friends as well and that’s not going to change, no matter who or what we are. So yeah, I don’t mind being conscripted if it keeps me close to you. Nobody is going to mess with my sister on my watch, now get going, the clock is ticking on our quests.”
“Okay, we’ll be back as soon as we can Sis. Will you and Venika be okay here alone until we get back?” I asked as I stepped away.
“We’ll be fine, now that she’s not all brooding about having made you feel bad,” Venika put in as she fluttered from the hood of the truck to land on Nishalle’s shoulder. Then her tiny head swiveled over to Lissany. “Be careful and stick with Taelya.”
Nishalle nodded to that. “I’m counting on you to keep her safe if anything happens Liss.”
“You got it. She’s not leaving my sight for a second,” the Beastkin girl said with determination as we turned and left to explore the village and gather information.
Basically our search had boiled down to asking one NPC after another for information, and being given small scraps of background information, before being referred to the next NPC, who would do the same. I had asked the questions, to keep people from looking too closely at Lissany, while she kept an eye out for possible trouble. Eventually though, we had discovered that the Lennox Estate was a large mansion on the shoreline, not far from the village to the northwest, and still within the safe zone. The Estate had been owned by Alfred Lennox, a reclusive millionaire, and he had died in an accident several weeks ago, leaving the place empty.
Once we had returned to the truck, the four of us drove out of town along a gravel road through the coastal rainforest toward the northwest, where we found the gates to the large estate. As we made the short drive, with me behind the wheel, I noticed movement among the trees. There were Fae in these woods, a lot of them and various types too, some that weren’t even PC races. “We are not alone here,” I muttered.
The others, whose senses were equally acute, nodded. It was Lissany who added, “That’s a lot of Fae. They won’t attack us right? Technically we’re still in the safe zone, and Taelya is like their princess.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, I can barely see in this bright daylight. The shades are helping, but my eyesight is probably worse than a Human’s right now,” Nishalle grumbled. The whole reason that I was driving was because she didn’t trust her vision at the moment, Venika was way too small, and Lissany was too young to have a driver’s license and hadn’t taken it as one of her skills. She had been thinking of taking it, but chose ‘awareness’ instead. It allowed the Beastkin girl to be more aware of her surroundings and what’s going on around her, which had saved me from Grandpa Grady’s sniper attack, and was probably a lot more useful to her class than driving would be.
As I pulled up to the gates and stopped the truck, our quest goals, except for Lissany’s, updated to ‘Enter the Estate and speak with Queen Amoiraishe’. We stepped out of the vehicle to look for a way to open the gates, but it looked like they were electronic and needed a remote, or to be opened from the house. There was also a video camera and an intercom, which I was about to press when I noticed that we were surrounded.
It was the Fae that we had been seeing in the woods of course. At least a dozen Nyiir'dhraí, or wood elves, had emerged from the trees to either side of the road and they all had bows trained on us, and those were just the ones I could see from a quick glance. There were also Sprites, a couple Tokh'dhraí, Brownies, Sylphs, Knockers, and some Nymphs. I’m not sure how I knew what those last four were, but I figured that it was probably from my ‘Fae Culture’, one of my four required skills. Brownies, Sylphs, and Nymphs were usually peaceful and non-combative species, or so my new knowledge insisted, and they were probably watching us out of interest more than anything else.
Nishalle, Lissany, and I were getting suspicious looks from all the gathered Fae, and we didn’t dare make any sudden movements. They were probably giving me those looks because I was still wearing my ‘human disguise’ in case we had needed to stop for directions, gas, or something. As for the other two, Nishalle was a Tokh'dhraí and they couldn’t be sure what her alignment was and Lissany was a Beastkin, and thus not Fae, so they couldn’t be sure of her either. “Who are you and what is your business here?” one of the Nyiir'dhraí asked in English, keeping an arrow notched and in our direction.
“Wait! Don’t hurt them!” Venika pleaded in Elvish, “We mean you no harm.”
“I very slowly moved my hands up to remove my hat and sunglasses, speaking in Elvish as I did so. “I apologize, but I needed to blend in among the Humans. I am Princess Taelya of the Autumn Court and we have been summoned by my mother, Queen Amoiraishe. The Tokh'dhraí and the Beastkin are my personal guards.”
I didn’t need to say anything more than that. Whereas, with that silly hat and the sunglasses on I could be mistaken for a red-headed human girl, the moment that I took them off my eyes, ears, and Danann’syr were clearly visible. There was a chorus of “Your Highness” from the assembled Fae as they gave brief sweeping bows. I felt more than a little awkward about that as the spokesman smiled at me and said, “A clever disguise Your Highness. Please, use the intercom and the face the camera and they will open the gates for you to drive through. We shall remain here until we are certain that you are safely inside.”
Once I had turned to face the camera, and used the intercom to announce my presence, the gates began to open almost immediately. We quickly returned to the vehicle and drove up the long drive toward the mansion. “Well that was interesting,” Nishalle muttered.
“If by interesting you mean scary and super-awkward, then yes it was interesting,” I agreed. “Thanks for giving me the time to take that stupid disguise off Venika.”
“You’re welcome, I couldn’t let any of you get filled with arrows without our Priestess here. Not so stupid a disguise though, since it managed to fool both Humans and Fae.”
“Yeah, but I hope we don’t have to do this low profile thing often. Not having my armor and weapons with me seriously fucks up my ability to protect Taelya,” Lissany grumbled.
“Watch your language young lady,” Venika chastised her in the authoritative ‘Mom’ tone.
“Sorry Mom,” the Beastin girl beside me replied as she sank back in the seat ashamedly.
I giggled at that. It was just so hilarious, not to mention adorable, having the tiny Sprite making the big, badass Beastkin Guardian squirm with a few words. Especially since I’d seen Lissany in combat. I quickly tried to cover it up by pointing ahead. “Oh! There’s the house! Shit, that place is huge.”
“You watch your language too Taelya. You’re a princess now and a proper lady doesn’t swear,” Venika chastised, now giving me both barrels of Mom-ness as well.
“Sorry M… Venika,” I responded guiltily.
“You have to teach me how to do that,” Nishalle said with a laugh.
As soon as we had stopped the truck at the front of the house, Lissany’s quest goal updated to ‘Don your armor and escort the princess to meet with Queen Amoiraishe’. As soon as she received that message the Beastkin girl breathed a sigh of relief and began getting it all on while we waited. “It’s not like wearing all this armor is comfortable, I just don’t like not being prepared to do my job,” she explained. Soon she was suited up, with her helmet on, her shield on her back, and both her war hammer and sword hanging from her belt.
We were then escorted by a Brownie inside the house, which I noticed seemed to have running electricity. I figured that the former owner must have had a generator of some sort set up as we were led through the massive foyer and into a sitting room, which had had all furniture removed. The exception to this being a pair of throne-like velvet chairs siting side by side and a pair of end tables to either side of them. In one of those chairs sat Queen Amoiraishe. The Yseil'dhraí smiled at us as soon as we entered the room and gave her a bow. “You need not bow to me daughter. I see that your Guardian has kept you safe, who are your other companions?”
“Venika, Your Majesty, of the Rosethorn Clan. I am a friend to Her Highness, Princess Taelya,” Venika offered.
“Nishalle, an Assassin of the NightWind Clan, Your Majesty,” my sister said with another bow. “Princess Taelya is my friend and sister and I swear an oath of fealty to both her and the Autumn Court. I would be her sword, where Lissany is her shield, and I will defend her with my life if need be.” Except for the Yseil'dhraí, all the other Fae races were made up of various clans and each of those clans were loyal to one of the Courts, except for any Tokh'dhraí who happened to become Shadow Walkers, which were kind of like the epitome of chaotic evil. Because of that, Tokh'dhraí who were loyal to their Clan and Court usually swore an Oath of Fealty before the Queen of their Court, as Nishalle just did. I was beginning to think that everyone else had a much more intensive character generation experience than my own.
To my surprise Amoiraishe laughed. “So formal, but your oath is accepted, may you serve my daughter well.” She handed each of us a scroll and added, “You have completed your quests and delivered my daughter safely to me, please choose your rewards.”
I opened my scroll and saw a choice of two enchanted items; Nature’s Crown and the Cloak of the Wild. The first would allow me to gather mana quicker while the second would keep me dry, warm, and comfortable in any weather. For me it was a no-brainer and I took the crown. Once we had all made our selections, she smiled and quickly cast a spell to produce an object from thin air. I was wondering if it was possibly a slightly altered teleportation spell, since one of the sigils was the same, but my attention was brought back to the matter at hand as she addressed us.
First she placed a delicate looking golden tiara in my hands. “For you my daughter, Nature’s Crown, a wise choice for a Magus as the speed at which you gather mana can mean life or death in a battle.” The tiara hummed with power and had the appearance of golden leafy vines moving along from behind the ears on either side to meet in the middle in a cluster of leaves with a small flower shape fashioned from rubies in the center. Really? Maybe I should have taken the cloak, wearing this thing in public was going to make me seem even more like a princess.
“For your Guardian, the Mark of the Shield,” she continued as I awkwardly placed the tiara on my head. To my surprise she didn’t hand Lissany anything, but merely touched her arm. I was even more surprised when her armor and other gear all vanished, leaving her once again in the blue and white sundress. She had a blue shield-shaped tattoo on her arm where Amoiraishe had touched her now though. “With this mark you may summon your armor and weapons whenever you have need of them, and dismiss them just as easily.”
Lissany’s face scrunched up in concentration and a moment later she was wearing her armor and other gear once again. “Cool! I can still look casual, but have my armor whenever I need it!” She switched back and forth several times like a kid with a new toy, grinning broadly whenever her face was visible.
Amoiraishe moved on to my sister and Venika next, reaching out to touch them both on their foreheads. “Nishalle of the NightWind Clan, and Venika of the Rosethorn Clan I awaken in you both abilities unique to your clans. For you Nishalle, I awaken ‘Shadow Call’. In darkness or dim light it will allow you to deflect light around you for a short time, cloaking you in darkness. Venika, the Rosethorn Clan’s ‘Farsight’ will allow you to see in perfect detail whatever you wish to focus on, even from great distances, so long as you can see it. Be wary though, while you use it you can only see what you are focused on. Everything else, even things happening close to you, will escape your notice.”
“Thank you Your Majesty,” we all supplied when she was finished.
“Taelya, you need not be so formal with me, you can call me Mother or Mom, should you wish it,” the queen of the Autumn Court said with a smile cast in my direction before getting back down to business. “I have summoned you here, as I have summoned all surviving Fae of the Autumn Court. The world has changed greatly since we were sealed within the Veil. We and the other Races must ally ourselves with the Humans to survive and to restore the balance of nature and magick. We must also adapt to this new world and teach the Humans a better way of doing things so they can assist us in restoring that balance.”
“Is that why you summoned us to this house instead of a Fae Glade?” I asked.
“Indeed,” she replied, “the homes we once knew are long gone. But we must rebuild the Courts and organize our people to face this new reality. To begin that task we shall ally ourselves with the Humans of the village Haven and attempt to build good will with them. Still, they need time to adjust to us, and we will not give up our ways entirely. This home was abandoned and set aside from the Human village, yet it is close enough to begin working with humans, secure, and situated well for both forest and water Fae. I felt that it would be a good place to position the new Autumn Court’s Glade. The Fae you saw in the woods, and some in the ocean beyond this home are already building homes around this compound and casting the magicks to keep us secure.”
“What about other Races?” Nishalle asked.
“We shall offer sanctuary in the Glade to any who wish it, until good relations can be established with the local Humans, but this compound must remain secure for me and my daughter. Only Fae of the Autumn Court, and those who have sworn their allegiance to me and my daughter by magically binding oaths, shall be allowed to enter,” Amoiraishe said stoically before turning to me. “I shall have some of the Brownies set up rooms near your own for your protectors so they will be nearby if you need them, though you should be perfectly safe here.”
“I’m going to be stuck here in this big house?” I asked with a frown. That wasn’t the only thing bothering me about my current situation though, there was something about Amoiraishe that felt… off. Something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
She considered her answer for a moment before replying. “It is for your own security that you live here Taelya, you are my only heir, but you shall be free to come and go as you wish so long as your protectors are with you. In fact I hope that you will go out among the Humans and other Races, to assist them and foster good will. It will show a better example, to our own people and all the other Races, if one of the Yseil'dhraí is seen trying to improve relations between us.”
“Wait a minute,” I thought to myself, my eyes widening in realization. “She considered her response, actually took time to think about it. All of the other NPCs I spoke with today generated responses almost immediately to questions, though it took them a second or two to realize that I had initiated a conversation or done something to get their attention at first. She’s never taken that time, it was like she had been waiting for us, just like in my tutorial. She was speaking to the whole group too, addressing us by names sometimes, in fact she initiated our conversation herself.”
I took a deep breath and turned to smile at my party-mates. “Since we will apparently be staying here, do you think you could get our supplies all unloaded and put away, where we can access them and we won’t have to worry about them being stolen when we go back to town? Especially the groceries. I’d rather not let the meat and veggies spoil. There is something that I would like to discuss with ‘Mom’. Once we’re done I’d like to return to Haven and see how the others are doing.”
“We’ll take care of that for you, Your Highness. You should be safe enough here, just shout it you need us.” Lissany agreed. Then the three of them left the room with the Brownie who had brought us there, leaving me alone with Queen Amoiraishe.
The second the door closed behind them I looked straight at the ‘NPC’, giving her my best glare. “Okay Moira, what exactly are you up to?”
To my surprise she laughed. “I should have known I couldn’t have fooled you for long. You’re a bright one, far too bright to be working as a one of half a dozen IT systems managers for a faceless corporation that doesn’t value its employees. You were top of your class, you could have been lead programmer for any company you wanted, including mine.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, I knew she had done extensive background checks on anyone who was going to be play-testing the game, but it was like she had mine committed to memory. “I don’t like being in charge,” I stated simply.
“No you don’t, do you?” she agreed. “Despite displaying marvelous leadership skills and creative thinking. Is that because you don’t relate to other people, other than your sister or fiancée, very well? Or is responsibility too heavy a burden? I do know what that last one feels like, but you know what? Reluctant leaders are the best leaders. If I may ask though, why didn’t you just confront me while the others were still here?”
“I didn’t want to ruin the game for them, and I wanted to know if it was something that they needed to be concerned about before risking that. Why are you messing with me? What is your game here?”
“You’re in my game and, despite what you may think, I have no wish to ‘mess with you’. I actually have a great deal of respect for you. I had hoped that you would choose to play an Yseil'dhraí before Karin even gave you your tickets and, once you did, I knew that you were just the type of person that I needed. Your sister thinks very highly of you, you know. You’re smart, a natural leader, creative, and you care about others. I had hoped that your sister would have chosen to play an Yseil'dhraí as well, two would have been better than one. Let’s just say that I have a vested interest in your future and I want you to succeed in this game, and beyond,” she replied with an apologetic look on her face.
“That explains Lissany’s new class and her assignment to me, if you want me to succeed she’s got an edge over most other characters, but really, a new class just to cover my ass?” I replied tartly, arching my eyebrow.
“That class was as much for Danielle as it was for you,” she admitted with a shrug. “She saw something that we were missing and she was as dedicated to playing that type of character as you were to playing a magus. She needed to be rewarded for that. She is a sweet girl and I see both her mother and your sister more as friends then employees. It’s why I gave Karin the extra ticket for Jessica. It helps make Jessica’s dream come true, it made you and Karin happy as well, and it brought you into the game.”
“What’s your interest in me though, and how are you even in the game if you have a company to run?” I pressed.
“I have plans, and I need people who I can trust to do the right thing. You know, my investors weren’t very happy that I decided to do the prelaunch this early. Some are even thinking of pulling out. They wanted to scrub the Yseil'dhraí and a few other races completely and make the game more ‘conventional’. It was important that I follow my vision though. That’s why I need you to succeed,” she answered, looking away and sighing. Then she added, “I’m using a specially tweaked headset, it doesn’t allow me the full experience, but I get warnings when anyone’s quests are going to take them to this NPC so I can connect and interact. I wanted to be there for yours and Lissany’s tutorials. You were both like kids in a candy store while trying out your skills.”
“I do really like using magic,” I admitted reluctantly. “If you like me so much and want me to succeed so badly, why stick me in a girl avatar. This dysphoria is driving me crazy.”
She at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I apologize for that, but there was a problem with the code used to generate Yseil'dhraí that I didn’t know about until after you came to me as Taelya in your tutorial. You have no idea how hard it was to hide my surprise. I have been assured that your discomfort will fade over time, and I shall see that you are compensated appropriately when you return to the real world.
By the time I had made my way back outside to the truck Lissany and Nishalle had all of the food placed in the kitchen, filling both the empty fridge and freezer and leaving the rest on the counters for the Brownie servants to put away. Our clothes and the rest of our gear were placed in the foyer for now, we didn’t want to risk anything getting stolen by H3lls-Pwn or other PCs by being left in the truck, and the house was secure. If Grell and Pete decided to stay in town or something else rather than swear a magically binding oath to me and Amoiraishe, then we would bring their share of the supplies and gear to them.
I didn’t think they would object to it though, they seemed to be the loyal and open-minded type. Besides, it wasn’t like we’d be spending all our time in that mansion though, just sleeping there really, and maybe not even that if we went on long scouting missions or foraging runs. We had a light lunch after unloading everything and then I got back into my armor and other gear so we could head back into Haven.
“Shouldn’t you still be wearing that disguise?” Nishalle asked as I climbed into the driver’s seat.
“No way. We have the authority to try and make nice with the Humans now and do quests in the village, so I’m never wearing that thing again unless I have to.”
By the time we got back to the village square the others had finished their personal quests and were waiting for us. I practically leaped into Reiko’s arms, smothering her with kisses before we asked how their personal quests had gone. Apparently they had all done well and completed them. The injured were healed, villagers were grudgingly willing to give non-humans a chance to prove themselves, electricity was restored, and they had all gotten nifty rewards too. Grell had gotten some kind of toolkit for his reward, while Pete had received a flak jacket and Reiko had gotten something called Inari’s Scarf, a white scarf that gave a small amount of protection against magic. Once we had let them know how our quests went we discussed the housing with them. Reiko of course agreed right away, and expected to be sharing my room. Grell and Pete had to give it a little more thought, but they decided to go along with it as well as we began to scour the village in search of quests.
We spent most of the afternoon and evening doing quests in and around Haven; building shelters for refugees, gathering firewood, starting construction of defenses around the village, finding missing children or objects, and the like. It was fairly standard fare and a lot of them were daily repeatable quests. The villagers and human refugees weren’t quite sure whether to trust us yet, except for Christina and her Grandpa Grady, but they were willing to let us help to give us a chance to prove ourselves.
By dinner time we were all ready for a good long rest. Our first day in the game had been a long one and since we seemed to have a safe place to sleep for the moment we planned on enjoying it. “Less than a quarter tank left,” Pete noted in concern as he started up the truck so we could drive back out to the new home of the Autumn Court. “That’s going to be a problem soon with only one gas station in town. Whatever supply they have there isn’t going to last long.”
“Maybe I can come up with some other way to power it through artificing,” Grell suggested with a thoughtful expression. “I’m sure that the Fae would prefer more environmentally friendly alternatives anyway.”
“It’s worth looking into,” Reiko agreed, “though if you come up with something we’ll have to salvage whatever parts or materials you need. I guess we’re going to have to head out on salvage missions and such eventually though. Gas isn’t the only thing that Haven or the Autumn Court are going to start running out of before long, especially with all the NPC refugees and all the PC characters that will be showing up tomorrow when they’re resurrected. Less than a hundred made it today that means there’s going to be over one hundred and fifty showing up tomorrow with no gear or supplies.”
“That’s definitely going to strain the village. We should be okay for a few weeks with all the stuff we got, but Haven is going to feel the crunch sooner than that. I definitely see salvaging, hunting, or fishing quests happening before too long,” Venika added from where the Sprite sat upon Lissany’s bare shoulder.
My Guardian had been without her armor and other gear for the most part since getting her new enchantment and she seemed a lot more comfortable now that she could summon it at will. That’s not to say she was relaxed, since she was constantly on guard for anything that could prove a threat to myself or any of the party members, but she was more comfortable being in plain clothes at least. She and Nishalle were both taking their assignments very seriously though, and when we had all climbed in the truck for the trip out to the estate they had insisted that I ride in the back of the cab between the two of them in case anything happened, like a collision with another vehicle or some kind of monster attack.
I was tired and would have much rather been snuggled up with Reiko, who was in the front between Grell and Pete, but since my Tokh'dhraí sister and the Beastkin girl seemed to be really getting into their roles, I didn’t want to ruin it for them. Besides, I knew that they were right from a tactical standpoint and those jerks from H3lls-Pwn had me worried. Whenever we had been in the same questing areas as them that afternoon I had caught them watching us, particularly me, and each time it had sent a cold shiver down my spine. Every instinct that I had told me that they were going to try something sooner or later.
We made it to the estate and once I had explained that Reiko, Grell, and Pete were allies the three of them were asked to swear a magically binding oath of loyalty to Queen Amoiraishe, me, and the Autumn Court. Watching them take the oath had been pretty interesting, I could feel the magic of the enchantment settle upon them and I could see the surprise in their eyes as they felt it too, especially Pete who was a regular human with no exposure to magic before that. With that over and done, with we were allowed through the gates and made our way to the manor beyond.
Dinner in the manor’s dining room was a bit strange. It seemed that we were the only ones staying in the manor, besides Queen Amoiraishe and the various Fae who would be acting as guards or servants. Amoiraishe apparently had other business and wasn’t able to sup with us, but I figured that Moira only had the ‘NPC’ set up for important events and quests and such, so she wasn’t getting pinged every other minute. She did have a business to run, no matter how much interest she had in me or the events unfolding in the game.
Since it was just us the seven of us, once the Brownies who had been serving the meal had returned to the kitchen, we all started to relax and allowed ourselves to get out of character for a bit. We had been talking about the game’s realism, and how much we were enjoying our respective classes, when Pete turned to our resident teenage Beastin. “So what’s up with that badass armor and shield of yours Lissany? Those look freakin’ heavy.”
“They are, but I have strength boosts from both my race and class, so I got used to the weight pretty quick. They’re both exclusive to my class though,” Lissany said with a grin.
“I don’t remember seeing anything like that with the Warrior class,” Pete pressed, obviously interested.
Lissany was beaming proudly, displaying her pronounced canines. “It’s called the Guardian class. It’s a new dedicated tank class that Miss Llewellyn asked me to playtest. I’m the only one on any of the servers.”
Grell’s face lit up in a grin of his own at that news. “Sweet, that’s pretty awesome and you’ve been one hell of a tank so far, so I’m glad you’re on our team. Taelya’s been an awesome magus too, that was a hell of a lot of DPS she dished out on that horde of zombies after we left the mall. Pretty awesome that she got an AOE spell like that so early in the game too. It’s cool how we have the only Guardian and the only High Elf in the game, that’s a pretty freaky coincidence, unless you all know each other IRL.”
“It’s definitely not a coincidence,” I told him with a shrug. “It seems that Moira wanted my character to have an in-game bodyguard and, since Liss wanted to play a tank and suggested the new class, she got volunteered.”
“We all decided to party together before entering the game, but I guess I’m the common link holding us together. Venika and I both work for Pegasus Entertainment IRL and we’re good friends, Lissany is her daughter, Taelya is my… uhh… sister, and Reiko is Taelya’s fiancée,” Nishalle explained.
“You all seem to get along and work pretty well together though,” Pete said with a smile. “Grell and I were both got invites because we were in the top ten ranked players on Z-Day Online. We were pretty stoked to try it when we got the game materials. So you’re engaged huh? Congrats, so are you both girls IRL too or are you…” He trailed off, probably not sure if we’d take offense, but to my surprise and embarrassment he was looking at Reiko as he aborted his question, not me.
“I was born a girl, but I’m bisexual and gender fluid,” Jess replied, carefully not answering for me. “It’s why Nishalle got me the invite, so I could realistically experience what it’s like to be a guy when I’m in that frame of mind. The Kitsunes are perfect for someone like me, I can be whatever I feel like, when I feel like it. It’s something I’ve always wanted.”
“That makes sense, you’ve been a girl, and you seem to have moments where you’re really feminine, but some where you’re kind of gender-neutral too. Not like Taelya is, she kinda screams girl all the time.” Pete said with a sage nod, only furthering my embarrassment.
I sighed and let my bright red face sink into my hands before looking over to the pair. They’d probably find out eventually if we ended up spending a lot of time together, so I figured that it would be best to get this out of the way now. “Actually, I’m a dude IRL, there was a problem with the gender selector on my race, so I’m kinda stuck like this until we’re out of the game. I’d… uhh… appreciate it if you don’t spread this around.”
Pete and Grell were both gaping at me like a couple of fish. “Damn, well you had us fooled. Don’t worry we won’t tell anyone,” Grell assured me with a look at Pete, who nodded his agreement.
“Yeah, well all the character customization options for the Yseil'dhraí females were pretty feminine, and with the different center of gravity and all the grace and agility it’s hard not to look feminine when I move. So I figured that if I was going to be an elf-girl then I was going to at least be a hot one, to give Reiko a bit of eye candy. The body dysphoria is killing me though,” I explained.
“I’m glad that I’m not going through that. I actually play a female character on Z-Day and I was thinking about playing one here until I heard about that issue. I hope that you’re not going to be feeling that way the whole time we’re in the game,” Pete offered sympathetically.
I shrugged uncertainly. “They said it should wear off over time, as I acclimate to my virtual body, but I was only expecting to play a different race, not a different gender too. Hopefully it’ll work the same way.”
Once dinner was finished we were able to divide our gear properly and take it to our rooms, while a pair of Brownie servants guided us. The manor was huge and I figured that it would be easy to get lost if one wasn’t careful. Since our food was stored in the kitchen, and our various scavenged medications and camping gear in one of the closets off the foyer, all that we really needed to bring to our rooms were our respective clothes. So we each grabbed the bags that had our names written on them in black sharpie and followed the Brownies.
I think that we were all a little weirded out by the Brownies. Each one that we had seen, both in the house and the woods outside the estate gates were between three and four feet tall and, with the youthful appearance all Fae seemed to share, one could almost mistake them for children if you weren’t paying much attention. The pair with us were very much adults though, a male and a female, and the latter had the figure to prove it. I hadn’t seen them wearing anything that wasn’t colored in various shades of brown, and even their hair and eyes were the color of rich cocoa.
They also had senses as sharp as my own, as was proven when Pete whispered to Grell. “This feels weird, like child slavery or something.”
Siggurd, the male of the Brownie pair, snorted. “We just look small, I was two hundred and nineteen years old when we got sucked into the Veil. And we are not slaves, Fae do not do that to other living creatures. All Fae who serve our Courts do so willingly and eagerly, for the sake of the Yseil'dhraí. We Brownies occasionally serve Humans and other races as well, if they prove themselves worthy. We enjoy doing chores and helping others, we’re good at it, and it gives us a sense of fulfillment.”
We all felt a little better at hearing that as the pair of brown-clad servants stopped us at a door that seemed more ornate than the others that I had seen along the hall. Kalia the female Brownie looked up at me, smiled, and gave a slight curtsey. “This is the master suite for this wing Your Highness. Her Majesty has asked us to make you and your fiancée as comfortable as possible. Should you need anything, just call my name, it is my pleasure to be assigned as your personal maid. Your attendant awaits you within. The room to the right is for your Guardian and the Sprite, as requested, and the room to the left is for your Tokh'dhraí guard. The Atlantean and the Human have been assigned the rooms across the hall.”
“Attendant? What’s that all about?” I wondered as I said my thanks to the Brownies and my good nights to my party-mates. Then I opened the door so that Reiko and I could go inside, stifling a yawn as I did. “I cannot wait to go to sleep sweetie,” I said in an aside to Reiko as we entered the room and we both stopped in surprise just inside the door. We hadn’t entered a bedroom, it was more of a living room, lavishly decorated in soft pinks and cream with a cozy looking couch, several chairs, thick carpet, and even a small mahogany dining table with four matching chairs. It was huge and off to the side were a pair of doors that we would later discover led to the actual bedroom and a large bathroom with all the amenities.
It was as we were taking in the room that we both noticed the young woman sitting on the couch, as she quickly stood up and approached us. She was nearly as tall as I was with long auburn hair and bright green eyes, extremely beautiful, and she had the pale green markings at her hairline and clamshell shaped ears that marked her as a Nymph. She also wasn’t wearing a single stitch. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as she bowed and then smiled at us both, addressing us in English. “Your Highness, I am Naerysse. You both look tired, shall I help you prepare for bed, or would you prefer that I run you a nice relaxing bath first? I am here to serve any and all needs or desires that you may have.”
Reiko looked from the naked Nymph to me and she did not look happy in the slightest. “Well that explains the adult content warnings, the staff sure are friendly around here aren’t they?” my Kitsune fiancée snapped with no little amount of snark. "Is this why you wanted to stay here? So you could spend time with her?”
“S-sweetie you’re not thinking clearly, she’s obviously here to…” I started to explain in a rush.
“Her Majesty has asked Her Highness to stay here for her own safety, and has given me the great honor of serving as Her Highness’ attendant Lady Reiko," Naerysse clarified. "Although Her Highness is my main responsibility it would be my pleasure to serve you in any way as well, please be patient with me though, I am afraid that I do not have any experience with Kitsunes.”
Oooookay, that was less than helpful. I needed to explain fast or I was going to find myself in a very deep hole that I would have a hard time digging my way out of. “She’s a y’know… attendant they help royalty with getting dressed and undressed…”
“Yeah it looks like she’s mastered that part,” Reiko said with an indignant sniff.
“Jess! I mean Reiko, stop it!” I snapped. Then I turned to the Nymph and gave a shake of my head. “Thank you, but I think we’ll just turn in for the night. Please, take the remainder of the evening off and go enjoy yourself.”
“As it pleases Your Highness. I will come to wake you in the morning then, until then I think I’ll go see if one of the off-duty guards is up for a quick toss,” she replied with a smile. “Please call if you need anything before then. I will know if you call my name, and I will come as swiftly as I can.”
As soon as Naerysse had left and closed the door, Reiko glared at me. “I can’t believe the nerve of her! What a slut! How could you even think about…”
I silenced her tirade by placing my fingers over her mouth. “Look at me, listen, and think clearly for a moment, while I tell you why it’s so stupid for you to be jealous right now. First you’re a fucking shapeshifter, you could look just like her, or be even more gorgeous if you wanted to. Second, I’ve only been a girl and a Fae for less than one day, and the dysphoria is driving me crazy. Do you really think I’m going to jump into having sex with anyone right now? Just think about how wrong it made you feel whenever we were going any further than first base while you were in one of your male moods. Until I adjust to this I’m not doing anything more than kissing, not even with you!”
She looked like I had slapped her, and I could feel her quick intake of breath on my fingers before pulling my hand back. “Oh… oh Caleb… I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking. It’s just she was sitting in here, waiting for you naked, and was all like ‘I am here to serve your needs and desires’. She was coming on so strong and she’s like a…”
“She is a Nymph sweetie, there is a good reason that it is the root word for nymphomaniac. And to be perfectly honest I think any Fae would have made the same offer, an offer she was making to both of us, not just me,” I clarified for her. “She is also my attendant, you know like a lady in waiting that all the princesses from the movies have? Running baths, helping me get ready for bed or the day ahead, and that kind of stuff, just like she was offering.”
“Their ladies in waiting weren’t trying to get them in the sack too though,” Reiko grumbled.
“Nymph,” I repeated slowly as I rolled my eyes in frustration. ”They’ve got an even higher libido than most other Fae and wearing clothes is uncomfortable for them, so they don’t do it unless they really have to for some reason. Obviously you need a primer on Fae culture sweetie. Fae aren’t like Humans, they have no taboos about public nudity or sex; it’s a very casual and friendly thing with them and it doesn’t matter if it’s done in a group, a pair, or even the genders involved. To the Fae it’s like having a beer together, or sitting playing videogames, it’s just a fun time in one another’s presence getting to know one another better. Because of my character’s age it would be assumed that I’m just as comfortable and casual about it as they are, especially with my knowledge of the Faerie Dance skill.”
She was staring at me as she asked, “So for them casual sex really is casual sex? Why does your age and learning to dance matter though?”
“They may not have taboos regarding nudity or sex, and sure their children are bound to end up seeing it growing up, but they believe that one must be an adult to be responsible about it, especially since it can lead to pregnancy,” I explained with a shrug as I led her to the couch to sit. “Fae are forbidden from doing anything sexual until they have finished going through puberty, it’s considered training of one’s mental discipline and mastery over the body and failing that training is one of their greatest shames. Even self-pleasure is forbidden until they are finished puberty and considered adults. Then, on the night of the first full moon after they’ve turned eighteen, they’re ‘inducted’ into the ranks of adulthood with a celebration. It’s basically a huge orgy so they can experiment how they please and become as comfortable with sex as other Fae are.”
We sat on the couch as she muttered, “Kinky Fae. Okay I guess that explains the whole age thing, what about dancing? How’s that factor in?”
The heat rose in my cheeks and I was pretty sure that my face as bright red as my hair. “Yeah the Fae may just be half the reason for the adult content warnings and the measures to protect kids from it. If I were under eighteen I wouldn’t have been able to take the Faerie Dance skill until I was, I probably would have had been able to choose another skill of my choice and then learned it when I was an adult, since it’s something that Fae can only learn once they’re considered adults. The skill is like fifty percent actual dancing skills and fifty percent Kama Sutra, it’s kind of a cultural throwback to faerie mating dances in their early days from what I gather. I try not to think about that skill too much, it’s weird since all my ‘memories’ of learning it are from a girl’s perspective.”
Reiko put her arms around me. “Yeah those skill memory dumps were rough. I’m sorry I was being such a bitch, I’ll try to be more understanding, and I guess I can admit I was a little jealous, that Nymph is pretty damn hot. Almost as hot as you. I really like this game, but sometimes I wonder what Moira was smoking when she came up with some of this stuff.”
“Me too,” I agreed, though I couldn’t hold back a yawn. “We should get to sleep though, I’m exhausted.”
We managed to find out which room was the bedroom and which was the bathroom and quickly got out of our clothes and into the nightgowns that Reiko had picked out for us. Then we brushed our teeth together, like we usually did before bed, and took turns using the toilet before settling into bed. Brushing our teeth was more out of habit than anything, and as for using the toilet, well we had all learned earlier today that Pegasus Entertainment was going all out trying to make this game feel just like real life. It was as we laid there spooned together in bed and I was drifting off in Reiko’s arms that her hand absently caressed my breast.
A thrill shot through me, but at the same time I stiffened up in her embrace, unable to move or even breathe as I felt the panic, the overwhelming wrongness of my body, and that brief jolt of pleasure, consume me. “No this isn’t me! I… I can’t…” I couldn’t tell if the anguish was mental or physical as the sense of utter wrongness filled me, clawing at my soul. It was like a tornado in my chest and I trembled in her arms, biting my lip against the tears threatening to come.
My breath was coming in quick sharp gasps as Reiko held me tight in her arms, careful to keep her hand around my waist and away from any erogenous zones. The other hand softly stroked my hair as she whispered quietly. “Shhh it’s okay honey, you’ll get through this and I won’t do anything until you’re ready and feeling better about this, even if I have to wait until we’re back in the real world and our own bodies.”
Was that how horrible she felt when I touched her in one of her male modes? Did her body feel that wrong? I had guessed, but I never thought about the revulsion, the shame, and the self-loathing that were surging through me. My ability to breathe seemed to be returning, but was quickly impeded again as the dam burst, tears flowed, and great sobs wracked my body. How could Jess live this way? How could anyone? I suddenly felt terrible about every time that I had misjudged one of her moods or accidentally unthinkingly groped or caressed her in bed when she was feeling like a guy. She just kept holding me and whispering softly until I had finally cried myself to sleep.
A knock at the bedroom door woke me just after dawn, followed by a familiar voice. “Your Highness. We must get you prepared for the day. Her Majesty wishes you to speak with the leaders of the village Haven today and negotiate an alliance.”
It took me a moment of trying to shake off the strange dream I was having to realize that it wasn’t a dream. No, we were in the game and that realization was quickly followed by the memories of what had happened the day before, and my current situation. There was still an arm wrapped protectively around me and I felt my cheeks burn with shame at the way I had broken down in Reiko’s arms. The arm around me was more toned now, and a little thicker, and I turned my head to see that Reiko had changed to a male sometime during the night. He still had that decidedly Japanese look and his red furred fox tails and ears, and I thought him very handsome as I stared at him for a moment through my sleep-blurred vision. This would be the first day that he would wake up as a male, and not a male in a female’s body, and I felt a surge of excitement for him fluttering in my chest. It was almost enough to make me forget the discomfort of my own body for a moment… almost.
I slipped his arm from around me and padded toward the door, still half asleep. I did notice the quest alert as I opened it and discovered that I was indeed supposed to negotiate with the leader(s) of Haven today about an alliance. I also had to try to make a good and lasting first impression, for both my sake and that of the Autumn Court. With that in mind, I opened the door to greet the naked Nymph as she was about to knock again.
While Reiko was sleeping in, I was enduring being pampered by my new attendant. She had undone my multiple braids and started things off by settling me into a bubble bath and washing both my body and hair thoroughly with floral scented body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. That was uncomfortable on so many levels that I just kind of retreated inside my head and tried thinking of other things for a while. I had been a bit worried about having to shave my legs and such too, but apparently the Fae don’t grow body hair. I was smooth-skinned from my neck down, and always would be while playing this character. I came out of my daze as she pulled me from the large bathtub and began patting me dry with a towel, then she used a spell of some sort to dry my long hair and rubbed some scented lotion into my skin. It felt weirdly nice and relaxing being pampered like that, but at the same time it was so feminine that my dysphoria was in the red zone by the time we were finished.
“We should get you dressed now Your Highness, and then we can start on your hair,” Naerysse offered.
“Okay, I’ll go try to find something nice to wear,” I replied, starting off toward the bedroom.
I didn’t get more than a step before she stopped me. “Do not worry Your Highness. Her Majesty has had clothing appropriate for such occasions prepared for you. You are a princess of the Autumn Court, we can’t have you doing official duties dressed like a Human.”
It was a gown of course, in the gold and crimson colors of the Autumn Court. It was a sleeveless affair, tightly hugging both my chest and waist in crimson brocade with golden leaf patterns before billowing out to fall to my ankles. Though the dress was technically sleeveless, there were two strips of red silk on each side connected to gold bracelets, which billowed annoyingly around my arms once the bracelets were in place around my wrists. Gold sandals that laced up to my knees beneath the skirt, and a golden silk cape fastened to the shoulder straps by gold brooches completed the outfit.
“If me wearing dresses is going to be a regular thing, I may need to find some thigh holsters for my guns,” I grumbled as my Nymph attendant started to carefully brush out my hair so it could be returned to its previously elaborate style, pinned up high on my head with a small gold circlet and then split into a dozen braids that fell behind me down to my hips with golden ornaments at the ends. I was not enthused with all the feminine finery, but soon she was done with my hair and at least she didn’t put any makeup on me, unless you count using a berry juice to darken my lips and eyelids. She didn’t bother doing anything with my nails either, since she didn’t feel that they needed a manicure and they already had a naturally pearlescent glossy look to them.
Reiko had emerged from the bedroom, dressed in some of his guy clothes and yawning tiredly, as Naerysse was finishing up my hair. Now that the Nymph was finished, and had added my new Nature’s Crown to complete the look, my fiancé gave me a somewhat nervous smile. “You look nice Tae. So… umm… what’s the occasion? He was looking at me like I might break down at any moment, but could I really blame him after last night? I had to admit I was not a happy camper, and the dysphoria had gotten worse with each new addition to the outfit, but I was trying to focus on goals rather than the wrongness of my current gender or state of dress. My level of success was debatable though.
“Oh, you know,” I replied with fake cheer while making sure that my tone and the glare I gave him conveyed glacier levels of coldness. “I’m a princess and I have to look the part so I can play diplomat today. Doesn’t that sound way more fun than practicing magic or going on quests?” Okay, maybe I was being a little passive/aggressive, but if the jerk had gotten his ass out of bed when I had, then maybe he could have been the voice of reason and saved me some of this ridiculousness. I didn’t blame my attendant though, she was just doing her job, and she was an NPC, so I smiled at her. “Thank you Naerysse I think that will be all for this morning, I’ll see you when we return tonight.”
Reiko winced visibly at my tone and didn’t seem sure what to say as the Nymph bowed and left the room. While he was trying to figure out what to do I placed my armor, guns, spare clips and ammo pouch, and the Kevlar vest in one of the large duffel bags we had gotten from Grady’s Guns n’ Ammo. Once that was done I shoved it in his arms. “Here, you’re the man now, so you can carry my stuff for a change, after all I wouldn’t want to break a nail or ruin my outfit, would I?”
Reiko quickly gathered his own gear and we left the room to go join the others for breakfast. We were about halfway there when his hand on my shoulder stopped me. “Look, Tae, I’m sorry honey. I know from experience how hard looking like that has to be on you right now, and I know the whole princess thing and everything related is making the dysphoria even worse. I’m sorry about overreacting last night too, but I love you so much honey and I know we’ll make it through this, together, like we always do.”
I tried not to cry as I wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry too. I don’t mean to be a bitch, it’s just… I don’t know how you manage living like this, you’re so much stronger than I am.”
“I have you, that’s how. You always do your best to understand and you love me no matter what gender I am and you do anything for me, like play stupid VR games where you get stuck as a girl. If I’m strong it’s because you give me that strength, you’re my rock and I love you. No matter who we are, no matter what we are, that is never going to change.” He held me close in his arms and it felt nice, I felt safe.
I nuzzled closer, resting my head on his shoulder as I took a deep breath and tried to shore up my strength for the day ahead. “You… umm… look good today, so how do you feel. Is it everything you wanted?”
“I feel… right. For the first time I feel masculine and my body matches. Just like my body matched my mood yesterday when I was feeling female, but not overly feminine. I can’t really describe it… it’s like I’m finally free to be me, and it’s all because you were willing to do this with me.”
I smiled, trying to hold back tears as I leaned in and kissed him tenderly. “That makes all of this worth it then. I can endure all of this for you. I may be a girl, but I’m your girl and I’ll try to focus on that when things get rough.”
We reluctantly let one another go and made our way down to the dining room where the others were already eating. They stopped and stared as we entered the room and then Nishalle practically squealed in delight. “I see someone is feeling masculine today, I’m so happy for you!” Then her eyes fell on me and she began to sputter as she looked guiltily at the floor. “I’m so sorry bro… sis… I didn’t mean to… I was just so excited for Jess that I wasn’t thinking.”
I quickly stifled the sudden self-awareness and the dysphoria that came with it. “You should be happy for him sis, I am too. Thanks for giving him this opportunity. I… know that I probably don’t tell you this near enough, but you’re the best sister there is, and the best friend.” I hugged her and then took the seat beside her to dish up some of the pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs and get eating.
Reiko and I were nearly finished eating by the time the awkward silence was broken by Venika. “Not that you don’t look lovely Taelya, but I didn’t think anything would get you in a dress again so soon and that is a bit…”
“What Mom is trying to ask is, what’s up that could have possibly gotten you to push the body dysphoria so much with all of that? I don’t remember us seeing any dresses like that in the stores either and you smell all flowery.”
I was more than a little self-conscious about that and Reiko ended up answering for me. “Taelya’s attendant Naerysse kind of went all out getting her ready and making her look like the princess she is. She’s got a quest to start diplomatic relations with Haven today, and I guess Amoiraishe wants her to look the part. She’s been a little moody about it this morning.”
“I’ll understand if none of you want to hang with me today, who knows how long I’ll be at that and I don’t want to ruin your day too,” I spoke hesitantly.
“Not a chance Your Highness. Nishalle and I are your protectors, you don’t go anywhere without us. I’ll make sure to wear my armor to look extra impressive too,” Lissany assured me. Nishalle quickly nodded her agreement as well.
“We’ll see how thing go. The other players should be either in town by now, or arriving over the course of the morning, and maybe we can make some allies among them too if we get to know some of them. I didn’t like the way that Razor jerk was watching us yesterday, especially the way he looked at me,” I admitted, a cold shiver running down my spine. “Liss and Nishalle can stick with me, but the rest of you try to make some friends for us while I’m doing my thing.” With that decided we all gathered our things, Nishalle slinging my duffel bag over her shoulder alongside her sniper rifle, and then we headed out to the truck to make our way into Haven.
The town square of Haven was a lot more crowded that morning than it had been the day before, mostly because of the sudden influx of a hundred and fifty players over the course of the night and early morning. Players who had no clothes or gear, other than what they may have gotten in character generation or their tutorials. Even those who did have guns probably didn’t have much ammo for them at the moment. We found that we shouldn’t have too much trouble making allies, since close to sixty percent of the players had chosen Fae or other non-human characters, and most of those were Pegasus Entertainment employees or their friends or relatives. There were a couple dozen people who had been winners of ‘lightning tournaments’ for various games around Vancouver too, and they seemed to be a mix of Humans and other races.
From the talk that Pete and Grell had heard before the Deadrush, most of the professional gamers didn’t want to risk the body dysphoria, at least not on their first time playing the game. I did notice that there were some Druids, Bards, and Priest/esses among the Humans though. I figured that some of those Humans were probably Witches as well, who had the benefit of technically being Human, but being able to use magic naturally as well.
Our plan for the day was pretty simple. Lissany and Nishalle would accompany me to search for whoever was in charge of the village, while Venika informed the various Fae of the new Fae Glade outside the village and the new seat of the Autumn Court. There they could build homes in the woods surrounding the Estate with the help of other Fae. Grell, Pete, and Reiko would be informing the other non-humans of the same offer, while trying to make some friends among both the Humans and the non-human races.
It was a good thing that I hadn’t thought that my diplomacy quest would be easy, because if I had I would have surely been disappointed. I had to start by asking random NPCs who was in charge. Finally though I was directed to the Sheriff’s office to meet Sheriff Shaw, who I was assured would be able to tell me anything that I wanted to know about Haven. As we talked to the various NPCs, and then made our way to the Sheriff’s office, I was far too aware that I was the subject of a lot of conversations amongst the other players wandering the village.
When we had chosen our characters I just wanted to be able to go on quests and play with magic, but now I was stuck being a princess and everyone was noticing me, especially with the ridiculous crimson and gold dress I was wearing. Most of the Fae players that we encountered were Nyiir'dhraí (Wood Elves), though we did see at least two dozen Sprites in the village square, and it seemed that most Fae players had taken both Fae Culture and Elvish language as skills. We could tell which ones because, as soon as they got a good enough look to see my face and the Danann’syr upon my forehead, they would bow or curtsey and greet me formally in Elvish. It was a bit exasperating getting that much attention from people I didn’t know and I wished that I could pull my Nature’s Crown down to cover the markings, but the stupid tiara seemed designed to rest just above my hairline and draw attention to the royal markings rather than cover them up.
It wasn’t just Fae though, all the other players seemed interested in me, since I was the only High Elf in the game. It didn’t help much that Lissany and Nishalle were hovering over me being all protective, especially with Lissany wearing her armor, which obviously wasn’t standard issue for even the warrior class. Nishalle was getting her fair share of attention too, since there were only three people playing Tokh'dhraí in the game and she was the only one who was female. I could understand the lack of them, since they really were a double-edged sword. They might be awesome in the dark, but during daylight hours they were at a disadvantage, one that Nishalle was having issues with, even with her sunglasses.
I was beginning to think that we should have been the ones trying to make friends with all the attention we were getting. We had just finished briefly talking to yet another pair of curious players when we came into view of the Sheriff’s office. One had been a handsome Nyiir'dhraí named Andrin with brown hair and eyes, who I thought was a scout/ranger from the bow and quiver of arrows he had chosen for his primary weapon. The other was a Beastkin man called Rellik, who sported a black wolf tail and ears that matched the scruffy hair on his head and a long curved dagger at his hip.
I had us stop in the alley beside the Sheriff’s office, while I dealt with the anxiety attack that had been slowly building since we had arrived in the village earlier in the morning and had finally reached the boiling point. I steadied myself on the wall of the building with one hand as the other rose to my chest in a vain attempt to stop the whirlwind inside. Each conversation we had with people had made it progressively build as I worried about how I might mess things up or say the wrong thing, and the fact that I was a girl in a ridiculous attention-getting dress had only made those thoughts worse. I didn’t want people knowing that I was a really a guy, it was too embarrassing, but what if I wasn’t feminine enough to blend in? Did they suspect? What if I said something a real girl wouldn’t say and they found me out?
I couldn’t breathe as I thought of all those people I didn’t know who had talked to us and ran through the conversations in my mind for some clue that I might have let something slip, something that showed I wasn’t a real girl. Right now I was a real girl though, or virtually real enough that I looked and felt real to everyone in the game, including myself. That too was part of the problem, the way those two guys had been looking at me, those appreciative appraisals of my body when they thought that I wasn’t looking, that hungry look in the Beastkin’s eyes. They had made me too aware that under this feminine dress was an equally feminine body, one that right now filled me with shame, and the pressing insistence that this wasn’t me, it couldn’t be, I wasn’t a girl, this one or any other.
“… wrong with her?” Lissany’s voice scratched at my mind vying for attention that I wasn’t sure I could spare with all the scenarios running through my mind alongside the ongoing battle of my sense of self.
“Anxiety attack, she used to have them all the time when we were growing up. Taelya… Caleb… breathe,” my sister’s familiar comforting voice penetrated my warring thoughts as somewhere in the distant recesses of my mind I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me. “It’s me, Karin. Whatever you’re hyper focused on right now, you need to let it go. You’re okay, we’re in a game remember. That’s not really you, I know it feels like it, but it’s not. I know that it all probably seems overwhelming now, but you’re just having an anxiety attack and the body dysphoria is probably getting to you. I’m here for you, just like always, just like we promised.”
The promise. The promise we made the day that our Dad had left us and our Mom for another woman. I had been seven then and Karin had been five and we had vowed that day to never leave one another, to always be there for each other, no matter what. From that day onward we were as much friends as we were brother and sister. I took care of her when Mom had to work double shifts to keep a roof over our heads and she helped me when my social anxiety became too much, like it just had. Even when I had gone to high school two years ahead of her and later, when she started getting into makeup and boys, we had never abandoned one another. Not even when Mom had died of Cancer last year, no that had just brought us closer together, made us reaffirm that promise. We were too much a part of one another and we needed to be close, no matter what.
I came back to myself, sobbing and gripped tightly in my sister’s arms. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’ll always be here, no matter what,” she was whispering in my ear.
I hugged her back tightly, sniffling and getting her shoulder soaked as I tried to get the sobbing under control. “Thanks sis… *sniff* I think I’m okay now, it’s just been a bit much all at once,” I mumbled into her shoulder.
Nishalle took me by the shoulders and held me in place as she looked me over sympathetically. “Too much people, and I know from my short experience how bad the gender dysphoria can be. I’m kind of surprised it didn’t happen sooner.” She raised the hem of her shirt to wipe away my tears. “There all better, we can wait a few minutes while you recover before going in to talk to the sheriff. At least you didn’t ruin your makeup, wait are you wearing makeup?”
“Just a little berry juice on my eyelids and lips,” I admitted shyly, looking downward as I took some deep breaths and tried to get myself back under control. “It was Naerysse that did it.”
Nishalle nodded, though she seemed to be watching me carefully, probably in case I freaked out again. “Well, it looks like you didn’t mess it up, so as soon as you’re feeling ready we can go inside.”
Lissany, who had been shielding us from sight and watching for any trouble passing the alley we were in turned around and gave me a nervous smile. “Are you feeling better now? I can get why you freaked out, the dysphoria has to be pretty bad right now, and I really didn’t like the way those guys were looking at us, especially the wolf. The looks he was giving me were like, creeper alert, and he was looking at you like you were a steak dinner and he hadn’t eaten in a week. You’re probably not used to that from guys and I can get what it’s like to have social anxiety, I can totes understand the dysphoria too. I guess this is the first time I’ve seen it from the outside looking in though.”
“Yeah I’m feeling better now, thanks Liss,” I told her. “It must be weird having those jaguar features and I can’t imagine what it’s like for you to go full animal form.”
My Guardian flushed slightly and shook her head. “That’s… umm… not what I meant Taelya. I totally get gender dysphoria, and the anxiety it can cause, because I wasn’t born Danielle, I was born Daniel. That’s part of the reason I was looking forward to this so much. Like your fiancée, I wanted to feel right in my body for a change. I mean I can present as female all I want, and being on hormone therapy has helped a bit, but I still know what’s there, and what’s not, and it eats me up inside every day.”
“I’m glad you got the chance then,” I told her honestly, “though I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t go for a normal human girl. I mean you’re just trading one type of body dysphoria for another right?”
The Beastkin girl shook her head, smiling enough that I could see her sharp canines. “I’m still mostly human, and I'm a girl, so I’m barely feeling the dysphoria compared to what I used to. I kind of have a thing for cats too, Mom’s nickname for me is ‘Kitten’ since I kind of act like one sometimes, or so she constantly tells me.”
I suddenly felt horrible about being such a crybaby about having to go through this for a few months when she and Jess had felt that way pretty much their whole lives. Once the game was over I’d be myself again, but they’d be right back on the train to Dysphoria-Ville unless they chose to keep playing, and even that would only be an escape. “I’m so sorry… I…”
Lissany wrapped her armored arms around me in a hug. “No, do not start feeling bad about the way you’ve been feeling. Dysphoria is overwhelming at times, the littlest things can set it off, and it’s not like you’ll have a choice in the matter as long as you feel at odds with your body. Mom understands that, it’s why she let me start HRT when I was thirteen and why we’re both here playing this game.”
“How’s your father feel about all of this?” I asked, wondering why she only seemed to mention her mother.
She laughed at that, so at least I knew she wasn’t offended as she replied, “If I ever happen to meet the guy I don’t plan on asking him. It’s just me and Mom, always has been. I was an unplanned pregnancy when Mom was still in college and I guess he wasn’t interested in sticking around. I kind of wish she’d date though, she shouldn’t have had to put her life on hold for me.”
I felt closer to Lissany somehow after that admission, we knew how hard it was growing up with just our mother and I knew exactly how she must feel about her mom. At least Karin and I had had each other too, she just had her Mom. I realized then why Karin had been treating her like a kid sister since I had met her and her mother, and quickly resolved to try to be there for her in the same way. So it was my turn to hug the armored Beastkin girl as Nishalle scolded her. “Hey, none of that kiddo, I don’t need you and Taelya both feeling depressed, and your mom doesn’t feel that way. You make her very happy, and she doesn’t think she needs a man in her life to give her a sense of fulfilment, she’s already got a wonderful daughter who does that. I think she’ll start dating again if she ever finds the right guy.”
I was still hugging her when I asked uncertainly, “Hey Liss... about the dysphoria, is it normal to feel like ashamed and to hate yourself? I‘ve been feeling like that, and… ummm… when we were talking with those last two guys I felt this really intense resentment and jealousy whenever I looked at that Nyiir'dhraí.”
“Yeah, that’s all pretty normal,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders within my grip. “I haven’t really felt any of it since being in the game, but before that the shame and self-loathing were almost always there, though it got a little better after I started presenting as Danielle and HRT started working. The resentment and jealousy kind of hit in bursts when I was feeling really low and saw really pretty girls, or when girls were doing things that I never thought I’d be able to experience myself. If you ever need to talk about it or anything, I won’t be too far away.”
Once I had judged myself to be sufficiently calmed down, we made our way around the corner and into the Sheriff’s office in search of Sheriff Shaw. At first I thought that the person leaning back in the chair with her cowboy boot-clad feet propped up on the desk was asleep, until she raised her Stetson from over her eyes to give us a long look. She was absolutely nothing like I had been expecting, appearing to be a woman of average height with long black hair tied back in a braid and dark brown eyes with a slight Asian tilt to them. If I had to guess, she was in her mid-twenties, half Caucasian, and half Chinese. Other than the hat and boots, she wore a pair of tight jeans and a black t-shirt that bore a sheriff’s star and showed off a taut and toned body.
The corners of her mouth twitched upward into a faint smile as she said, “Well lookie here, ain’t you jus’ the strangest sight I ever did see. An’ here I thought that fightin’ werewolves was gonna be the most interestin’ thing in my career. Then yesterday, all you strange folk started showin’ up. I ain’t seen nothin’ like you afore though. For a minute I thought the circus was in town, but then I remembered that we ain’t exactly a town, and ain’t never had no circus come here.”
“We live in interesting times Sheriff,” I replied uncertainly.
“My ma used to say that there was an old curse somethin’ like that,” she said without moving or taking her gaze off me. “Now I don’t know who or what you are, but first we get attacked by honest to God werewolves, then refugees an’ folk like your friends there start showin’ up with weapons, an now here you come strollin’ into my office pretty as you please. Since I don’t believe in coincidences, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to figure out what exactly to do. Finally I said, “You’re not far off about that curse. The world is getting dangerous and monsters are appearing, things even worse than those werewolves. I am Princess Taelya of the Autumn Court of the Fae, and I was sent here by my mother, Queen Amoiraishe, to negotiate an alliance which is mutually beneficial to both your village and my people. With that in mind, I came to see if you could direct me to your mayor.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Well, don’t you talk jus’ about as pretty as you look. We’re simple folk here, so it might be faster if you just talk real simple-like.”
“Ummm… take me to your leader?” I tried uncertainly.
To my surprise she fell out of her chair in a fit of giggles. Once she managed to climb back to her knees and look at us again over the desk she tried to give me a serious look, but then just giggle-snorted. “Take me to your leader? Seriously?!”
“What?” I asked, more than a little confused by the situation. “It’s a classic, it has history.”
The sheriff giggle-snorted again before finally managing a somewhat straight face. “Awww, now you made me slip out of my role, I was really starting to get into it too.”
For a moment I wondered if this was Moira messing with me and making sure I was doing her little ‘quest’, but the way she carried herself was all wrong. She was way too relaxed. “You’re not an NPC are you?” I asked.
“Nope, I’m your GM for closed beta. Technically I’m a player just like you, but I’m here to manage events, work out any issues between players, and lay down the law if need be. The development team thought that the village sheriff would be appropriate for that role. I can do quests and learn skills just like you, but I have administrative powers in case of foul play and stuff, and I can’t be killed like other players. In events and stuff I’ll just have to play possum if I take what the game deems a fatal attack. You can report bugs and stuff to me too.”
The sheriff interrupted me before I could even get the words out of my mouth. “I already know about your problem Taelya, I got a message to tell you that the development team is working on fixing it before open beta, but they wouldn’t be able to make the changes without a full system shut down, and yours has been the only problem reported so far. They said that the dysphoria should all disappear once you get used to your virtual body, but they can’t be sure how long that will be because everyone’s mind works differently.”
I was a bit disappointed, but it was no more or less than I was expecting, and I certainly didn’t expect them to shut down the game and take away everyone else’s fun just because I was a bit uncomfortable. “I guess I’ll just have to suck it up and try to embrace my inner Faerie princess,” I commented drolly.
“Your outer one too, Your Highness,” Sheriff Shaw said, trying really hard not to giggle, but failing miserably. “Seriously though, it might help if you have fun with it a bit. You know, like embrace all those horrible princess tropes to mess with people a bit. Break into song once in a while, give a royal decree or two, maybe get an animal companion.”
She was giggling out of control now and I couldn’t help joining in because I had been thinking of doing those very things just to mess with my sister. I had even said as much when I had ‘conscripted’ her. “I’d take a really long nap, but I’d just end up missing most of the game,” I managed to get out as we tried to calm ourselves down, but we just looked at one another, both ready to break down in another fit of giggles, and the inevitable happened.
Once our fit of giggles had subsided, Nishalle made a show of a long suffering sigh. “Mórrígan help me, I can’t believe there’s actually two of you, I can barely handle the one.” She grinned and gave a wink though before turning to the Sheriff. “So, you said you’re the GM? Are you with the development team then? I’m Karin Sanders head of the graphic design and advertising department. What did you do to get stuck with this job? As the town sheriff you must have been pretty limited in your class and race.”
“No I’m Becky Shaw, a system admin, I’ve only been with the company a month and the invites for the game were practically gone by the time I learned about it. I really wanted to try it though, so I volunteered for the job. This way I get paid, and I get to play. My race options were limited to Human or a newly awakened Witch, so I chose Witch. All my skills had to suit the sheriff role, so pretty combat intensive, but at least I was able to take the Magus class so I can play with both magic and guns.”
“I know, right! That’s why I wanted to play too! More for the magic than the guns, but still, isn’t it awesome?!” I asked excitedly and giggled, much to my dismay. “Have you had much time to practice magic yet? Venika and I are going to try and set aside a few hours every day to work on it and try new spells, you should join us if you have the time. It’ll be a blast!”
“Really?! I’d love that! I haven’t had time to learn spells yet. As a ‘newly awakened’ Witch my first spell is supposed to be accidental, to find a familiar, and my familiar sort of acts as my spell focus, so I won’t be able to do any other magic easily until I find it. Then I’m supposed to find a player teacher if I actually want to learn any magic, so I’m not ahead of everyone else. It would be awesome not having to practice alone! Could you be my teacher?! That’d be awesome, I heard about what you did to that horde of zombies!”
I could actually teach someone to use magic while developing my own? For some reason the idea really appealed to me, especially since she seemed to be as eager to play with magic as I was. “I’d love to teach someone! I’ve been having all kinds of ideas for new spells I want to try, and Venika already knows the basics of spellcasting so I can only really teach her new spells. It’d be awesome having an apprentice to teach from scratch! I’ll start thinking up lesson plans and we’ll let you know when and where we’re going to have our practice sessions!”
“Sweet! Swing by the office here whenever you want to set up a time for that and we can work out the details,” she replied, leaning eagerly over the desk.
Nishalle was smirking, and probably trying not to laugh by this point, as she interrupted. “I hate to break up this magical bonding time between you and your new BFF Taelya, but weren’t we here on a quest?”
I turned to Nishalle, blinking in confusion for a moment before my cheeks suddenly burned in embarrassment as I remembered why we were there. “Umm… oh yeah. Sorry about that, I kinda got a little sidetracked.” I turned to Sheriff Shaw and took a deep breath to calm the remaining giggles. “So yeah, we need to talk to the mayor about a possible alliance and such, so could you…?”
“*Snerk* Take you to my leader?” she cut in suggestively before we both started giggling again.
“Jeeze you two, it’s really not that funny,” Lissany interjected from the doorway, though she was grinning as she did so.
Sheriff Shaw, or Becky as she asked us to call her, led us to the town Hall. It was a large red building that resembled a massive barn on the outside, which was used for gatherings or meetings that effected the village as a whole. Just inside there was a small office and she led us there and rapped on the door with her knuckles. A man’s voice emanated from the other side of the door, “Come on in.”
Becky turned the doorknob and pushed the door open so we could follow her inside. Behind a wooden desk was an older man with white hair and a thick beard who was dressed casually in a neon green t-shirt and jeans. “Mayor Gibson, these good people would like to talk to you. They have an offer for you, and it might be a good idea to hear them out.”
“Good people Sheriff? I’m wearin’ my glasses right? They don’t even look human,” he said, leaning forward over the desk and squinting his eyes at us.
“Well, they’re not human Sir, and yes you’re wearing your glasses. They still seem to be good people though,” she replied.
“Well ain’t that a relief, here I thought I was seein’ things,” he replied with a relieved sigh as he stopped squinting at us. “I take it they’re with all them other odd folk that have been showin’ up since them werewolves attacked. Damned if that ain’t a sentence I never thought I’d here myself say.”
“Yessir, they represent the leadership of one of the groups I think,” Becky said.
“Well out with it, whaddaya want? Don’t keep yer mouth hangin’ waitin’ fer me to start things off, an’ speak up, not all of us have ears that big.”
I took a deep breath and started to go into my spiel. I figured that this might take a while, and that it was going to take some convincing and heavy negotiating, before he would accept what we were proposing. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mayor Gibson. I am Princess Taelya of the Autumn Court of the Fae. I’m here today to ask that you consider a mutually beneficial alliance between your village and my people, and perhaps some of the other non-human races as well.”
The old man looked at me intently for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, sitting back down in his chair and replying, “Sure, why not.”
“I assure you Mr. Mayor that we could make this arrangement beneficial to all parties and that we just want to coexist with you in... wait, what?” I sputtered out the last, uncertain whether I had heard him right.
“Sure, why not,” he repeated, leaning back in his chair. “My sheriff has said that you’re good people, are ya sayin’ she’s a liar?”
“No, I wasn’t…” I said, trying to keep my emotions in check. I had gotten dressed up in this ridiculous dress, suffered an insane amount of dysphoria while talking to half the town, and prepared for hours long negotiations for a ‘Sure, why not?’
“Was she misinformed then? She seemed right on the money with the not human thing,” he pressed.
“I can only speak for the Fae of my Court, but we’re a peaceful people, gentle folk, and keepers of the balance of nature,” I told him carefully.
The mayor nodded to himself looking very pleased. “Well that sure sounds like good people to me, ya got yerself a deal.”
“Mr. Mayor, there are details to discuss, arrangements to be made, before an alliance can be official…”
“Yup I would imagine so, an’ I reckon it’s going to be a lot of work too Yer Highness,” the white-haired man agreed. “Ya asked me to consider an alliance though, so that’s what I’m doin’. Now why don’t ya go back to tellin’ me why this would be good fer both of us so’s we can get started.”
I was beginning to think that someone was messing with me on purpose. “Okay, first though, may I ask why you’re considering this alliance?”
“Well ya came in here in that right fancy getup and ya caught my attention. I’m a sucker for a snappy dresser, show’s ya take the time to do things right,” he said with a grin. “That an’ we got hit hard by them werewolves, half the village is dead and the other half probably weren’t far off until you folk came in here an’ helped us in our time of need. That there goes a long way toward buildin’ a man’s trust.”
With that settled we began working out what the agreement would look like. The treaty would technically be between the village and the Autumn Court, but the various other races would be included conditionally as well, at my request. The Autumn Court would be ceded the unowned Lennox Estate and the forest surrounding it in return for all Fae living there instead of in town, the promise to obey all local laws while in town, and to assist the town if it came under attack by monsters again. The village folk would not enter those woods, which would be under Fae laws and jurisdiction, unless invited, and would show proper respect to both nature and the Fae when doing so.
There were a lot of minutia, but what the whole thing amounted to was a mutual trade and defense pact that would give us all some time and space to get used to one another until later, when the agreement could be revisited. Both parties would also be able to post quests for scavenging, technology, magical assistance, gathering, monster hunting, and other important needs on a quest board to be erected in the town square.
When we were finally done I was actually pretty pleased with myself, and feeling much better with that quest completed and out of the way. I got a good amount of XP and a new skill download, Diplomacy, as my reward. Maybe now I could actually do what I came into this game for and have a bit of fun. We bid the mayor farewell and, while Becky headed back to the Sheriff’s office, we looked for the rest of our party mates. It was lunch time by then, so we found them in the square with a lot of the other players who were eating a hearty stew made by one of the town NPCS for all the various refugees.
Reiko wrapped me up in hug, as soon as he saw us. “Hey babe, how was your morning?”
“It had its ups and downs sweetie,” I admitted, hugging him back tightly and kissing him softly. “I managed to satisfy the requirements of my quest though and we met the town Sheriff. She’s sort of a player like us.”
“She’s the GM when the need arises,” Nishalle clarified. “Becky Shaw, one of the new system admins.”
“I met her last week,” Venika said with a smile, she’s fresh out of college, but she seems nice and she knows her way around a computer.”
“So how went the search for friends?” I asked before carefully adding, “Oh and we need to let all the Fae know that they’ll have to live in the Fae Glade as per the terms of our arrangement with the village.”
“We’ll have to spread the word about that this afternoon,” Venika agreed. “It shouldn’t be much of a problem though. All of the Fae I talked to were planning on going there anyway. Their loyalty is to the Autumn Court, and you of course.”
“I’m afraid that it might be a bit of a toss-up with the professional gamers,” Pete advised with a sigh. “Some hate jerks like Razor and some are afraid to cross him in case he’s as good as he thinks he is.”
I nodded sadly. “Yeah, I was thinking that might be the case.”
Grell motioned us over to where he was sitting with four people; a female Atlantean with short spiky green hair, a blond Dwarf male with a thick red beard, a slender Beastkin woman with long brown hair and a doe tail and ears, and a female Sprite with near-white hair and a blue tint to her wings. All of them were wearing their F.I.T suits still, so I had to assume that they were among the recently resurrected who hadn’t been as fortunate as us during the Deadrush.
“Your Royal Highness,” the Sprite said with a bow.
“Taelya, this is Laesa, the Dwarf is Hadrick, the Atlantean is Ashura, and the Beastkin is Denise,” Grell said, introducing each in turn. They’re all more interested in the crafting side of the game than the combat side and they’re thinking of opening up shops in the new Fae Glade, once they have homes built and some things to sell. They don’t have much for combat skills but their crafting skills are pretty good. So they might have some scavenging quests for us in the city to get materials.”
“We wouldn’t want you to go out of your way Your Highness, but if you happen to be in the city scavenging we could sort of give you a wish list,” Laesa the Sprite explained. “I would like to be able to open a clothing store for Sprites, there are like thirty of us in the game and not a lot of clothing options available for our size, unless we look in toy stores, but doll clothes aren’t really very durable or meant for practical use.”
“I hear that,” Venika agreed bitterly. “I hate wearing this stupid bathing suit all the time and it’s weird seeing the male Sprites in them, not that there are many of those around.”
It turned out that each of the four had specialized in crafting and had different specialties. Laesa of course was focusing on fashions for Fae of the smaller variety, and she had already started by scavenging badly damaged clothes that nobody would want from the clothing store where Lissany and I had gotten our disguises the day before. She could easily use the non-damaged bits and thread from the seams to get a good start on her business.
The other three would be more useful to the whole community, not that keeping Sprites from flitting around in the buff wasn’t good for the community of course. The Fae may not mind so much, but the other races have taboos about that sort of thing. Hadrick had chosen a Dwarf character just for the smithing bonuses from their racial ability, and planned to start a forge to produce melee weapons and armor. Ashura planned on developing solutions to problems facing the community through artificing and was hoping that Grell would not only be her partner, but able to help us figure out what might be useful to the pair while scavenging. As for the doe-tagged Beastkin, Denise had taken all the skills she would need to produce guns and ammunition with the right tools and materials. Apparently she thought that the irony of a deer producing firearms was hilarious.
I had to admit it would be really useful to have people with more of a production bent working on ways to keep the rest of us safe and relatively content while we were in the game. With that in mind we talked throughout lunch, trying to come up with other useful crafts. We were discussing the possibility of finding a leather worker who might be willing to open up a shop, and maybe the possibility of a clothing designer/creator for us taller Fae as well, when the world went black.
I was trapped in nothingness, floating in an expanse devoid of all sensations. It was strange, and a bit of a relief, to be free of the body dysphoria that had been my constant companion since character creation, but at the same time the lack of any of my senses was maddening. There was nothing but empty blackness; no sights, sounds, scents, or even touch to tell me what was going on and, after getting used to a Fae’s enhanced senses, that absence caused a panic in me. If I had had a sense of my own pulse I’m sure that it would have been racing.
With no way to tell the passage of time, and only my own anxiety-induced thoughts to keep me company, I couldn’t be sure whether that non-existence had been mine for mere seconds, hours, or days. Then all perception returned in an instant, battering me with the sights, sounds, and scents of Haven, the feel of the breeze on my skin, the taste of the sea air, and of course the feeling that my body felt horribly wrong. The sudden shift was both gut wrenching and orgasmic as I tried to figure out what happened and adjust to that sudden wondrous influx of data from the world around me.
It was Pete who first recovered enough to ask, “What the hell just happened?”
“I… I don’t know,” Denise the deer Beastkin replied uncertainly. “I would have thought we had died if I hadn’t already gone through the horrors of death and resurrection in this game.” She shuddered visibly at whatever memories that brought up. The others who had died gave a similar shudder, a haunted look in their eyes.
It was then that we all had a message scrolling across our line of sight. “We apologize for the brief interruption in gameplay. This was due to a power outage and it took a moment for the backup generators to kick in.”
“Well, I guess that explains it,” Venika said with a shrug from where she sat on Lissany’s shoulder. Then she looked at our new crafter friends and asked, “So… ummm… what was death like? From what one of the developers told me they’re going to change it a bit in open beta, but for the closed beta they wanted to give us an incentive to not die often. Then he gave a maniacal laugh, so I’m a bit… concerned.”
“You do NOT want to die,” Hadrick the Dwarf said simply. “It was unspeakably horrible.”
Laesa apparently decided that her fellow Sprite, and the rest of us, needed to know more details though. “I guess that, in time, players like Priests and Medics will be able to learn skills to bring people back to life, because you have the option of waiting for up to six hours for someone to resurrect you. I tried that for like ten minutes before I got bored and decided to just wait out the game’s one day automatic resurrection at the nearest safe zone. I should have waited around longer, at least then I could have been entertained by watching the action for a while.”
It seemed that when you died in game you could wait around for a fellow player to revive you, or go straight to the waiting room, or Hell as our new friends had referred to it. If you decided to wait for another player to revive you then you could move around and explore in a spirit form until revived, but you were basically a ghost, nobody could hear or see you, and you couldn’t physically interact with anything. I guessed that if someone revived you then you would be returned to your body. If you weren’t revived within six hours though, then you would be automatically moved to the waiting room to wait out the remainder of your time until the automatic resurrection kicked in, and that was where the true horror was.
The waiting room was just that, a waiting room. First Laesa had had to get in line behind all the other people who had showed up before her, as each filled out a stack of forms for automatic resurrection that was nearly as thick as the Sprite was tall, in triplicate. Then, once she had finally filled out those forms herself and gotten her number, came the waiting. Waiting for a whole day for your number to be called so you could return to playing, while the worst elevator music imaginable played in the background.
Comfort wasn’t really high on the priority list for dead people either apparently, since all the chairs were uncomfortable wooden ones, some with splinters no less. There was a vending machine and a soda machine, but even if you did happen to have money when you had died, the selection was limited. The soda machine, which proudly proclaimed ‘Mountain Dew!’ on the front was all out of the popular flavors and only had raspberry cream soda. The vending machine was equally bad, with all the chips, gum, and sweet snacks gone, leaving only a single row of cranberry and pistachio yoghurt covered granola bars.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if there had been something to do, but there was one Sudoku book and all the puzzles had been solved. There were a total of three magazines available to read, but all of them were from the eighties, and the snarky lady at the counter would shush anyone who tried to make conversation. If you actually made a complaint, or even looked like you might, she would kindly suggest that you don’t die in the future if you don’t like the way she runs things.
“Tha… that’s diabolically evil,” Nishalle said, looking completely aghast as Laesa finished telling us of her far too long sojourn in the waiting room.
“Remind me not to die if I can avoid it,” Reiko added with a groan.
“I would think that would fall under common sense sweetie,” I teased, “especially since you’re our healer.”
“Yeah, trying not to die seems pretty obvious to me Reik…” Lissany started to say before she paused with a frown on her face. “Oh… kay, you know what, it feels really weird calling you that while you’re a guy. It’s kind of a girl’s name.”
My fiancé nodded, a faint flush painting his cheeks. “I was in a girly mood when we were deciding on our characters, and again when we did the character creation. I really should have thought ahead and picked something more gender-neutral. I guess that, despite what I was told, I never expected to be able to just switch gender at will. I’m so used to having to change characters in games based on what gender I feel like at the time. You can all just call me Rei for short, I’m pretty sure that can be a guy’s or a girl’s name.”
“There’s a name change option, under the character settings menu, I discovered it while in Hell. I was exploring the menus and stuff, since I was bored to tears and there was nothing much else to do,” Ashura pointed out from where she was sitting across from us beside her fellow Atlantean. “I think it can only be used once per character though, maybe they were expecting this problem with Kitsune players, or just the regular second guessing that some people have after making a character.”
It took him a few minutes to find it and make the change, but once I brought up the ‘show usernames’ option it showed his name now being Rei, which seemed a lot less awkward for everyone involved. With that matter out of the way, we finished our stew and the conversation returned briefly to possible shops and scavenging for materials. We had come up with wish lists for each of the crafters and prospective merchants by the time we set about our afternoon tasks.
We spent much of the afternoon doing quests. There seemed to be even more repeatable quests available now that I had managed to work out an agreement between the Fae and the village. We started out by scavenging materials and helping to begin construction of a defensive wall around the village. It was a quest that our whole party could do easily enough, even Venika with her small size. The village and the Fae Glade may have been a safe zone, but they could still be attacked during events and it made sense to secure them as much as possible against monsters, the undead, and whatever other dangers might be waiting out there.
There were also the ‘help out the villagers’ quests all over the village. Finding lost items, helping to repair homes and fishing boats, and even playing games with the local children took up much of the afternoon. It involved a lot more socializing than I was really comfortable with, but my dysphoria had died down significantly since I had changed out of my Autumn Court finery and into some regular clothes and my combat gear. It was still there of course, always gnawing at the edges of my mind, but it was at least at a level that I could manage without breaking down again anytime soon.
Not many of us had the skills needed to work on the hunting and gathering quest, but Venika was able to take charge there, tracking some wild game birds and a pair of deer and helping us to find some ripe berries and nuts with her ranger abilities. She and I took down the game birds with our flash freeze spells, while Nishalle used her sniper skills to take the deer (both bucks, much to my relief) down from a distance. I felt an unexpected pang of guilt and loss at the taking of those lives and made sure to say a prayer to Danu over the corpses. It was just a game right? And hunting quests were pretty standard fare, so why did I feel so guilty?
The answer was of course my knowledge of Fae culture and the ‘memories’ that had come along with it. Monsters were one thing, it was the Fae’s duty to maintain the balance of nature and magic, ingrained in them since their creation, and out of control monsters and the undead were a threat to that balance. Other living creatures, on the other hand, were to be nurtured and respected and the loss of any such life was felt keenly by the Fae.
I was sure that if Venika or Nishalle had taken Fae culture, they would have felt much as I had. It was a skill they both planned on taking with their next skill point since they could already speak Elvish, but found the Fae NPCs, particularly the Nymphs, a little unsettling. This was making it hard for them to relate to other Fae or really immerse themselves in their characters. I on the other hand had that knowledge and ‘experience’ that they didn’t and, as uncomfortable as I was with my own body, I found myself not even batting an eye at the thought of casual public nudity or sex. In fact, I had defended it the night before when Rei had freaked out about my Nymph attendant, Naerysse.
Once we had bagged the second deer, and fulfilled our quest quota, Lissany hefted the carcass over her shoulder and we followed the game trail back toward the road where we had parked the truck. Since the northern forest surrounding the estate was now the domain of the Fae, doing village gathering quests there was now an issue, so we had been sent to the southern woods for the quest. Unfortunately this meant that we were outside of the safe zone, so we needed to be on our guard.
I sent Venika ahead to scout the path back to the truck from the treetops and we all kept our senses peeled and stayed alert. Thankfully my Fae senses were very acute, as were Lissany’s, and even though Nishalle may not have been able to see well in the bright afternoon light, her nose and ears were just as sensitive as my own. I think we all heard it around the same time. There was something moving through the trees, making its way toward us, and whatever it was, it was really big.
“We need to get moving,” I said, an idea that was quickly met with the agreement of my pair of protectors. We began to quicken our pace, but it was then that Venika rejoined us, much sooner than we were expecting her.
“We’ve got trouble,” she muttered with a grim expression on her tiny face. “H3lls-Pwn is waiting to ambush us. I saw them planning it behind an outcropping of rocks less than fifty meters ahead, Razor reaaallly doesn’t like you Taelya.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I replied with a very un-princess-like snort. “Much as I hate to admit it though, at the moment we may have bigger…” That was when I saw it approaching through the trees, a massive monstrosity over thirty feet tall. It looked like a large human, or rather a parody of a human, with grey skin, patches of matted black hair all over its body, a head like a Neanderthal, and a large flabby stomach hanging over a loincloth which covered its groin. That wasn’t even the worst of it. The smell was absolutely foul, almost worse than the zombies had been up close and a whole lot more potent, making my eyes water in protest.
“Ogre! Everyone find cover!” I called out, before making for the cover of a large tree. Even as I moved I was gathering mana and trying to figure out my first spell. I needed to try and use my AOE spell, before it could get too close and I wouldn’t have the chance. Once I had made it behind the tree I began tracing the sigils in the air and calling them out, directing the mana and my will and then throwing the spell at the charging behemoth. “Tierre liantuir hannira!”
A blazing storm of fire engulfed the ogre and it screamed in pain, but when the smoke cleared it was still standing. Sure it was a bit blackened and burned, but now it was also really pissed off. Everyone who could started hitting it at once; Rei and Lissany opened fire with their shotguns, Pete was peppering it with his AK-47, Grell had his Glock out, and I was about to draw my own guns as well, until I saw how little effect they were having against it.
It was going to take too long for Nishalle to set up a decent sniper shot, and at that point I wasn’t really sure that it would do much good anyway. We needed a plan, but not many of us could dare get too close to it, especially when it uprooted a small tree to use as a club. One good swing and it could likely crush every bone in our bodies. “Umm… Taelya, maybe we should have tried to reason with it, I mean it is human…ish,” Pete’s voice called out from some nearby bushes.
“Yeah Pete, I’m sure that would have worked out real well, except for one problem, ogres eat people of our size for breakfast, literally. They especially love the taste of Humans, if the lore is correct,” I pointed out as casually as I could with my heart feeling like it was going to jump out of my chest and run away. “Would you care to remind me who among us chose that species for our characters? Feel free to go have a chat with him if you like though.”
“Your sarcasm is duly noted Your Highness,” his voice called back with a grim sounding laugh.
The ogre was seriously pissed off and heading straight for me, swinging its tree club in a violent arc and generally ignoring the gunfire. The smaller tree in its hands hit the one that I was hiding behind with enough force that it exploded into splinters. My cover remained rooted and standing, but the furious giant was far too close for comfort now, reaching around the tree to make a grab at me. I quickly rolled aside, trying to keep out of its reach, but it angrily snapped the top off the tree and brought it down toward me in a violent arc.
I silently thanked whatever Gods that might have been listening that I had decided to take gymnastics in addition to Kurinshal, as it was a combination of that skill, the elvish marital arts training, and my inherent Fae agility that prevented me from becoming a very dead Fae princess at that moment. My instincts, skills, and body took over at that point as I performed a double back flip and kicked myself off the side of another tree as the ogre’s new weapon hit the ground like a massive whip and snapped in half. By that point I was in the air, and safely out of the way, as I grabbed hold of a low branch and used the momentum to flip myself upward to land on it in a crouch.
Slightly astounded at what I had just done, that I was indeed still alive, and the fact that I didn’t even seem to be short of breath, I quickly drew in mana and cast my beginner fire spell. “Tierre liantuir!” I didn’t think it was going to hurt it since my much more powerful one had only pissed it off, but I was really hoping to distract it for a minute so I could get some space between us. I needed time to think of a proper plan and didn’t want my party-mates to worry about hitting me with friendly fire.
While my opponent was more concerned with putting out its flaming eyebrows than looking for me I made a quick dash for cover, behind another tree with Lissany and Venika for company. I had a plan of sorts, but if I was going to give the others a chance to complete it I needed to do more than set the ogre’s eyebrows ablaze. I would need to cast something that was actually going to hurt it, and keep its attention off us for long enough for it to work.
I needed to try one of the newer spell ideas that I had come up with, but I was going to need a few minutes since it required four sigils and I had never tried it, or any spell that powerful before. “Venika, try flash-freezing it,” I told the Sprite. It was another one of our beginner spells, so not very powerful and I didn’t think that it would last long, but it might buy us a minute or two. “Everyone get ready for close combat as soon as it breaks free! Pete and Liss, go for its legs! Nishalle, as soon as you can, go for the throat! Everyone else, cover them!”
Venika’s hands were in motion and she was chanting the sigils aloud as soon as I’d finished issuing the orders. “Aes’Suvas liantuir!”
The ogre had turned around as I called out orders and stomped its way furiously toward the sound of my voice, but the Sprite’s spell was quick and effective. She had managed to encase our opponent in ice, but that ice was cracking quickly, so I knew that I wouldn’t have much time. I drew as much mana as I could hold from the forest around us, wanting plenty on hand in case I needed to cast multiple spells. Then, as quick as my hand and lips could manage, I started drawing the sigils in the air and calling out their names, focusing very clearly on my intent. “Tierre kiara tala-aeluine utaera!”
Seven balls of screaming blue flames shot from my outstretched hand, peppering the behemoth’s face one after another, causing it to shriek in pain. The sound seemed to shake the woods, probably scaring off anything else alive nearby, but to us it was a call to arms. Rei started throwing balls of foxfire at it as Grell opened fire and Venika followed up with another simple fire spell, all of them aiming for its face as my scattershot spell finished its work. By that time the others were in place and Lissany brought her war hammer down on its gargantuan foot with a sickening crunch, even as Pete got in behind it with his colossal claymore and slashed at its Achilles tendon.
The moment it had fallen to one knee, howling in pain and clutching at its foot, Nishalle was in motion. Her katana slid free of its saya without a sound as she ran up the creature’s arm, going straight for its throat, the steel cutting deep and ending the massive creature’s life in a spray of crimson. Before the creature could fall to the ground and give its last twitching breaths she was at my side, half covered in red ichor.
We didn’t even have a chance to catch our breath before the first shots were fired from some brush to either side of the game trail about twenty meters away. Lissany, once again, managed to place herself and her shield between me and the hail of bullets from Ak-47s before I realized what was happening. There were too many bullets flying though, and Lissany couldn’t cover me from all of them as we were getting peppered from two angles. I had already felt like I’d been kicked in the chest twice, as bullets hit the Kevlar vest I was wearing over my leather armor, and a there was a searing white pain in my left shoulder.
Nishalle screamed in pain beside me and I could hear Razor telling his men from the left side of the trail, “C’mon guys, pour it on and kill the redheaded whore and the girl in the armor! The others will be easy once we take them down!”
I gritted my teeth against the agony in my shoulder and raised my right hand to cover the wound. I thought that I was bleeding badly, but it was getting hard to tell. I was suddenly having trouble breathing, I was shaking, my vision was getting blurry, and the pain in my shoulder was starting to fade to numbness as I tried to figure out some sort of counter-attack. I wasn’t the only one hurt either from what my blurred vision could see as I fell to the ground, as Nishalle was on the ground beside me clutching her leg. I thought that the others had gotten to cover, but I couldn’t see them to be sure.
When I hit the forest floor I felt the strangest sensation wash over me. My hand felt so warm and beneath it I could feel… life. It was really hard to place, but it was like I was connected to the mana in the earth beneath me. Not just in the earth either, but all the living things in it as well. My awareness of this mana expanded outward slowly, reaching out to encompass the trees, leaves, birds, forest animals, and the entire life of the forest, there within my grasp, I merely needed to reach out. All of it was bright, alive, and part of me, all but the intruders.
Had I wanted, I think I could have expanded that sense even further, but this was not the time to do so. The life l was feeling was answering my call, filling me up with an energy that no caffeinated beverage could ever compare to. I got to my knees, and my instincts told me that this was life of nature, mine to draw on if I needed, mine to command. Yes the forest was my home, an extension of myself and Razor and his cronies had intruded uninvited, defiled it with their presence, and attacked its very heart.
They needed to be taught a lesson. I reached out with that new sense of mine, telling the forest of my need, my desires. And the forest responded in kind, unleashing the vengeance of nature upon the intruders. The very brush that H3lls-Pwn were hiding in came alive, entangling them, growing thicker and sprouting needle-sharp thorns. I walked toward them in a daze, their screams becoming louder and louder in my ears as, one by one, they were torn to pieces.
As I approached, I was dimly aware of my party-mates joining me, Nishalle holding on to Lissany for support as she walked. By the time we got there the only one who hadn’t been torn to shreds was Razor himself. He wouldn’t be alive for long though, as he had already started bleeding profusely from a number of deep wounds. “Razor, you have intentionally attempted to kill a princess of the Autumn Court. Are you really so stupid that you would court the ire of my entire people? You’ll be dead very soon, but while you’re in Hell I would like you to think about one thing. I have merely killed you, your suffering has been short... this time. When you return, you will likely face whatever justice that my mother and my people feel is appropriate. I guarantee you they will not be so generous, the Fae have a history for making punishments both long and painful. We live such a long time and we like to enjoy it, you I’m afraid will not.”
“Wait… I…” he pleaded piteously.
“You will do nothing but die. I’ve gotten some satisfaction, but you hurt my sister as well, I’ll leave it up to her whether she wishes to kill you quickly or let you suffer a while longer.” I turned to Nishalle in concern. “Are you okay sis, he’s all yours if you want him?”
“I’m okay Taelya,” she quickly assured me. “They grazed me a couple times, nothing I can’t heal from, and who better to help me with that than him.” She turned to grin at Razor, showing the fangs that were the mark of the Tokh'dhraí racial ability, Thirst for Life. “I see that you’re pretty scared of my sister right now, and that’s understandable, but I’ll tell you a little secret… you should be far more scared of me. I’m an assassin, and if you ever cross us again, you’ll never hear or see me coming. The first and last thing that you’ll feel is my blade, my bullet, or my teeth.” With that she sank her teeth into his jugular, draining him of what blood and life force he had remaining to heal her wounds, giving a slight shudder as the last light of life drained from her victim’s eyes.
“Are you okay?” Venika asked, carefully approaching my sister.
Nishalle shook off whatever it was that she had been feeling. “I’m fine now. That wasn’t quite as gross as I had been imagining, it had a slightly fruity bouquet. It just felt weirdly good, like the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had.”
“Good, I’m glad you’re feeling better sis,” I managed to say with a genuine smile as I fell again to my knees, my eyes blurring and my head spinning. The energy rush from whatever it was I had done had faded, and I had barely managed to keep up my intimidation act until Nishalle had finished Razor off.
“Taelya!” my companions all shouted at once before Rei caught me and laid me gently onto the ground.
My fiancé chanted a prayer to Inari in Japanese, his eyes closed as he held his hands to the bullet wound on my shoulder. “Shit, she’s lost a lot of blood and there’s a bullet lodged in there. I can’t heal her until we get the bullet out,” he said with a look of concern to the others. “The first aid kit I’ve got doesn’t have any forceps or anything, I really need to scavenge a hospital for some better medical tools. How the hell are we going to get the bullet out?”
“V… venika…” I called out to the Sprite, trying to steady my breathing, but not really succeeding. “K… kaida Siashe. F… focus on pulling the bullet out.” I carefully drew the sigils in the air for her with my good arm.
A look of determination settled over the Sprite’s small face as she watched me and then nodded. She took a deep breath and I could sense her gathering mana before drawing and speaking the sigils. “Kaida Siashe!” I could feel something moving inside my shoulder briefly before the agony caused me to scream out and, mercifully, I passed out.
I didn’t wake up in Hell, so I decided that things might be looking up, for the moment. I remembered the events before I fainted, but it was all a bit hazy, especially the specifics of how I had done whatever it was I had done. I almost thought it was a dream, before I went to sit up and searing pain erupted from my bandaged shoulder.
Rei was suddenly right there with tears in his eyes, pushing me back down into a lying position. “Don’t move yet babe, I just finished bandaging the wound, and the healing prayer, and it will take a few hours before you’re healed up properly. You lost a lot of blood too, I was afraid that we were going to lose you for a bit. Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” He turned away, I thought maybe to wipe the tears from his eyes, but he quickly produced some painkillers and a bottle of water, helping me to tilt my head up a bit to drink.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I offered, trying to give him a smile. Then, once I had swallowed the pills and a healthy amount of water, I wondered aloud, “How long was I out?” I risked a quick look around to find that Nishalle was watching over me with a worried expression on her face, but nobody else seemed to be around.
“Grell and Pete went to take the deer carcass to the truck and Liss and Venika are scoping the perimeter so we don’t get any more surprises,” my sister explained, not taking her eyes off me.
Rei gently lowered my head again as he looked down at me, the look in his eyes reminding me of just how much he loved me, and how much I loved him. “You weren’t even out half an hour, which is why I want you to lay still and recover for a bit. I don’t care if another ogre attacks, you don’t move until I say so.”
I thought of teasing him about just who wore the pants in our relationship, but I figured that wouldn’t go so well for me given how many dresses I’d worn in the last two days. Instead I teased, “Hey, I’m the princess here, I should be the one giving the orders.”
That was when Lissany ran into sight with Venika flitting close behind her. The Beastkin girl was slightly out of breath, and it really wasn’t surprising since she’d been running in her armor. Thus it was Venika who said, “Ummm guys… I hate to break up this touching moment, but we’ve got company coming.”
I tried to get up at Venika’s announcement, but Rei quickly shoved me back down into a laying position. “You still need to heal, and I told you not to move until I say so,” he chastised me with a stern look, his eyes filled with concern and his ears and tails twitching nervously. Then he turned toward the northeast, the direction that Lissany and Venika had approached from, standing over me protectively and readying his shotgun.
I wanted to argue that they may need me to cast spells, but I felt like I’d almost died, and from what Rei had said, that was probably true. Between that, the fight with the ogre, and whatever it was that I had done to get the forest to come alive and rip H3lls-Pwn apart I was now completely exhausted. I didn’t think I could summon the energy to cast a spell at that moment if I tried, and whenever I did move, my shoulder hurt like hell, since the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet.
That was when Venika cut in though, alighting on my fiancé’s shoulder. “Whoa there cowboy! I don’t think that it’s bad company this time around. From what Lissany was smelling, and what I saw when I did a fly-over, it seems to be Fae. A lot of Fae, and I’m pretty sure they’re not coming here to attack their princess.”
Rei and Nishalle both relaxed visibly at that, and I turned my head northeast so I could join Rei, Lissany, Nishalle, and Venika watching the forest and waiting. A few minutes later I caught the sight, and faint sounds, of movement between the trees. Those barely perceptible trickles of motion that at first teased our senses, but revealed nothing, soon resolved themselves into a tidal wave of motion as hundreds of Fae materialized.
It was like the entire host of the Autumn Court had shown up in force, at least those who were comfortable on land, and they were prepared for battle. Mostly they were Nyiir'dhraí, but there were also Tokh'dhraí, Sprites, Fairies, Pixies, Nymphs, Sylphs, Brownies, Knockers, and even what looked like some Selkies. Even Fae PCs like Laesa the Sprite were there in force. And there, at the front of the procession dressed in armor and surrounded by guards was Queen Amoiraishe, and damn did she look pissed.
It was at that moment that Pete and Grell returned from the game trail in the near opposite direction and the Atlantean of our group called out to us. “Okay ladies and gentlefox, we got that deer loaded up, and all of the gear that we could salvage from H3lls-pwned is in the truck too. It was mostly just their weapons and ammo, the clothes and body armor were a lost cause, Taelya really tore those assholes apart.”
“Yeah, how is our resident Fae princess by the way? Do you think that we can move her yet Rei?” Pete added before he caught sight of the host of Fae emerging from the trees. “Holy fuck, those Fae do not look happy.” As they approached he carefully raised his hands and gave a nervous smile. “Ummm… token Human here, good friend of the princess… please don’t kill me.”
The moment that Amoiraishe stepped onto the path she sent a look of deep concern my way and then gave a quick nod to the guards around her. “Make sure that the area is secure. As soon as I can be certain that my daughter can be safely moved I will return with her to the estate, where she will be safe. Khyrin, please see what you can do for her and any of her companions who may have been injured.”
The last had been directed to a blonde Nyiir'dhraí woman who approached, even as she and the guards replied in Elvish, “Yes, Your Majesty.” She knelt down beside me, gave me a quick reassuring smile, and then turned to Rei. “Was it just the shoulder wound? I will do what I can to help, please do not take offense young Kitsune. You bandaged it well and I can feel your magick working, you have a close connection to your patron deity, but you are still new to your calling and are limited in what you can do.”
“No offense taken, please do what you can for her,” Rei responded, squeezing my hand tightly. “The bullet wound was the worst of it, we removed the bullet and she had some bruising from where her Kevlar vest took a few other shots, but those are mostly healed now. The rest of us are fine, only a few minor injuries now.”
Khyrin quickly nodded, placing her hands upon my injured shoulder and then she closed her eyes and recited a prayer in Elvish to Danu. I could feel a warmth spreading through her, and then into me, and the pain had lessened considerably by the time she removed her hands and smiled. “That should help Your Highness, how are you feeling now?”
“Better,” I admitted. “I’m not in near as much pain anyway. Thank you Khyrin.”
She smiled and bowed her head slightly in reverence. “It was both my duty and pleasure Your Highness. You can be safely moved now without risking further injury, but I would like you to rest in bed and take it easy for the rest of the day while the healing magicks do their work. I will assist your young Kitsune companion to care for any injuries that he or your companions may have before I return with the host to the Fae Glade. I believe that your mother wishes to take you home, now that you are stable.”
She stood up to see to my party-mates as Rei leaned down to hug and kiss me tenderly. “Please, don’t be stubborn about this babe, and just go. She’s right, you’re stable, and those healing prayers will have you feeling like new by tomorrow, but you’re still going to need rest. We’ll get healed up, go tell the sheriff about this incident, and then we’ll go turn in the quest and head straight to the estate to join you.”
“You should be safe enough without us at the estate, Your Highness,” Lissany added, a guilty expression on her face. She was out of her armor, since we seemed to be safe for the moment. “I want to have Hadrick look over my armor and shield, and make any repairs needed if he can. There’s a bunch of bullet dents in them and I need to make sure that they’re not compromised. I am not going to fail to protect you again.”
I rose gingerly to my feet, hissing slightly at the twinge of pain that it caused in my shoulder, to give the Beastkin girl a hug. “Silly kitty. You didn’t fail me, you protected both me and Nishalle from most of the gunfire and we’re all still alive. You reacted faster than any of us could have hoped to, but we were caught in a bad position right after a battle and they were firing from two positions. Nobody could have stopped all of those bullets. We got off really lucky, and that was mostly due to your quick reaction and determination. You’re the best damn Guardian there is, Liss.”
“I’m the only Guardian there is,” she replied, hugging me back and sniffling into my shoulder.
“You are,” I agreed as I raised her face with my good hand so I could look directly into those cat-like green eyes, “but I wouldn’t want anyone else doing the job. It’s not the fancy shield or armor that makes you the best. I haven’t known you all that long Liss, but I think that you’re one of the most loyal, determined, courageous, and caring people I could ever hope to meet. This game feels real on so many levels and I don’t know many people who would do what you’ve been doing, putting yourself in harm’s way to keep me and the others safe. I know that you’ll always have my back no matter what and I’ll try to never take that for granted, because I want to have your back too kiddo.”
Lissany squeezed me tighter, but she was careful not to use her full strength, probably for fear of hurting me. “Thanks Your Highness, but you’re pretty epic in those areas yourself. I’m not trying to make you feel weird or anything, but you make a pretty good princess and I’m glad that I’m your Guardian. You should go get some rest now, we’ll be home as soon as we can.”
“Yeah sis, go rest, we’ll catch up with you soon enough,” Nishalle encouraged, still looking worried as she took Lissany’s place hugging me. “Please don’t scare us like that ever again though, you may have been able to resurrect in a day, but I never want to be afraid of losing you again, you’re the only family I have left.”
“I’ll try sis, but that goes double for you. You’re not just my sister, but my best friend, and I don’t want to lose you, not even if it’s only for a day.” I held her close in my good arm for a moment before taking a deep breath, letting go, and turning to our Sprite. “Thanks Venika, I think you saved my ass there by removing that bullet. I know that I told you the spell to use, but it couldn’t have been easy using it for the first time in such a high pressure situation. I’m beginning to think that awesomeness might run in your family.”
The sprite flushed a bit at that, but nodded. “It wasn’t easy, but I had a good teacher, and a good incentive. It’s just as likely that it runs in your family though, Karin has always been a good friend to me and my daughter and she’s always spoken highly of you and Jess. Before I met you and got to spend this time with you I thought that she was just a proud sister and exaggerating a bit. I’m pretty sure that she wasn’t now, you’re just as great as she is and I hope that we’ll become great friends too. Now get going, we’ll all be able to talk again when we join you back at the estate.”
Pete and Grell just nodded agreement and said, “Get going and rest, we’ll catch up.” They’re guys though, and we’re not usually the type for mushy goodbyes and stuff. I had to wonder why I was right then though, I’d never been that way before, at least not that I could recall. I mean, I loved Jess and Karin and I always made sure they knew that, but I’d never been prone to all of this touchy-feely stuff before. Was there something wrong with me, or was I getting more into my role than I probably should be?
Queen Amoiraishe used a teleportation spell to return the two of us, several Brownies, and Naerysse to the estate. As soon as we had arrived the Brownies left for the kitchen to begin work on the evening meal and Amoiraishe sent Naerysse with me to my rooms to help me to bed. The Nymph walked with me, keeping a close eye on me in case I needed support or felt weak, though she did try to strike up a friendly conversation as we walked.
I actually found myself liking my Nypmh attendant the more time that we spent together. When given a task, Naerysse would do it to the best of her ability with determination and a no-nonsense attitude, but she was also genuinely concerned for my well-being and wasn’t afraid to talk to me on a more personal level. Whether it was happily chatting about which Fae in the estate were the most capable lovers, or just being there, listening, empathizing, and offering her opinions as she was while she helped me get undressed and into bed, she was more than happy to talk to me like a person and not her princess. Of course, she was always properly respectful and seemed eager to serve me however she could, but it seemed that she was also eager to get to know me as a friend, and that was something that I appreciated.
So she happily chattered along while keeping a concerned eye on me as she helped me out of my clothes. She took a good look at my bandages to make sure that they wouldn’t need to be adjusted, but seemed satisfied with them as she frowned at the clothes that we had just removed from my body. “Most of these can just go in the wash Your Highness, but I’m afraid that the shirt and bra are a lost cause.”
I nodded, having figured as much. Not only were both caked with blood, but Rei had had to cut them away from the wound so she could properly clean and care for it. “I was expecting as much Naerysse,” I told her with a sigh. “I may need to scavenge for new clothes if being shot is going to be a regular thing.”
The Nymph gave me a look of concern as she pulled aside the sheets and motioned for me to get in bed. “I hope that was a joke Your Highness, I would rather you didn’t put yourself at risk like that. The future of the Autumn Court depends on you, with no other heirs. Please do not worry about clothes though, we have many skilled seamstresses among the Brownies and they are eager to make you more clothes suiting your station, they need only the proper materials.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I muttered under my breath as I glanced first at the bed, and then at my still naked body. “Shouldn’t I put on a nightgown or pajamas or something?” I asked uncertainly.
Naerysse giggled, not unkindly, but as if I had actually said something funny. “Being among so many Humans so much has given you some strange notions Your Highness. Why wear clothing when it is not necessary? Non-Fae may be that prudish and repressed, but you have a beautiful body and you should not have to hide it among our kind. The Humans and other Races may require such things and if we are to interact with them then we must make certain concessions, but here in the safety of the Autumn Court we need not go against our nature to please them. I do not know how you can do it Your Highness, wearing their clothes all the time like you do.”
I sighed, but climbed into the bed naked and allowed Naerysse to drape the sheets and blanket over me. It wasn’t really that I was embarrassed about being naked, it was more that it made me more acutely aware that my body felt wrong. I had a feeling that I may have lost my sense of modesty when I received my Fae culture and Faerie Dance skills, but it was hard to really tell for sure since my overwhelming dysphoria made me instinctively want to hide my body in shame. “I guess that I’m just used to it, to being ashamed,” I replied awkwardly.
“Don’t worry Your Highness, we’ll get you out of that habit and you’ll be feeling better about yourself in no time,” the Nymph assured me confidently. “Rest well Your Highness, and call me if you need me for anything. Her Majesty wishes to speak with you, so I shall send her in on my way out.”
“Thank you Naerysse, I’ll call if I need you. Go and enjoy some you time,” I told her with a smile hoping she would take the subtle hint and get some relief. As professional and caring as she was, it was hard not noticing a Nymph’s constantly pent up desires, especially since she tended not to wear clothes.
“I shall do that Your Highness, thank you,” She replied with a genuine and somewhat relieved smile, letting me know that she had gotten the message loud and clear.
Less than a minute after my attendant had left the room, Queen Amoiraishe entered and glided gracefully across the room to sit upon the side of my bed. “Please, tell me what happened Taelya.”
Without thinking, I gave a shrug in reply and automatically hissed in pain. “My party went to go do a hunting and gathering quest and those H3lls-Pwn assholes must have followed us. Venika said they were waiting to ambush us on our way back, but then an ogre showed up and we had our hands full fighting it. They must have heard the gunfire and came after us, while we were distracted fighting it, because the second we took out the ogre they started shooting at us from behind cover. Nishalle and I probably would have been a lot worse off if Lissany hadn’t been so quick to cover us.”
Moira, for I was pretty sure it was her again, clenched the blankets beneath her in her hands, her lovely face contorting in anger. Her eyes were red and a little blotchy and I was wondering if she had been crying before coming into the room. “I should have known not to trust those H…” she quickly paused in her tirade, trying to get some semblance of control. “Those H3lls-pwn fools… Thugs without honor playing at being warriors. I had a bad feeling about them and a clean background check can only tell so much. It only really gives an idea of the face they show in public and I didn’t get a chance to speak with them personally. I take it that there was some history leading up to this?”
“They’re arrogant assholes who want to prove that they’re the top dogs, and our names were at the top of the XP rankings list, for them there didn’t need to be history,” I scoffed. “They approached us before the Deadrush though, trying to recruit us, but we didn’t like their attitude. They were sexist and made it clear that they didn’t think much of female players or anyone who would play a non-human. I put their leader in his place and I guess they didn’t care for that. I kind of figured it was personal when I heard Razor tell his goons to ‘kill the redheaded whore and the girl in the armor’.”
The Fae Queen was absolutely livid. “It was clearly stated in the legal documents that this was to be a cooperative game and that player killing, except in self-defense, is forbidden! They will face justice when they are resurrected!” She turned to me in barely controlled anger. “Your Guardian did an admirable job protecting you, if she hadn’t… I am glad that you safe. You should stay here at the estate, I can help you to complete your training here.”
I sat bolt upright, hissing at the pain it caused in my shoulder. “Hold on a minute! If you think I’m spending the next three months stuck in this house while everyone else goes on adventures…”
“Vhisansh khuth!” She cursed in Elvish, cutting off my protest before shouting at me in the same language. “Enough Rhaennan! This is for your own safety! Would you just listen to me for once in your life?!” What she said seemed to hit us both at the same time and, while I stared at her wondering just what I was involved in, she snapped her mouth shut and quickly looked away.
Long silent moments stretched out between us before I asked, “Who is Rhaennan?”
It was a moment before she answered, her voice barely more than a whisper. “She is… was my daughter. She was around the age you look right now, barely past her eighteenth birthday when I lost her. I… she placed her trust in the wrong people. We found her too late and the p… paramedics couldn’t revive her. You remind me of her you know; your intelligence, the way you interact with people, and your natural leadership skills, despite the fact that you don’t like being thrust into such a role. You resemble her too now, but that’s not surprising since I asked the designers to model the Yseil'dhraí after her.”
“Is that why I’m here?! So you can have your daughter again?!” I snapped angrily. “Was there really a problem with the code or was that just a lie?!”
Moira took a deep breath to calm herself, the pain in her eyes palpable. “I realize that you may think that you have reason to doubt me, but I have never lied to you, nor will I ever do so. I may not give you the whole truth at times, but I will not lie. This I promise you. There was a problem with the code on this server that limited it to female characters for Yseil'dhraí. I checked to be certain, and there are male Yseil'dhraí on some of the other servers. To be honest a male on this server would have served my purposes better and been less… painful.”
“Then why the whole princess shtick?” I grumbled.
“The simulation was programmed with multiple possibilities; including multiple people choosing Yseil'dhraí, one of each gender, and only one of either gender. It is merely following the single female Yseil'dhraí course that it was programmed with,” the Fae queen explained.
Sadly that actually made sense to me so I knew in my heart that I couldn’t really blame her for the whole girl thing, especially since seeing me this way seemed to be hurting her as much as it was me. I had a few other questions that seemed more pressing now though. “So if I ask any questions, you will answer honestly?”
“I will tell you as much as I can, to the best of my knowledge,” she agreed.
That left things open for a lot of half-truths, but I figured that it was better than nothing so I asked, “What was up with the blackout earlier?”
She took a moment to think how best to answer the question. “I can’t tell you for sure what caused it, but we lost power to part of the city, and thus the building as well. The building's switch to the backup generators was relatively brief and the F.I.T tubes have a small onboard backup power source of their own, for when they have to switch between power from the city and the backup generators. When those on-board power sources are in use though, they automatically go into a power save mode that prioritizes the life support in the tube, and a few related functions, over all else. Staying connected to the game server is considered non-essential, so everyone’s consciousness was sent back into real time and sensory deprivation while the switch was occurring.”
That was about what I had been expecting so I decided to ask the question that was most nagging at my nerves at the moment. “What the hell did I do in that forest? I’m not sure how I did it, but it was like I was connected to everything in the forest. I felt so full of energy and I… I had those bushes come alive and…” I couldn’t finish that sentence. Despite how tough I had been trying to look in front of Razor when we had gone to finish him off I was sickened, and more than a little horrified, by what I had done, and how easy it had been. I could try to tell myself that the forest came alive and meted out justice, but deep in my heart I knew that that terrible justice had been my doing, and mine alone.
The weight of that, of the way I had torn other living people to shreds, even if they had been assholes, hit me like a speeding train and I felt sick to my stomach. Worse than that, I found myself sobbing and shivering, unable to control the torrent of emotions currently washing over me. I felt arms wrapping around me as Moira clutched me close to her chest, softly stroking my hair and whispering calmly into my ear in Elvish. “Shhh it is okay, let it all out. I’m here little rose and everything is going to be fine.” Hot tears splashed upon my sensitive ear as we both stayed there for a while and she tried to assure me that everything was alright.
It was some time later that the Fae holding me in her arms whispered. “It’s called Nature’s Call, an ability that only the Yseil'dhraí possess. You should not have been able to use it this early in your development, but I am glad that you did.”
“Tha… that’s what brought you and all the other Fae isn’t it?” I guessed, my sobbing starting to recede as she kept holding me close.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “The Yseil'dhraí were created by the Goddess Danu to be connected to nature, to preserve its balance. Because of this we are intricately connected to the mana within all things, but especially living things like trees, plants, animals, birds, and even insects. Forests are comprised of many living things and, to those sensitive enough, they are like living things themselves, teeming with mana and life. You connected to that mana in a far deeper way than mere spellcasting, but this is what makes Yseil'dhraí such great magic users, we can sense the mana of life better than anyone, and bend it to our will. The life of the forest serves us as readily as any Fae from our Court, so when you made your desires known it carried them out. Interacting with the natural world at that level does not go unnoticed by the Fae, and we sensed your need, so we came.”
“I… I don’t know if I ever want to try that again,” I said into her shoulder, taking a deep breath to steady myself.
“Do not feel badly for what you did Taelya, you acted to protect you and yours and there is honor in that. Those fools acted without honor and intended to kill you, you merely dealt out their deaths first,” I heard as her warm breath tickled my ear. “Nature’s Call is not a tool of death, it is meant to preserve life, and you could not have used it if that were not your intent. It is a tool and, like many tools, has many uses. Think of it as merely a deeper connection to your magick. You will learn its various uses and how to manipulate the living mana with more skill and subtlety, so maybe if you go looking for an animal or some berries the whole Court won’t run to your side.” I could practically hear the smirk in her voice and it was indeed there when I extracted myself from her arms.
“I had no idea what I was doing! I was injured and running on instinct!”
The smirk stayed in place, but Moira nodded and there was concern in her golden eyes. “You did well enough for a first time, and we have time to work on your technique. Are you feeling better?”
“I… uhhh… yeah.” I was feeling a bit better though I could feel my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Except for that whole breaking down and sobbing in front of you thing. I feel so stupid now.”
She shook her head sadly. “It’s not stupid to show your feelings Taelya. You were hurting and scared, and with good reason I think. You’ve been through a lot since the game started and I am sorry that I must bear the burden of blame for much of it, you don’t deserve it. The dysphoria at least will fade in time and maybe then you will feel better about things. Perhaps by helping you develop your magick and other skills I can make up for some of the pain I’ve caused you.”
“You mentioned that before when you got angry,” I stated uncertainly. “How do you plan on doing that, don’t you have a business to run?”
“Not anymore,” she spat, her eyes narrowing in anger. “My board of directors have locked me out. One of the American investors wants to sell the technology to their military for training soldiers. The board is going to wait until we’re all out of the game and if it ‘doesn’t live up to the hype’ they’re going to shelve Apocalypse Dawn and ‘pursue other avenues’. I was in the middle of a conference call about it when the power went out.”
I clenched my fists. If that happened my sister and Venika could both lose their real life jobs, not to mention how much hard work had obviously gone into the game. “No way! You can’t just take that laying down! What are you going to do?”
“I have my lawyers working on it, but they don’t expect to be able to do much about it until after the holidays and they’ll have to prove that the game is a failure before they can change the whole direction of the company so I’ve got time, but while I’m locked out and things are in limbo I can’t really do anything on the business side of things, so I’m taking a vacation. I’ve set it up so that I have administrative access and contact with the outside, but if my plans are going to bear fruit then I need to be in here tending the soil and seeds. I’ve lost my whole world once, I will not allow it to happen again.” Her eyes were steely with determination and her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
Moira left me to rest a bit after that and I awoke to a light knocking at my bedroom door. I had barely opened my eyes when Rei poked his head inside. “Oh, so you’re awake?”
“I think so,” I said rubbing my eyes blearily with both hands. It hadn’t hurt as much as I had feared, so I hoped that that meant that the rest and the healing magick were doing their job. “How long was I out?”
“About two hours from what Her Majesty told us when we got here. We were letting you rest and recover, but dinner is ready now and Amoiraishe said that we all have things to discuss. Do you feel up to getting dressed and coming down to eat with the rest of us? Or would you rather I bring it up here, so you can eat in bed, babe?” My fiancé was looking over me in concern, but I was feeling quite a bit better than I had at first. I was still tired and sore, but I was hungry too, and curious about what Amoiraishe might have to tell us all.
Once I had gotten into some clean clothes, with only mild protests of pain from my shoulder, we made our way down to the dining room to join the others. I was a bit surprised to see not only Amoiraishe and my party members there, but Becky as well. Sheriff Shaw wasn’t wearing her Stetson at the moment, but she did have a falcon perched on her shoulder. My comrades all smiled at my approach. “It’s good to see you with some color in your face again Your Highness,” Grell said with a smile, earning nods from our other party-mates.
“Thanks Grell, I’m feeling much better now. Not one hundred percent yet, but I can move my shoulder without blinding pain, so I think that’s a good sign. I take it you found your Familiar Becky?” I asked in interest.
“More accurate to say that Shrill found me, but yup,” the sheriff replied with a grin.
Since Rei and I were the last to arrive, we started eating as soon as we had taken our seats, though much of the meal was spent on discussion. It started off with Moira revealing her presence as Queen Amoiraishe and telling everyone in the room about just what had been happening at Pegasus Entertainment since we’d gone under, since nearly everyone in the room had some sort of vested interest in the company and the game. She told them everything that she had told me. I still thought that she might be holding back a few things, but she was trying to make sure that we were informed at least.
She and Sheriff Shaw had also gone through the combat records while I was out and that had proven that H3lls-Pwn had attacked us without provocation as we had finished a battle with the ogre. Things got back into character as we discussed the current affairs as a result of the attack. The rumors had already started spreading among the Fae, and in the village, about Humans attacking the Fae princess and while the Fae were out for the blood of those responsible, the Humans in town were terrified of reprisals. In her capacity as GM Becky was going to leave their punishment up to the Fae to calm everyone involved down and had already made arrangements with the Mayor.
“The members of H3lls-Pwn should start spawning in the village square at 3:17pm game time,” Becky said with a sigh once Amoiraishe had decided on the punishment. I wasn’t really sure about chasing them down like that, and I figured that Becky wasn’t either, but really it was the least that they deserved,
“Our people will be there waiting for them,” the Fae queen said with a grim nod. “Once they are all taken into custody we will take them to the northern edge of the village and then the Wild Hunt will begin. Our people will feed them suffering, slowly by the spoonful, and when those fools are caught and think that they have had enough, then they will face true justice and know what true suffering really is.”
After our lengthy dinner and conversation about an appropriate punishment for H3lls-Pwn I was encouraged by all of my dinner companions to go back to bed and rest for the remainder of the evening. I had considered arguing that I was just fine, but I knew that that would have been a lie. I was still tired and my shoulder ached as the healing magic continued to do its work. So, after Rei had made sure that I took something for the pain and discomfort, I was escorted back to my rooms by Naerysse, who helped me to disrobe and tucked me into bed.
I laid there awake for some time staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that had happened so far in the game, and what would happen with H3lls-Pwn the next day. It wasn’t that I couldn’t sleep, I was certainly feeling drained enough for it. It was more that something about the Wild Hunt, and the punishment to follow, had me feeling uncomfortable. There was this lingering feeling of wrongness about it, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.
They certainly deserved it and, to my surprise, I had no issues with either the Wild Hunt itself or magically meted-out punishments. I guessed that Fae justice was just one of those things that I had accepted about my new self in the game since getting my new perspective. It was traditional, and proper, or at least it was to those of us who had learned Fae Culture. Even though it seemed to me that I should be happy with the results, something still nagged at the back of my mind.
“This should fix everything, shouldn’t it?” I asked myself. “H3lls-Pwn gets a richly deserved punishment, the Fae get to feel like justice has been served, and the Humans won’t have to fear reprisals like they have been. Everybody wins, right?”
“Except that everyone won’t win. Yes we Fae will get our justice, those assholes will be punished, and the Humans won’t have to fear reprisals… this time. If we start with Fae justice right out of the gate, from that moment on the Humans will be walking on eggshells around us, fearing vengeance with each and every slight. A true alliance cannot be founded when one party fears the other. If we’re going to work and co-exist together then we need to show that we mean to work with them, not just expect them to suffer each decision we make silently.” The answer came unbidden from the back of my mind, striking me like a bullet to the chest, and let me tell you from personal experience, that’s pretty damn hard.
I sighed as I considered that revelation. “I wouldn’t be objecting so much if both the crime and punishment had happened on Fae lands. I made sure that it was in our agreement that Fae lands were under Fae law and Human’s must show respect when they enter, and do so at their own risk. It makes sense for us to use the traditional Fae forms of punishment in the Fae Glade. They pulled their ambush outside Fae lands though, and we’re going to be waiting to enact the punishment in the village square. That makes it feel an awful lot like we’re forcing our laws upon the Humans without giving them a choice in the matter, but they need to be involved and approve of any punishment in the village, especially in this case. This is the event that could determine the entire future of our alliance and whether it goes well, or badly.”
I knew it was just a game, and I probably shouldn’t be taking any of this too seriously, but the whole thing bothered me, eating away at my thoughts enough to even distract me from the body dysphoria. Despite my body issues, I could see myself identifying as Fae, when I knew damn well that I was human and that this was just a game. Since I had used Nature’s Call I had been feeling this strange and powerful connection between me and the other Fae, the magic of this world and even, no especially, Amoiraishe. I felt invested, like all of this really mattered, that it was important, and that we needed to succeed.
This was the first time that I had ever felt so connected to anyone or anything other than my mom, my sister, or Jess, and the strength of that bond surprised and scared me. Was I getting too into my character? I didn’t think so, since the dysphoria hadn’t seemed to lessen any and I wasn’t parading around naked and having sex with anyone who caught my eye. Perhaps it was just a point of pride? I had made an agreement with the village on behalf of the Fae, so of course I would feel for them and not want to risk destroying what I had already built up.
I usually wasn’t this deep a thinker, or at least not that I could recall. Not being very socially invested in life, I usually just let things unfold around me and either reacted or considered my actions as I needed to. I knew that it wasn’t real, but the game certainly felt it and nearly dying changes one’s perspective, as does being responsible for the lives of others. Perhaps that was the cause of my sudden introspection and concerns about doing something that may damage the alliance. Regardless of whatever their source may be though, those thoughts seemed to continually circle in my head, like a frantic animal chasing its own tail, until my exhaustion finally caught up with me and I fell into the warm embrace of slumber.
I felt much better when I awoke early the next morning, physically at least. My shoulder seemed to be completely healed and I was feeling fairly energetic. I just laid there for several minutes with my eyes closed and Rei spooned up against me with his arm around my waist while I thought about the events of yesterday and what would possibly happen today. Unlike when I woke yesterday there was no momentary confusion about where I was or whether it was all real. Nope, I had accidentally pinched one of my breasts while shifting position, talk about a rude awakening. Even if I hadn’t done that though, Rei’s morning wood poking me insistently from behind would have been enough to remind me of my new (virtual) reality.
If I had had any delusions about getting being able to cover my body and keep the dysphoria to a minimum then I was to be soon be relieved of them. As I lay there pondering what to do about the whole situation between H3lls-Pwn, the Fae, and the village a knock at the bedroom door broke me from my musings. Naerysse’s voice called through the closed door, “It is time to prepare for the day Your Highness, and I am running a hot bath for you.”
“I’m coming Naerysse,” I responded, loud enough for her to hear without waking Rei. Since the Nymph had senses as sharp as any other Fae, I didn’t have to raise my voice to do so. Reluctantly, I slipped out of Rei’s embrace and padded my way across the bedroom to open the door, where I was greeted by my attendant’s smiling face. “Good morning,” I offered politely as I tried to ignore our nakedness and the dysphoria that was already scrabbling at my brain.
“Good morning Your Highness, I hope that you are feeling better today.” Her smile really lit up her face, but there was concern in her eyes.
I gave her as much of a smile as I could manage in return as I replied. “Much better Naerysse, thank you.” As much as I genuinely liked my attendant, well she was a Nymph, she was extremely beautiful, and we were both naked. When you added in the fact that Fae in general have a much elevated libido compared to Humans, and the enhanced senses that made the Nymph’s near-constant arousal impossible to miss, well my body was reacting.
It was reacting in the wrong way though, a way solely reserved for those of the female persuasion and that warm wetness between my legs and the near painful ache in my nipples as my breath quickened, brought not pleasure, but pain. I felt so horribly wrong, the natural reactions of my body feeling unnatural and filling me with not only lust, but an anguish and bone-deep sense of shame, self-loathing, and a desperate need to fix the wrongness of my body that quickly doused any lust or desire that remained. It was an instant, soul-wrenching cold shower and I had to try and fend off the growing anxiety attack as Naerysse led me to the bathroom and got me settled in the tub.
Don’t let anyone ever tell you that gender dysphoria is a mere ‘discomfort’ with one’s body. I had never truly imagined what people like Jess and Danielle had to go through and I felt truly horrible about that. I suppose that for some it could be uncomfortable, but for me it went against the very core of my being. It was a raw, constantly burning, and naked vulnerability, like someone had thrown a switch in my soul and I was now laying in the dark uncertainty of the wrong gender while all those things that made me male inside were being bathed in acid for each little bit of femininity I encountered.
It’s like you’re a really rabid sports fan, one of those guys who shows up for every game of your team dressed up in the jersey, face painted, carrying one of those big flags, and every outward indication being that you live and breathe that team. Now picture that through some cruel twist of fate, despite how hard you might try to fight it, that you were forced to do the same, but for your team’s arch-rival; wearing their jersey, their colors, and looking to all the world like their biggest fan. Inside you want to scream out for your home team, but you know that dressed as you are people are going to hate you, treat you like a traitor, or just kick your ass on general principle. Now imagine that it’s not a jersey and some face paint that can be removed, and it’s not just during games. It’s every waking minute and it’s your whole body, right down to your bones, looking like it’s cheering for the wrong team while your soul screams out in protest at every way that your body betrays you and every time people treat you like you’re a member of your arch-rival’s team.
So, once again, as Naerysse bathed and pampered me in what seemed like every feminine way possible and my body was shouting “Female! Female! Shish boom bah!” I retreated deep into my mind, trying to ignore the girly-ness happening outside and hoping that maybe Team Male could eke out a win. I wasn’t going to place any bets though. It would have been a sucker’s bet anyway, since by the time I had been bathed, had my hair washed and conditioned, and was completely dried I was far too aware of how feminine I looked and felt as my attendant brushed out and then carefully re-styled my hair in its usual elaborate style.
Apparently, since Amoiraishe thought that we needed to play up the Fae angle while we went to the village to seek justice, I wouldn’t have my choice of clothes again today. It wasn’t so much an outfit as a lack of one. Since we would be going into the village, and had to obey their laws, all the Fae, even the Nymphs, would be wearing clothing, but we were really going to be pushing the bounds of common decency. I blanched as I saw the outfit Naerysse had laid out on the couch before me.
“I… I can’t go out in that!” I quickly protested.
The Nymph gave me a sympathetic look and nodded as she softly sighed. “I know how you feel Your Highness, I will be wearing something similar, but we have promised to obey the Humans’ laws while in their village. At least it will not completely hide your body.”
“I’ll say, it will hardly cover anything!” It wasn’t that I had any sense of modesty whatsoever, I was pretty sure that had been purged from me during character generation. No, my problem was that this ‘outfit’ was not only very feminine, but I would be showing a lot of skin, which would in turn make me self-conscious about my very female body and probably make my dysphoria go through the roof. Just looking at it on the couch was causing every last bit of male in me to scream in protest.
“I do not really care for clothes myself Your Highness, but I think you’ll look very fetching in this,” Naerysse offered with a smile.
The outfit consisted of a gold-hued chainmail bikini top with a silk inner layer in the cups so it wouldn’t chafe my far too sensitive breasts, with a golden chain connecting from the underside of each cup, like a pair of erotic suspenders, to another golden chain that was supposed to act as a belt, but hung off my hips suggestively. Sheer crimson panels of a gossamer fabric hung from each link the belt chain, acting not so much as a skirt, but fluttering loosely and annoyingly around my legs down to my ankles with each motion. If it hadn’t been for the crimson silk bikini bottom underneath I would have been exposed with every step. Completing the outfit were a pair of gold sandals that laced up almost to my knees and a golden arm band on each of my upper arms with more sheer crimson panels fluttering loosely down to my wrists, were they were secured with golden bracelets.
Somehow she managed to convince me to try the damn thing on, okay so maybe she had hidden all of my other clothes at some point while I was asleep thereby leaving me with no choice, but I was really hoping that whoever had made the garment had misjudged my size. I should have known that I couldn’t be that fortunate. “That looks perfect Your Highness, it is lovely on you. Her Majesty will be so happy, she will be wearing something similar of course. You both need to look regal in front of the Humans, but you need to let them know that you are Fae and proud of it as well. This works well I think.”
“I’m going to kill Moira.” I thought to myself, grumbling as I made my way to the bedroom to get my lazy fiancé out of bed. Once again he had failed me by sleeping through torture time and I wasn’t really a happy camper about that. I opened the door and called out, “Rei, sweetie, could you please convince Naerysse that I am not going out in this outfit?”
“What, she’s trying to get you to go out in another dress?” the Kitsune asked sleepily before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Ummm… wow… that is not a dress,” he verbally stumbled as, now wide awake, he stared at me with a visible tent poking out the sheets draped over his lap. “You look… wow… can we maybe keep that outfit for later?”
“Do you plan on wearing it?” I asked archly.
“Well… maybe if I was in a girly mood, but I was thinking that once you’re feeling more comfortable we could…”
“Dammit! You are being such a guy right now!” I stormed out of the room in a huff and went downstairs to give Moira a piece of my mind.
Moira, or rather Amoiraishe was eating breakfast with the others in the dining room when I stormed in. She was indeed dressed much as I was and when I entered the room several jaws dropped at my appearance. “What is the meaning of this Moira?! You had Naerysse hide all my clothes and then dress me in… this?!”
The Fae queen winced visibly, but responded calmly. “You’re not wearing anything too different than what I’m wearing Taelya. I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that I’m not willing to do myself.”
“Except that you don’t have gender dysphoria!” I snapped back at her.
“That will fade in time as you get used to your new body and your mind adjusts Taelya. In the meantime you have the skills that you need to ignore it, or at the very least make it tolerable,” she told me with a frustrated sigh.
I gave her a look that I was pretty sure showed how crazy I thought she was at that moment, “You can’t be fucking serious?!”
“Taelya, watch your langauge,” Venika admonished me.
I shrank back a little from the Mom-tone she was giving me, especially since Amoiraishe decided to give me a double dose, with her own Mom-voice. She wasn’t yelling, but there was clear disapproval in her voice as she said, “Listen up young lady. You are an adult Fae, with the Faerie Dance skill, and you’re a Magus. I expect you to start acting like it.”
“Yes Mom.” My answer was reactive, since I wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about, but her tone had been all that I needed to hear. I certainly didn’t receive the ‘female identity for dummies’ skill download, but I thought about what she had mentioned, as I slumped down in my seat, and I suddenly realized that she was right. With Fae not being allowed any form of sex or self-pleasure until they are eighteen, and having naturally high libidos, they need to learn to ignore what their bodies are telling them. The Faerie Dance skill would only be taught to those who had shown such self-control. It was the same with spell-casting, I needed to be able to put everything else out of my mind and just focus on the sigils and my intent.
I felt horrible now for snapping at Moira, Naerysse, and especially Rei. I recalled the various mental focus exercises from my Fae culture skill that all Fae supposedly learned when growing up, and carefully put all of the unfamiliar sensations that were causing me so much mental anguish out of my mind. I immediately felt better, sure the discomfort and dysphoria were still nagging at me, but from a far distant corner in the back of my mind, rather than overwhelming all of my thought processes. The outfit didn’t even bother me and, while I wouldn’t say that I was comfortable with things, it would be bearable until I was comfortable, so long as I remembered to stop and focus on putting the dysphoria into the back of my mind, rather than giving in, whenever it became overwhelming.
“Sorry,” I muttered sheepishly, looking down at my plate, “I think I have a handle on it now.”
“Much better dear, see that wasn’t so hard. I’ll reward you after breakfast.” Amoiraishe said with a smile that just screamed, “I told you so.”
I was about to ask what kind of reward when I was distracted by Pete saying, “You know Nishalle, you’d look pretty hot in something like that.”
My sister just smirked at him and shook her head. “I was offered one of those skimpy little things in the colors of my clan, but I figured that I should stick to armor today, since I’m going to be guarding Taelya even during the Wild Hunt. Maybe if you’re really good, I might let you see me in it one day though.”
I tried not to think about the look that Pete was giving my sister as he pictured her in said outfit as Lissany agreed with an almost longing sigh, “Yup we’re on guard duty so no sexy outfits for us, so I’ll be in my armor for today. Besides, Mom said it was too adult for me, and those getups are more for the Fae who aren’t used to wearing clothes in public like the Nymphs and Sylphs. Most of the Fae will probably end up in their combat gear.”
“Well I like it,” Venika mentioned as she preened in her own tiny outfit, a dark green bandeau, bikini bottom, and a skirt made from panels of cloth that resembled pink flower petals. “It’s not that stupid F.I.T suit and I like having a body that I feel good about showing off. It’s been years since I could wear something like this.”
That was when Naerysse approached the table dressed in her own skimpy little outfit, a blue and gold affair that somehow left less to the imagination than what I was wearing. Alongside her was another Nymph in an outfit that matched my own only the chainmail and other metal parts were silver to my gold and rather than crimson the cloth parts were lavender-hued. She looked Asian, was a good head shorter than me, and seemed very self-conscious and I briefly wondered who she was before it hit me like a falling piano. If you took away the Nymph markings and ears, toned down the sexiness to mere mortal levels, and put a pair red fox tails and ears on her, you’d have Rei.
“Rei? I… thought you were feeling male today, or at least you were when left the room.” She looked really hot, and I couldn’t help but stare, hell everyone else was too so I don’t feel bad about that, but I could tell that she really didn’t feel comfortable at all with all the attention.
“Yeah I am,” my fiancée admitted, “but I…well you’re feeling all uncomfortable with your outfit and the dysphoria and it’s my fault so I… if you have to go through that for me, then I should be willing to do it for you too.”
I stared at her, no him, for a long moment, tears blurring my vision. That was like, the sweetest thing ever and now I felt like a total bitch for snapping at him earlier. I got up from my chair and hugged him tight, being careful not to touch anything that might make him uncomfortable. “You don’t need to do that, I was being a b… bad girlfriend.” I quickly corrected myself so I didn’t get mom’d by Venika and Amoiraishe for swearing again. “I love you, but I don’t want you to ever do something like this again while we’re in this game. Be yourself, please, that’s why we’re here and I don’t want you to lose a second of that for me.”
“You’re sure?” he asked uncertainly. When I nodded my head against his shoulder, getting it wet with tears he hugged me back tightly. “Okay, but I’m keeping the outfit and I might want to use the Nymph form again when I’m in a super-feminine mood.”
“I’ll look forward to it, you’re really hot like that. Now go get changed, you sweet silly fox.” I let him go and tried to wipe away the tears as I sat back down at the table.
“You know,” Nishalle stated conversationally before briefly pausing as she watched Rei leave the dining room to go get changed. “I didn’t think that you two could get any cuter, or sappier, as a couple, but then we went and entered this game.”
“Yeah I think I feel a cavity coming on from all the sweetness,” Pete promptly agreed. I only blushed and quietly ate my meal.
My after-breakfast reward turned out to be a walk to the shore to meet some of the water-dwelling Fae, some magic practice, a new spell that would let me fire high pressure water blasts, and some training in consciously forming the connection to nature that would allow me to use Nature’s Call. The first time it had been instinctive and Amoiraishe felt that I needed to start learning to use it more naturally and with my own conscious will. It didn’t feel to me like I made much progress with that, but it seemed that we would be taking baby steps to make sure I was doing it right.
The others had accompanied us, and while Venika was learning the new spell alongside me, my two protectors and Pete got some sparring practice in with their swords. Grell decided to go for a swim with some of the Nereids and Undines to test out how well he could breathe under water. As for Rei, well my fiancé was deep in meditation for most of that time trying to strengthen his bond with Inari in hopes that he could improve his priestly abilities.
We spent most of the morning like that, training our individual skills and abilities and trying to improve ourselves before heading back to into the manor itself for lunch. Lunch ran a bit late, but that was when I got up the nerve to tell Amoiraishe about what was on my mind and how doing the wrong thing now could cause problems for our alliance later. I carefully explained each of my points, and when I was finished she let out a sigh. “You’re right Taelya, you really do have great potential as a leader. Not only did you realize my mistake, but you were bold enough to point it out to me and try to change my mind, rather than just going along with it because I ordered it. We will all go to see justice done, as planned, but how that justice is meted out will be discussed with the Mayor and Sheriff Shaw.”
We arrived in Haven’s village square in force around quarter after three, the entire host of the Autumn Court accompanied by many of the other non-humans. The whole village and most of the Human players were awaiting us and I could feel the dysphoria and anxiety ready to spike again and closed my eyes, using my focusing exercises to bury them once again at the back of my mind, as Amoiraishe and I separated from the others to walk toward the Mayor and Sheriff Shaw. I tried to give him what I hoped was reassuring smile as I said, “A pleasure to see you again Mayor Gibson, I wish only that the circumstances were less tense. Please allow me to introduce my mother, Queen Amoiraishe. Mahair, this is Mayor Gibson, and of course you have already met Sheriff Shaw.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Amoiraishe offered before nodding to Becky. “It’s good to see you again Sheriff.”
Mayor Gibson took her extended hand and gave it a gentle shake. “Nice to meet ya. It’s a right shame about that attack on yer daughter, I’m glad to see she came out okay. Just to let ya know, weren’t none of my people involved in that.”
“We realize that,” the Fae queen responded somberly, shaking his hand before releasing it. “Normally for such a crime against the Fae we would proceed with the Wild Hunt followed by an appropriate retribution, but my daughter does not wish to risk our alliance or having you fear us when we should be working together. Since this did not happen in our Glade we have no right to dictate punishments. It has effected both our communities though, and we would like to see justice done, so Taelya has advised that we discuss the sentence of these criminals and come up with something appropriate together.”
Both sides had representatives watching the respawn point in the square while the four of us discussed possible ways to punish the members of H3lls-Pwn. We were well into the discussion and the decision was leaning toward banishing them with the bare necessities for survival when the shouting began. Venika quickly flitted over calling out, “As soon as Razor respawned they all made a break for the closest building and locked themselves inside!”
“Which building?” Becky asked.
“The market,” the Sprite offered.
“Shit!” the Sheriff cursed. “They could hole up in there a while, practically the whole village’s food supply is in there! How did they get away?!”
“They’re special forces so they’re in peak physical condition, and they had a head start because they were all acting meek and pretending to be sorry, but then the second Razor respawned they bolted,” Pete said with a sigh as he approached. “By the time anyone realized what they were doing they had a head start on us.”
“Are there any other exits to that building?” I asked, turning to Mayor Gibson and Becky.
“Just the loading dock at the back and the front windows,” the Sheriff replied with a frown. “The loading dock only opens from the inside though, and an assault through the store windows will let them know we’re coming. I’d rather they not get a chance to try to kill anyone else, if they’re all spec ops then they don’t need weapons for that.”
Things shifted into high gear as Amoiraishe had my party and some of the Fae Magi head off to watch that rear exit, while everyone else watched the front. We really didn’t want them to have time to come up with a better plan than hiding, but they had shown no compunction about killing other players, so we didn’t really want to send anyone in there either. Over half an hour of doing nothing but waiting passed and I think we were all starting to get a bit frustrated. Finally the loading dock door opened and Razor and his cronies made a break for it, carrying plastic grocery sacks full of food and supplies and wielding knives from the butcher shop.
“Suvas hannira utaera!” Both Venika and I cast our spells at the same time unleashing high pressure water blasts at two of the members of H3lls-Pwn and sending them flying. They both hit the ground groaning around the same time that two of the other Magi entangled them in vines that bound them tight, but wouldn’t seriously harm them.
Lissany pounced on a third one, his attempt to stab her useless as his knife skittered across her armored chest. The Beastkin batted the knife from his hand hard enough that he screamed in pain and then she laid him out with a single punch from her armored fist. “Lights out asshole!”
The fourth of the crew found Pete standing in front of him with his massive claymore in hand. To either side of Peter was Grell with his blacksmith hammer, and Rei holding a ball of silvery blue foxfire in his hand. All three of them looked only too eager to use their chosen weapons and rather than face those odds he just fell to his knees and muttered, “I surrender.”
As for Razor, well Nishalle seemed to appear out of thin air, from out of the shadows of a tree, breaking his wrist to knock the knife from his hand before he knew what hit him. Then she was behind him with her sword at his throat. “Remember that warning I gave you Razor? Be a good boy and come along peacefully, or I might decide that I’m hungry.” We had just finished securing them all and were about to drag them to square when several explosions rocked the market.
“Shit!” I cursed as the sounds of explosions rang out like thunder. I took one look toward the loading dock of the market and the smoke starting to billow outside and nearly cursed again. “Everyone get these H3lls-Pwn assholes back to the square and make sure to keep an eye on them. Venika you’re with me, let’s see what we can do to put that fire out.”
“You got it Taelya,” the Sprite quickly agreed. We hurried for the loading dock and made our way inside, trying to keep our mouths covered as we used a combination of our flash freeze and torrent spells to try and put out the flames. We were quickly joined through the front of the building by several Magus players and Amoiraishe who assisted us using similar spells. Still, it was nearly dark and we were all bit worn out by the time we finished putting out the flames and Sheriff Shaw was able to help us look over the damage.
With the help of her forensic science skillset, Becky was able to determine that the members of H3lls-Pwn had created improvised explosive devices using various chemicals and other odds and ends in the market. They had also spread out cooking oil to make sure that the fire spread as much as possible in the hopes to keep us all distracted while they made their escape. As a result, all of the village’s food and a good portion of other supplies were destroyed, with the exception of what H3lls-Pwn had tried to steal. Not only did this put the village NPCs and any Human players in a bind where food and supplies were concerned, it also really pissed them off and killed any sympathy they might have otherwise had toward Razor and his cronies.
While she had been doing her Sheriff duty, a small group of us had been trying to determine if anything was salvageable while it was still light out, without disturbing the crime scene overly much. Things were not looking too good, there were a few things in the refrigerated areas and the freezer that had survived intact, but not near enough to feed the remnants of the village, let alone all the NPC and player refugees. Without an influx of more food supplies the whole village, and everyone in it, was screwed.
I left the remains of the market, after a summons from Amoiraishe, feeling pretty horrible. It was dark now and, since the fire and its aftermath had been dealt with, it would soon be time to deal with those responsible. I returned to the square, where they were all trussed up and awaiting whatever punishment would be dreamed up, but I walked past them, ignoring the glares directed at me as I made my way toward the Fae queen with Lissany and Nishalle at my sides. We found her alone, with only her personal guards for company, but that was to be expected as the Sheriff was now informing the Mayor of the situation as the latter attempted to work out an evening meal for the villagers and refugees with what they had available.
“I take it the damage was pretty severe?” Amoiraishe asked as we approached and she got a good look at the dark expression on my face.
At first I merely nodded sadly. Finally though, I found the words which had been caught in my throat. “Yeah, almost the entire backup food supply and other somewhat essential supplies were destroyed. Some of the food was salvageable, but it won’t go very far with all the people here, a day maybe two tops, and without proper refrigeration it’ll have to be used before any of it spoils.”
Somehow she managed to figure out what was bothering me, without me saying a word. “This is not your fault Taelya,” she told me sternly, her voice somehow giving the sense of both the steel of command and genuine affection and concern.
“Isn’t it?” I replied bitterly, not really wanting to be consoled. “I… I tore those guys to pieces, and this game doesn’t pull punches where death or injury is concerned, you feel every bit of it, just like you would in real life. Then before letting Nishalle finish Razor off I told him that they could expect long term suffering as soon as they respawned. Who wouldn’t want to run as fast as they could after that? If I hadn’t been so high on the power of nature, If I hadn’t acted like such a… Fae then maybe…”
“Had they just run in terror, I may have accepted that, at least in part,” Amoiraishe offered with a shake of her head. “By your own admission they have been confrontational, arrogant and selfish from the beginning. You did not choose for them to attempt to kill you and your friends, they did that, knowing that it was against the game rules. When they respawned they did not just run in fear, they had a plan, one that was intended to make things worse for everyone else while they got away. They chose to do that, like the attack on you it was premeditated. There were other actions they could have planned, but they chose that. Any one of them could have just stayed there and chose to face the consequences of their actions individually, but none of them did, they all went with a plan intended to hurt others. Should any of them had realized that they had done something wrong, apologized, and shown some measure of regret I would have shown them leniency for the common good, but their choices have proven their worth.”
I looked away, toward the center of the square and the trussed up captives, who were still glaring at my companions and me with hate in their eyes. The only regret they seemed to show was regret that we had caught them. Only Jericho, the one who had willingly surrendered behind the market, looked away at my gaze, but only for a moment.
“Your reactions were natural for a first-time user of Nature’s Call,” Amoiraishe added from behind me as she placed a hand tenderly on my shoulder. “That power can be intoxicating the first time, and your Fae instincts are strong, but you were injured and running solely on those instincts, so do not feel badly. I fear they would have done much worse to you had the opportunity arose or had you not gotten the upper hand. Do you really find being Fae so distasteful?”
I considered her question for a moment as I tried to shake off my lingering feelings of guilt. She was right and I knew it, as guilty as I felt it was their choices that had led them to their fate in the game, whatever it would be. As a game concept, choices influencing fate wasn’t even all that new. I finally shook my head. “When I can put aside the dysphoria I think I actually like it. I love being able to use magic and I feel… connected to other Fae, I actually understand them and feel part of their world, and I’m more relaxed around people in general. I feel like I can be myself, whoever that is these days, and only the dysphoria has been really holding me back. That’s not something I’m really used to in the real world, the comfort I mean, not the dysphoria, though I never had that in the real world either. With everyone but my family and Jess I’ve always felt like I’m on the outside looking in, I don’t get them and I constantly worry about saying or doing the wrong thing, to the point of having anxiety attacks.”
“Perhaps you merely had a lack of human social instincts and those you received from becoming Yseil'dhraí, and the related skills, have filled in that gap,” the Fae queen offered.
“If that’s the case, I’m a bit worried about what might happen when I get back into the real world. What if I become an exhibitionist or something? What if I miss all of this, this feeling of belonging?” I wondered aloud with a sigh.
“Well then you’ll just have to keep playing with me and Jess, because I’m pretty sure we’re going to want to,” Nishalle offered. “In any case we’ll both be there for you like we always are, so let’s not worry about that for now and just enjoy the game.”
Amoiraishe let out a slow sigh as she stepped up beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder, and giving me a somewhat forced smile. “She’s right, there’s no need to worry about it for now, and you’ll have plenty of time to get used to your new social abilities over the next three months. Perhaps, once it’s all said and done, you’ll find that you can adjust to being in the outside world just fine.”
Lissany gave me the sad kitty look, and dammit with that cute kitty nose, lowered jaguar ears, and those big cat-like eyes it was hard not to get sucked in as she added, “Yeah, you can always just keep playing with us. Mom and I think we’re going to, and I’m your Guardian, so it’d suck if I didn’t have you there to guard.”
I folded like an origami swan. “Yeah I guess I could keep playing the game, if we can somehow keep the investors from shutting it down completely.” That prospect saddened me for some reason, was I really getting that attached to the game already?
“Worry not, we will find a way to keep this technology from being misused and you will have plenty of time to enjoy being your new selves, if I have any say in the matter. I have some ideas that the board will find profitable while keeping the technology in my hands, but I may have to leave the game for a few days in game-time to talk to the lawyers and get the ball rolling on the legal aspects and fighting the board’s injunction. I shall do that once H3lls-Pwn’s punishment has been completed,” Amoiraishe said with a grim expression on her face.
“It’s been decided then?” I asked uncertainly.
“Yes, the Mayor asked for the Wild Hunt, and we shall begin after dinner. I have had our people return to the Glade, except for a few who will remain here to guard the prisoners, and we will return to the estate for our dinner, so as not to strain the village’s resources. Once we have eaten, we will return for the Wild Hunt and then they will receive punishments appropriate to their crimes,” she replied with a glance toward the prisoners in question.
Once we had returned to the Estate, and the Brownies had begun preparing dinner, Naerysse escorted me back to my rooms where she helped me to clean off the soot and ash from the fire with a quick sponge bath. The whole time I was practicing my focusing exercises to keep the dysphoria at bay, but at least I had a way to deal with it. Afterwards she carefully and deftly hand washed my outfit and used a spell of some sort to quickly dry it so I could get dressed once again in the newly-cleaned garments.
Talk over dinner was somewhat sedated, mostly going over the damages and possible punishments for H3llspwn following the Wild Hunt. Venika and I were both tired from using so much magic earlier, as was Rei. My fiancé had been keeping busy with some of the other Priests and Priestesses trying to heal anyone who had been injured as a result of the fire or initial explosions. A few of the Magi who had helped out with putting out the flames had suffered either burns or smoke inhalation, two of them had suffered both. There had also been those close to the market who had been hit with shrapnel, some of them pretty seriously.
There were injuries among both players and NPCs, including Christina, the little blonde girl we had saved during the Deadrush. I had been furious when I heard that, and I wanted those assholes to suffer for what they did. At the same time though, despite the assurances otherwise by Amoiraishe and my friends, I couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for the situation. How could I have handled the situation in a way where nobody had gotten hurt? Sadly, I couldn’t think of a satisfactory answer to that question.
“There’s nothing you could have done differently to avoid this,” Rei finally told me after a long silence, guessing the nature of my thoughts. “Those jerks were perfectly willing to go against the rules to kill us, so eventually they would have tried to hurt others again. This is a game so they think they can do whatever they want with no real-world consequences, other than maybe being removed from the game, and if they can’t be the best they’ll just be happy to ruin things for everyone else.”
“But I... what I did to them, the trauma after going through something like that before dying…” I argued weakly.
“They got what they deserved,” Venika told me flatly, her voice uncharacteristically hard. “I heard them planning their ambush before they heard the gunfire and decided to just take us down while we were distracted by the Ogre. I didn’t want to tell you the details before, because I didn’t want you freaking out, but Razor’s plans for you were particularly stomach-turning. They were going to use a tear gas canister and take down the rest of us in the confusion, but Razor wanted you alive, at least until he and his friends were finished with you. They all seemed perfectly willing to go along with the plan ‘because it’s a game and nobody is really getting hurt’, so don’t you dare waste your pity on any of them.”
It took me a moment to realize what she was getting at. As a guy the concept of being raped was not something that I had ever really had to seriously consider, but as a woman, particularly an attractive woman, that prospect was now a very real one. It didn’t matter that it was just a game, or that it wasn’t my real body, this body felt pretty damn real and I could only assume that what they had planned would have as well. As soon as the realizations hit me I was on my feet and dashing to the nearest bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach.
I was really glad that my hair wasn’t loose, it was hard enough keeping the multiple braids out of the way as I threw up in the toilet. It was roughly ten minutes after I had disposed of my dinner and I would have gotten up to wash my face and rinse the acidic taste from my mouth, but I couldn’t seem to stop shaking or stop the horrible thoughts running through my head. From what I knew of Fae culture, we really enjoy sex, but even putting aside that and the dysphoria, the mere thought of having it done violently and against my will was a violation.
The door opened behind me and my sister asked, “Do you need some help?”
“I… I’m f-fine,” I tried to assure her.
“No, you’re not,” she disagreed as she knelt behind me and wrapped me in her arms, “but that’s pretty understandable. Anyone would freak out after hearing that. Venika feels bad about it, but she figured that you should know, and that you need to stop beating yourself up over something done in the spur of the moment while you were bleeding to death and dealing with a power you had no idea how to control. The fact that you regret it, while they haven’t shown an ounce of regret over things they actually planned out because ‘there’s no consequences’, should show clearly that you’re the better person.”
“They could’ve… they would’ve…” I couldn’t finish that sentence as I turned around and cried into her shoulder.
“Yeah, but they didn’t, because we stopped them,” she told me, holding me tightly in her arms. “Don’t let them have that power over you, if anyone has any real power in this situation, it’s you. You defeated them single-handedly, could easily do it again if you needed to, and can help to decide their punishment. If that’s not enough you have other power too; you have good friends who will have your back no matter what, the entire Autumn Court adores you and would do anything for you, you are a powerful Magus, and you have control over nature itself if you ever need it. They can’t take anything from you, so don’t let anyone, including yourself, think that they can. My big Sis is stronger than that, and we both know it.”
“I feel pretty stupid,” I admitted with a sigh. “How can I show my face out there now, everyone probably thinks I’m some kind of... I dunno, but it’s probably bad.”
She tightened her hold on me and I could feel her shaking her head against my own. “Actually, everyone was really pissed off when you left the table, not at you, for you. We all care about you and what they planned, well everyone is angry and upset that you’re so upset and Rei and Amoiraishe are both so pissed off that they were having a Fae-off when I left.”
I sniffled a bit as the shaking seemed to improve and I asked, “A Fae-off?”
“Yeah they’re both trying to come up with the most torturous and ironic long term punishments as reparations to the village,” she explained as she held me in her arms and rubbed my back soothingly. “When I left Moira was suggesting turning them into cows and having them butchered, and then butchering them again every time they respawn until the village has enough food to last a few months. I had no idea that Moira could be so sadistic when pushed. She said she already had plans on how they could pay restitution to you and the Fae, and until she heard what Venika said she had considered just dropping it and kicking them from the game to be done with their shit. I think she’s taken a liking to you.”
“I remind her of her daughter I guess, so she’s getting really over-protective,” I admitted, sniffling again into her shoulder.
“That explains it,” Nishalle replied with a sigh. “Moira doesn’t talk about Rhiannon much, though she’s mentioned her a few times when we were chatting with April about Danielle and how hard it is for her being a single mom. I guess she died before Moira founded the company, but when she found out about Danielle’s gender issues and how hard it was covering her counselling and HRT on a single income she made changes to the company medical policy to cover those things. That was really when April, Moira, and I stared to develop a friendship. Moira may not be the best at showing it, and she can seem a bit aloof at times, but she cares about people and it hurts her when people that she cares for, or who she has taken an interest in, are hurting.”
“She kind of freaked out and accidentally called me Rhaennan after I almost died and was arguing against her locking me up in the manor for my own safety. I guess the elven accent makes the name sound a bit different, but she kind of told me a bit about her after that. I guess me being a girl in the game has been as hard for her as it has been for me. She’s been acting really… maternal,” I told my sister uncertainly, not wanting to leave her embrace.
“It doesn’t really surprise me,” she admitted after a long moment. “She’s so driven, unless April and I get her to relax a bit with us. This company and the game are everything to her, having the board lock her out and you reminding her of her daughter is probably taking a toll on her. How do you feel about her acting all motherly?”
“It’s weird, it kind of feels nice and almost right sometimes, like we share some sort of connection that I can’t explain, so I start reacting like she actually is my mom, but at the same time it’s like I’m betraying our mother and that kinda makes me feel sick inside.”
“It’s just a roleplaying game Caleb,” she said, getting my attention by using my real name. It was weird, I almost didn’t realize she was talking to me for a moment. “There’s no harm in it, even if it weren’t just a game though. Mom wanted us to be happy, and children who lose their parents get fostered or adopted by loving parents all the time, just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to find someone to fill that role in our lives. It just allows us to make the choice ourselves. Mom wouldn’t be mad at you for allowing her to be a mother to you and neither will I, I love you and want you to be happy. Now, speaking of happiness, are you feeling any better?”
To my surprise I was feeling better. I wasn’t sure if her little distraction had helped to distance me from my earlier thoughts, or if I had just let it all out while crying on her shoulder, but I felt better. “Sorta,” I admitted with a faint smile as I reluctantly pulled away, “but all this kneeling on the floor isn’t doing my knees any good and my mouth still tastes like vomit.”
“Let’s get you cleaned up and try to fill your stomach a bit again before we have to go then Your Highness,” Nishalle offered as she stood up and then helped me to my feet. Once I had cleaned up my face, rinsed out my mouth and flushed the toilet we returned to the dining room where I ate lightly.
It felt like everyone was handling me with kid gloves as they informed us about what we had missed while I ate. Apparently the Fae-off had tapered off after Nishalle had left and they had come up with a retribution for the villagers that I felt was appropriate without going too far. As for retributions for myself and the other Fae, I asked that we just remove them from the game. I didn’t want to see their faces, or even think about them, ever again if I could help it.
The half moon was high in the sky, providing ample light for the Wild Hunt. The village square was full to overflowing with various Fae, Humans, and members of the other races waiting for the hunt to begin and at the southern edge of the square where the five prisoners were still tied up and not looking very comfortable at all with the large group gathered for the occasion. They were effectively surrounded, with only the southern road out of the square to escape from and already the taunts and jeers had begun, though nobody would touch them until the Wild Hunt had officially begun.
I waited with Amoiraishe, each of us mounted atop Vsilja, or NightMares as some of the non-Fae had started to call them once we had arrived. They were ghostly white horse-like creatures with six legs, eyes as golden as our own, and manes and tails just as crimson as our hair. They were powerful mounts; fast, agile, and an absolute terror in battle if my Fae Culture knowledge was to be believed. I had been a bit afraid to mount mine at first since, when we had arrived in the estate’s stables where they were being housed, the mounts had glared balefully at anyone who came too close. To my great surprise though, both my mare and the stallion that Amoiraishe rode had nuzzled us affectionately as soon as we approached, practically melting into a horse-like puddle at our touch.
Our guards, companions, and the Huntsmen, including Nakir, a severe-looking dark-haired Nyiir'dhraí who was our Huntsmaster, were mounted as well. They all rode cú sídhe, each of the hounds a savage-looking beast as big as a horse with shaggy green fur and their long tails woven into braids, mounts that neither Lissany nor Rei seemed overly comfortable with. “I guess it is better riding them than being chased by them,” I heard my fiancé mutter behind me, before I caught my Guardian nodding in agreement to my left. For the moment, the Huntsmen and hounds both eagerly awaited the sound of the horn, but remained still until the signal was given.
“You five are here to answer for crimes against this village, against the Fae, and against my daughter,” the Fae queen called out to my right, her voice as clear and cold as the night air. “You will be allowed an opportunity to escape, should you do so and evade the hunt before the dawn, we will pursue you no longer.” She paused for a moment, smiling maliciously before adding, “When you fail to do so, those you have wronged will be granted their fair retribution.”
Nakir approached me, offering an ornate dagger. “As first-wronged, the honor of first cut goes to you Your Highness.”
Since I was mounted, and had had a hard enough time getting onto the damn Vsilja in the first place, I shook my head. “It is only appropriate that I have my sword make that cut, Nishalle, if you would do the honors?”
“It would be an honor Your Highness,” my sister agreed with a bow before taking the dagger. She gracefully dismounted and slowly and casually approached the prisoners, letting the fear stew in them before stepping before Razor and snapping her wrist out in a motion that was almost too quick to follow. A long and shallow cut was the result, just above and uncomfortably close to his groin, causing him to wince. Even from several paces away my Fae senses allowed me to see the cut and hear her nearly whisper, “Be thankful I didn’t cut it off asshole. I would have, but I’d have to actually find it first. Besides, this won’t be near as entertaining for all of us if you can’t run. Oh, don’t look so worried boys, it’s a game after all and nobody is going to really get hurt, right?”
Nishalle returned to the Huntsmaster and handed back his dagger. The very second it was returned to its sheath the prisoners’ bindings fell to the floor and the Huntsmaster sounded his horn releasing those gathered from their long wait. The hounds immediately let loose with a spine-chilling howl and then the massive beasts rushed toward the members of H3lls-Pwn barking in their raspy ghostly voices, mixing with the laughter of their riders. The prisoners did the only thing that made sense, they ran for their lives.
War cries rang out through the square as the hunt began, the Fae and anyone else with an interest surging forward and giving chase. The prisoners fled southward, running through the village as cú sídhe nipped at their backsides and Fae taunted them while darting in and out to slash at them, delivering small cut after small cut, stealing away their resistance a bloody piece at a time. Onward they ran, through the village and southward beyond, onto the road where they attempted to lose us in the forest.
I won’t bore you with a blow by blow, minute by minute account of the Wild Hunt. I probably couldn’t give one even if I tried, since Amoiraishe and I brought up the rear of the hunt where we would be safe, so I didn’t really get to see all that much. I will merely say that we pursued them through the woods in the bright moonlight, occasionally falling back enough to let them think they were getting away, only to fall upon their heels again, have some of us hurry ahead to block their path, or place a barrier in their way with magic.
One by one the members of H3lls-Pwn fell and could run no further and each time the fallen had had their wrists bound behind them and a metal collar snapped around their neck with a chain connecting it to the collar of Nakir’s cú sídhe. They were given the choice to either keep running or be dragged as we pursued their companions. Then we would rush ahead once more to catch up with the rest of the Wild Hunt. Razor was the last to be caught and we took our time toying with him. Sprites and Pixies flew back and forth advising us of his position, scouting ahead, until finally we had herded him to the waters edge, where a contingent of Nereids, Selkies, Undines, and Kelpies awaited him. As the sun began to kiss the horizon he found himself completely surrounded and fell to his knees.
The crowd parted so that Queen Amoiraishe, myself, and our entourage could pass to address the prisoners as Razor was being secured by Nakir. All of the taunting and chattering ceased as we approached and the Fae Queen help up her hand for silence. Only once that silence was absolute did she address our five bloodied and exhausted prisoners. “You have failed to win your freedom, so retribution is now at hand. Your crime against the village shall be first addressed. You willfully destroyed their food and supplies, leaving them to starve while attempting to steal enough to survive on your own. For that you will starve yourselves, while toiling to replenish their supplies. There is a large farm left untended since the werewolves attacked Haven with crops that are ready to be harvested. You will harvest those crops for the village from dawn until dusk under supervision and will wear masks that will prevent you from eating or drinking yourselves.”
“You can’t do that! We’ll starve to death you bi…” Razor shouted.
I could feel Amoiraishe gathering mana and she swiftly drew sigils in the air, calling them out with her gaze firmly locked on the leader of H3lls-Pwn. “Kaida nalysse Razor!” His shouting cut off mid-expletive. His mouth was still going through the motions, but no sound was coming out. The Fae queen smiled, and said, “That’s much better. Starvation is no less than you intended for the people of Haven and anyone staying there, so this is an appropriate punishment. Retribution will be complete when all of you either die or complete the harvest.”
Amoiraishe paused a moment to let that sink in before continuing to speak. “Once the village has had its retribution my daughter shall have hers. She has asked that the five of you; Razor, Jericho, Napalm, Risk, and Thunder be removed from this world. I feel that she is being far too generous, but I shall see it done. The five of you have been more trouble than you’re worth and I would rather have new people in those F.I.Ts that won’t be as much trouble, than deal with your arrogance and selfishness any longer. As for your punishment from the Fae, well that can come after.” She leaned in close and began to whisper something to Razor that made him go white. Her voice was so soft that I only managed to catch a few words here and there. “Skill removal… painful… breach of contract… legal… choice.”
Whatever it was she had said, it had him fairly subdued as he and his guild mates were frog marched to the farm where they would be serving their time. Once there, two dozen Fae guards, including two Magi, were left with them to ensure that they did their work. As for the rest of us, we made our way back to our respective homes for a bit of a nap. It had after all, been a very long night.
Things were hectic for everyone over the next several days in the game. That very same day that H3lls-Pwn had faced their punishment, the system had announced a new in-game event called ‘Save Haven’ which would last for the next week and grant double experience for hunting, gathering, fishing, and scavenging quests as well as double combat experience and a free skill download of the fishing skill for all players interested in participating. So, while H3lls-Pwn was being both worked and starved to death while harvesting crops under the watchful eyes of guards from both the village and the Fae Glade, most of the other players were availing themselves of the benefits of the new event and helping to increase the village’s supplies in various ways.
There were several specific quests with hunting, gathering, or fishing quotas to be met on the village square’s new quest board, as well as scavenging quests for specific goods for the village. There were player-posted scavenging quests as well, but since players couldn't assign an XP value to them, Sheriff Shaw was keeping herself available as GM to do so before those quests were posted on the board. Not that she was staying in her office all the time. No, in fact, that very first afternoon of the event I had taken Becky out to a quiet spot outside of the village, along with Venika and my two loyal guards to give her an introduction to Fae spell-casting. This amounted to teaching her a few of the more basic sigils, how to clear and focus her mind, and then getting her to practice the flash-freeze spell until I was sure that she had it down.
During those first three days of the event, my party worked the various quests in and around Haven, trying to help pad the village’s food supplies a bit and assist in building up the ever-growing defensive wall, and once a day I would give Becky another magic lesson to see how she was progressing. I felt that it would be a good idea for me, in particular, to be seen in the village helping them to recover from the disastrous fire before going on what could be a lengthy quest into the city to fulfill various scavenging requests from both the village and the Fae Glade. Spending all of that time in the village interacting with people and largely being the center of attention wherever I went wasn’t easy for me, but I managed with some judicious use of my focusing exercises to keep both the body dysphoria and social anxiety at bay.
On the fourth morning of the event, I awoke well before dawn. Naerysse quickly assisted me through my new morning routine and I didn’t seem to have to hide within myself near as much as I had been at first when she bathed and pampered me. The discomfort and dysphoria were still there, of course, scratching insistently at my brain but it seemed that it was getting more bearable and I was having to do less and less to ignore it. Was I starting to adjust to my new virtual body?
Once my Nymph attendant had assisted me in getting into my leather armor after I had gotten into some casual and comfortable clothes, she gave me a piece of paper with Elvish writing on it and some words in English here and there as well that were easy to recognize. Among the English words were shampoo and conditioner, so I had to assume that it was some sort of shopping list for while we were in the city. Reading it over, I realized that a lot of it was stuff that she used in my morning care regimen, but there were other things too like cosmetics and a list of useful plants and herbs that didn’t grow locally.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get everything on this list Naerysse,” I warned her carefully after looking it over. “Some of these things are oddly specific, right down to the color and brand and I don’t think that the plants, or even seeds, are likely unless we happen to run across a greenhouse.”
“It is merely a wish list, Your Highness,” she replied with a smile. “The beauty and self-care products were specifically suggested by Her Majesty. She believes that the cosmetics in question should suit your coloring and each of the products on the list is known to be environmentally friendly, made from natural ingredients, and biodegradable. The plants are some that we would like to cultivate locally for their various properties, but everything else on the list is intended for your use, Your Highness.”
“Oh, okay… wait just a second… the cosmetics are for me?! And what’s this note about nicer clothes?” I was frowning now as I looked over the list with a new perspective.
“Well Your Highness, since you insist on spending so much time among the Humans and wearing their clothes while doing so instead of dressing in Fae garments except for when absolutely necessary, Her Majesty has decided that you cannot keep doing so in those casual clothes that you wear,” the Nymph replied with a shrug.
Of course, it just had to be Moira who thought this up. What was with her trying to get me in the girliest or most revealing outfits imaginable? “What’s wrong with dressing casually? Especially when I might see combat and have to wear this armor over top,” I argued.
“You are a princess of the Autumn Court and even when among Humans you must hold yourself to a higher standard so if you are going to dress in their clothes, they should be beautiful and high-quality clothes. I am certain that your companions could help you to choose something suitable and Her Majesty is already planning on having some proper armor made for you. It should be far more protective, better looking, and more appropriate to your station than what you are currently wearing,” Naerysse answered with a sniff of disdain while looking at my leather armor. “You represent the Autumn Court and we cannot have you appearing like some lower-class Human. Of course, for the clothing, you could always just gather some high-quality materials and allow the Brownies to make you some proper Fae clothes. That is your choice, Your Highness.”
Much to my dismay, I could actually understand that and even agree with it to a point. I was the princess of the Autumn Court, the only one, and as such, it was reasonable that I project a certain image to the public when dealing with the other Races, which I was going to be doing a lot. Why did I have to be the only player on the server to choose a Yseil'dhraí? Why couldn’t someone else have had to deal with all this crap while I got to play with magic? I might not have even minded the being a girl thing so much if I didn’t have all this princess shit added on top.
I was the only one though, and that made me the princess and gave me the responsibilities along with the title. So, since the choice was mine to make, would I prefer to be in stuffy high-class Human clothes, or would I prefer to embrace my Fae nature? I found myself leaning toward Fae clothes since I was starting to slowly become more comfortable with my new body and it occurred to me that once I was, I probably wouldn’t have any discomfort about even being naked in front of other people. I had wanted to play a Fae so I might as well go all in. I could even try for a mix of both depending on how comfortable the higher-end Human clothes were since we were going to be looking for materials and sewing supplies for Laesa our Sprite seamstress friend anyway. Getting more for the Brownies to make me clothes wasn’t going to be a huge imposition.
Regardless of what I chose, my sister and I would need some new undergarments and they would have to be either pure silk or pure cotton since it seemed that all Fae share an allergy to synthetics. Nishalle and I had both noticed that our current underclothes, as well as some of our outer clothes, were leaving an itchy rash if worn for more than an hour or two and they were eighty-five percent cotton. We hadn’t even been able to touch anything that was one hundred percent synthetic fibers without feeling like our fingertips were burning. In fact, for the past three days, we had been wearing our F.I.T suits underneath our clothes instead of the bras and panties that we had scavenged to spare ourselves the discomfort.
“I will see what I can find Naerysse,” I promised after some thought. “I’m not even sure how much we’ll be able to bring back or how long we’ll be gone. The truck can’t carry all that much and we’ll have to be careful how much gas we use up since we can’t be sure if we’ll be able to find more. I’ll see you when we get back.”
“I understand Your Highness, good luck and please be cautious,” the Nymph replied, hugging me before letting me head downstairs for breakfast.
Rei had been waiting for me so that we could head downstairs together. She had apparently woken up in one of her hyper-feminine moods today because her Japanese features were far prettier than her normal female form, her curves more pronounced, and she was wearing clothes meant to display them; a form-fitting pink crop top and a short pleated skirt that showed off her great legs. It even looked like she was wearing makeup and bright red nail polish, though I was pretty sure that she had cheated and used shapeshifting for that. Everyone was already eating when we arrived at the dining room, despite the early hour, and the moment we sat down Amoiraishe smiled at me and inquired, “I trust that Naerysse gave you the wish list Taelya?”
“Yes she did,” I responded with a nod as I filled a plate with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and some fresh strawberries. “I don’t know how much we’ll be able to find or even bring back, but we’ll do what we can. We’ll try to get enough food and split the take between the village and the Glade as well if we can manage it on top of the scavenging requests.”
“Perhaps you should see if you can find another mall or some large outlet stores. You should be able to get most of what’s on the various lists that way,” the Fae queen suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea, we’ll be able to get medicines and other supplies for the village that way too and maybe another vehicle or two in the parking lots. It would be nice to get certain things in bulk too, like bathroom tissue and monthly supplies since those all burned up with the market,” Venika said from atop Lissany’s shoulders.
“Monthly supplies?” Pete asked, appearing somewhat perplexed.
“You know, tampons, pads, pantyliners and such,” Rei supplied casually, causing the men, and former-man at the table to blanch.
“Wh… why would we need those?” I asked uncertainly. “This is a game it’s not like we will really…”
“What part of ‘As Real as Reality,' aren’t you getting Sis?” Nishalle pointed out candidly. “We’ve had to eat and use the bathroom just like we do with our real-life bodies, and this is another natural process of the body, well the female body anyway. After my test run some of the techs told me that you could even get pregnant and have kids if you play your character long enough, though we won’t be in near long enough for the latter during closed beta.”
“I know for a fact that it can happen because my period started yesterday morning,” Venika added with a frown on her tiny face. “That’s why we were late for breakfast yesterday, and I can assure you that there are no Sprite sized monthly supplies, I’m having to improvise and it was messy at first. Hopefully, we can come up with something that works for Sprites soon, aside from the moss and scraps of cloth solution that some of the Fae NPCs said that they used before being trapped in the Veil.”
“Yeah, she kinda freaked me out when she was trying to find some way to deal with it,” Lissany said with a slight blush. “She had to give me ‘the talk’ afterward. I never thought I’d be able to experience that part of being a girl, even in this game, I think it’s awesome.”
“I am sorry Taelya, but they are correct, this is something you’re going to have to go through while here,” Amoiraishe said with a sigh and a guilty expression on her face. “I could tell you what you’ll need to know after breakfast if you like, this is not something that we should discuss while you’re trying to eat. If you would rather not hear it from me, I am certain that one of the others could…” she trailed off hopefully.
“Nope, not happening, I already gave that talk once this week,” Venika said with a shake of her head.
“Not me either, I may be in a girly mood, but no matter what form I wear having that conversation with my fiancée is just going to end up awkward for both of us. I’m glad I can avoid that problem by just keeping shifted out of my natural form when it comes up.” Rei pointed out before turning her attention far too eagerly to the food on her plate.
“Don’t look at me,” Nishalle stated with a frown. “I’m the younger sister, I was supposed to receive the talk not give it to her. Besides, we’re in the game and you’re her mother in here, so it’s your job.”
Pete and Grell were no help whatsoever they just gave me a look of pity as Pete mumbled, “I am so glad that I chose not to play a girl this time around.”
Once we had finished eating the others had hurried away to start putting our camping gear and enough food supplies to last a couple of days in the truck. Because we were going to be gathering supplies and necessities for Haven as well as for the Autumn Court we had been allowed to fill the truck with gas as well as a jerrycan in case we couldn’t find any in the city. So while the others abandoned me to load the gear and supplies, Amoiraishe took me aside for a very awkward conversation.
She started by telling me how the Fae used to deal with the problem in the old days, with a strip of absorbent moss wrapped in a piece of cloth. Then she went on to explain all the modern and ‘more convenient’ ways of dealing with one’s monthly visitor. Tampons, pads, pantyliners, methods of birth control, and even pregnancy. She unloaded all of it on me in a no-nonsense way that told me I had better get used to the idea that at the moment while we were in the game, these were possibilities that very much applied to my current self.
I had had the birds and bees talk before from my real-life mother, but as awkward and embarrassing as I had thought that was at the time, this time it was even worse. When she was finally finished, my face was probably indistinguishable from my bright red hair. “Okay…. Geez… that is far more than I ever wanted to know about how a woman’s body works. Can I go scavenging now? Maybe fighting monsters will be less traumatic.”
“You needed to know these things now,” Amoiraishe insisted with a sigh. “You may go, but be careful out there and please be aware that I may not be around when you get back. The prisoners on the farm are beginning to weaken from the hard work and lack of food and water, I believe that they will die within the next day or so and once they have all done so I will be leaving the game to remove them from their F.I.Ts myself, escort them to the lobby, and inform them of just how badly that they have fucked up.” There was a predatory gleam in her eyes as she spoke the last.
I shivered at that, glad that I wasn’t the one who had gotten on Moira’s bad side as I asked, “You’ll have to get some new people to take their place right? And you mentioned having some other things to do while you’re out of the game.”
The Fae queen didn’t lose that smile on her face, quickly replying, “Yes, but I have just the people in mind if they are willing to accept my offer. Hopefully, they will realize what a good deal it is once I give them the choice. I will likely be out of the game for a few days in-game time though since not only will I have to get them sorted out with their new characters, but I also wish to talk to my lawyers and my counterparts at the London, New York, and Tokyo offices. I think I know just how to deal with my Board of Directors and the investors. Should I be gone when you return I will leave word that you are to be in charge of the Autumn Court in my absence.”
“Well, I’m glad that you have some people in mind, and that you have some ideas on how to save your company and the game. You may be back before we are though, depending on how lucky we get during our search,” I told her with a shrug as I stood up from the couch that we had been sitting on for our conversation.
“I wish you and your party good fortune Taelya, just please, be careful out there. I don’t want any of you getting hurt, especially you. I’ll see you soon,” she said as she stood up as well and wrapped me up in a hug.
I felt only slightly awkward hugging her back and once she released me I gave her a confident smile. “Don’t worry about us, we’ll be careful and cover each others’ backs. I’ll see you when you get back, good luck Mo… Moira.” My cheeks flushed at my near slip of the tongue as I left the room to join the others.
It had been dawn when we passed through Haven on our way back toward the city. We made our way straight south along the two-lane road that most of the other players had followed out of the city during the Deadrush and before entering the city itself we found ourselves upon a hill overlooking the city. Before entering the city proper I had Grell pull over to the side of the road while we let Venika fly out the window to do some scouting. With her flight and her Farsight ability, I was hoping that she could save us some time searching.
It was nearly an hour later that the Sprite returned to us looking a bit flustered and breathing heavily. “No luck Mom?” Lissany inquired with a worried frown.
“No, I just had to dodge a couple of falcons that thought I might make for a tasty dinner,” Venika said with a suffering sigh as she fluttered through the window to land on Rei’s shoulder in the front seat. I think I found a good possibility though. I saw a Costco and a Walmart in fairly close proximity to one another. There’s a gas station too and they’re not too far from the edge of the city, but that’s not even the best part.”
“What’s the best part?” I asked, suddenly curious by the smile that was lighting up the Sprite’s face.
“Anyone know how to drive a semi?” she asked.
Grell started laughing. “You mean there’s one there? Pete’s job IRL is driving big trucks like that.”
“There’s one behind the Costco, so hopefully we can find the keys and drive that sucker back to Haven loaded with supplies,” Venika said, beaming from ear to ear.
“If we can get it loaded I can drive it,” Pete assured us.
I nodded as I considered what our game plan should be and then spoke up. “Maybe we should do that tomorrow then when we’ll have a full day ahead of us to locate and load everything we want. They should have most of what we want so I’d like to try and find some of the harder to get items first. We’ll likely need to find an electronics store for some of the things that Grell and Ashura need, they are pretty specific, and Nishalle and I could really use undergarments that aren’t a F.I.T suit and clothes that don’t feel like they’re trying to burn us alive. I’d also like to find a large fabric and sewing supplies outlet since we’ll have a better chance of finding natural fabrics that the Fae can handle wearing there. Ideally, I’d like to find a secure place to set up camp tonight too, preferably not too far from the location of the two big stores.”
I was feeling very uncomfortable by the time that we found the first store that matched one of our pressing needs. I wasn’t the only one feeling that way either, we were all feeling on edge and ready to jump at shadows though none of us was trying to let it show. “Why so glum, Your Highness?” Nishalle asked after we had broken into Intimate Dreams, a store that seemed to have specialized in sexy underclothes and sleepwear that damn near crossed the line into inappropriate. “Cheer up, we’re about to get some underclothes that won’t drive us crazy.”
“Yeah they may not drive us crazy, but anyone who happens to see us in them is another story,” I grumbled back as I looked over a very skimpy pair of crimson-hued panties.
“Oh come on, these are really nice, all silk and lace so they shouldn’t bother our allergy. And nobody has to see you in them but you, me, and Rei, that’s why the others are waiting outside and standing guard while we do our ‘shopping’. And just look at these price tags, half the underwear in I own in the real world didn’t cost this much together, but then I’m pretty practical I guess,” she said forcing an overly-casual shrug. “Now let's get out of these clothes and try some of this stuff on while you tell me what’s really bothering you, Sis.”
I sighed and began removing my armor. “It’s too quiet, and we haven’t spotted a single zombie since entering the city two hours ago. The city was crawling with the undead when we left during the Deadrush, but now nothing. I keep feeling like something is about to jump out of the shadows any minute.”
“Yeah, it’s getting to me too,” the Tokh'dhraí admitted with a sigh of her own as she finished stripping off her armor and started pulling off her top. “We’re all getting nervous. Venika didn’t even spot any undead during her scouting forays, and they can’t have all just up and disappeared, at least not without a reason.”
“Yeah, that’s what worries me,” I mumbled as I finished pulling off my own shirt and shimmied out of my jeans. Both were one hundred percent cotton and Nishalle was wearing something similar since they were some of the few clothes that we had gotten during the Deadrush that didn’t irritate our skin. We had hardly noticed the allergy at first, but it seemed to get more sensitive by the day.
We started trying to find things in our sizes, or that at the very least looked like they might fit us and trying them on. Since Rei was in a really girly mood she was getting a few things as well, but this trip was mostly for me and Nishalle since we couldn’t wear synthetics or blends. Once my sister and I had each found two dozen bras and pairs of panties that fit okay we stuffed them into large shopping bags along with some baby doll nighties and silk bathrobes that Nishalle had insisted we should have as well, after all, we were worth it. Nishalle had gone with garments that were white, black, and lavender with a lavender robe, while I had gone with roughly the same but crimson instead of lavender since it was one of the colors of the Autumn Court. Rei had chosen a variety of things in various colors that would suit her current girly-girl form.
I wasn’t really sure why I let my sister and Rei talk me into the extras, but they didn’t take up all that much space and the silk did feel nice against my skin. I was feeling much better by the time we had our clothes and armor back on with new undergarments underneath. Once we had picked out things for ourselves and Rei had marked the bags with a sharpie we started stuffing other bags with the remainder of the selection of pure silk garments for the sake of other Fae in need. I was still nervous as hell as we left the store and put the bags in the back of the truck, but physically I was feeling more comfortable.
We managed to find a little upscale boutique not long after leaving the intimates store and once Pete had smashed in the door for us the men were left outside to guard the entrance while the girls half-dragged me inside. Both Rei and Lissany had gotten some dresses in that shop to add to their somewhat limited wardrobes, but most of it was for us Fae so once again Nishalle and I dominated the shopping there. Nishalle got one lavender sundress but otherwise, all of her clothes consisted of designer jeans and tops that were made from either silk or cotton.
I wasn’t quite as fortunate as my companions foisted dress after dress upon me to try on after I made the mistake of telling them about my conversation with Nearysse earlier that morning. I did manage two pairs of designer jeans and some silk chemises, but mostly I ended up with cotton sundresses in white or various autumn shades that everyone thought looked cute and classy on me. There was also a bright crimson and gold silk dress in a Chinese style that the others insisted I had to have once they found one that fit.
Why wasn’t I fighting them so hard on these clothes and underwear? Sure, part of it was practical, I needed them and they had to be made of one hundred percent natural fibers so I really couldn’t afford to be too picky. Another thing was that I was a princess of the Autumn Court and I needed to look the part. I think mostly though, that it was because the clothes just weren’t as big a deal to me as they would have been when I had first entered the game. With my dysphoria starting to lessen and the sinking suspicion that once it was gone completely I would be just as comfortable wearing dresses or nothing at all as I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, what I bought to wear wasn’t worth fighting over. Until I was at that point I could just use my focusing exercises to make any dysphoria and discomfort take a back seat. Besides, I would only have to worry about it until we were out of the game.
It wasn’t until after we had taken a break for lunch that we found a large electronics store that Grell figured would have everything that he and Ashura wanted. I, on the other hand, was a little more concerned with what we had discovered on the way. Several streets had been impassable, filled with shattered and scorched debris from destroyed buildings. We had stopped briefly to look around and try to figure out what happened and the whole time I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. In addition to the damaged and scorched buildings, there had been the remains of what I thought might have been zombies, blackened and burned beyond identification and one of them was half missing. The upper half.
So as we looked through the electronics store for Grell’s and Ashura’s shopping list and killed the four zombies that we had found inside I was understandably disturbed and distracted. We tried to make our trip fast, getting the tools, soldering irons, wiring, circuit boards, and all manner of other things. There was enough to fill most of the remaining space of the back of the truck and Grell said it would be enough to let him and his fellow Atlantean get off to a good start. My mind was so focused on trying to figure out the source of my uneasiness that I barely even registered the game messages scrolling across my field of vision as we loaded up the truck.
*Player: Risk has left Apocalypse Dawn.* *Player: Jericho has left Apocalypse Dawn.* *Player: Thunder has left Apocalypse Dawn.* *Player: Razor has left Apocalypse Dawn.*
“Good riddance,” Grell grumbled beside me. “Looks like we have one less thing to worry about.”
“Yeah, but let’s not relax yet, I’ve had a bad feeling since we entered the city and it hasn’t let up yet,” I told him. “Those guys might have been assholes, but they are far from the most dangerous thing in this game.”
“True enough,” Pete agreed as he placed the last bag inside and closed the tailgate.
We did manage to find a fabric store before the sun set, a large one-story brick building with security shutters on both the door and windows. Not only was I hoping that they would have all the fabric and other sewing materials that we needed, but I also thought that I might be a good place to sleep safely for the night. Nishalle was able to pick the padlock holding the door’s security shutter in place and soon we were inside leaving the truck parked near the door.
Once we had our camping gear and food supplies brought inside Nishalle locked the security shutter again and we got down to business. Since Pete and Grell had graciously decided to pull out the camp stove on the large fabric cutting table and get started on making an evening meal, the rest of us wandered through the huge store together using ghostly lights created by Rei’s Kitsune magic to see by. Before we looked at anything on our shopping list though, we did a full sweep of the store to ensure that there would be no unwelcome surprises.
There wasn’t really all that much to see other than the storefront and a back area that held a break room and a loading and storage area. The break room was pretty simple with a table, three chairs, a coffee pot, refrigerator, and microwave. The loading area had a loading door and a security door to the back. We may not have found any unwelcome surprises, but we did find a pair of welcome ones in the form of keys hanging from a hook by the door. One set seemed to belong to a small delivery truck in the back that boasted the store’s name on the side and the other set was for a crotch rocket leaning up against the rear outer wall of the store.
We didn’t dally outside long enough to do more than take a cursory glance at the vehicles. Whatever it was that was bothering me seemed to be even worse now that the sun had set. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I looked around carefully one last time, went back inside, and made sure that both of the rear doors were securely shut and locked. It probably wouldn’t do much good against anything truly fearsome, but for the moment it at least made me feel a tiny bit more secure.
We ate our meal together in silence as if merely speaking, no matter how quietly, would bring whatever evil it was that we feared to our temporary doorstep. It was fairly basic fare; some grilled cheese sandwiches, soda, and some pepperoni sticks. Not exactly a five-star meal, but at least it filled the voids in our stomachs and gave us something to do besides trying as hard as we could to not look outside. Venika was the first to speak, her tiny voice uncertain. “What the hell is it that has us all on edge?”
“There’s something out there, something terrifying, I could feel its eyes on us as we looked over those damaged buildings. Whatever it is, I don’t want to be around if it decides that we might be tasty,” Nishalle replied with a shudder.
“I felt it too,” I agreed. “I think it was watching us from a distance because if it were closer one of us would have smelled or heard something out of place.”
“I smelled something, but it was very faint like it was there but left quite a while ago,” Lissany put in, her feline ears lowered in anxiety. “I didn’t recognize the scent though, whatever it was.”
I tried to appear calmer than I felt as I told my friends, “Let’s try not to worry about it and focus on the job at hand. We’ll pile up all the spools of thread, bolts of cloth, buttons, needles and anything else that we can use in the loading area tonight and then first thing in the morning we load it into that delivery van and make tracks straight to the Walmart and Costco to get everything else. I don’t want to be in this city any longer than we have to.”
With that in mind, we got to work. The store had a lot of synthetics and blends, but much to my relief they also had a decent selection of cloth made from only natural fibers; silks, satins, flannels, tartans, velvets, and wool blends all in a variety of patterns and colors. We took all of it to the loading area followed by boxes that we filled with anything else that we thought that the Brownies at the manor or Laesa could possibly use to make clothes.
It felt like it was near midnight by the time we had finished and curled up in our sleeping bags on the floor to try and get some sleep. Well, not all of us were in sleeping bags since they were made with synthetic fibers and Nishalle, Venika, and I couldn’t touch them. We used the wool camp blankets instead and while it wasn’t terribly comfortable we made it work. We all kept making comments about how uncomfortable the sleeping conditions were after being used to a nice bed. I think we were all trying to make an excuse for why we really couldn’t sleep, but not one of us believed it.
I awoke early, well before dawn, after a short and troubled sleep. I wasn’t the only one awake either as I could see Nishalle’s crimson eyes scanning the darkness. From the sounds of shifting bodies around me and subtle movements catching the attention of my night vision, I figured that my sister and I weren’t the only ones awake either. “So you had trouble sleeping too, Sis?” I asked as I sat up.
“I figured that it might be a good idea for one of us to keep watch, and I’m the best suited to the darkness,” she replied with a shrug, though we both knew that wasn’t all there was to it. She sighed and directed her gaze on me. “I wish I knew what was out there. The lack of zombies in the city is bothering me a bit. We haven’t seen many at all since coming back, but when we left during the Deadrush the city streets were crawling with them. Although I’m not really sure what to expect from these zombies anyway, and that’s part of the problem. They’re not very much like the walking dead in other games and the movies, there’s been a lot more blood than I would have expected from killing zombies.”
“That’s because they’re not the walking dead, they’re alive, sort of,” I attempted to explain. “True walking dead would be dead bodies animated, and usually controlled, by a necromancer. The zombies that we’ve been fighting aren’t like that, in fact, Moira never called them zombies or walking dead. She called them undead, which when taken literally, and not as the commonly used modern term, means ‘not dead’. They’re infected with a sort of viral curse meant to change Humans. So yes, Humans still need to be careful because they can be infected by being bitten or scratched, but they are not animated corpses.”
I took the time then to explain to her what I knew about the creatures that we had been calling zombies. They were actually something that the Fae refer to as ni’shahnkiir, or the blighted. In ancient times Humans were jealous of the Fae, the Beastkin, and some of the other races, and some Human druids and alchemists attempted to emulate or even surpass them through magic. The blighted were created through an attempt by humans to make themselves as long-lived as the Fae by magically altering their bodies.
It would seem that things hadn’t gone as planned though and the spell killed them all while making those changes and then brought them back to life with the changes in place. The once humans could live a long time if they weren’t killed or starved to death and they felt no pain, but when the spell had resurrected them it had only returned life to the bodies, their souls had already passed on. What was left were soulless creatures incapable of morality or higher thought and fueled by their baser instincts, primarily the need to feed.
The curse was spread whenever they bit or scratched someone and the infected quickly became ill and died within a few hours of being infected as the changes began. The illness, followed quickly by death and then magic changing the body and resurrecting it, left the newly risen creatures very hungry. So, with nobody in the driver's seat anymore, the bodies went into survival mode and began to search for food, then spreading the infection even further. Vampires and Werewolves had been created by similar reckless magical experiments.
My sister narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously when I finished my explanation. “You sound pretty certain Sis, how do you know all of that?”
I shrugged my shoulders as I admitted, “I had enough XP to choose a new skill the day after the Wild Hunt. I thought about messing with you by taking something like singing or animal training, but I figured that I should take something useful so I chose Monster Lore.”
“Damn, I’m only like three-quarters of the way toward earning a new skill,” the Tokh'dhraí complained. “That racial ability of yours gives you a real edge. You may have had to sacrifice four skill spots at the start, but if you keep going at this rate you’ll be way ahead of everyone else on the server in skills by the time our three months are up. So, does your new skill give you an insight into our current situation?”
“Not a whole lot, from what I’ve seen in the city since we got here, whatever’s watching us could be any of a large number of creatures, or groups of creatures, and not one of them are anything that I want to be facing any time soon,” I told her with a frown. “As for the blighted, well with most people fleeing the city they could have turned to cannibalism. That would thin their numbers considerably, but even with that, I would have still expected to encounter more than we have been. As much as I would like to believe that those corpses that we found near the collapsed buildings were killed by other blighted, the evidence points to something a lot bigger and deadlier.”
“That’s not exactly comforting Taelya,” Venika muttered in the darkness beside me before heaving a sigh.
“I would rather we be alert than comforted,” I replied as I regarded the Sprite and her Beastkin daughter. Then I too sighed as my ears indicated that they weren’t the only ones to have overheard the conversation between me and my sister. “So, I guess none of us is getting any more sleep.”
“I guess not,” Rei ventured from her sleeping bag.
“We may as well just get up at this point,” Pete pointed out. “If we start loading the delivery truck then we could be on our way to our next location by dawn.”
“Well let’s get started on breakfast then. If we’re not going to be well-rested, we can at least make sure that we’re well-fed,” Grell added as he shifted in the darkness, climbing out of his sleeping bag.
Once Rei had provided some of her ghost-lights to work by, we all packed up the sleeping gear and got to work on breakfast. Our meal was fairly simple, consisting of oatmeal, coffee, and some fruit. After we were fed, we returned to the loading area and began loading our haul into the delivery van as quietly and stealthily as possible. We didn’t want to push our luck and garner some unwanted attention from whatever had been watching us the day before, or any other denizens of the necropolis that we found ourselves in.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when we finished our work. “Grell and I can take the delivery van and you ladies can take the truck,” Pete offered, taking the keys from the hook by the door.
“I’ll take the bike,” Nishalle added, quickly snatching up those keys for herself. “It’s not as good as my bike IRL, but it should allow me to keep mobile and watch Taelya’s back. I can’t do much for her inside the cab of the truck and the visor on the helmet is tinted so it should make the sunlight bearable for me.”
“I guess I’ll drive the truck then, so we can keep Taelya safely positioned between me and Lissany,” Rei said with a nod. Then, seeming a bit uncertain, she added, “before we go though, I need to make a quick stop down the street. I saw a veterinary clinic, so I think that I may be able to find some surgical tools there. We could really use some for emergencies.”
“Okay, but we stick together on the road, caravan style, and you’re not going inside alone when we get to that clinic sweetie. We’ll need to make sure it’s safe inside and we’ll want at least one of us standing guard and keeping watch outside,” I said with a frown. After being shot and nearly dying I wasn’t going to argue about those tools, but I didn’t want any of us going anywhere alone or putting ourselves in unnecessary danger.
We made our way carefully down the street and broke into the clinic without too much trouble. Since Venika was so small and would attract the least attention, we left her outside to keep watch. Once we had checked for blighted and found none we let Rei gather up all the surgical tools that she could find and place them in the backpack that she was using as a medical bag. It was as we were about to head back outside to the vehicles that I felt a sudden spike of fear. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one either since everyone had stopped mid-step to look around nervously.
I was about to rush outside to see if Venika was alright when she flitted inside looking confused and shaking her tiny head as if to clear it. “That was weird,” she muttered.
“What was weird Mom?” Lissany quickly asked, giving the Sprite a look of concern.
“I was probably just daydreaming or something,” she told her daughter with an uncertain, and somewhat forced smile. “I could have sworn that Taelya came rushing outside, looked around nervously, and then there was this shadow passing over us and she was pointing to the sky saying something about a worm, but then I was suddenly back and alone keeping watch again.”
I took a cautious look outside as a shadow passed over the ground and vehicles outside. I looked upward and that was when I saw it. A monstrous black serpentine creature passed overhead, over a hundred and fifty feet long, like a massive snake with huge bat-like wings. “Everyone, stay inside, no sudden moves outside or loud noises,” I quickly cautioned before silently cursing. “Shit. I know what’s had us all on edge now, and what caused that damage and killed those blighted. It’s a fucking Lindwyrm.”
“Language Taelya,” Venika quickly admonished me.
What the hell is a Lindwyrm?” Pete silently hissed as I tried not to look guilty about swearing again. Damn mom-tone.
“Something that we don’t want to fu… mess with, if we can avoid it,” I quietly replied with a frown, watching my mouth so I didn’t get told off again. “It’s a humongous snake-like monster with wings, distantly related to dragons. They exude an aura of fear and they track their prey through sound and motion. As long as we’re quiet and don’t move where it can see us we’ll be fine. They’re big, powerful, fast, breathe fire, and have a lethally poisonous bite… that is if they leave enough of you left to be poisoned after the first bite.”
“I guess that it’s a good thing we stopped in here then,” Grell offered. “If we hadn’t, then we would have been on the move toward our next destination by now and it probably would have picked up the movement of the vehicles.”
“What do you think it’s doing up there?” Lissany asked after taking a peek out the window.
“If it’s moving, then it’s hunting,” I explained. “I don’t have any doubts about that. Lindwyrms only move when they’re hunting, otherwise, they stay in their nest, somewhere up high, and sleep. It probably feasted on blighted or something else not long before we came into town yesterday. If it was full then it wouldn’t have been too interested in us then. Now we’re on the menu if we’re not careful though.”
“So what do we do then?” Rei asked. “We’ll have to wait here until it has fed or headed to another part of the city?”
“Yeah, Venika should be small enough to keep an eye on it without catching its notice, but the rest of us will have to stay inside until it’s safe to move again.”
It was several hours before Venika figured that the Lindwyrm was far enough away that it might be safe for us to move again. We spent most of that time discussing strategies in case we actually ended up having to fight the monstrous serpent. Finally, we were able to be on our way again and drove to our next destination. None of us was too happy by how much daylight we had lost while waiting for the coast to be clear, but it was still preferable to being dead.
The gas station that Venika had noticed in front of the Costco did indeed have gas and we made sure to completely fill the truck, delivery van, and motorcycle once Grell had managed to find a way to bypass the locks and electric pumping system on the pumps and extract some gas. Then we parked at the rear of the warehouse store near the loading entrance and I had Nishalle pick the locks for the rear doors while Grell worked on getting into the Semi and bypassing the ignition so that Pete could start it up and check to see if it needed gas. The tank was on the semi was nearly full so Pete quickly turned off the engine and we all headed into the store and opened the loading door to check what, if anything, was still loaded in the truck’s trailer.
The trailer was empty, which I was grateful for since it would save us the effort of sorting through anything inside and removing what we didn’t plan on taking with us. Our next priority was ensuring that the loading docks and the store itself were free of any blighted or other creatures who might be a danger to us. Except for the lack of electricity, things were looking good on that front when Rei created some of her ghost-lights so we could have a look around.
I looked cautiously out into the store itself but I didn’t see much of anything without any electricity. “I don’t sense anything but with no power or emergency lighting it is nearly pitch black in there, nothing moving that I can hear though. Liss? Nishalle? Are you getting anything?”
“I don’t see or hear anything,” Nishalle said after a quick scan.
“Most of the scents here are old, days old at least, I don’t smell anything recent,” my Beastkin Guardian added. “We might have trouble finding and moving everything back here without some lights though. This place is pretty big after all.”
“It looks like they have an emergency generator, it’s just out of gas. If we fill it up then it should be able to run the lights for anywhere from six to twelve hours and we do have the jerrycan in the back of the truck,” Grell quickly suggested.
I considered the suggestion for a moment before nodding. “Good idea Grell, get on that so we can get started. With that Lindwrym in the city, I want to be out of here as fast as we can.”
“You got it, Your Highness,” the Atlantean Artificer replied.
Before long we had light enough to work by. We began by having Venika do a quick flyover of the store from ceiling level, where she wouldn’t be likely to be seen. The store was empty of anything close to human and it looked like anyone inside had fled except for the two security guards and six other workers whose bodies Venika had found mauled. They had all been viciously attacked and lying in pools of their own blood, including the driver for that semi in the back. From the looks of the smashed front entrance, bloody footprints, and the other tracks, something had chased any other employees outside when they had fled the store.
“What the hell happened here?” Pete asked as we looked over the bodies. “It wasn’t those zombie things because wouldn’t they have just resurrected? And these people were ripped to shreds. From the look of these bodies, they’ve been here a while too.”
“If I had to guess from the wounds, and the tracks following those human ones out of the store, a griffin ended up in here and started going wild. Griffins don’t much care for enclosed spaces so it started attacking people and then the survivors unwittingly showed it the way out when they fled outside,” I theorized with a shrug. “It shouldn’t pose a problem to us now that it found it’s way outside.”
“I agree, we shouldn’t have any problems with it, that blood is old so it probably happened during the Deadrush. People did mention seeing monsters aside from just the ‘zombies’ that night,” Venika added after having a good look at the bloody prints.
“Okay, well if there’s nothing to worry about then let's get our shopping done before that generator runs out of juice,” Rei suggested with a pointed look at the lights on the ceiling above us.
With that in mind, we started going through the sections of the store that would have the items on our wish lists, loading pallets with the supplies that we had in mind, and wrapping them in plastic wrap so they could be taken by forklift to the loading dock and loaded on the truck for transport. Even though the store seemed to be empty we all stuck together as we worked through the afternoon and almost into the evening, filling pallets one section of the store at a time with toilet tissue, monthly supplies, personal hygiene products, medications, bottled water, juices, dry goods, canned goods, any salvageable fruits and vegetables, and whatever else we thought that Haven and the Autumn Court would need. We also searched for anything that was on the scavenging requests list, loading up a pallet with tools, various electronics, and even a few generators.
There were a few electronics that hadn't been on the list added such as some cell phones and a couple of laptops. They were added because Grell took one look at them and said they would be useful. I figured that he knew what he was talking about for the most part, but I wasn’t really sure what use cell phones would be during the apocalypse. Grell just shrugged and told me, “I dunno, it’s weird. In the last few days, it’s like when I see certain devices that I know every component inside them and all of the various ways that each one could be useful. I can even sense ways to modify the devices themselves to incorporate magic. It’s not like my artificing skills though, I don’t get an idea for a device and want to make it. I don’t have any control over this, it just hits me when I see something and I see all of the possibilities at once.”
I had to wonder if his new ability had anything to do with the strange incident with Venika when we had been ready to leave the veterinary clinic. Then there had been the incident with Pete and Nishalle as well. A pallet hadn't been properly secured and when we had been getting those generators from the top shelf with the forklift one of the generators had fallen. It would have fallen right on top of my sister if not for two things. First, Pete had seen it falling and ran to protect her, not only covering the distance slightly faster than I thought he should have been able to, but he actually caught the generator. Sure he was straining when he put it down a moment later, but that thing was heavy, easily twice what he could have lifted under normal circumstances.
The second thing was that Nishalle had just vanished like she was sucked into the shadow of the falling generator. Just as suddenly as she had vanished, she reappeared from Lissany’s shadow. Neither had really been aware of what had happened until after it had and both had been very confused by the incident. Nishalle tried to explain her part in it away as part of her Shadow Call ability, but we both knew that was bullshit when she said it. My sister had been practicing with that ability a lot since she had received it and had discovered its limitation early on. It allowed her to cloak herself in darkness and remain hidden in darkness or shadows, but only for up to five minutes and only if she remained perfectly still.
I tried to put it all out of my mind as we loaded pallets onboard the semi-trailer, but I couldn’t help but think that it was all somehow related. Still, I had other things to worry about. For one thing, we had a Lindwyrm somewhere out there and I didn’t want to move until I was sure that it was nowhere around. For another, we may have gotten the trailer completely loaded with supplies, but the sun was getting low in the sky and I wasn’t certain that I wanted to risk driving at night with whatever might be out there. With the front door smashed through though, the Costco was hardly a secure place to set up camp for the night.
I decided that it would be best that we left the vehicles where they were for the moment and took the walk across the massive parking lot to Walmart to see if it might be more secure. It also had a garden center so I was hoping that it might have a few of the plants on the list that Naerysse had given me. I figured that we would have roughly half an hour of light left to give it a quick look and if it didn’t seem safe to spend the night there then we could either return to the Costco or try to look for something else safer before dark.
It was pouring rain outside but it didn’t take long to cross the parking lot since we had an incentive to hurry. We were nearly at the front doors when I felt a rush of fear surge through me. I couldn’t be sure if it had caught sight of our movement or if it had just been bad luck that had brought it into the area at that moment, but the Lindwyrm was back. “Hurry, we need to get inside before it notices us,” I told the others in a hurried whisper. “I don’t feel it’s gaze on us yet so we may be in luck.” We hurried toward the front glass doors that had been smashed, probably by looters or something during the Deadrush, allowing us to hurry inside. “Well, shit,” I cursed as I looked around in what little light the daylight through the doors provided the front of the store. It looked like we had that luck that I had just mentioned, only it was all bad.
We all stopped dead in our tracks before I hustled the others to the area designated for shopping carts where we all hid in a corner behind the cover of some messily placed carts. “Why am I not surprised that Walmart is filled with zombies?” Rei muttered quietly, letting a slight groan escape her lips.
“Because it’s Walmart?” Lissany shot back in a hushed tone. “Seriously, it’s like that in the real world too.”
“Only these zombies actually want to eat us,” Pete grumbled.
“We’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place here guys,” I whispered to my companions with a sigh as I sat back and leaned against the wall. On the one hand, there was a horde of blighted around the checkouts, and on the other, I could still feel the amped-up fear from the Lindwyrm’s presence in the area. “Give me a few minutes to think of a brilliant plan to deal with this situation. Until then we need to be quiet, so nobody make a sound.”
It was then that a very naked Nymph materialized in front of me by what I assumed was a teleportation spell. She had long strawberry blonde hair with a large gold-colored decoration holding it back in a braided ponytail, turquoise eyes, and several tattoos the same color as her eyes running down each of her arms and encircling her neck like a collar. I had never seen a Nymph with tattoos before, much less one that was a player character rather than an NPC, and sure that was all very unusual, but it was the suddenness of her appearance that made me slap a hand over my mouth to stifle a squeal of surprise. “Eeee...mmmphh!”
Not only did she just surprise the living shit out of me, but I was now blushing fiercely as, since I was currently sitting down, I was eye-level with her crotch. As if that didn’t make for an awkweird enough first meeting, my blush quickly intensified as she bowed to me, practically putting her breasts right in my face. She seemed oblivious to how unsettling this was for me though, probably because she, herself, looked nervous as hell, shifting from foot to foot with her head lowered like she was scared to death of me as she spoke. “I… umm.. hello Mistress. I’m… uhh… Daenyss. Her Majesty Queen Amoiraishe said that I should... ahh... come to introduce myself and help you with your scavenging if you need it.”
“Shhhhh!” everyone in the group shushed her at once.
“Daenyss is it?” I asked in a near whisper once my heart rate had slowed. At her silent nod, I told her, “You’ll have to excuse us, we have a bit of a problem and I’m trying to come up with a way to solve it. Your sudden appearance kind of surprised us a bit.” That was when it came to me and I grinned at the realization as I told my companions, “Daenyss just gave me an idea.”
The Nymph continued to look at her feet as my party mates managed to turn their eyes from the new arrival toward me and Lissany asked, “What’s the plan, Your Highness?”
“I’m going to go over there and fire off a spell into the middle of those blighted, and then, once I have their attention, I’ll run straight for the gas station across the parking lot. With any luck, the horde running behind me will keep the Lindwyrm’s attention off of me and then I can use my teleportation spell to come back here to the entrance and hopefully kill two birds with one stone.” I knew that they were going to argue the plan, but I didn’t think that Venika was big enough to get and keep the attention of the blighted and asking someone who couldn’t teleport back would be sending them on a suicide mission. I could make this work without being in quite as much danger as anyone else.
“I don’t know about this Taelya,” Venika said with a frown. “I think I know what you’re planning, but you’re talking about casting a spell while at a full run and that’s not easy, even if you’re not out of breath. And then a second spell as soon as you’ve teleported if you want to get the timing of this right.”
Nishalle and Lissany were none too thrilled with the idea either. Both were shaking their heads as my sister offered. “I can try to do it. Maybe I can do that thing that happened earlier with me moving through the shadows.”
“I might be able to get the attention of the blighted with a bit of foxfire then shift into a faster form to keep ahead of them, then I could shift into a Sprite to try to get away before you cast the spell to take them out,” Rei suggested.
“No, I’m not going to risk anyone’s life for this. Sis, you don’t even know for sure what it was that you did, let alone if you can repeat it,” I told Nishalle, shaking my head sternly. Then I turned to my fiancée, still shaking my head. “You’re talking about some pretty quick shapeshifting while on the run, and you’ve told me that shifting into other species takes a lot of concentration. I’ve seen you switch to Sprite form before, even standing still it takes a few minutes for the change when you’re changing mass like that.” I’m the only one in our party who can…”
I was interrupted by Daenyss’ soft voice saying, “I’ll do it.”
We all stared at her for a minute and I was frowning as I gave her a quick once over with my eyes. She was one of the new players, I was certain of it. There certainly hadn’t been any Nymph players before or I’d have known about them. They weren’t even supposed to be a playable race. “You’re not wearing any armor or anything. You would be in even more danger than I would and you’re a new player. Casting a spell on the run like that is going to be even harder for you with no experience. I’m not even sure what class you are.”
“I’m a… special case. I am supposed to be your new… umm… attendant. Moi… Her Majesty told me that I would be replacing my… mother Naerysse so that she can become her attendant and you can have one who can travel with you and serve you at all times. Anyway, I’m not a Magus like you, I don’t need to cast a teleportation spell like you do, I have one right here. I just need to think of you and it will bring me right to you,” the Nymph said, looking away again as she touched one of the marks on her right arm.
I looked more closely at the mark in question, it was a combination of sigils, specifically a teleportation spell with the location being an extremely complex sigil that I recognized as being the one that Amoiraishe said represented me personally. She had three spells on each of her arms, and each of them had my sigil included and was brimming with power. “Nasyr taka,” I said in awe as I realized what they were. Spells had been embedded permanently into her very flesh to give her the ability to use them at will and it took a powerful Magus to grant a person such marks.
Reluctantly, since we figured that we should get to work while we still had a bit of daylight left, we altered the plan so that Daenyss would be the one leading the undead out the doors. Once she was in place and ready to run Venika fired a combustion spell at one of the blighted and flitted back toward us as the Nymph shouted, “Here I am! Come and get me assholes!” She took off at a run with dozens of the undead hot on her heels as she fled through the doors, out into the pouring rain, and across the parking lot toward the gas station in front of the Costco. Once I had checked to make sure that mass of once-humans had all passed the doors and no undead stragglers were coming toward the front of the store to join their companions I got in place just outside the entrance to draw in mana for the spell.
Daenyss was quick, I had to give her that, and I thought that she might have even been deliberately moving slowly enough that the undead behind her stayed motivated. She stayed just ahead of the horde on her heels and the second she reached the pumps she vanished, only to reappear right in front of me, soaking wet but otherwise unharmed. I was about to start casting my spell when I spied the Lindwyrm swooping down from above for a meal. I was still waiting for the right moment when the Lindwrym did my work for me. In its eagerness to get at its food it smashed into the pumps and the surrounding blighted, snapping one up in its fang-filled maw and swallowing it before roaring and spitting flames. I didn’t even need to use a spell as the gas station blew and erupted into an inferno.
The others had joined me and Daenyss outside and for several minutes we watched the fire burn. “Shit it’s still alive?!” Venika cursed suddenly as she shook her head to clear it.
“Language Mom,” Lissany teased.
A few seconds later we all spotted the movement at the same time. “Seriously?! How is that thing not dead after that?!” Grell complained.
“They breathe fire, so Lindwyrms are somewhat resistant to it as well,” I answered with a sigh. “I was really hoping that the explosion would have done it in though.” The giant serpentine beast slithered it’s way out of the flames as we spoke, not dead, but certainly not undamaged either. One of its massive wings was half missing, and it couldn't seem to fly as it slithered along the ground. It was either in pain or really pissed off, possibly both, and let out an ear-shattering roar as it moved toward us, probably attracted to the sound of Grell’s earlier exclamation.
Injured or not, the creature was still dangerous, probably even more so now that it was angry and stuck at ground level with us. “Everyone scatter! Hit and run, attack it from all sides so it can’t focus on any single one of us! Venika get some altitude and start hitting it from above! We need to keep it confused! Tierre kiara tala-aeluine utaera!” I focused the mana I had already gathered as I drew and spoke the sigils for my Scattershot spell, peppering its face with screaming little balls of blue flame before dashing off to get some distance with Lissany and Daenyss right behind me.
The fight went on for a while as darkness fell and the rain came down in sheets. With us having to use hit and run tactics I couldn’t get off any AOE spells, at least not if I didn’t want to risk hurting my friends, so Venika and I tried to keep it distracted with Scattershot spells from two different directions while Rei peppered it with Foxfire from another and Nishalle and Pete dashed in to slash at it with their swords before darting away again. We were wearing it down, but I was beginning to think that all that we were accomplishing was pissing it off even more.
Daenyss, Lissany, and I had just barely avoided one of its flame attacks when I heard my sister call out, “Pete!” The Human soldier had been batted aside by a swipe of the creature’s tail and was lying on the ground unmoving with his massive claymore dropped and laying several feet away on the ground. Nishalle had managed to avoid the attack by vanishing into the darkness and reappearing ten meters away, where it was safe. The beast's tail swung around toward me and Daenyss but Lissany quickly planted herself, and her shield, in front of us to block it before screaming out from a painful sounding crack.
“Lissany! Are you okay?!” I called out after peppering the back of the creature’s head with another scattershot spell.
My Guardian winced, hissing in pain as she dropped her sword and determinedly switched her shield to her other arm. “I think it broke my arm with that hit. We need to take it down fast.”
The damn creature was resistant to magic, moving too fast for our melee combatants to get any decent blows in, and Grell’s bullets were bouncing right of it. We needed to get in close to take it down. “Nishalle! Use your shadow shift thing and try to go for its head!”
My sister wasted no time in replying. Instead, she sheathed her katana and ran to snatch up Pete’s claymore, disappearing as soon as she had it in hand. The Lindwyrm had opened it’s massive jaws wide and was lunging at Lissany, intent on trying to eat my injured Guardian when suddenly Nishalle appeared inside the Lindwyrm’s gargantuan serpentine mouth, hefted Pete’s huge sword with both hands, and drove it upward with all the force that she could summon into the creature’s brain.
The Lindwyrm shrieked and spasmed as Nishalle vanished again, reappearing from my shadow a breath later. “I figured that it was more vulnerable from the inside, and there was more shadow there too,” the Tokh'dhraí explained as the great serpent shuddered one last time and fell to the wet ground, dead.
Grell, who was already kneeling on the ground beside Pete, looked up at all of us in concern. “Guys, he’s hurt really bad.”
Once we were inside the Walmart again, where it was at least dry, Rei prayed to Inari to create a barrier of protection and then to assess the injuries, starting with Pete since he seemed to be the worst off. As she finished scanning him she let out a helpless sounding sigh. “His torso is a mass of bruising, practically half of his ribs are broken, and there’s some damage to his lungs too. I don’t know if I have a strong enough connection with my Goddess yet to heal this kind of damage. It could take hours of prayer just to…”
She stopped speaking as she stared at the pale silver glow coming from her hands resting on Pete’s chest. The pained expression on Pete’s unconscious face seemed to lessen and after several long minutes of just staring at her hands, Rei collapsed on top of the Human. “Rei? Honey? Are you okay?” I asked as worry made my heart flutter in my chest.
My Kitsune fiancée shook herself as she rose wearily. “I… I think so. Just really drained, whatever it is that I just did, I don’t think that I can do it often. I think I may need to nap for a while. I… I’ll try to finish checking them before I sleep though.” She quickly prayed again to assess Pete’s condition followed by Lissany’s, then she sat down beside me and turned to look at me tiredly. “Pete’s fine now, he’ll be good as new after some rest. I’m not sure how I did it though, I didn’t pray for a heal like I usually have to. Lissany suffered a broken arm, but if I didn’t know better I’d say it was weeks ago, it seems halfway healed now my lo…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence as she passed out, her head falling into my lap.
I sat there for a while with Rei’s head cradled in my lap as she slept. I used that time to quickly open up my menu and check my stats. It looked like I had leveled up from fighting the Lindwyrm and I would be able to choose a new skill once we could get to Amoiraishe or a skill trainer back in Haven or the Fae Glade. “Damn that thing was worth a crap ton of XP,” I muttered.
“What do you mean Taelya?” Grell asked before his eyes glazed over for a moment and then widened in surprise. “Holy shit! You weren’t kidding. I was just a little over halfway to leveling, but now I have enough XP to choose a new skill and I’m a good quarter of the way toward reaching the next level.”
“Same here,” Lissany said after a brief check of her own stats page. “It must have been an area boss or something.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me, that thing was tough,” Venika agreed with a frown. “Well, at least we all got something out of it. So Daenyss, you’re one of the new players replacing Razor and those other jerks right? I didn’t think that the Nymphs were a playable race. Are you an employee of Pegasus Entertainment too? Moira mentioned that she had people in mind and it didn’t take you long to get into the game.”
“Umm… yes. They aren’t usually, but Moira chose this race and class specifically for me when she told me what my duties would be. She had the character all set up for me so that all I needed to do was swear my oath and receive my nasyr taka from her,” Daenyss replied. She considered the Sprite’s other question and a look of confusion and uncertainty briefly settled over her face before she shook her head as if to clear it. “I guess you could say that I have served Moira for as long as I can remember.”
“What class are you exactly?” Grell asked with a curious look at Daenyss. “What skills did you take?”
“I am an Attendant, trained to anticipate and serve all of Mistress’ needs, whatever they may be. Her Majesty wished to have her own attendant back, so I was given the choice to serve Mistress here. My skills were all taken to see to Mistress’s needs: Cooking, massage, cosmetology, hairstylist(Fae), fashion stylist, sewing, Fae Culture, Kurinshal, and Faerie Dance.”
A deep frown appeared on my sister’s face as Nishalle muttered, “Not a combat skill in the lot except for Kurinshal. You’re supposed to be accompanying Taelya all the time? How do you expect to protect her, or even yourself for that matter?”
“I will gain more skills later and Mistress may choose them as she sees fit. I believe that I had some talent with guns before entering Moira’s service though, and one of my nasyr taka will allow me to summon or dismiss weapons or other objects that are stored in a special chest in Mistress’s rooms at the manor,” the Nymph explained.
I frowned at her response and the Nymph seemed to shrink away from me as she caught the expression on my face. Her reactions to me and some of her answers had been concerning me so it was time to ask some questions of my own. “What do you mean that you ‘believe’ that you had some talent with guns Daenyss? And why are you so damn scared of me?”
“I… I don’t remember anything before meeting your mother in the real world, Mistress, and swearing my service,” the young Nymph admitted reluctantly before going on to relate everything that she could remember.
All that I knew at first was pain, Mistress, like it was my entire universe. The first thing that I remember clearly was that agony in my head, so terrible that when it finally left me that my existence seemed hollow without it there with me. When I first opened my eyes Moira was there, right in front of my face and she was furious, telling me how she was going to make me suffer for what I had done. I didn’t know who Moira was or what it was that I had done to anger her though, so after staring at her in confusion and listening to her constant barrage of threats for several minutes I started to cry. I couldn’t stop sobbing as I told her that I didn’t know what I had done and that I couldn’t remember anything. I didn’t know who I was, where I was, or why I was there. I was just so scared.
Someone started talking to her, saying something about a procedure, too much data, damage to a hippo’s campus, memory loss, and more gradual removal with others but it was all hazy to me so I only remember a few words. Moira asked me all sorts of questions, but I didn’t know what she was talking about or what she wanted to know. I think that she was trying to make sure that it wasn’t an act and she seemed to become even angrier when I couldn’t answer her questions properly. She told me that my name was Dennis and that I was a bad person who had done horrible things to her and others, and she was so angry with me that I just sat there and cried, wondering what I could have done that was so horrible that she was that angry at me.
She left me for a while to do other things and I spent the whole time wondering what I had done to make her hate me so much. She wouldn’t have been so mad at me if it hadn’t really been my fault and I hadn’t had done something horrible. So I knew that I had to be to blame for whatever it was, just like she had said, for her suffering and pain and that of anyone else that I had wronged as well. I cried for a long time and when she came back I told her that it was all my fault and that I would take whatever punishment that she wanted to give me. “Do you remember now?” she asked me.
I shook my head and said, “No, but you obviously hate me so I must have done something terrible.” She got mad again then, but not at me. She told me who she was, who I had been, what I had done, all of it. When she was done and turned her attention on me I was so terrified that I curled up into a ball and couldn’t stop sobbing. She did have good reason to hate me, I was a horrible person and I hated myself. I just wanted to be punished for it and find a way to make up for the things that I had done.
That was when she sat down beside me and then she told me that, as much as she would have liked to, she couldn’t punish someone for crimes that they couldn’t remember committing. She said that there would be no purpose to it and then she told me that I had the chance at a new beginning, an opportunity to choose what sort of person that I wanted to be for the rest of my life. She said that she could release me to run away from all of this, leave it all behind and face a life that I couldn’t remember and an uncertain fate out in the world alone or I could try to redeem myself and try to help others and make up for the things that I had done.
I swore to serve her, to do whatever I could to make things right. That was when Moira told me about the game and said that she had four people to fill five open slots, but she needed a fifth. She had already prepared a character beforehand, one meant to help her daughter, but she told me that it would not be easy for me and that it might make me uncomfortable so she would tell me about it and leave the choice up to me. I didn’t need for her to tell me anything about the character, I just wanted to know if I could use this chance to make up for the things that I had done. When she replied “Yes” I agreed to do it.
So she brought me to a big room with lots of huge devices with people inside that she called F.I.Ts and helped me inside one. She and another person attached a bunch of strange devices to me and explained that when I woke up that I would be inside a game. That I would be in a different place and a different body that would feel uncomfortable at first, but that I would get used to it over time. Then Moira said that she would join me soon and that she would show me what I needed to know, help me choose a name, and prepare me for what I was going to be doing by giving me new skills and knowledge that would help me to do my job.
As she finished her story Daenyss finally got around to explaining just why she was so skittish around me. “I chose to try to be a better person than I was before, I would do anything to make amends, but I fear that people may always hate me for the things that I did. Please know that I have willingly placed my fate in your hands' Mistress. With the Viyr Jhaith, I cannot refuse you anything and if you wished to punish me or make me suffer then you could easily do so. Her Majesty said that you are not that type of person, but I fear that many would not be so kind in your place. I do not think that I would be, at least not the person that I was before.”
Rei’s lightly snoring head very nearly fell from its current resting place in my lap as I half-jumped in surprise. I had my suspicions about who the Nymph was now, but I couldn’t be certain and it was the Fae term that she had used that had me shocked. “You swore the Viyr Jhaith?!”
“Yes, Mistress,” Daenyss replied, gesturing of the long string of turquoise-hued elvish sigils encircling her throat like a collar.
“What’s the veer jayith?” Lissany asked in confusion.
I let out a long sigh and then attempted to explain. “It’s like your Guardian’s Oath but on magical steroids. It translates to ‘Soul Binding’ and it’s the most powerful magically binding oath that there is among the Fae. Not even death releases the person from the vow that they made. Because it’s so binding and there is no release from it, not even by the one who has been sworn to, the Viyr Jhaith only takes if the person honestly and truly wishes to abide by that vow to the deepest recesses of their heart. Once sworn, the person who took the oath can’t do anything against that oath, the magick of the oath will prevent them from doing so. What exactly did you swear?”
“I decided on the wording of my oath myself, Mistress. I swore that I, Daenyss, daughter of Naerysse and Nymph of the Hawthorne Clan and the Autumn Court, will serve Taelya, daughter of Amoiraishe and Yseil'dhraí of the Autumn Court for all time. I will not do anything to harm her or cause her to come to harm in any way through either action or inaction. I will protect her with my life, anticipate and serve all of her needs to the best of my ability, follow any orders given to me by her, never lie to her, and support her and her allies however I can,” the Nymph recited obediently.
“That sounds very specific and restrictive,” Nishalle pointed out with a frown. “You’ll have no choice but to serve Taelya, at least until the closed beta is over and we’re out of the game. Did you have any idea how binding this oath was before you took it?”
Daenyss nodded with a serious expression on her face. “Of course, the oath cannot be sworn unless the person swearing it is both willing and fully aware of the power of the oath and what they are swearing to. I will do everything that I can to serve you faithfully so that I can make amends and possibly earn forgiveness.”
I looked away from her. In my head, I strongly suspected that this was Razor. But was she really? Even if she had started out as him, and I couldn’t be certain yet that that was indeed the case, she was now in a different body and had no memories of being that person or the wrongs that he had committed in the game. She was like a completely different person now; vulnerable, confused, and scared but willing to make amends for crimes that she didn’t even remember without being told about them second hand. The way that she couldn’t look at her body for long made me suspect that she was having major dysphoria issues too. She needed my help, not to be stuck serving me but now she was bound to that promise whether either of us liked it or not. I also couldn’t believe that Amoiraishe would stick me with Razor.
“You don’t need to earn my forgiveness Daenyss, I don’t think that you are that person anymore, at least you’re not anymore if you could honestly swear that and be bound by your words. I have to be honest with you, I don’t like this, it feels like slavery to me and I can’t even free you from this oath. I’m not really sure how to handle this,” I admitted after a long silence.
“I do not consider myself a slave Mistress,” she told me after considering my words. “A slave has no choice but to serve. I had options available to me but I chose to serve you. I give of myself freely and, even if I can’t remember it, I have done wrong and I must make amends. Please do not think of me as a mere slave. I am your attendant, your companion, and I hope that someday you can learn to accept and tolerate my presence at your side.”
I shook my head sadly. “It isn’t your presence that bothers me Daenyss, it’s that you are giving up your free will for me.”
“Your concern is for me and not yourself?” the Nymph asked with a confused look. Once I had nodded she actually smiled, tears in her eyes as she seemed to lose some of that fear and uncertainty in the way that she looked at me. “Your mother told me that you would not treat me cruelly and, to my shame, I did not believe her. She said that though my mother was serving as your attendant that you treated her as a friend. I hope that I can someday earn your friendship as well. Please rest assured though, Mistress. I exercised my free will in giving you my service and I can still exercise it in how I serve you. My oath just prevents me from making the wrong choices and, given what little I know of my old self, that is a relief to me. Aside from that, I am no different from any other Fae with a will and desire to serve my Court and the Yseil'dhraí.”
I wasn’t completely reassured, but it wasn’t like I could do anything to change the situation. Or maybe I could. I may not have been able to release her from the oath, but I could try to make it easier, for both of us. I tried to give her a friendly smile as I said, “Daenyss, you seem uncomfortable. Close your eyes and use your focusing exercises to push the discomfort of your body to the back of your mind. You should do this whenever you start to feel like your new body is wrong. I was feeling similar discomfort when I first came into the game and it has been lessening with time, but I know how difficult it can be at first. When you are feeling more comfortable why don’t you tell us what each of those nasyr taka on your arms are for?”
Daenyss closed her eyes, her breathing slowed, and after a moment she visibly relaxed. “Thank you for the suggestion, Mistress. It was kind of you to think of my comfort like that.” She smiled at me and then gestured to each of the three turquoise marks on her right arm in turn. “This first one allows me to teleport to you at any time Mistress, while this one allows me to hear it when you call my name, no matter where either of us is. These are so I can be there for you whenever you require my services. This other one allows me to summon or dismiss weapons or other objects that are stored in a special chest in your rooms, as I explained earlier, though I haven not stored anything there yet.”
“Okay, those sound pretty useful, especially that last one,” Grell opined. “What about the ones on your left arm?”
“Those allow me to cast some minor spells. One is a small healing spell, one is a light spell, and the last is a heat spell that will allow me to keep Mistress warm if she needs it or to dry her hair after a bath. My mother said that she uses that one often before Her Majesty placed the marks on me and sent me to join you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “That light spell should be useful in our current situation. Rei’s out cold and I haven’t really come up with any light spells yet. So with your help Daenyss, we should be able to do what we need to do now.”
“What do we need to do, Your Highness?” Lissany inquired, starting to get to her feet.
Once I had managed to extract my fiancée from my lap and settle her somewhat comfortably I turned to the others, giving my Beastkin Guardian a stern look. “Lissany, you need to rest your arm. So I want you to watch over Pete and Rei, you should all be safe in here with the barrier that Rei put up. Don’t give me that look, Liss, I’ll have Nishalle and Daenyss with me and I’m sure that they’ll both keep a good eye on me. Everyone else, we’re going to check for any lingering blighted in the store and see about scavenging some things. We’ll need things to make sleeping here for the night more comfortable, something for us to eat tonight and when we wake up in the morning, and anything else on that list that Amoiraishe had Naerysse give me.”
“I’d like to see if I can find a couple of large thermoses as well,” Nishalle said with a pensive expression. “You said that the Lindwyrm’s poison is lethal and I’d like to milk it’s venom sacs to gather as much as I can. It could be useful for an assassin like me, especially if we need to fight something big again. I’m going to have to go back in that thing’s mouth anyway to retrieve Pete’s sword.”
I considered that for a moment and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea, you could coat your weapons with it, just be extremely careful with that stuff, Sis.”
“I plan on it, I’m going to see about getting some good gloves and a mask for while I’m milking it too. I figure that I’ll need to toss or burn them after I’m done, and I might need some small paintbrushes to apply it to weapons,” my sister replied.
With that, I asked Daenyss to cast her light spell and we ventured deeper inside the Walmart with a large globe of white light floating above the Nymph and providing illumination for us. Before we went looking for anything in particular we searched the entire store for any more blighted so that we could be sure to do our shopping and sleeping in relative safety. We ran across several of the undead creatures as we carefully searched the aisles, though we only encountered one or two at a time so they were easily taken care of.
I had offered Daenyss the use of one of my Colt 45’s but neither she nor Grell had to expend any of our precious ammunition. Mostly it was easily taken care of with a quick spell by myself or Venika, or Nishalle using her shadow shift to slip in behind and drop them with her katana. By the time we had made certain that things were all clear, an hour had passed and Nishalle was starting to get a bit tired from using her new ability so much. It wasn’t like Venika or I were doing any better though, we had used a lot of magic throughout the evening and the strain was starting to show with all of us.
Daenyss seemed to be just as tired as we were, but at the same time, she regarded nearly everything around us in the store with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, as if she were seeing them for the first time. Occasionally we would have to stop when she had taken an interest in objects and explain what they were, their purpose, and how they worked. Still, Daenyss didn’t allow herself to be completely distracted by the wonders around her. She would keep casting glances in my direction, watching me and our companions in concern as we started searching for the items on our list. “You look, tired Mistress, I think that you and your friends should rest. Please, I can gather the items on the list for you, and then perhaps when I return a massage would help you to feel better?”
“We’ll be fine, and it will be done quicker if we all chip in,” I told her with a sigh. “You really don’t need to call me Mistress though Daenyss.”
“Would you prefer that I call you Your Highness?” the Nymph asked uncertainly.
“No, it’s bad enough that I can’t get the others to stop calling me that,” I said waving my hands in frustration. “Please just call me by my name.”
“I couldn’t possibly do that Mistress, it would be disrespectful for someone like me to address one of the Yseil'dhraí without a proper title. Y… you could order me to and I would of course have to comply Mistress.” The fear and uncertainty on the Nymph’s face told me just how uncomfortable that option made her feel. As horrid as the option was to her personally though, she had still brought it dutifully to my attention. As much as I hated the titles though, I couldn’t do that to her. Not only would it be an abuse of her oath but it would make her uncomfortable each time she did it and any Fae who saw her addressing me by my name would see her as being disrespectful. It would only earn her the animosity of other Fae.
“To be fair, we only do that when someone may be watching Taelya, well mostly,” Nishalle pointed out with a shrug, interrupting my thoughts. “In public, you need to be treated according to your rank but we usually try to call you by your name when it’s just us around.”
I placed my hands on my new attendant’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “You should call me whatever you feel comfortable with Daenyss. I will never order you to do something that will make you uncomfortable or that would make others look down on you just for my own comfort. I refuse to treat you like an object with no feelings of your own. If something makes you uncomfortable I want you to tell me. I won’t even make that an order, but I will ask that you please do so, for both our sakes.”
She bowed her head, and I thought I could see tears in her eyes as she answered. “Yes, Mistress. Thank you, you are far kinder than I probably deserve.”
“You need to stop putting yourself down like that Daenyss,” I told her sternly. “You have a chance to start anew and the person that you’ve chosen to be, taking responsibility and trying to make amends for things that you don’t even remember, I think that is a person worthy of respect. Now let’s get what we need so we can figure out something for dinner and get comfortable for the night.”
It took us over another hour going back and forth to bring back everything that we wanted. First, we gathered enough pillows and comforters to make everyone comfortable for the night. That was of course after we managed to find some that wouldn’t cause an allergic reaction in the Fae amongst our group. Next, we searched for food for the night and the following morning. We managed to gather some cereal, granola bars, snack foods, soda, and a case of bottled water. A lot of it wasn’t very healthy, but it wouldn’t require cooking and we just really wanted to settle in for the night as soon as possible.
Daenyss offered to cook something, but she was looking tired herself and I didn’t want her to have to put out the extra effort for all of us, even if we did manage to find a camp stove to cook dinner on. I certainly wasn’t going to send anyone out in that rain again to cross the parking lot and get what we would need for a proper meal. Most of us were ready to fall over and I wasn’t willing to send anyone out there alone or make them do something that I wasn’t prepared to do myself.
It was as we were passing the electronics section and a cell phone display that Daenyss stopped to stare and then squealed excitedly. “Moira had one of these in the real world! It played music and then she used it to talk to someone far away.” Her enthusiastic grin faded to a thoughtful and slightly confused expression though as she admitted, “I didn’t really understand most of what she was saying though. I think she may have been speaking another language for part of the conversation because it didn’t make much sense to me. Something about transforming spock stares I think.”
“Transferring stock shares?” Venika suggested gently.
“Oh! Yes! That was it!” the Nymph exclaimed, her head bobbing up and down excitedly. “She was asking the other person to transfer stock shares to her and said that the others had already approved it and transferred theirs. She also said something about moving to a sanctuary and then she thanked the person and said that she would see them at the tournament.”
“It sounds like Moira is trying to get enough shares to get a controlling interest in the company so she can get control of the board,” Nishalle stated pensively.
“Yeah,” I agreed as we continued along our way again. “I figure that she was talking to someone from the branch in Japan, the States, or Britain. It was probably whoever she has in charge there if they were talking about the tournament at the end of closed beta.” I couldn’t help but wonder what the whole ‘moving to a sanctuary’ was about though as we continued our search.
We managed to find a pair of large stainless steel coffee thermoses for Nishalle’s poison-milking in the kitchen wares section, and a trip to home improvements landed her some paintbrushes, a boxcutter thick leather work gloves, and a rubber respirator mask for painting. We also took the opportunity to scavenge a few heavy-duty flashlights for the night and some batteries to power them in case Daenyss started to tire from the light spell. With all of that done, all that I really wanted to look for was the plants that were on the list for the Fae Glade. We headed over toward the garden center with Daenyss’s light spell guiding us and as (bad) luck would have it, the cosmetics aisle was directly in our path. Of course, it was. Why wouldn’t it be? It was after all the one section of the store I was hoping we could avoid so that I could honestly tell Amoiraishe that we hadn’t happened upon any.
Sometimes I’m too honest for my own good so since we were blatantly passing through the section anyway I told the others, “We might as well have a look here, they may have a few things on the list that I was given.” I silently hoped that we wouldn’t find any of the brands and colors that my Fae ‘mother’ had suggested. I figured, “What are the odds that this store will have exactly the brands and colors that she sent me for? Even if they have some of them they probably wouldn’t have all of the things on the list.”
It was just my luck that they had almost everything on the list, and what they didn’t have Daenyss was able to suggest suitable substitutions for with her cosmetology skill. She even selected some things that weren’t on the list that she thought would flatter me and were suitably environmentally conscious. “This color will look great on you if we ever need to give you an evening look for some reason Mistress,” the Nymph suggested as she showed me yet another shade of eyeshadow.
“I’m afraid that I don’t know much about that kind of thing Daenyss so I’ll put myself in your hands. Gather whatever you think would be best and a small case to put it in and then we’ll go check out the plants and see if they have anything useful,” I told her as I looked toward the garden center.
My new Nymph attendant quickly complied and then we all made our way into the garden center guided by her light spell. A lot of the plants were in pretty bad shape and I couldn’t find much of what was on the list. A lot of it was flowers that had seen better days and they didn’t seem to have any of the herbs at the top of the list like vervain. We did manage some aloe vera plants and some varieties of mint that Venika thought could be nursed back to good health with a little TLC. We also snatched up a large variety of vegetable seed packets. Those hadn’t been on our list, but they didn’t take up too much space and I thought that they would be useful for both Haven and the Fae Glade.
Pete and Rei were both still fast asleep when we returned to the front of the store where we had made camp. I was a bit worried about them both but their pulses seemed steady and strong so it seemed like they were just sleeping. In our absence, Lissany had arranged all of the pillows and comforters that we had brought earlier so that we could all rest comfortably. She had to ask Nishalle and Grell to help move Pete and Rei when we returned so that the pair would be comfortable and warm throughout the night though. She hadn’t wanted to attempt that using only one arm, especially with how big Pete is. It wasn’t that it still hurt, in fact, she said that it felt like it was fully healed, but she didn’t want me and her mother giving her crap for not taking it easy like we had told her to.
The rain had let up and the fire at the gas station was out by this time so Nishalle decided that she would go and retrieve Pete’s sword and get her poison. Before even entering the dead creature’s massive maw she donned her gloves and respirator mask for safety’s sake. It took her a while to work the sword free and then clean it with a towel that she had picked up in housewares for that purpose, but soon Grell was carrying it back inside to place it beside his best friend for when the large Human soldier awoke. While he did that Daenyss and I directed the beams of our flashlights to give my sister enough direct light to work on her second task.
Once the Tokh'dhraí found the venom sack on the right side of the mouth we held the lights in place while she made a careful incision with the box cutter and then placed the first opened thermos underneath, allowing the leaking toxin to flow inside. Then, once the first had been filled and tightly sealed, she repeated the process with the second. I was really glad I wasn’t inside that mouth with her, it stank badly enough from the outside. Finally, with both thermoses full, she made certain to carefully splash rainwater on the outsides of the thermoses to wash off any poison that may have gotten on the surface and ensure that nobody would accidentally touch any. Then she borrowed Rei’s sharpie to write “Poison: Do Not Drink” on the thermoses.
With that gruesome task done and all of our hands carefully washed afterward with some antibacterial hand soap and bottled water, just to be safe, we settled in for the night and feasted on snack foods and soda. Daenyss was like a kid as we ate, it was her first meal in the game, and since she had lost her memory, each thing that she tried was something amazing and new to her because she couldn’t remember ever trying them before. Watching her was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching at the same time and despite her wonder at everything she was trying, she was still focusing on me.
“Mistress, you look sad? Or are you just tired? Is there anything that you require? Maybe a massage or a foot rub?” I must have let my emotions show because she was all over me with concern.
I carefully shook my head. “I’m fine Daenyss, just a little tired and…I feel a bit worried about your situation. I realize that maybe you weren’t a great person before, but I never would have wished this on anybody. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you, knowing nothing about yourself, forgetting everything you know.”
A sad look crossed the Nymph’s face briefly before she shook her head. “My situation is my own doing Mistress, I am just paying the price for my own mistakes. Do not feel sorry for me, I may not know who I was, but that just allows me to explore who I would like to be and discover the wonders of the world around me. I think that I like who I’m becoming. I feel like I’m doing the right thing and that feels good.”
We continued to eat and talk for a while and planned on heading back to Haven first thing in the morning, as soon as we made sure that Pete and Rei were both able to travel. We were all weary though and eventually the long day and lack of sleep the night before caught up with us so I snuggled close to Rei, holding her tight under the comforter as drifted off to sleep. The last thing I recalled before falling asleep was Daenyss tucking the comforter gently around me and whispering, “Good night Mistress,” as she settled into her own sleeping arrangement behind me.
I dreamed of my childhood that night. Not my childhood as Caleb though, because in my dreams I was Taelya. They had a clarity that was closer to memory than anything that my imagination could come up with though and I seemed to be speaking Elvish in all of them. Various lessons learned over my childhood as a Yseil'dhraí princess, probably filled in by my skill downloads and associated memories that had rushed through my mind at light speed when I had first attained my new in-game skills.
Mahair and I were in the forest. She had promised to take me outside the Fae Glade to explore the forests a bit and learn about the creatures that dwelled outside our home if I did well during my governance and Kurinshal lessons that morning. We weren’t alone of course, a Yseil'dhraí never goes anywhere without guards of course, but they were keeping their distance and allowing me and Mahair to enjoy this time together.
It was a beautiful day and Mahair showed me the various flowers, plants, and animals that I wasn’t familiar with. That was when I saw the wisps of smoke in the distance and ran toward them. “Wait!” my mother’s voice called out to me as she and the guards gave chase, but they didn’t have to do much to catch up. I had already stopped at the edge of the trees to see such a scene spread out before me, where the rolling forested hills gave way to the coastline and the sea below. There, at the water’s edge, was an odd-looking little collection of buildings, made from stone and wood and the source of those wisps of smoke.
“What animals live there?” I asked my mother in wonder as she caught me up and took my tiny hand in hers.
“That is where the Humans live,” she told me before kneeling beside me and looking me straight in the eyes. “You must never go there, my dear daughter. They are not like us. We must maintain the balance of nature and magick, but humans care only for themselves. In some ways, they are as bad as the monsters that we must keep from getting out of control. Come, let us return to the Glade, it is not safe to be this close to them.”
I was playing tag with Nishalle and Venika in the forest. Venika was one of the Sprite children from the Rosethorn Clan and Nishalle was my sister, a year younger than me. She wasn’t as lucky as me though so she wasn’t born with Yseil'dhraí features. She took after her father, a Tokh'dhraí from the Nightwind Clan. Since we were all so close in age we often played together when I didn’t have my lessons. Playing tag wasn’t easy with a Sprite since they were so small and could fly, but she never flew too high so that we couldn’t reach her and we could climb the trees and run along the branches easy enough to keep up with her if we really needed too.
Suddenly Venika stopped in front of me, allowing me to reach out and tag her. It was then that I noticed that our game had taken us outside the Fae Glade, we were near the forest’s edge. “We should go home,” the Sprite suggested, “It’s dangerous outside the Glade, there are monsters… and other things.”
I barely heard her. I was far too preoccupied with staring at what had caught her attention and probably caused her uncertainty. There, across the meadow that we had nearly run straight into, was a boy chasing a dog through the forest. I had never seen a dog that small or that wasn’t green before, being so used to the cú sídhe. It was the boy who had my attention though, his hair as bright red as my own, but his eyes were green instead of the gold of a Yseil'dhraí. His ears looked odd as well, smaller than my own, and rounded instead of pointed. “Who is that?” I wondered in fascination.
“Don’t you know anything?” Venika said with all the knowledge and authority of someone a whole year older than me once the boy was beyond our sight. “That was a Human.”
“A Human?” Nishalle asked, giving a nervous glance around her as her sensitive eyes squinted in the bright sunlight bathing the meadow. “We should go home Sis, everyone says that Humans are evil.”
“They say the same thing about Tokh'dhraí,” I reminded my sister. “And you’re not evil, you’re my best friend. I just want to go see what he’s like. We won’t be long and we won’t leave the forest.”
“We can’t Taelya, your mother will get angry,” Venika complained. “We need to return to the Glade before he sees us.”
“You go back then. That way it will only be me who gets in trouble.” Then without waiting for an answer from either of them I took off after the strange Human boy.
I found him near the forest’s edge, though he wasn’t hard to follow with the way that he crashed through the trees. He didn’t see me at first so I just stared at him until I realized that he was suddenly staring at me too. He looked at me in awe and he tried to say something, but he wasn’t speaking Elvish so I couldn’t really understand him. He didn’t seem to understand me either until finally I pointed to myself and said, “Taelya.”
“Seamus,” he said pointing back to himself. Then a look of fear fell upon his face and he turned and ran from the forest as fast as he could with his dog following close behind. I turned around to see Mahair standing there looking very angry and flanked by a dozen guards.
“Humans can’t be trusted. Return to the Glade at once, while we ensure that there are not others wandering the woods. I will think of an appropriate punishment for you when I return.”
“But Mahair, I was only…” I argued.
“Go! Now! We will speak of what you were doing, and how you will never do so again, when I return!” I had never seen my mother that angry before so I did as commanded and returned to the Fae Glade.
I looked nervously at the full moon above as we entered the clearing where tables of mead and food awaited. Most of the adult Fae of the Autumn Court were gathered there, all of them as naked as the Nymphs, but unlike the Human’s in Seamus’ village, we only wore clothes when a situation called for it, like for blending into the forest or special occasions. Humans seemed prudish about such things, as I had learned from my brief and secret meetings with Seamus at the forest’s edge over the years. He had taught me some of the basics of his language, enough that we could communicate a little, and sometimes I would wear some of his spare clothing and a hooded cloak and he would take me into the village to show me the wonders of the human world. The clothes were itchy and uncomfortable, but seeing the Humans in their natural habitat and the interesting traditions in their village well made up for that discomfort.
Tonight though was about Fae traditions. I had turned eighteen autumns last week and had reached my maturity by Fae standards, so tonight I and others would be free to celebrate our passage into adulthood and the mastery of our will over our bodies. Venika had gone through her Jhashaira last year, but she had refused to tell me what to expect tonight, she only said that I would enjoy myself and that I would become an adult like her.
“Welcome Faelings,” my mother stated as she smiled at me and the thirteen other youths that had celebrated our eighteenth autumn over the past moon cycle. “Tonight you shall be called Faelings no longer, for tonight is your Jhashaira. Tonight you will be able to give in to the pleasures of the body that you have worked so hard to deny yourself of until now to become true adults and starting tomorrow you will learn the secrets of the Faerie Dance.”
That night I learned of the pleasures of the body, experimenting with many partners from among the adult Fae. It was an amazing and eye-opening experience and one that I didn’t want to end as I made the most of the time. I found that Nymphs were particularly voracious for the pleasures of the flesh, and they knew how to pleasure their partners, but being all-female they didn’t really have what was needed to scratch all of the itches I had. I tried to give of myself to anyone who was interested though as we were told that pleasing others is just as important as the pleasure that we ourselves gained while in intimate embraces.
That lesson was a valuable one; pleasing others could be as pleasurable as being pleasured ourselves and that Fae must always try to serve the needs of their fellow living creatures, no matter what we were doing. In the days to come that would be the focus of our lessons of the Faerie Dance. We would learn the ancient dances between male and female but also be instructed on getting the most pleasure for both ourselves and our partner no matter what gender or form of Fae that we may choose, what would be expected of us as adults, and what should happen should we be fortunate enough to bear a child.
It was the sheer joy that I found that night in sharing my body with others and becoming closer as we learned about one another that really stood out. I experienced sex in more ways and with so many partners or groups that It probably should have become a blur, but it hadn’t. No, each time was different and special as I made new friends, getting to know them as I never could have before. And now I was getting to know Khaenon better. He was a wonderful physical specimen of a Nyiir'dhraí male and as we talked and pleasured one another I found that he was a sensitive and caring soul as well. As thrilling as all of this was though I was getting very tired and I think that my inexperience may have been showing. I couldn’t guarantee that I would be able to look after the needs of any further partners to the degree that they deserved so I decided that Khaenon would be my last partner for the night and eagerly rode him, trying to bring us both to new depths of pleasure, until I was ready to pass out.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t my extremely vivid and somewhat disturbing dreams that woke me. I would have figured that with the lack of sleep the night before and then all the excitement and hard work during that day, that I would have slept well within the safety of the holy barrier that Rei had cast before passing out. Such was not the case though. Sure I needed less sleep as a Fae and usually I could feel fully rested on as little as four hours, but I hadn’t been sleeping a lot on this little foray into the city and had been very active for most of that time. The last time that had I checked the game clock before sleeping it was just after midnight, but it was still very dark outside when I awoke and the game clock stated that it was just before four o’clock and I was still feeling a bit tired. I turned onto my back to try and ease my discomfort as I considered whether I should go to the restrooms and, if so, whether I should bring anyone with me for safety.
It was the cramps in my abdomen that had woken me, but the truth was that I was feeling poorly overall. My breasts were tender and sore, the left one even more so from sleeping on my side on the hard ground, and I was nauseous as well. Between the nausea and feeling like I had some medieval torturer playing with my insides, I was beginning to wonder if it was something that I ate. It was possible since we’d only eaten junk food the night before, and who knew what that could do to a Fae body in the game. I mean we did have that Cold Iron weakness and the allergy to synthetics, so other physiological issues could be possible.
I turned onto my back, groaning slightly from the discomfort it caused. It probably would have been even worse had I tried sleeping in my clothes and armor like I had the night before. Those of us who had been conscious last night though had decided to change into something more practical and comfortable for sleeping since we had Rei’s holy barrier in place to keep us safe. We had found things that could work for us during our travels through Walmart and I had changed into a white and violet sleepshirt that was one hundred percent cotton while Nishalle and Lissany had donned similar sleepwear. We had also snatched a package of three pairs of cotton panties that we had split between the three of us. They weren’t a perfect fit for any of us, but we had figured that they would work well enough for sleeping in.
As comfortable and nice as the silk underthings that we had gotten the day before felt against my body, I had been wearing them for over a day so they had been getting pretty ripe. The bra had been uncomfortable to sleep in the night before as well, though I hadn’t noticed quite as much with all my other clothes and armor on too. The extras that we had scavenged were in the truck though, and since none of us had relished a trip across the parking lot in the dead of night with our reduced numbers we had had to make do with what we could find. I probably would have been more comfortable sleeping naked, since I was getting used to that at the estate, but I wasn’t really ready to parade around in the buff around my friends yet. I wasn’t sure how Daenyss could manage to stay naked in front of all of us since we had met, but I for one was not ready for that step yet. I figured that for her it was probably a combination of the Nymph nature that made wearing clothes uncomfortable and her own lack of memories causing her to lose the social conditioning that tells humans that public nudity is bad.
The discomfort in my innards persisted despite my change of position and I decided that I had better risk a trip to the bathroom, while I still had a choice in the matter. Thank goodness that all Fae are graceful and have keen night vision and other senses or I probably would have been fumbling around in the dark and waking everyone up as I got to my feet. As it was I saw Daenyss shift as well in the near darkness. “Is something the matter Mistress?” the Nymph asked in a quiet voice as she looked up at me from the large nest of quilts and pillows.
I shook my head as I whispered back, “I’m just not feeling well Daenyss, maybe it was something I ate. I was just going to see if I could find any somewhat clean stalls in the restrooms. I have a feeling that I could be a while and I don’t feel like squatting out in the dark parking lot for who knows how long and then fumbling to try and clean myself up afterward.”
“Well, you’re not going alone Your Highness,” Lissany silently admonished me, proving that she too was awake.
“It’s just across the entrance by the McDonalds though, seriously it’s like thirty feet away, and do we really need to go to the bathroom in a herd? Can’t I avoid just one female stereotype in this game?” I argued.
“We’re coming with you,” the Beastkin girl insisted. “I know it’s not that far, but it’s outside the barrier and you’re the one who said that none of us should go anywhere alone. I’m your Guardian and I can’t protect you if I’m not there, besides I kinda need to go too. It’s why I woke up, I just… didn’t want to go alone and this place is damn creepy in the dark.”
I sighed but nodded in agreement. The place was creepy, and it wasn’t just because of the now fully dead undead lying around or the giant dead serpent outside either. Though I did feel it only fair to point out, “You have night vision Liss, all three of us do.”
“It doesn’t make the place any less creepy. This whole city is like a tomb and it’s worse at night, I keep feeling like something is going to jump out of the dark and attack us at any time,” Lissany replied, taking a quick look around and shivering noticeably. “Hopefully, we can find a clean stall or at least one with a full water tank that we can flush after you’re done. It’ll be easier with Daenyss’s light spell as well anyway, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be fumbling around with a flashlight while doing my business.”
“You’re right kiddo, there’s safety in numbers and I’m not feeling too great so it’ll be nice to have you both watching my back so I can at least try to relax in there. Let’s hurry so we can get some more sleep before the others decide to wake us for breakfast. Did you get any sleep at all Daenyss?” I asked the last as my Guardian and Attendant both got to their feet and we made our way outside the holy barrier and then swiftly toward the ladies’ room.
“No Mistress, I was doing what you suggested and trying to put the discomfort of my body and its urges to the back of my mind with my focusing exercises. It has proven a little difficult so I was also attempting to become more familiar with my memories and knowledge so that I will not be a burden to you,” the Nymph answered in a hushed tone as we quickly padded along.
My eyes went wide and then narrowed as I stopped just outside the restroom door to give her an intense look. “You’ve remembered something?”
Daenyss shook her head sadly and I felt suddenly bad for my surge of suspicion. “No Mistress. I speak of the memories I gained when your mother gave me my new skills. I can remember learning them and I have some limited memories of growing up as a Nymph and learning about Fae culture as a small child. What I am remembering from those skills is helping though. Moira… Her Majesty told me that I would probably never remember who I was before, she was very upset about it. She said that I was lucky that they hadn’t had to remove any language-related skills as well. So I only have my memories of Moira in the real world, the skill-related memories, and the memories that I am making with all of you.”
I sighed and shook my head. Even if she was who I suspected, he hadn’t deserved this. “I am sorry that you have to go through this. It may take us both some time to become comfortable with one another, but I’ll try to help you where I can.”
“Thank you, Mistress, I appreciate that and I hope that we can become good friends and that I can serve you well,” the Nymph said with a smile. Then she shook her head sadly. “Please do not pity me, Mistress, I need to start building a life on who I am now and who I want to be. I am pleased that you will be willing to help me, Her Majesty said that you were a kind person who would likely do so. She said that she and Naerysse would be here in the game to help me if I need it as well.”
“I’m a bit worried about how this will affect you once we’re out of the game though. Were you not male before entering the game? How will developing a female identity and memories effect what life you will have when we’re back in the real world and you’re back in that body,” I told her in concern.
My attendant gave me a slightly uncertain smile, though even in the low light I could see the determination in her eyes as she responded. “I do not wish to live in fear of what the future may bring Mistress, I want to live in the present. And if I must think about the future, then I would rather build that future myself and become a good person so that I can make up for my past mistakes. If it comforts you though Mistress, Moira has assured me that she will ensure that my real-world body is healthy and that I will develop the skills to survive in the world during my time here.”
It was a small consolation, but probably the best that Moira could promise at the moment. In my heart, I knew that she would keep that promise too. I would just have to do my best to help her to adjust in the game and hope that she or he really would be okay once closed beta was done. Regardless, I planned on having a long talk with her about Daenyss when I got back to the estate. I grimaced and may have groaned just a little as my insides cramped up again and decided to worry about my more immediate concerns first.
“I’ll talk with her about it as soon as I can Daenyss, I just want to be sure that you will be okay, but I will try not to worry about it and just enjoy the game.” I pushed open the ladies’ room door and Lissany preceded me inside, checking for threats even though we had already made sure that there were no Tainted in there earlier. Then I followed her inside with the Nymph on my heels and the moment that we were all inside Daenyss activated her light spell.
As soon as that large ball of light appeared overhead and bathed the room in its glow I looked at the stalls with an eye for a toilet that wouldn’t give me the chills to sit on. We did find that two of the toilets were clean enough, or at least the water inside them was, though we still made sure to put a layer of toilet tissue between the seat and our bare flesh. While we did our business Daenyss stood guard and maneuvered the ball of light over the stalls so that we could see clearly.
I had just pulled down my panties and sat down when I figured out what the faint smell was that had had me wrinkling my nose since I woke up. There was a bloodstain on my panties. I just sat there staring for I don’t know how long as all of the clues added up to one very uncomfortable and inescapable conclusion and all of the body dysphoria that I had been holding at bay rushed to overwhelm me. This was all wrong. This wasn’t me, I wasn’t a girl, and this shouldn’t be happening to me.
My vision narrowed, seeming hyper-focused on that bloody spot and I couldn’t breathe from the tornado that seemed to have taken up residence in my chest. Everything else but that wrongness, the red stain on my sense of self, fell to the wayside. “This can’t be… I’m not a girl…” The thoughts kept cycling out of my control as I sat there shaking and crying on the toilet.
“…everything all right in there Your Highness?” a familiar voice asked, but in my current state, my mind barely registered it.
“Taelya? You’re crying, are you okay? Come on! Answer me dammit!” a familiar voice insisted sometime later. The voice was smaller than the first, but whoever the person was they were clearly concerned for this Taelya person, concerned enough that it caught my attention, as did the slight sting to my cheek as the Sprite who hovered into my field of vision blocked out the view of the bloody panties that I was hyper-focused on and slapped me.
Wait… Taelya? That was me… or I thought it was. Things came rushing back to me; the game, the fact that I was stuck playing a girl, what I’d gone through already, and my most recent disturbing discovery. I needed to focus, to push away the dysphoria, and calm myself down. I began working at once, again putting up the barrier between myself and the severe discomfort and related sensations that my body, and its current condition, was generating. I placed the first stone to build the wall. “I am Taelya, my body does not define me. I define myself.” The second stone. “I am in control of my life and how I allow myself to react to the sensations of my body and the world around me.” The third stone. “I can choose what I allow to affect me. I will not allow this to diminish my self-control.” Onward I went, piling mental stone after mental stone, sealing off the dysphoria and discomfort with each progressive affirmation.
I took care to control my breathing, little sniffles, and hiccoughs escaping as I attempted to gain control over my anxiety attack. Then, I finally opened my eyes and took a deep breath to ensure that I was once again in control. I would not let this beat me. I directed my gaze back to the clearly worried Sprite in front of me and attempted to assure her that I would be alright. “I’m okay Venika. I just got blindsided by the sudden rush of dysphoria and had a bit of a panic attack. Thanks for helping to snap me out of that.”
“The girls were really worried when you weren’t responding, so Lissany came to wake me while Daenyss stood guard. Are you going to be okay now?” Venika inquired with her face still wearing a look of concern.
“Yeah, like I said it just blindsided me, I just never expected that I would have to deal with…” I replied, trailing off as I looked down once again toward my soiled panties.
“Try to look at it as a learning experience, seeing things from the other side,” the Sprite encouraged.
“Yeah, I am never going to make light of this again when Jess goes through it. I guess I should deal with this so we can all get a little more sleep though. Mo… Moira told me about it, but I didn’t think that I would have to deal with it so soon. I guess I thought that it still wouldn’t apply to me, that the game couldn’t make it happen to me,” I admitted.
Venika shook her head with a faint grim smile. “Trust me it feels just as bad as in real life, I am so glad that mine is almost over. At least you can use tampons and such to deal with it. Lissany! Could you hand over the boxes of tampons and panty liners that I had you bring for Taelya?!”
“Okay Mom!” the Beastkin teen girl responded before lightly tapping at the stall door. I opened it a bit uncertainly, feeling the blush rising to my cheeks as my Guardian passed me the items. Then I closed it while Venika explained how to use both items and then flitted over the top of the stall to give me some privacy.
“Don’t worry Taelya, these ones aren’t the general ones we got at Costco, they’re organic and shouldn’t bother your allergy to synthetics. Nishalle put everything they had in her cart while we were looking around earlier,” Venika explained from the other side of the door.
I finished my other business in the stall and cleaned myself up as best I could in the light that Daenyss was providing. Then I got down to the serious business of inserting my first tampon and placing the panty liner inside my soiled panties. The first task felt less invasive than I had been fearing, though I still didn’t much care for the idea that I would have to be doing so regularly for the next however many days that my new Aunt Flo decided to stick around. As for the second task, I wasn’t planning on keeping the panties anyway beyond waking up in the morning and there would be no sense in going to try to find another pair, so I would just get rid of both the panties and liner when I was able to change clothes, preferably with fire.
When I finally stepped out of the stall Daenyss surprised me with a tearful hug. “I was so worried Mistress, I did not know what to do to help you. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just had a bit of a surprise is all and it freaked me out a little,” I told her once she had finally released me.
“I’m sorry, I should have warned you,” Lissany said with a dejected look on her face. “I could smell the blood, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up without freaking you out. I thought it would be best if you figured it out for yourself so that you could get used to the idea. Then you wouldn’t respond so I kind of freaked out myself and went to go get Mom.”
“It’s okay Liss, I’m fine now and you were right. I don’t think I would have accepted just being told again, I needed to figure it out for myself. Just our luck though right? Three of us end up going to the ladies' room to discover that it’s my time of the month and every one of us was a guy until recently with practically no idea what to do about this,” I told her before hugging her.
We were heading back to our little nest inside the holy barrier when I thought that I spotted movement in the dark lot outside the glass doors. As the others headed back I quickly peered out into the darkness from the hole in the shattered glass in one of the doors and I saw it again, small forms flitting around near the corpse of the Lindwyrm. I could hear something too, just barely, even with my enhanced elven ears. There was a slight buzzing sound and something that resembled giggling voices. “Great serpent gone now, no need to fear. Perhaps what killed it still is near.”
“Yes! Still close they are. They cannot have gotten very far. I smell Fae and others too. Shall we hunt and make a stew?” another giggling voice suggested.
“Yes! Yes, we should. Food and trophies would be good!” another readily agreed with a spine chilling giggle.
Fear clutched at my throat and I rushed back inside the barrier to join the others. The giggling, the dark shapes that I saw, the speaking in rhyme, and the mention of hunting us for food and trophies all added up to something that I didn’t like in the least with my knowledge of monster lore. “We need to try to wake everyone up and get ready to fight, quickly,” I whispered to the others. There’s something out there, and if I’m right it’s even worse than the Lindwyrm.”
“Worse than a giant flying poisonous snake that breathes fire and can’t be harmed by fire or conventional weapons?” Lissany whispered back, her green catlike eyes wide. “I thought I heard giggling outside when we passed the doors, but I figured that it was just my imagination. Does that have anything to do with this?”
I nodded and started shaking Nishalle and Rei who both protested sleepily, but did start to rouse. Lissany seemed to be having similar success with Grell and Pete as well. Once I was sure they were all awake I started putting my leather armor and other protective gear on over my nightshirt while telling them all, “Get dressed for combat, now!” I was pulling on my boots by the time the others were awake enough to follow my lead. Daenyss and Venika had nothing to change into, while Lissany just summoned her armor and weapons over what she was wearing.
“What’s going on?” Nishalle sleepily protested as she started to get into her gear as well.
“Taelya says that there’s something outside, something worse than the Lindwyrm,” Venika told them all while I put on my belt with the twin holsters for my Colt 45’s.
“What could possibly be worse than that thing,” Grell complained in a tone that was both awed and fearful as he too started getting his battle gear on.
“Tooth Fairies,” I spat. “The fucking little pyros were probably drawn in by the fire at the gas station earlier and now that they’re sure that the Lindwyrm isn’t a threat to them they’re ready to start hunting. Probably starting with us.”
“Tooth F…” Rei, who was looking particularly androgynous since she awoke, didn’t even finish the word before staring at me and then sighing. “Okay sweetie, you’ve had your joke, now please let us go back to sleep.”
“What we all know about Tooth Fairies is bullshit, at least so far as this game is concerned,” I told them all in a tone that that bespoke volumes about just how serious that I was. “My monster lore skill tells me that people actually started placing lost teeth under their pillows at night as an offering so that the Tooth Fairies wouldn’t kill them, so forget about all that bullshit about cashing in teeth for coins. Tooth Fairies are vicious little creatures that won’t snap you up in one bite like the Lindwyrm. They attack in swarms and like their victims to suffer from small painful cuts, bites and burns over time before finally killing and eating them. The reason they are called Tooth Fairies is that they wear the teeth of their victims as trophies. They have nasty claws, razor-sharp teeth, and are particularly gifted with fire magick. Maybe we can hold them off until dawn, they’re nocturnal and supposedly sunlight burns them.”
“Wouldn’t it just be better to wait here inside the barrier then? Monsters can’t get in and it’s supposed to stay in place until dawn,” my fiancée argued.
“No,” I told her in the most no-nonsense tone that I could. “They love to hear people screaming, that’s why they love to make their victims suffer. The barrier may protect us from monsters, but what about a fire raging around us? If they don’t think they can make a meal of us then they will burn this building down around us just to hear our screams and then retrieve our teeth from our charred corpses.”
As the others finished getting dressed, or at the very least back into their combat gear Venika asked hopefully, “Do you think that we might be able to reason with them? They’re Tooth Fairies after all, doesn’t that make them related to Sprites, Pixies, and Fairies?”
I shook my head as I looked cautiously back toward the entrance. “They are not Fae, they are monsters and the Fae called them the Shaen’kas in ancient times. Humans only started calling them Tooth Fairies because they slightly resemble Fairies and because they like to wear the teeth of their victims as trophies. Believe me, we Fae would rather not have those… things associated with us. They’re savage and bloodthirsty little fuckers.”
“Okay, so I guess it’s a fight then,” the Sprite responded with a frown and a sigh. Then she added in admonishment, “What have we said about watching your language Taelya? A proper lady doesn’t swear.”
“Sorry,” I quickly apologized, looking back toward the door again to avoid the Mom-look. “I got caught up in the moment. We should… uhh… go out and find those little monsters before they find us.”
I was a bit worried about Rei and Pete as we headed outside. First, they were both still tired from whatever it was that Rei had used to heal the Human soldier. Secondly, they were the only two in the group without some form of decent night vision. Rei’s hearing and sense of smell might be pretty good as a Kitsune, but in that form, her vision was as limited as that of a Human. I looked guiltily at the pair and sighed. “Maybe I should have let you two rest a bit longer while we take care of the situation.”
“No way in hell sweetie, I’ll be okay. Besides, you’ll need me if any of you are injured. If it’s the darkness out there that’s worrying you, don’t. I can see just fine out there if I do this,” my fiancée told me as her features began to shift. Her twin foxtails and her ears seemed to melt as her features became fluid, darkening and flowing into another form until there was an androgynous Tokh'dhraí standing in front of me. She gave me a grin that revealed just a bit of fang as she added, “When Kitsune shapeshift we don’t just look like the form we’ve taken, we become it right down to the genetic level with all of the weaknesses and strengths that they have. Now let’s go kick some Tooth Fairy ass.”
“Don’t worry about me either,” Pete put in. “I’m sure that once the fighting starts we’ll have plenty of light to see by, between Daenyss and Rei.”
Reluctantly I nodded, hoping that he was fully recovered from his earlier injuries as I laid out my plan. “Yeah, Tooth Fairies are nocturnal because sunlight hurts them, so they won’t be able to see well in bright light. It’ll give us an advantage. If we see them before they see us I’ll try to hit the swarm with an AOE and thin their numbers. I have an idea that might work for that, and maybe something to lead us to them too. Once we get in the thick of fighting Venika and I will use targeted magick and Rei can use foxfire. No guns, they’ll be too hard to hit with their size and we might just end up hurting one another if we try. Nishalle, use your new ability to keep them off balance and make sure that every attack counts. Everyone else will be on close combat. Daenyss, maybe you should wait here, you have no armor or weapons and those little buggers are savage.”
The Nymph shook her head, a determined look of her face. “No, Mistress, my place is at your side and I am trained in unarmed combat.”
I didn’t like it, but it was her choice to make. I was still a bit uncertain about Daenyss, not to mention more than a little uncomfortable with my suspicions of who she really was. Still, I had promised her that I would not make her do something that made her uncomfortable merely for my own comfort, and I intended to keep that promise. “Fine Daenyss, just try to stay close to me or Lissany,” I told her with a sigh. Then I gathered mana from the world around me in preparation for the coming battle and to attempt to find our tiny adversaries before they found us. Once I had gathered enough I focused on the effect that I wanted and began to draw the sigils in the air and speak them aloud. “Kiara naethrin tiurin’híel Shaen’kas!”
A path formed on the ground before my feet leading outside to the parking lot and then onward to my targets, glittering rainbow-colored lights sparkling in the darkness. “That’s so pretty!” Lissany enthused.
“Only we can see it and it should lead us right to the Tooth Fairies,” I explained as I drew in more mana and started to follow the glittering trail. The others quickly fell in step with me, though Lissany insisted on taking the lead and Nishalle the rear to ensure our safety. The starlight path led us outside and then toward and just beyond the remains of the gas station, where we found them crowded in a major intersection.
It was Nishalle and Rei who saw them first, possessing the best night vision of us all. “Nasty looking things, and that’s a pretty big swarm, there’s at least a hundred of them,” Nishalle whispered.
My sister didn’t have to tell us any more than that, we could hear them arguing about which way to search for us. “They speak in rhyme, that’s so cute,” Lissany said with a hushed giggle.
“Yeah just let them get close and see how cute and sweet they aren’t. Okay, just leave this to me. I’ll try to thin out their ranks a bit before we attack,” I muttered. There was a spell I had been wanting to try, but I didn’t want to do so too close to the village or Fae glade, in case I messed it up. Doing it while we were all in close quarters fighting the Lindwyrm or blighted would have been begging for disaster too. Now though, seemed like the perfect time, while our targets were gathered and there was some good distance between us. I concentrated on the intersection, what I wanted to do, and then pushed all of the mana that I had gathered into the spell as I drew the sigils in the air and spoke them in a whisper. “Kuor tierre tala-aeluine thren’dhal!”
“Umm, was that supposed to do something invisible, because I don’t see anything happening,” Grell silently inquired.
“Just wait a minute, this spell takes a little while if I’m right,” I told him with a sigh. That spell had taken a lot out of me and I was trying to replenish my mana.
Over a minute passed and the others were getting a bit antsy as Pete whispered, “Nothing yet. You’re usually pretty good at creating spells and such, but maybe you were wrong this time Taelya. Should we come up with something else?”
“Would you two just shut up and wait!” I hissed as quietly as I could, “it’ll get here when it gets here!” I was tired, in the dark hunting Tooth Fairies before they could hunt us, having trouble shaking those crazy pseudo-childhood dreams, enduring the cramps from hell using every bit of Fae mental control that I could summon, bleeding from an orifice that I shouldn’t even have, Amoiraishe had thrust a new Attendant on me who made me feel very uncomfortable because she just might be someone who had intended to rape and kill me, and now my friends didn’t seem to believe in me. I had plenty of reasons to be in a pissy mood, but still, I immediately regretted my words.
Pete just shrugged it off though and apologized. “Sorry Taelya, it’s just taking a while. It’s not like you to lose your temper like that and you seem a bit off, is it your time of the month or something?”
He had meant it as a joke, to lighten the mood, but at the moment I didn’t think there was anything funny about it. If anything, I was even more offended now. “I have a lot on my fucking mind right now and we’re in the dark hunting fucking Tooth Fairies!” I snapped, barely managing to keep my volume to whisper level. “How dare you think that I would let some mere physical discomfort affect my performance and behavior after all that we’ve been through?! For your information, it is that time, however that’s on the low end of reasons that I have to be in a shitty mood right now, like for instance my friends thinking that I can’t do my job, but thanks so much for rubbing that in my face too!”
Even with my night vision, I could see him pale, and then his cheeks flushed as he silently stumbled over his words. “Oh shit… Taelya… I’m so sorry, I meant it as a joke… I didn’t mean to… I forgot that in this game… and that you’re…”
Thankfully that stream of thought was interrupted as Rei, who as looking anywhere but at our argument pointed up at an orange glow in the night sky. “What is that?”
“I told you it would get here,” I grumbled before taking a deep breath and adding, “Behold! My new spell, I call it Cataclysm.” Over a dozen flaming meteorites rocketed from the sky above to pepper the intersection and its inhabitants and once the earth stopped shaking and the smoke cleared we ran for the intersection and launched our attack, holding nothing back.
Despite my attack, there were still a few dozen of the nasty creatures shrieking in confusion, most of them had been on the outer edge of the intersection, in the area that had taken the least damage. They were pretty spread out, so any further AOEs would be a waste of power. Daenyss and Rei lit up the cratered remains of the intersection and rubble of a few of the nearby buildings that had taken hits and revealing our opponents. They were bigger than Sprites, Pixies, or Fairies, each nearly a foot tall and they were a sickly grey color with four black bee-like wings, red eyes, matted black hair, nasty-looking claws, and mouths full of needlelike teeth.
With those lights directly above them, even something as small as the Tooth Fairies could cast a fairly large shadow and Nishalle took advantage of that, appearing from one shadow after another to eviscerate those making the shadows with her katana. This set the little savages in a panic at first and she had managed to kill six before they thought to actually fight back and the rest of us arrived and began to attack in earnest. Venika and I opened up with high-pressure water blasts, choosing those who had begun casting fire spells and sending them flying.
By the time they knew what hit them they were unfortunate enough to have Pete slicing them in twain with his massive claymore or Grell and Lissany hammering them into a paste. Lissany was trying her best to stay close to me, her mother, Daenyss, and Rei though since we were the squishies of the group. The latter of the two were managing well enough with hand to hand combat, with any of our adversaries who got too close, though the little buggers had a nasty bite and those claws of theirs were pretty damn sharp. There wasn’t really a lot that my Guardian could do to tank multiple small flying creatures, though she did try to provoke them by shouting out, “I thought you said these things were something to be scared of Your Highness! I’ve swatted mosquitoes more terrifying than this!”
That did the trick. The Tooth Fairies were furious and homing right in on Lissany to be downed by our attacks or batted aside with her large shield. Nishalle was still tearing them apart by appearing from shadows as well so we were doing fairly well for ourselves. It’s always the one you don’t see though that strikes the hardest and one of the little bastards fired a small fireball as us from behind that Lissany wasn’t in a position to block.
I never even saw it coming, I was too busy working my next spell and targeting one of the Tooth Fairies who wasn’t attacking Lissany directly, but preparing a spell instead. My only indication that something wasn’t right was when Daenyss called out “Mistress! Move!” She threw herself bodily into me and Rei knocking us aside and then screamed as the spell hit her. I was still trying to figure out what had happened as I got to my feet and the smell of burnt flesh assailed my nose.
Daenyss was laying on the ground, crying and obviously making an effort to not scream in agony from the pain. But I couldn’t be certain whether that was because she didn’t want to look weak, or she didn’t want to give the Tooth Fairy who had thrown the spell the satisfaction of hearing it. She had severe burns along the right side of her torso and her back and even though she wasn’t screaming she was making a piteous mewling sound somewhere between a whine and a wail of agony as she lay there on her belly with tears running down her cheeks.
“That was close,” Venika said with a look of concern toward the fallen Nymph. “I just barely managed to avoid that and if Daenyss hadn’t knocked you aside…” she trailed off.
If she hadn’t thrown us aside that would have hit Rei and me. Why would she do that for someone that she hardly knows? Why did she even swear the Viyr Jhaith to me in the first place? She hadn’t even met me. The only thing that was clear to me was that whoever she was before, she certainly wasn’t that person now. “Rei, please see what you can do for Daenyss. I’m going to finish things. Kiara ikandiir aeluine aentuire!” I glared at the nasty little monster who was giggling and preparing a second salvo as I quickly drew and spoke the sigils, pouring mana into the spell. A bright white sphere of light formed around me, Venika, Rei, and Daenyss, easily absorbing the second fireball.
I stepped outside the protective barrier, still glaring at the Tooth Fairy who had cast the spells and was now shielding its eyes from the bright light of my shielding spell. “You want to hear screaming you little piece of shit? Let’s hear how you scream then. Aes’Suvas tanuus tala-soldis utaera!” As I finished speaking and drawing the sigils dozens of tiny razor-sharp icicles formed in the air in front of my outstretched hand and were sent hurtling toward the creature. It did scream as the tiny projectiles impaled it and then it fell to the ground and didn’t move again.
With that opponent finished I turned my attention to searching for any others. By this point, we had done away with most of them and there were just a few more to finish off, but between Nishalle, Lissany, and Pete they seemed to have the matter well in hand. Before long we had finished off the last of them and I was able to dissipate my shielding spell and check on the others. Most of us had several bite marks and cuts from claws but Daenyss’s burn was the worst of it. As I canceled my spell I saw that both Daenyss and Rei were unconscious, and the latter had reverted to her two-tailed Kitsune from.
“Her burns were pretty bad,” Venika explained. “Rei didn’t think it was safe to move her and she wasn’t sure if her healing prayers could handle burns that bad so she uhhh… did her thing again.”
“We’ll have to carry them back to the Walmart so they can rest,” I said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry, it was my fault. I should have thought to warn you,” Venika said with a frown. “I kind of did my thing too, but I don’t seem to have any control over when it happens. It’s like I can see about fifteen to thirty seconds into the future, and then I’m back in the present. That fireball was supposed to hit me, so I kind of panicked and flew out of the way but I was still disoriented and didn’t think about where it would go if it missed me.”
“I should have been covering you all better,” Lissany put in.
“Liss, you can’t cover us from all directions at all times in a fight, sometimes we’re going to take a hit,” I told the Beastkin girl sternly. “This isn’t anyone’s fault, it was just a bad break, but we’re all still alive, so we just need to learn from it and move on. We’ll have to use first aid to treat any other injuries. I might be able to speed up our bodies’ natural healing rates a little, but healing magick isn’t really my thing. We’ll handle it back at camp.”
“I can carry Rei, she’s fairly light,” Pete offered.
“I can handle Daenyss,” Lissany added. “I’m pretty strong, especially in my hybrid form, and I’ll be able to carry her just fine without all of this heavy armor on. My Guardian dismissed her armor and weapons, shifted to her hybrid human-jaguar form, and picked up the Nymph with very little apparent effort. I had never seen my Guardian in her hybrid form before and she was both scary and adorable at the same time somehow, a humanoid jaguar with long black hair. She was only clad in her panties and sleep shirt, but she didn’t seem too concerned about that as she carefully hefted my Attendant in her arms as Pete picked up Rei, and then we began walking back to our camp.
We were crossing the parking lot and I was following the others and feeling pretty terrible about the earlier loss of my temper when I felt the need to apologize. “Look, I’m sorry for snapping at you all earlier. I’ve had a lot on my mind, I had some disturbing dreams, and then I woke up feeling terrible and had a major freak-out when I figured out the cause. That’s no excuse for being a bitch to my friends though.”
“I’m partially at fault, so don’t let it worry you Taelya,” Pete told me over his shoulder. “We shouldn’t have doubted you, you haven’t let us down yet and I shouldn’t have joked about that. I was being a bit of a jerk and I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard all of this is for you and instead of being a good friend I just made you feel worse.”
“He’s right, we should have trusted you, you’ve always had our backs and I shouldn’t have thought otherwise this time,” Grell added.
Once we had returned to our little camp in the Walmart and had Rei and Daenyss settled as comfortably as possible, Nishalle went to look for some first aid supplies since she had the best night vision. She returned a short while later and Venika had instructed us all on how to treat those of us with bites and cuts. Luckily that was less than half of us. Rei had either managed to avoid any injuries or had healed when she shifted back into her true form, Daenyss had been healed of everything when Rei had treated her burns, Lissany’s armor hadn’t let her take a scratch, Venika had been too small and fast, and Nishalle had been slipping in and out of shadows too quick for them to concentrate an attack on her. So once Grell, Pete, and I had been treated I cast my Healing Aura spell on each of us in turn, finishing with myself.
“So what now?” Lissany asked with a glance toward our resident Nymph and Kitsune. “The sun is rising out there, but it’s probably going to be a while before we can wake them up.”
I thought about it a moment before shrugging. “We should let them sleep until noon. That ability seems to take a lot out of Rei and I know that Daenyss didn’t get any sleep last night. Liss, I want you to watch them while the rest of us go get the vehicles and bring them closer so we can see if we have any more space to load up the things we got here. We should maybe see if there’s any more useful stuff in the back of the store, like those organic monthly supplies. We Fae won’t be able to use the regular ones and what Nishalle found won’t last the whole bloody Autumn Court for long. Can anyone else think of anything else we can salvage if we can manage the space?”
“We can manage the space,” Pete assured me. That semi is one of the sleeper models, we should have enough space in the sleeper section for at least another pick-up sized load, probably more. As for things we need, I’d like to see if we can find some tools so Grell and I can harvest that Lindwyrm’s scales. They’re practically fireproof and our weapons, including guns, weren’t able to pierce them, so I think that they could make for good body armor. It’s probably going to take us the better part of the morning to do, but I think it would be worth it.”
“Okay, once we get back with the vehicles the two of you can get started on that and the rest of us will have a look in the back of this store for anything else we need and can fit in a pickup load,” I agreed with a nod of my head. “Things should be safe enough during the day since we’ve cleared out the blighted and I didn’t see signs of anything else dangerous. At lunch, we’ll wake Rei and Daenyss and then eat before heading back toward Haven.”
Before getting down to the morning’s work we ate a quick meal of granola bars and dry cereal and then crossed the parking lot toward the Costco to gather the vehicles. Soon we had the semi, the pickup truck, the delivery truck, and Nishalle’s motorcycle parked as close to the Walmart entrance as we could. Before getting to work though I looked at my sleeping fiancée and Attendant and frowned. “What’s wrong Your Highness?” Lissany asked, wearing a look of concern.
I sighed and looked back at my Guardian as I replied, “I know that I said we would all be working hard this morning and that it should be fairly safe here, but I think that someone should stay and watch over them in case something happens or one of them wakes up. Would anyone like to volunteer?”
“I volunteer you and Lissany, Sis,” Nishalle said almost immediately. “You haven’t gotten much sleep the past two nights, even for a Fae and Lissany hasn’t either. You can take shifts sleeping and then Liss can be there to guard you in case something happens. It’s not going to take all of us to look through the back of the store and fill some carts. Venika can check the high shelves and I can check the ones on the ground level.”
“I didn’t mean…” I started to argue, but I was cut off by Venika.
“Nishalle is right,” the Sprite agreed. “You may not have meant for you to be the one to stay here with them, but you need rest and it’s obvious that you’re feeling terrible. Besides you’re the best candidate to stay anyway, Daenyss is your Attendant and Rei is your fiancée so you’ll be the most comforting presence for both of them if they wake. We’ll find some Midol for you and you can get a few hours of sleep along with them.”
I awoke at midmorning after a thankfully dreamless sleep, having managed to drift off not long after Venika, Nishalle, Grell, and Pete left us to complete their respective tasks. For several minutes I just laid there with my eyes closed, performing the mental exercises that would allow me to push aside the discomfort of my body, or at the very least make it more bearable. When I finally opened my eyes Lissany was still dutifully watching over me and the others and I felt a bit better being fully rested. I slipped gracefully into the lotus position and smiled at Lissany. She was looking tired, having had as little sleep as I had the past two nights, but she wasn’t Fae and needed more sleep, in general, to feel properly rested. If it had been too little for me, then I didn’t want to even think about how tired my Guardian must have been feeling.
“I’m awake now, so you should try to get a bit of sleep too,” I offered before asking, “Have the others checked in?”
The Beastkin girl nodded. “I’ll get some sleep in a few minutes, Your Highness. Pete and Grell found some tools and sharp knives that they thought should help to remove the Lindwyrm’s scales. Grell came in a little while ago to get some water and he said that it’s going well. They’re hoping to be done by lunchtime. Mom and Nishalle already loaded everything that we got for supplies here and they found a bunch of the organic monthly supplies in the back. They got about four cartloads and now they’re looking for anything else useful. They left some Midol to help make you more comfortable and suggested that you change your tampon and stuff when you woke up. I’ll wait until you’re back before I try to sleep.”
I reached over to hug her. “Thanks, Liss, I’ll try not to be too long. You really look like you could use a nap, so thanks for watching over us. I know that I probably don’t say this as much as I should, but you make a wonderful Guardian and you and your mom are great friends. I really appreciate all that you’ve done for me since we woke up in the game.”
“Thanks, Your Highness, I love being your Guardian and you make a pretty awesome princess too,” she said as she hugged me back.
Once we had released one another I made my way to the restroom with a tampon, panty liner, a bottle of water, and the red silk panties that I had worn the day before in hand. Since the cotton panties had been bloodstained when I had first discovered my monthly visitor and were uncomfortably tight around the hips I wanted to change into something more comfortable. It wasn’t until I was inside that I realized that I had forgotten to bring a flashlight and let out a curse, glad that Venika couldn’t hear me. The problem wasn’t that I was having trouble seeing in the dark, my night vision was too good for that, but I could only really see things in shades of grey. I could manage just fine that way, but being in the restroom in the dark was just creepy.
“I really need to make a light spell for situations like this,” I muttered. “Oh well, no time like the present I guess.” It took a few minutes, but as I made my way into the cleanest stall, covered the seat in a protective layer of toilet tissue, pulled down my panties, and took a seat I figured out what sigils I could combine to create light. Then I gathered in mana and, using my right hand to draw the sigils, I spoke them aloud, pouring the mana into the spell and picturing in my mind one of those ghostly globes of light that Rei could create and move around at will. “Kiara kaida aeluine!”
As I finished the spell the globe of light appeared above me and bathed the stall in soft white light, returning my perception of color as well. I was pretty pleased with myself as I relaxed and emptied my bladder. That satisfaction only lasted until I used the little string to remove the tampon and had to deal with the grotesque task of disposing of it, putting in a new one, and then cleaning myself up. The nausea that I was already feeling wasn’t improved by that and I wondered if maybe it would have been better to have done it in the dark after all. The panty liner wasn’t too bad, it seemed that the tampon got most of it, but I still disposed of both it and the ill-fitting and stained panties as well before placing a new liner in my silk panties and putting them on.
Once I had used the soap dispenser and the bottled water to wash my hands I dissipated my spell headed back out to relieve Lissany and watch over her, Daenyss, and Rei. “Okay Liss, try to get some sleep, I’ve got things covered from here,” I told her as I returned.
“Okay, Your Highness, thanks. Oh! Here, Mom said this should help with the physical discomfort and give you less to have to tune out with the mental exercises,” my Guardian reported as she passed me a bottle of Midol. Then she hesitantly added, “Just wake me if you need me for anything, okay?”
“Thanks, kiddo. I’ll wake you if I need you but I hope there won’t be any reason to, we’ve all seen enough action the past few days.” Once I made sure that she was laying down and at least trying to rest I downed two of the Midol and a full bottle of water and settled in to watch over my companions.
Lissany didn’t take long to fall asleep, the poor kid must have been exhausted. I decided that this would probably be a good time to shed the bedroom look, so I gathered my other clothes from the day before and shed my sleep shirt. I figured that I would keep the sleep shirt for other situations where we wouldn’t be sleeping in the Fae Glade and I was just reaching for my bra to put it on when I heard my sister’s voice. “Hey Sis, I see you’re awake again, feeling any better?”
I shrugged as I continued getting into my bra, it wasn’t like Nishalle and Venika hadn’t seen me in the process of dressing before, the pair seemed to delight in having me try on clothes after all. “Well, I got some sleep anyway. And no weird dreams of my childhood as Taelya, so I think I’m good, aside from the cramps and stuff, but I’m able to deal with those and I think the Midol may be starting to kick in because it’s taking a bit less effort.”
“I’m glad that you’re feeling better, I feel kind of responsible for this. Jess and I did kind of pressure you into joining the game,” Nishalle said with a guilty expression. “You’ve been having dreams like that too, huh? I started having them just before we left the estate and Moira said that it’s probably my mind trying to adjust to my in-game identity and make sense of the memories attached to the skill downloads.”
I shook my head after putting on my top and then wiggled into my skin-tight designer jeans as I told her, “I wanted to play Sis, and I am having fun playing with magick, so I think I can handle this other stuff for the next few months. I kind of freaked out at first, but that was mostly because of the dysphoria and still not being able to really wrap my mind around the fact that I’m essentially female right now. How goes the shopping spree? Lissany updated me before going to sleep but have you found anything else useful?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you about actually, Venika and I were thinking that we should load up the rest of the space with clothes and undergarments of varying adult sizes for men and women. There are a lot of players still wandering around in their F.I.T suits so for the non-Fae population it could be a really good idea. There’s even some stuff Fae might be able to wear, like those sleep shirts we were wearing last night.”
Go for it, that is a good idea,” I quickly agreed. Having decent clothing would really help the morale of a lot of the players and I was completely in favor of that.
“Okay, I’ll get right on loading up carts so we can take them out then,” she said. “Oh and Sis, just remember that if you need me, for anything, I’ll always be there for you.” Then she wrapped me up in a hug and then headed off to get to work.
I spent the next little while watching over the others. Just watching Rei made my heart flutter with happiness. I loved her with all of my heart and seeing her being able to be comfortable with herself made that even more apparent to me. She was loving this experience so much and I found myself not looking forward to her having to go back to being Jess and dealing with the dysphoria, people referring to him as female when he felt male, and all those other little annoyances that I had taken for granted before, but now knew all too well. We were definitely going to have to keep playing when this was done if the game could survive Moira’s board of directors.
It was so cute the way that her tails and ears sometimes twitched in her sleep, and I found myself wondering what she was dreaming about. Was it her childhood as a Kitsune? Was I in those dreams as Taelya yet? She had yet to make an appearance in mine, but I kind of figured that that was because in my dreams I had grown up in a Fae Glade, so it made sense for Venika and Nishalle to be there. Jess and I hadn’t met until we were adults anyway, so maybe she would feature in my future dreams if they continued.
Lissany was just as adorable in her sleep as Rei, especially with that little kitty nose of hers. She was such a sweet girl, so eager to please and willing to do her best. I really was glad to have her as my Guardian. She was loyal and strong and a really good person, and it was nice to see her being able to be the girl that she had always wanted to be on her own terms. She was too hard on herself though, she needed to let herself be a kid sometimes. Still, despite her toughness and willingness to defend me no matter what, she was so innocent sometimes, though with the things we had seen in this game she was growing up so quickly.
Daenyss was the one I had known for the least amount of time, but it was she who seemed to take up most of my thoughts. She had thrown herself at me and Rei, knocking us aside and taking an attack that could have killed her if cast by a more powerful magick user. I had a deep suspicion that she had been Razor before losing her memory, as close to a nemesis as I would probably ever have. He had wanted to do horrible things to me and yet, despite my suspicions, I couldn’t see him in that innocent, loyal, and determined Nymph.
She was trying so hard to be whatever I needed her to be, giving up everything to serve me of her own free will, but realistically she hadn’t had much to give up. Her old life was lost to her, probably forever if she was right. Now she was trying to build a new one while making up for the misdeeds of her forgotten past. I was uncomfortable with her, with the mere thought of who she could have been, but did that really matter? Seeing who she was now, that innocent girl determined to do the right thing and wanting so much to please me, it made me wonder if I should give her a chance. No matter who she was in the past, she was no longer that person. In fact, she was a new and different person in every way possible.
My thoughts were interrupted as Pete and Grell came in to announce that they had finished salvaging the Lindwyrm’s scales and putting them away. Nishalle and Venika weren’t far behind so while Venika watched over the sleeping girls the rest of us started moving the carts filled with clothes to the front doors of the store and loading everything that we could into whatever space was left available. Once that was done the other’s started eating lunch as I gently woke the sleeping trio. “Come on girls, get up and have something to eat, it’s time to go home.”
Our return trip to Haven was, thankfully, uneventful and I felt a profound sense of accomplishment as our little caravan arrived in the village square. My smile only widened as I spied the dropped jaws and looks of awe on the faces of other players as we returned, not only with our truck but with the delivery truck and semi with a full trailer as well. We stepped out of the vehicles and I actually giggled at the look on Becky Shaw’s face. “Is something the matter Sheriff? Is this a no parking zone or something?” I teased.
“I… uhh… well,” Becky stammered before managing to form a coherent reply. “You were gone for a few days, folks were starting to get worried that you’d get here by respawn. Amoiraishe mentioned she’d sent someone to make sure that you were okay, but I wasn’t expecting you to come back with all of this.”
“The village needs supplies and there was a semi handy, so we decided to get as much as we could. I think we fulfilled most of the scavenging requests too,” I told her, still grinning as I tried to act casual. “The truck and delivery truck are filled with stuff for the Fae Glade and some of the people living there who had scavenging requests, we managed to find quite a bit of cloth and undergarments that Fae won’t have a reaction to, thank goodness. The stuff in the Semi is mostly food and supplies for both Haven and the Glade, so we’ll need to unload it and divvy it up. There are clothes for players here in the village too so now, hopefully, the only players running around in the buff will be those who want to be.”
“So the only nudists I’ll have to worry about are the Fae then,” she teased back. Then her eyes fell deliberately on Daenyss as she added, “Speaking of, who’s your friend?” I had managed to convince the Nymph to cover up while we were in town, but she was shifting uncomfortably in the sleep shirt that I had worn to bed the night before. It was a bit tight in the chest on her and barely covered enough to be considered legal, but hey, at least she was clothed.
“Becky, this is Daenyss, one of the new players and the help that Amoiraishe sent us. Daenyss, this is Sheriff Becky Shaw, she’s the law ‘round these parts,” I said by way of introduction.
“Daenyss huh? I didn’t think the Nymphs were a playable race,” the sheriff said after a moment.
“I guess she’s a special case, my ‘mother’ wanted me to have an Attendant who could accompany me anywhere I guess, and it might be that Moira is testing it to see how well they’ll work as a playable race. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s snuck something new in as a test while being overprotective of me,” I replied, inclining my head toward Lissany.
“That’s true,” Becky agreed with a laugh. “You didn’t run into too much trouble I hope.”
“That depends on what you consider too much,” Nishalle drawled with a wink as she leaned against the truck. “Just the usual I think; undead, a Lindwyrm, and a swarm of Tooth Fairies.”
“Tooth Fairies? Lindwyrm?” The witch with the sheriff’s badge asked in wonder.
Venika shuddered at the mention of the Tooth Fairies. “Yeah, these were not the nice sort of Fairies. Nasty pieces of work and twice the size of any Fairy that I’ve met in the Glade. I almost got flambéed by one and Daenyss barely managed to push Taelya and Rei out of the way. She was very heroic.” The Nymph flushed at the praise and looked down at her feet, still shifting uncomfortably in the clothing.
“Those little terrors were everywhere,” Lissany muttered, “even after Taelya destroyed the intersection with a meteor shower.”
Becky looked lost and was staring at me so I clarified, “I managed to create a few new spells, but that one you never want to do in close quarters and it takes a while for anything visible to happen. As for the Lindwyrm, it’s a colossal flying snake with deadly venom that breathes fire and is damn hard to kill.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I had to get in that thing’s mouth, twice!” Nishalle grumbled. “Though I did get some really deadly poison to coat my weapons with.”
“Yeah, but just think of the size of the pair of boots we could make with that thing’s skin,” Grell said with a massive grin.
“You can have your boots if you want them, buddy, me I’m getting armor,” Pete interjected. “Getting under the scales to remove both scales and skin was a bitch, but I’m hoping that Hadrick or one of the other crafters will be able to make some decent armor or protective clothes from it, those scales were damn near impenetrable.”
Becky was just shaking her head and gave me a lopsided grin as she told me, “You’re going to tell me the whole story during my next magick lesson, Your Highness. Anyway, let’s get these supplies unloaded and properly divided so you can all head back to the Glade for a well-earned rest.” Then she turned toward all the players still staring at our haul and listening in to the conversation with wide eyes and shouted, “C’mon people! Stop standing around gawking and let’s get this rig unloaded!”
It had taken the better part of the afternoon to get everything properly divided between the supplies for the Village and those for the Glade, but it was work that everyone was happy to do. There was an air of excitement, perhaps even optimism, in the air as we closed up the trailer of the semi to deliver the Glade’s share of the haul. It was a beautiful day, we had brought enough supplies to last a while, fulfilled most of the scavenging requests, and players were in regular clothes instead of F.I.T suits. Most of those clothes even fit people somewhat decently, but the most important thing that I saw people wearing were the smiles.
It had been a productive trip, and the results much better than I had hoped. Not only did we fill a lot of the requests and needs, but between the battle with the Tooth Fairies and all of the XP we got from Sheriff Shaw for all of the scavenging requests we had delivered on from the quest board, Daenyss had leveled up, and our other party mates and I were close to leveling again as well. And now I could choose two new skills and perhaps help Daenyss choose one that could help her in combat. I was generally pretty happy with our little foray into the city as I climbed into the pickup truck and placed myself between Rei and Lissany for the trip home and Daenyss climbed into the back seat behind me.
We made our way back to the Glade caravan style; Grell driving the delivery truck at the front, followed by Pete in the Semi, then our pickup, with Nishalle bringing up the rear and watching our backs on her motorcycle. As soon as we were out of the village I could spy Daenyss removing the sleep shirt, she had been wearing it the whole time in the village and it had obviously become terribly uncomfortable for her mentally. She had been looking forward to when she could get it off, though, to her credit, she had never once complained.
I couldn’t really blame her, I knew how much wearing clothes went against her nature, sometimes I had the urge to just shed my own clothes and that heavy uncomfortable armor and walk around unencumbered. That was a bit concerning to me, but it just meant that I was getting used to being Fae. As we drove home though I had more immediate concerns on my mind. I was both looking forward to and uncertain about heading home. On one hand, I couldn’t wait for a nice hot bath and to sleep in a soft bed, but on the other hand, I had things to talk to Amoiraishe about and it was not a conversation that I was looking forward to, fearing the answers that she might give.
By the time that we got to the estate and the Brownies were beginning to help unload the various supplies, I was feeling very antsy about the conversation that I knew had to come and I just wanted it over with. “You look uncomfortable, Mistress,” Daenyss said, expressing the concern that was all over her face. “Perhaps I should run you a nice hot bath so you can relax and ease your discomfort a bit.”
“I would really appreciate that, but maybe a bit later Daenyss. I really need to speak with my mother about a few things right now though. Do you think that you could please take my gear and all of the things we got for me on the trip to my rooms? You know like all the makeup and stuff you got for me, shampoos, clothes, and stuff? Rei and Nishalle know which were gotten for me and they can show you the way to my room if you don’t know where it is.” That bath really was tempting, but I wanted to get the talk with Amoiraishe over and done with, and since Daenyss was one of the subjects that I wished to discuss I didn’t want to risk her overhearing something she shouldn’t or misinterpreting things.
The neo-Nymph beamed at the request, seemingly pleased to be able to do something for me. “Of course Mistress, I would be only too happy to. I already know the way, my mother and Her Majesty showed me where everything was when we arrived in the game.”
“Thank you Daenyss, I appreciate it,” I told her with a genuine smile. I did appreciate it. As tired as I was from the afternoon’s work she was going to save me a lot of effort, running back and forth carrying things. “I’ll meet with you in my rooms once I’m finished with Mother.”
With Daenyss happily set upon the task that I had assigned her I went in search of Amoiraishe. I found the elder Yseil'dhraí in the sitting room, which I had come to think of as the throne room. It was empty of all furniture, save a pair of throne-like velvet chairs sitting side by side and a pair of end tables to either side of them. Amoiraishe sat on one of those chairs as if she had been expecting me. “Mother, we need to talk,” I said in a frosty tone meant to display my displeasure, and earn her undivided attention, as I entered the room. I realized my mistake almost as soon as the word “Mother” had left my mouth instead of “Moira”, and I figured that those damnable dreams were responsible.
She didn’t seem fazed in the least as she smiled at me, in fact, she seemed pleased. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that,” she commented before gently patting the seat beside her and adding, “Please, close the door and come have a seat Taelya. What’s on your mind?”
With a sigh I did as I was asked, closing the door and then taking my place beside her on the second chair. I had to admit that it was comfortable as I eased my aching body into it. “There are a lot of things on my mind, but I think that you know what the main one is,” I told her in an accusatory tone.
“Daenyss,” she said with a resigned sigh. When I nodded in the affirmative she merely shrugged. “I knew that you were too clever and tenacious to let this slip by you. They are two of the qualities that I find most endearing about you, and two of the qualities that make you a fine leader. You may as well ask your questions and get it all out of your system.”
“Who is Daenyss in the real world? Was Dennis Razor before? If so, why would you put someone that I couldn’t dare trust in such a position? Particularly one that requires such intimacy at times. You know damn well what he had planned!” I snapped.
“Does it really matter who she was before? Whoever that person was, they are gone now and won’t be coming back. Tell me honestly, what do you see when you look at Daenyss, what do your senses tell you?” the Fae queen countered.
I sighed, but I reluctantly gave my impressions of the Nymph. “She’s innocent, almost childlike at times. She’s eager to explore the world around her and discover herself, but at the same time, she’s determined to make sure that the person she becomes is a good one. She’s trying to pay for crimes that she doesn’t even remember committing. She swore the Viyr Jhaith, gave up her freedom for me, why did you make her do that? Hasn’t she suffered enough, losing everything she was?”
Amoiraishe put an arm around me. “I will admit that Dennis was one of those who attacked you and your friends and planned to do far worse, but that person, everything that he was, is gone now. I did not make Dennis do anything though. I told him who he was and what he had done and that he had an opportunity to choose the type of person that he wanted to be from now on. Dennis chose all of this, of his own free will.”
Probably because of the look of disbelief plastered all over my face, she continued to explain. “I gave Dennis the choice to go back to his old life or to join the game again and fill the last spot in a role that I was already considering someone else for. I told him what that would entail and that only made him more determined, he welcomed the chance to help those that he had wronged. He wanted to be better than he was. He was eager to make up for his past mistakes, for his actions against you and everyone else in the game. When we re-entered the game and finished getting her set up Daenyss didn’t want to risk harming you again, even unintentionally, and asked how that could be prevented. So, I told her about all of the various oaths that the Fae use, I ensured that she knew all of her options, warned her about what each entailed, and she chose the Viyr Jhaith, she even chose its wording. She wants redemption, and to start a new life for herself, and I could neither refuse her that nor prevent her from doing it on her own terms. Not with what I owe her.”
“What you owe her? Is his some kind of revenge thing? Because she wronged the people you care about? It’s appropriate that you chose a Fae avatar in this game because you hold a grudge just like them,” I told her with a frown. I was having a hard time not feeling sorry for Daenyss by this point.
“More appropriate than you know,” the Fae queen muttered as she shook her head. “I admit, when we pulled Dennis out of the tube, I wanted him and all of his friends to suffer, I still do. But I would have never have done something like this to him, I’m not a monster and I would hope that you would know me better than that by now. What happened to him was an accident, but unintentional or not, I… my company is responsible for Dennis’s current state. We took everything from him; memories, identity, sense of self. He is a new person now, created by my actions, and I have a duty to help and nurture him as he builds his new life. Had he chosen to return to his old life I would have done my best to see that he got the medical attention and assistance that he needed for that, but he chose this.”
I felt a bit guilty for doubting her. “Sorry Mother, I…” I began to say before stopping to silently curse that slip of the tongue again. “You say it was unintentional, and I believe you, but could you tell me what happened?”
“I was angry,” she began after taking a moment to hug me, showing that she took no offense. “I wanted them out of the building as fast as possible and then I planned to have my lawyers hound them and give them a good taste of fear for what might happen to them. They were guilty of breach of contract, and the game’s ToS agreement. Fearing for their fates would have been a just punishment. Dennis was the first and we worked too quickly pulling him from the F.I.T and then trying to extract all of his game granted skills at once. There was too much information to extract at once, spread out all over the hippocampus and it caused an error in the system and it extracted everything, all of his memories, everything that made him Dennis. It’s not so much extraction as deletion since that information is never stored anywhere, so there is no chance of restoring what he lost.”
“I see… Daneyss said you were furious when she saw you.”
“I was,” she admitted, “and the more certain it became to me that Dennis wasn’t lying, I became less furious at her and more furious for her. This is an application of the technology that I never considered and never want to see happen again. I was furious at the techs who had gone too fast, but more so at myself. Dennis just sat there crying, with no idea what he had done and it would make no sense to punish him, he was no longer that person and had already suffered far worse than I had intended.”
“What about the other members of H3lls-Pwn?” I inquired.
“We were more careful with them, removing one skill at a time and downloading to back-ups to be safe. When we were finished I told them what they would be facing because of what they had done in-game and what happened to Dennis. What do you think they did then Taelya?” she asked.
I considered what I knew of the members of H3lls-Pwn, how they had acted in the game. “They probably failed to see what they did wrong, swore at you, and threatened you over what happened to Dennis.”
“Close,” she told me with a sigh. “There was a denial of any wrong-doing and swearing, but knowing that Dennis couldn’t remember enough to defend himself they turned on him. They blamed everything on him, said that it was his idea and that he had pressured them into going along with it. No matter who planned it, they were all willing participants. They knew it was wrong and they did it anyway and then instead of helping a friend in need they continued that pattern of behavior.”
Now I was furious. “Those assholes! He was one of them!”
Amoiraishe nodded sadly. “I had hoped that they might try to help their comrade. It turns out that they only really knew one another online. Dennis was an orphan, he had no family and he suffered from social anxiety, much like you, so he didn’t have any real friends either. I discovered that during his background check, it’s one of the reasons I was willing to give him a chance in the game in the first place. He has no memory and nothing to go back to so it wasn’t really that hard a choice for him once I laid everything out on the table. I had someone else in mind for your Attendant, but Daenyss needs this and she is determined to serve you faithfully, the oath she took proves that.”
“I have no doubts about her loyalty or her determination to serve me, she’s proven them, but why do I even need a new Attendant? I was doing just fine with Naerysse and I’d be better with none at all,” I argued.
My mother groaned, looking a little exasperated with me. “You’re a princess, representing the Autumn Court, Taelya, you need to present the proper image and your Attendant will help you with that. You should have one with you at all times, but you also spend a lot of time outside the Fae Glade and Naerysse isn’t comfortable with that. So it was far easier to find you someone who is, and allow Naerysse to return to her role as my Attendant. She was only filling in temporarily because I was expecting to have you be a prince, not a princess, and had a manservant chosen for you instead. Given the circumstances, I thought that a female would be more appropriate.”
“Okay, I guess I can see that,” I grumbled before asking, “What about when Daenyss returns to the real world though. You’re pushing a female identity on her when she has no real identity of her own. What if Dennis has trouble adjusting to life in a male body afterward? Could the loss of her memories cause any physical issues? What other issues could she face?”
“I didn’t push this on her, she chose it, and it’s the best help we can give her at the moment,” she reminded me. “I have an expert on the human brain looking over Dennis’s scans and monitoring brain activity and general health while Daenyss’s mind remains active in the game. There are no physical issues thus far and her language skills seem unaffected, so I have been assured that this is really no worse than a severe case of retrograde amnesia. She won't be able to retrieve the memories she's lost, but she can make new ones. What we need to do is to help her learn things that she will need when she returns to the real world. A lot of that can and has been done through skill downloads, but if she has questions we should answer them. As for when she returns to the real world, her mind will adjust, just as it is now to her life in the game, just as yours is.”
“Umm… speaking of that,” I began a bit uncertainly, “I had some dreams last night. I was growing up… as Taelya.”
“That is to be expected. It means that your mind is adjusting to your new in-game identity which in turn will ease any dysphoria. The memories attached to the skill downloads are meant to give you a sense of self, related to your new body, so female characters are given memories of learning things from a female point of view, males from a male point of view, and from the point of view of their race as well. It’s just general memories and your mind fills in the blanks of faces, names, and other details based on people and things that you are familiar with, put in the correct context to make sense of the memories,” she explained.
“Yeah, Nishalle mentioned that you told her something similar,” I replied, still a bit concerned as I added, “but for the life of me I can’t remember ever knowing any red-headed guys named Seamus, and I haven’t seen any in the game either.”
I could have been imagining it, but for a brief instant, I thought that I saw her eyes narrow in fury. She took a deep breath and pondered it for a moment before offering, “Maybe it’s something with one of the Yseil'dhraí female-specific skill memory files. I’ll have someone look into it, it could just be one of the programmers up to a little mischief and leaving a little Easter egg. You, of all people, should understand that, with your background in programming.”
“Yeah, it could be something like that,” I agreed, wondering if the programmer responsible was going to catch hell. While Moira always tried to tell me the truth, or at least the truth as she saw it, It seemed sometimes like Moira was hiding something, or things, of great importance, but I couldn’t figure out what it was, or even what questions to ask about it other than, “What are you hiding?” For some reason though, I didn’t want to ask that burning question, maybe I was afraid of what the answer might be. So instead, I settled for, “How did things go outside the game, besides the whole Dennis disaster?”
“Well, I managed to convince the heads of our New York, Tokyo, and London offices to transfer their stock shares to me. It will be enough to give me a controlling interest in the company and block any sales, but I’m still worried about the wrong people trying to get their hands on this technology before we’re ready, so I’m planning on moving the F.I.Ts, servers, and everything associated to more secure and less known locations after the tournament. Oh, by the way, I must introduce you to our other new players over dinner,” she informed me with a smile. “It will be served in just over an hour and a half so you should go prepare.”
The small army of Brownies and my friends had managed to put away a good portion of the supplies during my talk with Amoiraishe so my help wasn’t really needed. When I tried I was properly shooed off to my rooms by my personal Brownie maid Kalia, with the admonishment, “Such work is not for a princess of the Autumn Court. You have your duties and we have ours, please, go prepare for dinner.”
So, I contritely headed up to my rooms where Daenyss was waiting for me. Apparently, she and Kalia had already put away my new clothes, undergarments, and everything else. They had put Rei’s things away too and disposed of the clothes that had been causing the allergic reaction as well. “Mistress, I have a hot bubble bath prepared for you. Why don’t you go take a relaxing soak and I’ll be in to help you clean up and get ready for dinner once I have given your soiled clothes to Kalia for washing.”
A hot bath did sound good, so telling myself that it wasn’t like I had much choice anyway, I did as the Nymph asked and went to the bathroom to undress and climb into the bathtub that was filled with floral-scented water topped with a thick layer of bubbles. I sighed in satisfaction as I settled in and the cramps from my period seemed to ease. It felt nice on my sore muscles too.
Daenyss popped in for a moment to collect my clothes to take to Kalia but wasn’t gone for long before coming back in and carefully releasing my hair from its normal style. I had a few tangles from keeping the braids all in for days at a time without having any time to brush it out and re-braid it, but the Nymph gently worked them out before washing my hair with the floral-scented shampoo and conditioner.
I was a bit nervous at first being alone with her, but that quickly evaporated. She was a sweet and innocent young woman now and it showed in the care she took to be gentle and her happy chattering about how exciting our trip had been and asking what I thought that she should take as her new skill. It wasn’t just that she wanted her skills to please me, but that she had so little real-world experience that she didn’t really know what a lot of the skills were, let alone what would be useful. Amoiraishe had been right, she needed help.
So as she bathed and generally pampered me I tried to explain what skills I thought would be useful for her and what they meant or involved. We ended up deciding on a skill that she already had a general idea of, basic firearms. It would allow her to keep herself, and me, safe and then I could put a couple of the Glocks and one of the AK-47s that we had gotten from H3lls-Pwn in her chest along with some extra clips for her use.
Once I was all clean and smelling of flowers, my new Attendant helped me to dry off and then left me to put on one of my new red silk bra and panty sets and change my tampon. She had even left my silk dressing robe and the boxes of panty liners, tampons, and my bottle of Midol where I could easily find them. I thought that she was trying to maintain a careful balance of attending my needs with not getting too handsy and giving me privacy when I needed it, which I found myself really appreciating.
She did have to get a little handsy when I joined her in the living area portion of my rooms, to rub lotion into my skin, but she was trying to avoid any place too intimate and just anoint the areas that would be on display until I was more comfortable with her. When that was done she immediately sat me down at the vanity, used her heat spell to dry my long copper tresses, and then began to carefully and lovingly brush it until it was silky soft and shining. I wasn’t complaining because it was actually pretty relaxing having my hair brushed like that. Then she helped me to get into the outfit that she had chosen for dinner. It was a dress, of course, the red and gold silk dress in a Chinese style that Nishalle and the other girls had insisted on me having along with the pair of red Fae-styled sandals that I had worn during the Wild Hunt.
With me properly attired Daenyss brushed my hair one more time, to ensure that there had been no tangling while getting me dressed, and then began pulling it up, securing it with the gold ring, and then carefully braiding and arranging it into its usual style. As she worked I asked if she had met any of the other players yet, either in the game or in the real world, but sadly she hadn’t so she couldn’t tell me anything about them.
Daenyss then proceeded to add some light makeup to my face, “To enhance your natural beauty Mistress. You don’t need much, but it will make you more striking and we want you to make a lasting first impression. Trust me, this will do it. They are never going to forget meeting you.” She said the last with an encouraging smile.
Rei had returned from helping put the supplies away during the hair brushing and had been encouraged by Daenyss to go take a quick hot bath of her own. Since I was ready with twenty minutes to spare Daenyss went to go offer Rei her assistance as well. My fiancée was still in a sort of gender-neutral mood it seemed as she was looking fairly androgynous as she and my Attendant emerged from the bathroom. Her form was definitely female at the moment, but she had a flat chest, short hair, and a very modest figure.
Once the Kitsune’s now short hair had been dried and brushed, Daenyss went into our room to find her something appropriate to wear. As soon as the Nymph was off on her search Rei kissed me tenderly on the lips, careful not to mess up my makeup. “You’re looking beautiful, so what’s the occasion? Daenyss didn’t mention it while she was helping me get clean. Speaking of Daenyss, are you… y’know, okay?”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “Daenyss is a sweet and caring girl, the more time I spend with her the harder it is to not see that. And I think she’s trying to go easy on me and let me get used to her a bit before she goes full-on personal with me like Naerysse was. As for the occasion, we’re supposed to be meeting the other new players at dinner. You’re looking pretty incredible yourself by the way.”
Rei’s cheeks flushed a bright crimson. “I’m not, I’m in one of those moods where I don’t really want to be gendered and it shows, I saw the mirror. It’s sweet that Daenyss is thinking of your feelings like that though.”
“Being androgynous doesn’t mean you can’t look amazing, but then you always look amazing to me,” I told her as I kissed her lightly. “Yeah it is sweet of her, it seems like she’s been trying to consider my needs ever since we met, even if it makes her uncomfortable.”
“Like informing you of the option to order her to call you by your name? Nishalle told me about that, and we’re both proud of you. I think it was kind of you to not do that, I know how you hate the titles, but you were thinking of her needs instead of yours. I think that you two are a lot alike that way.” We both turned as Daenyss entered the room again carrying a pair of simple black slacks, a dark green silk chemise, panties, and black leather boots that had been among the new clothes Rei had gotten on our trip. I silently approved of her choices.
“Your clothes Miss Rei,” the Nymph offered. “I attempted to make my selections based on your current looks. I assume that you want a gender-neutral look and will not require makeup?”
Rei seemed pleased too as she grinned at Daenyss and quickly put on the clothes in question. “Thanks, Daenyss, and no makeup. Thank you for your help.”
Daenyss gave us both a genuine-looking smile. “It’s my pleasure to serve Mistress’s needs, and yours as well should you need it, Miss Rei. You should both head down to dinner now though or you will be late.”
Rei, who looked very nice in her outfit reached out to hug Daenyss and I quickly followed suit as my fiancée asked, “Are you not coming Daenyss?”
“No, Miss Rei, my mother has invited me to have dinner with her tonight and she wants to introduce me to some of the other Nymphs,” she explained before quickly adding, “but I will come right to you should you call my name Mistress.”
“I’ll call you if I really need you, but I would like for you to have some time for yourself too when you need it. So, go on and enjoy yourself Daenyss, we’ll see you later.” With that Daenyss gave a quick curtsey and was on her way, leaving me and Rei to head downstairs for dinner.
I was a bit nervous as we walked down the hall and descended the stairs, I was never very good at meeting new people and I wasn’t sure why Mother wanted me to make a big first impression, other than the whole projecting the aura of a proper Autumn Court Princess thing. “Stop fidgeting and primping, it’s just dinner guests and you look fine,” Rei chastised me as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Wait, I was primping?” I asked stopping to stare at her.
“A little,” she admitted with a shrug. “I do it when I’m nervous and girly too, a lot of girls do, but it’ll be fine. Just remember those mental exercises of yours if you start to get nervous and you’ll do fine.” My only response to that was to take a deep breath and focus my mind and then, once I was calmer, I took her hand again and strode toward the dining room trying to project an aura of confidence.
Rei and I walked in to find the others of our party already seated at the dinner table with Amoiraishe, but much to my surprise there was only one other person seated there. The biggest surprise wasn’t that there was only one though, but she appeared to be Human and I could tell as soon as I looked at her that she was wearing a glamour. Under normal circumstances, a guest wearing a glamour would be considered very rude in one of the Courts so I just looked at Amoiraishe with a stunned and slightly uncertain expression on my face. “A Human?”
“Ah! There you are, just on time!” Amoiraishe said with an enthusiastic smile while gesturing for us to sit. “Lark, this is my daughter Taelya and her fiancée Rei. Girls this is Lark, she’ll be playing a Bard and I hope that you’ll help her adjust and show her the ropes. Don’t worry Taelya dear, she has already sworn her oath of loyalty to both us and the Autumn Court. Unfortunately, she was the only one of the four guests that I invited who could make it here and participate under such short notice.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” the girl said. She was a girl, a Human, and probably in her mid to late teens, wearing a fashionable blue spaghetti strap dress with a mid-thigh hem. The glamour she was wearing didn’t change her appearance so much as distort my perception of it, so it was a little hard to tell any real details beyond that, though I figured that the glamour was coming from the pendant she was wearing and it made her look like she was in her late teens with blue eyes and long blonde hair.
I nodded and offered, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Lark. So, you’re playing a Bard huh? Do you have an interest in music? Is that a glamour you’re wearing?” I already knew the answer to the last question, but I was curious to see how she answered.
“You could say that,” the girl replied with a bit of a giggle. “I guess that you could say that I’m a bit of a musician, but I wanted to learn dancing and stuff too so it’s cool that I could take those as skills. I’ve always believed that music is like magic, it has the power to bring people closer together. So, when Moira offered me a spot in the game and told me about the Bard class, I really wanted to try making actual magic with music. Sorry about the glamour, but it was your mother’s idea. I don’t want to be recognized by anyone who might know me and we didn’t have time to alter my appearance for the game. Basically, it was just jumping on in, choosing my skills, and then getting here for dinner before the other guests arrived.”
“Cool,” Lissany said, grinning at the other teen from her spot at the table. “So, how old are you Lark?”
“I just turned seventeen,” the blonde Bard replied. “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do this, but I do my schooling online, I’m way ahead in my schoolwork, and I don’t have anything big scheduled until late January so I thought that it would be a pretty cool vacation for me.”
“Well that’s cool, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the game and you can always join our party while we show you the ropes. It’ll be interesting to have a Bard with us and I’m sure that Liss will enjoy having a girl closer to her own age in the group,” I offered.
“That would be great!” Lark and Lissany both enthused at the same time.
“I think you’ll love being in our party, Taelya is a great leader and we all spend a lot of time together, it’s like I have a family other than just Mom now, though it’s cool she’s playing this game with me too, I have the best mom in the world,” my Guardian gushed.
“I’m glad that we could do this together too sweetie,” Venika told her with a smile that lit up her tiny face. “You’re right too, we have a good group here, we take care of one another and it is sort of like a family, even Daenyss seems to be fitting in well with us.”
“Yup, that Nymph has guts,” Pete agreed. “The way she protected Rei and Tae from that fire spell was awesome. I think she’ll fit in well.”
“It’ll be interesting to have a Bard in our group too now, I can’t wait to see what you can do,” Grell added.
“Yeah, so welcome to the family,” Lissany said with a feline grin to the Human Bard. “Speaking of family, what do your parents think of you playing this? Couldn’t one of them join you?”
Lark looked down at the table, a sad look passing over her features. “I don’t really have a family anymore, I’m on my own IRL. My parents aren’t the greatest, the booze and the drugs were more important to them than me. I left them and their abuse as soon as I turned sixteen and could get legally emancipated, so now I’m on my own.”
“Omigod, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to…” Lissany said, stumbling over her words.
There was a bit of an awkward silence then so I tried my best to give both girls a reassuring smile. “You couldn’t have known Liss, and that just gives us more of a reason to welcome you into the family, Lark. Most of us don’t have much family in real life. Nishalle and I lost our mom years ago and have no clue where our dad is, don’t really care where the asshole is either. Rei’s family disowned her when she came out of the closet, and Lissany and Venika only have each other. Daenyss doesn’t have anyone either I’m told, though she wouldn’t remember them either way.”
“Pete and I are both gamers, we don’t have much of a social or family life either,” Grell admitted.
It was a bit of a depressing topic so I decided that I should probably change it. Something that Lark had said earlier registered in my brain and I asked pointedly of my ‘mother’, “Who are these other guests that Lark mentioned? I assume that we’re waiting for them to arrive before serving dinner? I thought you just said that she was the only one who could make it on such short notice.”
“Lark was the only one of the four guests that I had invited who could make it, but we will have other guests… from the London, New York, and Tokyo offices joining us on Autumn Server for a while to observe things,” Amoiraishe clarified with a long and slow sigh and a look directly at me. “Consider them ambassadors, all of you must make a good first impression with them. The heads of the other offices are not completely behind all of my plans, though they have shown interest in a few things, such as the Guardian Class. They also want to get to know you better since you and I represent the Autumn Court and Server. I wish that I could tell you more, but I don’t even know who they are sending. I was just told before getting back into the game with Daenyss that their representatives were on the way. The techs on the outside sent me a message in-game this morning that they had arrived in town and were coming straight to the office to get plugged in, so given that it’s been probably an hour and a half in the outside world by now, they should be joining us in the game soon. We will have dinner when they arrive.”
“Just great, more diplomacy,” I thought bitterly to myself as Rei and I took our seats at the table, with me beside Amoiraishe. “Do you know anything specific about these ambassadors, Mother?”
“I’m afraid that I don’t know who they are sending, but they will likely appear as Yseil'dhraí of their Courts since they are bringing character data from their respective servers. They are probably trusted employees or friends of the heads of the other branches. Those heads would be the queens of their servers’ Courts so they have too much going on in their own offices to get personally involved until the tournament. They will likely have their princesses heavily involved in their own servers like I have been doing with you as well, so it will likely be lower-ranking Yseil'dhraí or trusted males. Spring Server is the one in Tokyo, Summer Server is in London, and New York is hosting the Winter Server, but that’s about all that I can tell you,” the Fae queen admitted.
Her comment about how they would appear probably meant that we were expected to stay in character as well and that wasn’t reassuring, especially since I really didn’t like having no idea of what we could be facing. I began to start going over everything that I knew of Fae culture in my mind. Only females bore the Danann’syr on their faces that marked their rank and position within the succession of the throne of their Courts. I would have much rather had been male in the game, there was less pressure that way and none of this princess shit.
Even though Yseil’dhraí males are taught governance and all of that stuff, just like the females, the closest thing that males could hope for was a military rank or being consort to a Yseil'dhraí female. Marriage wasn’t really a thing among the Fae though, with their highly sexual and polyamorous natures. So Consorts were usually favored lovers, or someone very close to a Yseil'dhraí female, but there was no real power attached to the position unless the person were a master manipulator and the Yseil'dhraí was very weak-willed.
Fae are also very keen on proper protocol. Lark’s glamour would not go over well if not immediately and properly explained. They would likely see it as a deception or insult, but they also wouldn’t come right out and bring attention to it in their hostess’s home. I figured that we would have to get ahead of that and address the problem when we introduced her.
As hostesses, we would probably be walking a fine line of being gracious and polite, but not letting them coerce or manipulate us as well. Interactions between the four Courts could be strained at times, it was why they only ever met for Councils when matters required the attention of all of the Courts. My memories of Fae culture told me that historically, the Queens were like the seasons that their Courts represented, it was seldom a good idea to have them all trying to make their presence known at the same time and in the same place. “Is this a good idea?” I asked, worried about this, especially if our visitors were as aware of the history of the Courts as I was, and I didn’t doubt that they were.
“If the Fae are going to adapt to this new world and properly fulfill our duties once again then we will need to work with not only the humans and other Races, but with one another as well. The Courts need to learn to communicate better with one another and appreciate not just our differences, but our similarities as well. The Four, the first of the Yseil'dhraí, were sisters before they were queens and many of us have lost sight of that, Taelya. We need to see this not as an imposition, but as an opportunity,” Amoiraishe answered with a smile, but behind that smile, her eyes looked as uncertain as I was. I couldn’t really blame her though, I’d probably feel the same if I were in her position and had the heads of the other branches of my business wanting to barge in and start looking over my shoulder, especially after what happened with the board of directors.
“Okay, so we’re not just going to have to try to be polite and gracious, but you want us to try to impress them and make friends as well?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes,” she confirmed with a nod. “Lissany’s class is of interest to them so we will use that. We will also use your use of Nature’s Call and how you have begun to build such a good relationship with the Humans in Haven.”
“Perhaps with the right skills this might go a bit smoother as well,” I suggested after a moment’s thought. “Do you speak Elvish, Lark?”
The blonde Bard quickly nodded. “I didn’t have to take too many skills related to my class so I was mostly able to brush up on dancing and take a few other skills that interested me. Moira suggested that I take Elvish since I would be staying here in the Glade and shadowing your group.”
I smiled, somewhat relieved at that. “That’s good to hear. We all leveled up during our trip so everyone has a skill point, I have two. I’m thinking that we should all have Elvish language as a skill so they can’t try to exclude any of us from the conversation, and it would only be polite to speak Elvish. I was hoping to have Daenyss learn a combat skill, but I’ll have to have her learn Elvish as well since she’ll probably end up interacting with them to some degree. Nishalle and Venika, I’d suggest Fae Culture for you since you both already speak Elvish.”
“Actually,” Venika offered with a pensive expression her face, “I think I’ll wait for my next skill point for that. I really think that I should take Monster Lore. We need somebody with that kind of knowledge in case you’re incapacitated or something, Taelya. With my ability to see ahead, even if it’s not that far, I think it should be me. I would be able to properly warn about what it is I see and have an idea on how to deal with it in case we need to react quickly.”
I quickly nodded in agreement. “You have a point Venika, I would want you in charge if something happened to me anyway. You seldom panic, we all listen to you, and you’re pretty adaptable.”
The others quickly nodded in agreement, though they decided to go with the skills that I was suggesting since they wanted to be able to follow any conversations with the new arrivals. Soon Amoiraishe had given them all the agreed-upon skills and we sat down to await our guests and dinner. For my skills I chose animal training and animal handling, to help in case I needed to ride or work with the vsilja or cú sídhe again. I figured that I could use the skills to mess with my sister a bit and that with the limited amount of gasoline available in Haven, that it might be a good idea to have another way to travel before the closed beta was done. Once Moira had given us each of our new skills I felt quite a bit better, though I was still a bit nervous about Daenyss not having the Elvish language skill yet.
“Worry not,” Amoiraishe reassured me when I voiced that concern. “We needn’t bother with that. I included the Elvish language in her class skills download package. She is still a little skittish though it seems and I would like for her to relax a bit and not have to deal with our guests until I know what to expect from them. She’s with the other Nymphs now, I believe, so I’ll have Naerysse warn her about our guests though. She could use the time learning from the others of her kind and there’s no sense bringing her here for nothing.”
“Thanks, Mom, I appreciate it,” I said in relief before letting out a slight sigh as I realized that I had called her Mom instead of Moira again. Since that seemed to be the least of my problems at the moment though, I tried to put it out of my mind and focus on what was ahead.
We were all getting fairly antsy twenty minutes later when Amoiraishe received notice that the players from the other servers had joined Autumn Server. While we had been waiting for them to show up she tried to give all of us a quick primer on the different Courts, for the benefit of those of us without the Fae Culture skill. She gave a brief history of the Fae, beginning with the Four, and explained that even though our guests would all likely be Yseil'dhraí from their respective Courts, they would look different than us because they were descended from one of the other four first Queens. Yseil'dhraí of the Autumn Court, like me and Amoiraishe of course, had red-gold hair and golden eyes, but those from the Spring Court had silver eyes and green hair, the Summer Court’s Yseil'dhraí had brown eyes and hair ranging in pinks and pale purples, and the Winter Court Yseil'dhraí all had blue eyes and white hair.
She had arranged for our guests to spawn outside the front doors of the estate so she stood up after receiving the message from the techs and said, “Our guests have arrived, I’m having one of the Brownies escort them here. Everyone be cautious, stay in character, and try not to let on that you know why they are here.”
We all stood as the dining room doors were opened and the Brownies led in our guests. It seemed to be a night for surprises because instead of three guests there were apparently four. Siggurd, the male Brownie who was the head of the royal servants preceded them and announced, “Your Royal Majesty, Your Highness, and guests. It is my pleasure to introduce Her Grace, Duchess Sahnae of the Spring Court, Lady Kinara, Countess of the Summer Court, and her father Maekin, and Narek of the Winter Court. Honored guests, I present Her Royal Majesty Queen Amoiraishe, Her Highness Princess Taelya, and Her Highness’s intended, Rei of Inari’s favored. This is Her Majesty’s younger daughter, Nishalle of the NightWind Clan, who also serves as Princess Taelya’s protector, and Her Highness’s Guardian Lissany. I also present our other honored guests; Venika of the Rosethorn Clan, Grell of Atlantis, Pete the Valiant, and the Lady Lark, a Bard of some renown.”
I took a moment to look them all over as Siggurd made the introductions. Sahnae was perhaps a little taller than me, slender, and had long leaf green hair arranged in a series of braids falling down to her hips. She seemed to be doing the same as me, looking over each of us in keen interest, examining us critically. It’s kind of hard to tell how old a Fae is supposed to be since supposedly we stop aging in our late teens or early twenties but, despite her youthful appearance, her silver eyes looked like those of a person who has seen a lot over the years. She seemed friendly enough, with a genuine-looking smile, a smile that seemed to grow as Siggurd introduced Rei. That didn’t surprise me too much since Rei is a Kitsune and Sahnae was from the Japan office.
The next that had caught my attention was Narek. He was as big as Pete was and had his stark white hair cut short in a crewcut, drawing attention to his pointed ears and the coldest blue eyes that I had ever seen. He was also the only one of the ‘ambassadors’ who was wearing armor and weapons, a pair of long curved swords crossed behind his back with the hilts easily reachable behind his shoulders. I had to suppress a shiver as I looked him over and he smiled at me. That was not a friendly smile, it was filled with lust and too much arrogance for my liking as his eyes roamed over my body. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going through his head. He wanted me, for both my body and my position. I had to work hard at not letting out a sigh as I wondered how long it would be before he started his games.
The pair from the Summer Court was a bit of a surprise. They looked to be this strange combination of relaxed and excited like they were genuinely happy to be in the Autumn Court’s Fae Glade and meeting us. The father was a Nyiir'dhraí with long chestnut-colored hair, bright green eyes, and a friendly smile while his daughter Kinara looked to be younger than Lissany, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. She was very pretty with long and loose hair that was the color of cotton candy and deep brown eyes. Those eyes took in the room and its inhabitants a bit nervously until they settled on Lissany and then they, and her entire face lit up with excitement. She practically flew over to my Guardian as she squealed excitedly and gushed, “Oh my Goddess! You’re a Beastkin, aren’t you?! I’ve heard about people like you! You’re sooo cute! Is it true that you can turn into an animal?!”
“Ummm… yeah, I can turn into a jaguar,” the Beastkin teen answered a bit uncertainly. Her eyes were on me and Moira as is she wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation and the attention diplomatically.
“Lissany is also my Guardian,” I gently told the young Summer Court Yseil'dhraí. I wanted to help Lissany out and help Kinara feel more relaxed but I also wanted to deal with another issue, namely Narek glaring daggers at Lark. “She is a fierce warrior and a loyal friend. Since the three of you seem so close in age why don’t I have Lissany give you and Lark the grand tour of the estate after dinner? Lark only just arrived tonight as well. I’m afraid that she didn’t have time to make her character appear to her satisfaction and for technical reasons Mother kindly provided her with a glamour to wear during her time here.”
The reactions to my comment were various. Sahnae, the Spring Court’s representative smiled at me and gave a nod of approval that I wasn’t expecting at all. Lissany looked both proud and somewhat relieved, while Amoiraishe, Lark, and Kinara’s father all looked happy that I had taken matters in hand. Kinara herself suddenly went from looking afraid that she had just made a major blunder to being pleased as punch as she enthused, “That would be totes awesome, Your Highness!”
Narek’s reaction was only half what I had been expecting. His attention was now off of Lark and focused on Lissany in anger and disbelief. Those emotions were quickly channeled into a glare directed at Amoiraishe as he snapped, “You expect us to believe that this child is the fearsome defender who you have been raving to the other Queens about?! It is an insult to guards who have spent their whole lives training to protect the royal lineage that you want to replace them with something like that!”
Lissany tensed up, her tail bristling at his dismissal and his attitude and Amoiraishe stepped over to place a gentle hand on my Guardian’s shoulder. “Nobody is talking about replacing anyone,” she said firmly. “We need to change with the times, and an addition of a Guardian to a Yseil'dhraí’s regular guards will help to keep us all safer. Do not doubt her abilities because of her youth, she is loyal, fierce, and has already saved my daughter’s life on many occasions.”
The Winter Court representative glowered at Lissany a moment longer before gesturing wildly at me. “She’s no more than a child herself, and her inexperience would make it easy for someone to make it look like they were saving her life!”
I was seething now. I took a deep breath, focused on pushing all of my anger aside, and asked in a frosty tone, “Are you calling my mother, the Queen of the Autumn Court, a liar? Or are you insinuating that my Guardian is a liar and that I’m a fool? I am nineteen years old, an adult by Fae standards, and I expect to be treated by a guest in our home with the respect due to an adult of my position. I will not have you insulting my Guardian either, she has placed herself between me and harm with no thought of her own safety on several occasions. Her loyalty and skill are not in doubt, but your manners are. You come here as a guest armed and armored, you insult your hostesses, and you can’t keep a civil tongue in your mouth. You will mind your manners from now on or I will send you back to your Court in an urn.”
“Her Highness is correct Narek, I will tolerate no more of your rudeness toward our hostesses. They have done nothing to earn such behavior and you shame your Court and your Queen. We are their guests and we should act as such,” Sahnae put it with a cold glare toward Narek.
Amoiraishe looked a bit shocked. She had looked ready to tear his head from his shoulders, but I had beaten her to the punch, and that fury quickly dissolved into a proud smile as she added, “If you think my daughter a child, then I assure you Narek, it is you that is the fool. She has many battles to her credit, she has forged a peace with the Humans of the nearby village, and she is an exceptionally gifted Magus with a natural feel for the flow of mana. I have had to begin teaching her to control Nature’s Call since she instinctively used it last week.”
“That’s… most Yseil'dhraí are at least a century old before they learn Nature’s Call, even by accident,” Sahnae sputtered, the Spring Court representative’s silver eyes wide as she looked at me in awe.
“It’s true, we saw her use it for the first time and she’s coming up with new and amazing spells all the time,” Venika added. “She’s been teaching me and Haven’s sheriff magick too.”
“Could you teach me too, Your Highness?” Kinara asked her cheeks as pink as her hair. “Dad isn’t a Magus, so I haven’t had anyone to teach me anything more than the basics that I learned in my class tutorial yet. We’re probably going to be here for a while.”
I was a little uncertain about teaching anyone else, but I realized that this was an opportunity to help ease the tensions between Courts here and to show the London branch, and maybe the other branches as well, that we were willing to play ball with them to some degree. “I would be happy to, please call me Taelya though Countess, we are both Yseil'dhraí after all.”
“Cool! Thank you sooo much Taelya! You can call me Kinara too, I don’t really like using the titles anyway.” She looked ecstatic as did her father, who smiled at me and mouthed a silent “thank you”.
That was when the Brownies began bringing in the trays with dinner so Moira called everyone’s attention to the impending meal. “Come now, let’s sit and get to know one another better over a nice meal.”
Dinner was great, but then I was practically starving by that point and the Brownies take pride in their work, so that was to be expected. As we ate we all talked about Court politics, magick, building a good relationship with Humans and the other races, and about my party’s recent excursion into the city. Narek was silent throughout the meal, probably hoping that we would all forget about the hole he had dug himself into earlier. He did look suitably impressed by Nishalle’s telling of our battles with the Lindwyrm and the Tooth Fairies, but I didn’t expect an apology from him for his earlier behavior and rash judgments, he was too arrogant for that.
My sister had looked ready to help Amoiraishe skin Narek alive when he had dug that hole, she had only held back because I had handled it myself, though it was clear that she didn’t like or trust him from the way that she was watching him. Our friends and party-mates seemed to be of the same opinion, judging from the occasional wary glances they cast in his direction.
I found myself liking our other guests as dinner and the conversations passed though. Our new Bard, Lark, seemed to be friendly, confident, and a real go-getter. She also had a very nice voice and a wireless microphone that was imbued with power from her patron Goddess, Cerridwen, much like Rei’s Hoshi no Tama. She sang us a few songs after dinner and I could see why she chose the Bard class, she loved music, I could see her get lost in it as she sang and I could feel the power, the magic in her voice, without her even actively using her bardic abilities.
Lark was the type who was determined to be the best musician she could be and was always looking for ways to improve. She was thrilled to take dancing skills and had selected the skills for hip hop, contemporary dance, and ballet. She had already played three instruments before entering the game, violin, guitar, and piano. It was clear from the way that she talked about it that she loved music more than anything, it was her happy place, and it was probably what had kept her going through her parents’ addictions and abuse. She also had a passion for the environment, which became apparent as she engaged Moira and Sahnae in a lengthy conversation about environmental issues and what we could do about them.
Sahnae had been a pleasant surprise, and as dinner progressed she and Amoiraishe seemed to click. There was this mutual respect and understanding thing between them and I have to admit that I was growing to respect her too as she talked about Court politics and the things that we could do to improve our relations with Humans and the other Races. She never raised her voice or looked down at others, a stark contrast from Narek. Even when she had admonished him earlier it had been done in a steady and calm tone. She had been firm, but it wasn’t meant to put him down, but rather as advice meant to help him see where he was wrong and to ease the growing tensions in the room. I kind of wished that someone like her had chosen to play a Yseil'dhraí on Autumn Server, she would have made a fantastic princess.
Then there was Kinara, she was eager to make friends and looking forward to me teaching her magick. She was also young and impressionable and seemingly crushing on Lissany, who she was eagerly conversing with on what being a Beastkin was like, the latest music and movies, and just everyday teenage girl stuff. It was nice seeing Lissany able to interact with a couple of other girls around her real-life age, though she was getting a bit self-conscious about Kinara’s attention, especially once the young Countess insisted that we all drop the titles when talking with her out of the public eye. I will admit that it was nice to have people calling me Taelya rather than by my title, as she and Sahnae both seemed comfortable with doing.
Kinara’s father, Maekin was the quiet and stoic type, here to help his daughter with her new duty, and probably assigned by their Queen to be the eyes and ears. It was clear that he adored his daughter and would do anything for her, but rather than being spoiled she was turning out to be a sweet and kind girl. I liked that, it meant that he lavished her with attention and guidance rather than gifts like a lot of parents. The adoration was mutual too, from what I could see of her cautious glances toward her father whenever the young Summer Court Yseil'dhraí was unsure of herself.
After dinner, the Brownies informed us that the Lark would be staying just down the hall from my rooms in the west wing and that our ambassadors would be in the east wing along with Amoiraishe. With dinner finished most of my party mates returned to their rooms while Lissany took Lark, Kinara, and Maekin on a tour of the estate as promised. Moira had offered to do the same for our Spring Court guest Sahnae, and for the sake of diplomacy, I decided to give Narek the tour myself, though Nishalle had insisted on accompanying us.
Once the other groups had left to get started, talking animatedly amongst themselves, I turned to the Yseil'dhraí from the Winter Court and said, “Well, let’s get started on your tour of the estate so you know where everything is during your stay.”
He followed me without comment, Nishalle watching him carefully as we made our way through the large mansion. I was uncomfortable with Narek, he had been far too quiet and calculating during dinner, and his occasional looks in my direction meant that the games would likely start soon, I had only delayed things with my chastisement of him earlier. He still thought of me as young and inexperienced, someone that he could manipulate.
I started with the throne room and then the kitchens, the rear patio, the ballroom, and then led him up the large staircase to the second floor where the bedrooms were. I tried to make the tour as quick and painless (for me) as possible and soon we were standing in front of the door of the room that had been assigned to our Winter Court guest. I forced a sweet smile as we arrived and said, “And this is your room. I’ll leave you now so that you can get settled in, you must be very tired from your trip.”
“I’m not so tired, it wasn’t that long of a trip,” he replied with a shrug. Then he gave me an only slightly arrogant smile as he put his arm around me and added, “I think that I could manage the time to spend some time with you if you’re interested. I think that things would be more diplomatic if we got to know one another better.”
“Aaaaand there it is, the attempt to get under my skirts,” I thought to myself with a groan. It had been offered as getting to know each other over a fun little casual night of sex, something common enough among the Fae, so I couldn’t really call him on being an arrogant asshole without looking bad myself. So I carefully controlled my reaction, shaking my head and shoving back the nausea and attack of dysphoria to the back of my mind. Then I found myself happy to be saying something that I never thought I would ever say in my life, let alone be happy about, as I reached back and removed his arm. “I can’t, it’s that time of the month.”
Nishalle didn’t hold back, she was not only my protector and sister but also she was a Tokh'dhraí, and everyone expects them to be less than diplomatic, especially when they think that someone is going too far with their princess. She glared up at the large Yseil'dhraí, red eyes boring mental holes in him as she said very coolly and calmly. “Do you remember what Her Highness said earlier about sending you home in an urn?” When his cold blue eyes widened and she knew that she had his attention, she spoke again in a tone that sent a shiver down my spine. “If you try that shit again… if you make her uncomfortable or do anything that makes me even think that you’re playing mind games with her…” Then she vanished into her own shadow only to reappear behind him from his shadow to whisper in his ear, “You will find out the hard way that she’s the nice sister.”
Despite the brave front that I had put up with Narek during dinner and afterward, his presence in the estate made me uncomfortable and scared for some reason that I couldn’t quite understand. Maybe it was that ember of dysphoria that the encounter at the door to his room had briefly fanned into roaring blaze before I had managed to extinguish it. Maybe it was his general attitude and the way he treated me and others. Or maybe, it was some sort of Fae danger instinct kicking in. Whatever it was, I was a bit shaken as Nishalle walked me to my rooms and inside. My sister seemed on edge as well as we entered the living area of my rooms.
We quickly explained to Rei what had happened and she frowned. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked, a look of concern washing over her currently androgynous face as we sat on the couch and Nishalle took the chair opposite us.
“I’ll be fine,” I told her, managing a weak smile. “Thanks for having my back Sis, I can’t believe I used the ‘that time of the month’ excuse.”
“At least you weren’t lying about it,” Rei offered, though that came as small comfort, given my situation.
Nishalle nodded, the tense look on her face vanished, and her expression softened considerably. “You’re my sister, I’m not going to let some Winter Court douchebag try to mess with you in our own home. Strange that this feels like home now, huh? Honestly, I was a little shocked, and very proud, by how you stood up to him and put him in his place before dinner.
“Rei quickly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me too. Were you channeling Moira there or something?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “It’s like you said though, Sis, this kind of feels like home now, and I just couldn’t let someone be so rude to all of us in our own home. He looked ready to strangle Lark and he outright insulted Lissany and me. I can’t tell if he was being deliberately antagonistic or if he’s just that arrogant. I got mad, and maybe a little too Fae, he needed to be put in his place. At least I tried to do it diplomatically, though perhaps threatening to send him home in an urn was a little too much.”
Nishalle gave me a stern look and promptly chastised me. “No, I know you care about just about everyone but don’t you start feeling bad for having a backbone Sis, he was a jerk and he deserved it for the way he was acting. You handled him perfectly, nobody objected to what you said, and did you see how proud Amoiraishe looked?”
I quickly shook off my uncertainty, knowing that she was right. “Yeah, it’s like she really is our mother sometimes, I keep slipping and calling her Mom or Mother. I’m not sure if that’s healthy, for either of us though, I can’t replace Moira’s daughter, and she can’t replace Mom.” I sighed and looked down at my feet.
Nishalle looked at me sternly from her chair, but her tone was understanding when she spoke again. “Tae, I slip sometimes too, it’s hard not to, especially with those dreams and memories we’ve been having. She’s not Mom, she’s different, just like you’re different from Rhiannon. Moira isn’t looking for replacements for her daughter, just like we’re not looking for a replacement for Mom. Nobody can replace who they were to us, but mother and daughter, when you come down to it they’re just labels and it’s not those labels, but rather the people who hold them that we love. If it’s really a problem for you calling Amoiraishe Mom, try calling her Mahair instead, it’s the elvish word and should come naturally, but still be different enough to help with any guilt. There’s nothing wrong with finding someone you care enough about to give those titles though, and Mom would be happy that we’ve found someone to fill that hole in our lives. She would want us to be happy and fulfilled and I’ve known Moira long enough to be able to see she feels the same. Sure, she can be stern and vindictive as hell, but so can I, and when she cares about a person she would break down the gates of Hell for them.”
“It’s hard to not see that she cares,” I agreed, “but I think she’s hiding things, not telling us the whole truth. There’s more than just the stuff in the game going on here, something big, but I’m not sure I want to know what it is.”
“I get that feeling too, she’s trying to protect us from something I think. She’s told us about her problems with the Board of Directors and her counterparts in the other offices, and she’s telling us the truth about other stuff, at least as much as she thinks she can. She won’t lie to us, but she’s very good at telling half-truths,” Nishalle agreed, echoing my own thoughts on the matter.
“Something else bothers me,” Rei put in after a short silence. “She’s a businesswoman, and obviously a successful one, but she is going out of her way to keep the game as is and started the closed beta early to keep the board from shelving the project. She’s also actively fought them to prevent her technology from being sold to the highest bidder when it would be far more profitable for her to go along with it. I can totally get not wanting this kind of tech falling into the wrong hands, but speaking from a purely business standpoint it just doesn’t make sense.”
I nodded my agreement. “Good point, and there’s something else I’ve been noticing too. All of the players that I’ve been talking to don’t have much in the way of family or friends in the outside world. Just look at our group alone. Lissany was a bit of an outcast due to her transition and only has her Mom, while Venika just has her and a few work friends, namely you and Moira who are all here as well. Lark wanted to get away from her parents so badly that she emancipated herself, Grell said that he and Pete don’t have much of a social or family life, Daenyss has nobody and nothing to go back to even if she did remember her life, and the three of us only really had each other until you started working for Moira. I don’t think this is a coincidence given the level of background checks Moira had done on all of us. So, is she doing this for us, or because we won’t be missed?”
“I think that it’s a combination of the two,” my sister agreed. “I used to talk to her about you a lot because I didn’t like you working a drone job. You could do so much better than that if you didn’t have all that anxiety. She tried to get me to recruit you for the company, but you weren’t interested when I brought it up. She practically begged me and April to join the closed beta and said that it would help Danielle to experience living as a female. Rei, when I told her about your gender situation, and how your family treated you when you came out, and that you were practically Caleb’s fiancée she offered you a place in the game, I didn’t even need to ask her. She wants to give people a bit of happiness and comfort with who they are and maybe some friends and a bit of family, but at the same time, I don’t think she wants anyone to lose family if something bad does happen during closed beta. She feels terrible that you’re stuck as a female Tae, but she’s as proud as I am to see you coming out of your shell and taking on the leadership role.”
“I’m not really too upset about the gender thing anymore, I’m getting used to it and the dysphoria is decreasing. Besides, it’s a closed beta, these are exactly the type of bugs we need to find before the official release. I sorta feel bad now that I accused her of purposely messing with me. Sure she’s hiding things, probably something really big, but it’s probably not something that we can do anything about anyway. For now let’s just try to keep our eyes open and enjoy the game, to tell the truth, right now I’m more worried about our Winter Court guest then about what Moira might be hiding,” I told them.
“Try not to worry, I’m sure you’ll handle him fine again, not that he’ll get the chance to do anything else. Lissany and I will be watching him,” Nishalle assured me.
“We’ll all be watching him,” my fiancée corrected, a foxfire appearing in her opened hand. “Nobody tries anything like that with my girl if she doesn’t want it.”
“To be fair, Fae are mostly polyamorous and sex is a really casual thing so it’s not the first or last time for such an offer. That being said, I wouldn’t do that to you, even with my increasing Fae attitudes about things,” I pointed out before emitting an unladylike snort of disgust. “And I wouldn’t do it with that jerk in any case, I already know more than I want to about him. Your possessiveness is kind of cute though.”
Rei put her arms around me and kissed me softly, though she refrained from doing anything that might sexually stimulate me while the dysphoria could still rear its ugly head. “I’m not being possessive, I’m being protective. I know you wouldn’t do that without my okay, sweetie, but I’m not that insecure. I know that you love me and I wouldn’t be against us having an open relationship when you’re ready for that, at least while we’re in these bodies. All I ask is that we’re both honest with each other about who else we’re sexually active with and that we take both take precautions. As for Narek, if he goes too far again when you’ve made it clear that you’re not interested, I may just send part of him home in an urn. Maybe without it, he’d be a little more diplomatic.”
I wasn’t really expecting to hear that from her. Neither the offer of an open relationship nor the threat toward Narek. “What?” I asked, uncertain that I had heard her correctly.
“You heard me,” she said with that sexy smile of hers. No matter what form she was in I was always attracted to her and I was beginning to question whether I might just be panromantic rather than bisexual like I had always thought. Could it maybe be a Fae thing, or was I like this all along? If nothing else, this game was opening my eyes to self-discovery.
“You mean that…” I started to ask.
“Yes,” she confirmed insistently. “I did threaten Narek with what you thought I did and I am okay with us having an open relationship as Rei and Taelya as long as we’re both careful and open about it and I’m your first when you get over the dysphoria. You make an awesome Fae and I think that while you are one that you should try to embrace and enjoy that part of yourself. I think I’m going to take Fae Culture and that Faerie Dance skill of yours so I can understand all of this better too.”
I didn’t think that I could love her anymore, but apparently, I was wrong. “You’d do all of that for me?”
“Of course I would, I know you’d do the same for me too, it’s why we’re in this game. It doesn’t matter who we share our bodies with, I know that your soul belongs to me, just as mine belongs to you.” She kissed me again and this time I returned the kiss passionately before remembering that my sister was still with us and sat back down with a blush anointing my cheeks.
Nishalle broke the awkward silence with a laugh. “I’d say get a room, but I guess we’re already in yours. To tell the truth though, now that I’ve gotten the Fae Culture skill, I think I want to take Faerie Dance as well, I can think of at least one person that I might want to… umm… get to know better. I don’t really have much experience IRL.”
“Pete right? I’ve seen the way that you two have been looking at one another,” I teased.
“Yeah, he’s cute and he’s a nice guy,” my sister admitted while looking at her knees. “Most guys just aren’t interested in me because in real life I’m a plain Jane and a tomboy, I can be a horrible tease, and I have no problems with saying exactly what’s on my mind. They’re either not attracted to me because I’m not some pretty little bimbo or they’re intimidated. Pete isn’t intimidated, even with me being a Tokh'dhraí, and he teases me right back. I kind of like being Nishalle, not just because I stand out a bit, but because it doesn’t surprise people when I don’t hold back, they accept me for who I am more readily. I kind of like the whole femme fatale thing I have going too, it works for me so I’m stepping out of my shell and wearing things I never would in real life.”
“Yeah so am I,” I replied tartly to her comment about clothes. “It is kind of growing on me though, or at least becoming less of an issue, as the dysphoria fades. It’s like clothes, in general, aren’t worth getting bent out of shape about, unless it’s for a special occasion and then I want to look just right. A lot of times I almost feel like I’d be more comfortable wearing nothing at all.”
We stayed up for a while after that just talking about things and how we were adjusting to the game. With just me, my fiancée, and my sister there it was kind of like before we entered the game, but at the same time, it was so much different. For one thing, I never would have had a conversation about how much nicer silk bras and panties felt compared to the regular off the rack stuff, not to mention how it didn’t cause horrible rashes. That was my reality now though and would be as long as I kept playing Taelya, so I just took it for what it was, a good time with the two people in the world that I felt closest to.
Once Nishalle had left to return to her own room, we got ready for bed and I changed my tampon and put a pad in my panties before getting into a crimson silk baby doll nightie and climbing into bed with Rei. She wrapped her arm around me, pulling me close, but she was careful not to touch me in any way that might set off my dysphoria. I was feeling much safer, not to mention happier, as I fell asleep in her arms.
“Mahair, what are the Fae of the other Courts like?” I asked my mother. We had just finished a lesson on the history and duties of the Yseil'dhraí and I was curious. I wanted to go outside and play with Nishalle and Venika, but at the same time, I was a bit confused and wanted to have answers to the questions burning in my mind. “You said that the other Yseil'dhraí look different than us and that each of us looks like one of the Four, but are there other things that are different too?”
“What manner of differences do you imagine they have my little rose?” my mother asked with a laugh.
“Do Yseil'dhraí boys have Danann’syr in the other Courts? That would look very strange. Though a Yseil'dhraí girl without them would look strange too,” I replied thoughtfully. I didn’t have much experience with other Yseil'dhraí though, just my mother and I really, since the few other Yseil'dhraí of the Autumn Court had died when I was still a baby. I remember that Mahair said that they were killed by something called Hoomans and I had wondered at the time what kind of frightening monster a Hooman was if it could kill so many Fae. I had been far too scared to ask though.
“No, dear one,” she said, still smiling for a moment before turning serious. “Danu grants the Danann’syr to only female Yseil'dhraí, it is we who inherit the marks and responsibilities of her daughters. Males do not bear marks or hold ranks, it has always been this way and always will be. Most Fae of our Court serve us willingly and happily, but some might be ambitious, this is more often with males than females. An ambitious person may attempt to use you for your position, you must always be wary of this, so make sure that you save your trust for only those who deserve it.”
“I will, Mahair,” I promised.
“Good girl,” she said as she kissed me on the forehead. “Now that you are finished your lessons for the day you may go and play.”
“Thank you Mahair,” I giggled as she kissed my Dannan’syr, and then once released I went to find Venika and Nishalle, perhaps I could convince them to come with me to play with the cú sídhe and vsilja. I needed to practice my skills with the animals anyway.
Once I had found my sister and my friend I did manage to convince them to come with me. The animals enjoyed the attention, but they only played with the cú sídhe since the vsilja wouldn’t let them get too close. It wasn’t much of a surprise since vsilja can be pretty vicious and only ever calm down for Yseil'dhraí. Still, we had a good chase through the forest to the flower meadow and while my vsilja grazed on the tall grasses my companions and I leaned up against the large body of one of the cú sídhe, snuggling in its shaggy green fur and eventually falling asleep in the afternoon sunshine.
I woke up contented as Daenyss tapped gently at the bedroom door. As strange as it still was to be dreaming of growing up as Taelya the dream had been a pleasant one and it left me in a good mood. I still needed to take a deep breath and push away the dysphoria when I moved and had that surge of wrongness about my body, but that was practically becoming part of my morning routine since being in the game. “Mistress, it is time to get ready for your day,” my Attendant called out.
“I’ll be right out Daenyss,” I called back quietly as I extracted myself from Rei’s embrace. I didn’t want to wake him, and it was definitely him this morning. I had been half expecting a male mood with how protective Rei was last night and now his humanoid Kitsune form matched, his red fox ears twitching in a tousled mess of short black hair atop the handsome Japanese features of his usual male form. When Rei was feeling manly it wasn’t huge and over-muscled. He was taller of course, but he didn’t really identify as one of those bodybuilder types who spent too much time in the gym. No, he was fit and toned without looking like a gorilla with all that muscle and hair.
You may be thinking, “He’s in a manly mood so why doesn’t he look more manly?” The answer is that, for Rei, it’s not about looking manly or trying to fit into those stereotypical jock appearances. He just wants to feel comfortable in his own skin and have the correct body parts. Beyond that, Rei is the type who believes that manliness isn’t found in one’s appearance but one’s state of mind, how one acts and treats others. Sure he likes to be handsome and strong, but the definition of handsome varies from person to person, and strength isn’t just found on the outside, although his toned body did display taut muscles. I was just happy that he could be comfortable with his body because to me, no matter what form she or he may take, he was perfect just the way he was.
I smiled at Rei, feeling those warm fuzzies throughout my body as I lingered a moment to just look at him and drink in his appearance, his comfort with himself that I had never seen him have as Jess. Even in girl mode, she had never let herself get too comfortable with her body because she never knew when that comfort would come crashing down like a house of cards. “Yes the dysphoria is definitely worth this,” I whispered as I kissed him one last time and slipped out of bed to get pampered by Daenyss.
Daenyss again tried to respect my comfort as much as she could while still properly carrying out her duties. I really did appreciate the effort and compassion on her part as we went through the routine of getting me ready for the day and I told her about how dinner had gone the night before. It was the first time that I had ever sensed anger from Daenyss since she had joined us. She was absolutely livid and trying not to show it as she bathed me. “Daenyss, you’re upset, please tell me what’s wrong,” I encouraged her.
She was silent for a moment longer as she lathered and scrubbed, but finally, she did speak. “I… I know that I’m not one who should pass judgment, given what I was told that I have done, but how dare he? Treating a princess of any Court like that is horrible, and Lissany does not deserve that either. You could have done far worse to him than what you did and you would have been within your rights doing so. I do not think that I would have done as well, I am so angry that I want to… I do not know what I want to do.”
“The line starts after Nishalle and Rei, and probably everyone else who has met Narek,” I told her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. “Are you going to do something to him?”
The Nymph shook her head slowly. “No Mistress, as angry as I am, it is not my place to do so unless you ask me to become involved. I would gladly stand with you should you ask it, but I do not wish to shame you or the Autumn Court, by letting my emotions rule me and going too far.”
“Then you are no worse than I am Daenyss,” I assured her. “I did threaten to kill him after all. I could have done far worse, I wanted to do worse, but I held myself back to not make Mahair or the Autumn Court look bad. That’s no different than what you’re feeling. And you feel this way out of concern for me and Lissany, not for some selfish reason, so I think that you’re a far better person than you’re giving yourself credit for.”
“Why did you threaten his life if you were holding back?” she asked.
“Court Politics,” I replied with a shrug as I lifted a leg for her to clean. “I would have looked weak, and very like the child, he accused me of being, if I had done nothing and let Mahair handle it for me. I wanted to try out the new transfiguration spell I’ve been working on to turn him into a little white mouse but I needed to give a warning before I can fairly punish a visiting ambassador. He needed to remember that he was a guest and representing his Court and to know that we weren’t going to tolerate such disrespect in our own home. We also needed to make a show of strength to let all of our guests know that, while we were willing to welcome them, they are here at our pleasure and that kind of behavior isn’t going to be tolerated.”
“Can I watch when you do turn him into a mouse?” the Nymph asked with a smile.
“Well, hopefully, that won’t be necessary,” I told her with a grin. “You should have seen the look on his face when Nishalle threatened him. I’m hoping that his fear of just how many ways a Tokh'dhraí assassin could dream up to kill him will keep him well away for me for a while. If it comes to that she’ll probably deal with him before I can.”
“What would you like me to do then Mistress?”
I’d like you to stick with me as much as possible, I’m afraid that he might try to use those close to me and you don’t need that with all that you’ve been through. If he tries approaching you when you’re on your own then tell him that you require your mistress’s permission before speaking with or serving him. If he tries to push the matter and you feel uncomfortable then teleport straight to me,” I cautioned her as she washed the other leg.
“Yes Mistress,” she confirmed with a relieved expression before inquiring, “may I ask what we are doing today then?”
I thought about that for a moment before replying, “Well, with all the supplies we brought back yesterday we should be able to take it easy for at least a few days. Mahair wants to do more training with me on controlling Nature’s Call, and I figure that the others will all want to do some training of their own while I’m doing that. I was also thinking of maybe giving Lark and our guests from the other Courts a tour of Haven and introducing them to Becky and Mayor Gibson, maybe get some questing in, and I should try to get a magick lesson in for Becky and Kinara if I can manage it. I should introduce you to our guests as well.”
“We should go for a more relaxed look this morning for your training, a simple dress and no makeup should work fine. I will need some time to properly prepare you before going into Haven though. Is there anything that you would like me to wear while in the village?” The Nymph shifted uncomfortably as she asked the question.
I winced sympathetically. I knew how hard it had been on her yesterday even wearing just my sleepshirt while we were in Haven unloading the supplies. “I’m sorry, I know how uncomfortable you Nymphs are in clothes. I’ll try to think of something to help with that okay? Speaking of Nymphs though, how did your dinner go last night?”
“My mother seemed very happy to have me there. She and the other Nymphs are very friendly and taught me a lot, like how to control my urges,” she replied as she got behind me to scrub my back. “They’re all looking forward to the full moon next week though.”
“I imagine they would be,” I said, thinking back to my dreams of my Jhashaira. “I had pretty vivid dreams recently, including one about my Jhashaira. It was a bit disturbing remembering things from a childhood I know wasn’t mine, but I clearly remember enjoying myself. I don’t see how there can be many Faelings coming of age in the game this early on though.”
“I have clear memories of my Jhashaira as well, Mistress,” Daenyss began uncertainly as she started washing my hair. “Maybe it’s because I don’t have any other memories from before, but all my memories from the skill downloads are pretty clear. It feels a little strange sometimes, most of my memories are of being a Nymph, but I know that I was a man before entering the game. I was wondering how it would work in the game so I asked my mother about that when they mentioned it. She said that any Fae characters over the age of eighteen who wish to participate and do not have the Faerie Dance skill will be eligible for their Jhashaira and will learn the skill if they do participate.”
“Okay, that’s cool, Nishalle was talking about learning it and Venika might be interested too. I’m not sure if I will want to participate in the whole celebration, I’m still fairly uncomfortable with my body, even if it is getting better.” I said with a shiver. That, my sister’s probable involvement, and the thought of Narek being there as a guest wasn’t exactly making me want to jump into what would essentially be an all-night orgy.
“I am uncertain whether I will be comfortable enough in my body by then either,” Daenyss agreed. Then, in response to my shivering, she stopped lathering my hair to look me over in concern. “Is the water too cold Mistress? We will be finished shortly, but I can add more hot water if you wish it.”
“That’s okay Daenyss, I was just thinking about something that made me a bit uncomfortable, I’ll be fine,” I told her. We were both quiet for the remainder of my morning preparations, our conversation kept to a minimum as we were both lost in our thoughts.
Breakfast was animated, with only Narek remaining silent. That didn’t stop him from watching me in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable, at least until Nishalle caught his eye and glared at him across the table while making a show of licking her lips while flipping her knife in her hand before catching it to hold it with the blade pointed downward and just slightly toward him. She didn’t have to say a word. Narek turned as white as his hair and for the rest of the meal, he was looking everywhere except in my direction.
He also declined our invitation of a tour of Haven later that day, or at least I’m pretty sure that’s what his snort of disdain was meant to imply. Lark and our guests from the Summer and Spring Courts seemed eager enough though, especially when I mentioned a possible magick lesson for Kinara and Sheriff Shaw. They were also looking forward to meeting some of the other local Fae players, taking on some quests, and doing a bit of exploring of our server since the environment and cultural aspects were a bit different for each server.
After breakfast was over Amoiraishe took me to the shore and began working with me on controlling Nature’s Call, having me expand my senses to get a feel for the beach, the ocean, and the creatures that dwelled in both since the forest wasn’t the only aspect of nature that it could control. While I was training so were the others: Grell had gone down the beach to where Ashura and some of the other Atlantean players were building homes so that he and Ashura could start designing possible devices that would help address some of our more pressing needs. Kinara’s father, Maekin, had joined Lissany, Nishalle, and Pete with sword practice. Venika was practicing some of the spells I had been working on with her while Kinara looked on in keen interest, and Sahnae was speaking with Rei in Japanese and teaching her some new meditation techniques that she thought would help with his connection to Inari.
Daenyss was trying to stay close by in case I needed her, but she too was training. I had thought that the gold ornament in her hair was purely decorative, but it turned out to have a small dagger sheathed within it and she was practicing quickly withdrawing it and throwing it at a target in one smooth motion. She could have practiced with the AK-47 or the Glock that we had placed in her chest in my rooms, but we didn’t want to waste the ammo, and summoning and dismissing them seemed to come fairly easily for her.
We trained hard for most of the morning before returning home for an early lunch and then Daenyss quickly prepared me for our trip into Haven. I was dressed in one of the nicer cotton sundresses that we had gotten in the city, white with a pattern of red and gold autumn leaves. I had liked the pattern as soon as I had seen it, it just screamed Autumn Court. Beneath that, I was wearing white silk undergarments and a pair of white sandals. My hair was of course in its regular style with my Nature’s Crown atop my head. As for Daenyss, I kind of improvised by casting a glamour on her that made it appear like she was wearing clothes. She seemed so happy as we went into town since the glamour didn’t bother her like real clothes would, and she was still technically complying with local laws.
The tour of Haven and the introductions of our new guests to some of the locals went well, but they did get quite a bit of attention, especially Kinara and Sahnae. Nobody was expecting to see Yseil'dhraí from any of the other Courts after all. Even Becky seemed surprised. Amoiraishe had sent her a memo that we would be getting guests from other servers, but at that time she hadn’t known what to expect either. Haven’s Sheriff was happy to be getting back to her magick lessons and even though it took some of my time away from her she was pleased that I was teaching Kinara now as well. It wasn’t too bad though since I had already taught Venika most of the stuff that I was teaching them, and that gave me a second set of eyes to make sure that they were both pronouncing and drawing the sigils properly. Kinara was a bit of a natural, despite her lack of formal training, but that was to be expected as a Yseil'dhraí. All that she really lacked was confidence and the ability and experience to create new spells of her own.
We finished our day before dinner by doing some short quests such as helping to finish building the defensive wall around town and some hunting and gathering. By dinner time we were all a bit tired from a long day as we returned to the estate where Amoiraishe and Narek were giving one another cold looks across the dinner table while awaiting us and the evening meal. After dinner, we were all free to entertain ourselves and I noticed that Lissany was doing her best to make both Lark and Kinara feel like part of the family by taking them to her room to play a game of Monopoly that she had found in Haven’s general store, I was pretty pleased as the three of them walked off to her room chattering like close friends
Over the next week, our days were basically a repeat of that as we fell into a contented pattern and our guests settled in. As that time passed I found myself getting to like most of them more and more. Lark was going to fit in with our group fairly well I thought, even with her whole secret identity glamour and the representatives of the Spring and Summer Courts were diplomatic, friendly, and eager to help out where they could. Daenyss and I were growing closer as well, she really did care about me a lot and I was starting to see her as a friend as well as my Attendant. My only real concern was Narek, he was still watching me and making me uncomfortable anytime when he didn’t think Nishalle or Lissany were watching him, and it made me nervous waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still, the week was pleasant enough, settling into a sort of new normal for us, at least until two days before the full moon when I awoke feeling that something was wrong.
When I awoke I had this sudden awareness that something was wrong. Not quite sure what exactly it was though, I laid there for a moment with my eyes closed relying on the sharpness of my other senses in case I needed to jump into action. No unfamiliar or dangerous sounds were caught by my twitching elven ears unless you counted Rei’s faint snoring. Nothing smelled out of place either, just the fading cleanliness of the sheets that had been washed and changed yesterday and the slightly musky scent of Rei’s currently male form. I even reached our with my magick sense, reaching out as far as I could to encompass the entire mansion, but other than the mana that was ever-present in the world and the various magicks that I was used to feeling from my friends and the other Fae, I could sense nothing.
I couldn’t tell what was wrong, just that something was, and the feeling persisted. It didn’t feel like anything disastrous or world-ending, more like something was out of place. There was no secret Fae danger sense warning me of impending doom or anything like that, it was just that something felt off. I didn’t think that there was any danger to the Fae Glade or Haven, and I didn’t think it was Narek pulling anything either. No, whatever this was, it seemed to be something of smaller scale, something concerning me. It was like it was a small change, barely noticeable, but something that would have huge ramifications for me, personally. I tried figuring out what was bothering me so much as I laid there in Rei’s arms waiting for Daenyss to call me for our morning routine, but whatever the cause was it just wouldn’t seem to click in my mind.
It wasn’t until I was relaxing in the bathtub and enjoying Daenyss’s ministrations that it finally hit me. I was relaxing in my bubble bath while Daenyss was washing my hair, and massaging my scalp with her skilled hands and I found myself thinking, “Mmmm, this is nice. Why was I ever so reluctant to have an Attendant? It feels good to be pampered and Daenyss is getting better at her job every day, I’m really enjoying this.”
The significance of that thought hit me like a falling anvil. I wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t even have time to mentally pop up an umbrella, like a certain cartoon coyote would have done in my place. “Danu preserve me! I’m enjoying this. There are no niggling little dude thoughts in the back of my mind telling me that this isn’t me, that it isn’t right. The dysphoria, it’s gone!”
Ever since I had entered the game, body and gender dysphoria had been my constant companions. The self-loathing, the feeling of wrongness about my body, and the way people looked at me, especially with all the princess stuff. Everyday tasks like going to the bathroom, bathing, or looking at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth, all reminded me that I should have been Caleb and that being Taelya felt horribly wrong. Even how I got aroused or Rei caressing me in the wrong way generated those feelings, in fact, they made it worse than everything else and I had hated myself for that as well. Every morning that I woke up I had to shove those thoughts and feelings to the back of my mind if I was to have any hope of getting anything done or not breaking down into a redheaded elven mess.
I hadn’t had to do that this morning and it was the absence of that familiarity, the unaccustomed comfort with myself that had jarred me so much. For the first time, I was comfortable in my virtual skin. I was Taelya, a Yseil'dhraí and princess of the Autumn Court. I was comfortable being her, in fact, at that moment I liked being her and I was proud of my body. I liked being myself more than I could ever remember during my life as Taelya or Caleb. It probably shouldn’t have hit me so hard, it had been gradual enough. After all, the dysphoria had faded a little each day since I had gotten this virtual body, but I was so used to fighting those feelings now, fighting who I was.
I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me and then Daenyss’s concerned voice asked, “Mistress, are you alright? You’re crying. Did you get some shampoo in your eyes?”
Was I alright? I quickly took stock of myself and my feelings and, surprisingly, I found that the answer was yes. I wasn’t crying because I was upset about this situation. No, these were tears of joy. I was finally free of the burden that I had been carrying, free to enjoy being myself without the remnants of my male ego getting in the way. I leaned back into Daenyss’s arms, just enjoying the embrace and my newfound freedom for a moment before replying, “I’m fine Daenyss, better than fine. I feel wonderful.”
“Are you certain Mistress? I was a bit worried when I noticed you crying,” my Attendant pressed, seeming uncertain.
“If there were anything wrong I would be sure to tell you Daenyss, you’re a good Attendant and a good friend,” I assured her. “These are tears of joy though. My dysphoria is gone, and I feel amazing. Hopefully, yours will be gone soon as well.”
The Nymph hugged me even tighter, her firm breasts pressing into my back. “That is so good to hear Mistress, I’m so happy for you! Mine seems to be almost gone, it’s not near as bad as it was when I first joined you in the game. I hope that I’ll be up for the ceremony the night after tomorrow, it has been very hard controlling my urges lately.”
“I think I might go enjoy myself at the ceremony, now that I feel better as Taelya, though there’s something that I want to take care of first,” I admitted. After that, we talked about my plan as Daenyss thoroughly pampered me and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was comfortable enough with her now, and with my body, that I didn’t really mind her getting into my intimate places. Daenyss even offered to help me prepare my plan for that evening and made a few suggestions on how best to go about it.
Soon Daenyss had ensured that I was clean and dried, my skin was soft and smelling wonderful, and she had brushed out my hair and re-styled it. I had particularly enjoyed having my hair brushed and braided, there was just something so relaxing about it. With all of that done and Daenyss choosing appropriate outfits for me for the day I decided to go wake my fiancé. I carefully slipped inside the bedroom and approached the bed calling out, “Rei, wake up sleepyhead. It’s time to get up and go have some breakfast. We have a lot to do today.”
Rei shifted in the bed and after a little more convincing on my part managed to sit up and look at me blearily. “Okay Tae, I’m up, I’m up,” he protested just before his eyes went wide. “You’re… umm… not thinking of going down to breakfast like that are you?”
“Well, I don’t really need any makeup for this morning since it’s just training,” I replied thoughtfully. “Why? Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing sweetie?”
“You’re not wearing anything babe,” Rei responded with a raised eyebrow.
I flushed in momentary embarrassment, how could I have forgotten that I hadn’t put anything on yet? I wasn’t really embarrassed at the thought of going out naked though, it was more that it was because it felt so natural to me that I hadn’t even considered not doing it. Before, being naked or wearing feminine clothes triggered the dysphoria and made me hyper-aware of my body, and how it wasn’t really mine. Not having those feelings there all the time, in the back of my mind, was going to take some getting used to.
My gaze fell downward, only to see the very noticeable tent that Rei had pitched with the sheets. “Oops. That kind of slipped my mind, I’m just so comfortable right now and I guess that the clothes just didn’t seem that important. I guess that Daenyss is picking out appropriate clothes for the day now, so I can throw something on if you really want me to.”
“Hey, I don’t mind my hot girlfriend parading around in the buff if that’s what you feel comfortable doing, I’m just a bit surprised that you do… feel comfortable with it. And I kind of figured that you wouldn’t want to give Narek any ideas,” he pointed out.
I managed to take my eyes off his tent to look him in the eyes again. “I am comfortable with it. I could probably walk right into Haven like this and have no issues if Becky wouldn’t arrest me on the spot. The dysphoria is gone sweetie and I feel incredible. I guess you make a good point about Narek though, so maybe I should wear a dress or something. It might help you calm down a bit before we go downstairs too,” I added with a wink.
It was Rei’s turn to blush, but I could see how happy he was for me. “I’m glad it’s over and that you’re feeling good about yourself. I’m so sorry that you had to go through that, I know far too well how horrible gender dysphoria feels.”
I crawled across the bed to deliver a tender kiss upon his lips to silence any other words that indicated he may blame himself for my gender dysphoria. It was gone now and it would be better for both of us if it were just a slightly bitter memory. “I chose to enter this game and I knew it wouldn’t be all sunshine and roses when I found myself having to take a female character Rei. It’s helped me to have a lot more appreciation for what you’ve gone through for most of your life. I’ve decided that we should keep playing after the closed beta is done and the game is officially released. We’ll buy the game and equipment, whatever we have to do. I would spend my whole life like this if I knew that I could be this comfortable with it and it would save you from the dysphoria.”
“Damn I love you Tae, you’re the most wonderful, caring, and romantic person that I’ve ever known,” he kissed my lips and then downward along the underside of my jaw, behind my ear, and onward to my neck. Each kiss, his warm breath upon my flesh followed by the electric tingle of his lips, summoned a warmth from inside me and I found myself shivering in delight and my breath catching in my throat. I heard a sound that I couldn’t quite place and then I realized that it had come from me, somewhere between a whimper, a moan, and a gasp. I sounded like a desperate Nymph, even to myself.
“Wh… what can I say? You inspire me,” I managed to respond in a slightly breathy voice. I wanted him so bad right now, but we had another long day ahead of us and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to show up late and smelling like sex to all of those sensitive noses downstairs after all the effort that Daenyss had gone through to get me nice and clean. Besides, Daenyss and I had come up with something special for tonight. As much as I tried to convince myself that we really needed to stop this so Rei could get showered and we could both get dressed and head downstairs, I just kept letting him kiss me and things rapidly progressed to include groping and caressing between us as well.
We were reaching third base and being waved onward to home when we were interrupted by a knock on the door. “J… just a minute,” I managed to get out as I finally broke our embrace and headed for the door where Daenyss stood waiting and smiling.
“I thought that you would be coming right out Mistress, you’ve been in there for over fifteen minutes,” the Nymph chided me playfully.
“I’m so sorry, we’ll be… umm… right out,” I replied, fumbling with the words.
“Do not worry Mistress, I asked Kalia to inform the others that you are currently indisposed and will not be attending breakfast or our morning training session this morning,” Daenyss said with a grin before turning to go to fetch a covered silver tray from the table. Then she shoved the tray into my hands and gave me a playful wink as she added, “I also had her bring this up for you. You should both eat, it sounds like you’re going to need the energy.”
She had heard me? Of course, she had, she was Nymph and her hearing was as sharp as my own. If I still had a human sense of modesty I would have been mortified. As it was I wasn’t sure whether I was embarrassed because I wasn’t embarrassed. I did manage to say, “Thanks Daenyss, you’re the best.”
She practically danced backward with that playful little smile on her face. “You are most welcome Mistress, it is my pleasure to serve. Speaking of pleasure, you two enjoy yourselves. If you require anything just call me, and I will come and fetch you when it is time to prepare for lunch.” Then she was gone to give us what privacy she could.
It would seem that Rei had heard the exchange since he was sitting up in the bed with his cheeks burning as red as his ears and tails. “So… uhh… what should we do?”
“We take her suggestion and eat something, you are going to need your energy mister,” I told him with a grin as I put the tray on the bed between us.
We made short work of our light breakfast and Rei briefly left to use the bathroom, tails swishing across his bare bottom as he went. It was a shame that they blocked the view, he had such a nice ass. When he returned, my eyes just about popped out of my head. He had changed into a Yseil'dhraí, an Autumn Court Yseil'dhraí to be exact. He still looked like his male form for the most part, except for the missing fox-ears and tails. Now he was more delicate with slightly more angular and soft features and sported a pair of ears much like my own, golden eyes instead of the brown ones he usually had in his Kitsune forms, and his short and mussed up hair had changed from black to a bright red-gold that rivaled my own.
“Umm… not that I don’t find you very sexy like that, but why?” I inquired as he padded over to the bed and I got my first real look at him in all his naked glory. I had been avoiding seeing him, or anyone, naked if I could help it since being turned on just made my dysphoria kick into high gear. I couldn’t really avoid it much with the Nymphs, but I had tried to avoid it with everyone else. Even when we had been trying on clothes I had averted my eyes from Rei and the other girls after the first time I had seen her naked and it had generated those feelings of discomfort and self-loathing.
“Amoiraishe suggested it in case we ever have unprotected sex while I’m male,” he replied, his face as bright red as his hair now was. “Even with the Fae fertility issue, there is a really low chance that you could wind up pregnant. It’s not much of a chance, she said that it can take decades and sometimes hundreds of years for Fae women to conceive a child, even while trying. She asked that I take this form though in these cases so that if you do end up winning that Fae baby lottery, that it increases your chance of having a Yseil'dhraí child. I kind of don’t want to piss off the Queen of the Autumn Court, especially if she’s going to be my mother-in-law.”
“Damn you Mahair,” I muttered as I frowned at that revelation. I could get why she had asked him that, but it felt like my Fae mother was interfering in my sex life and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “Well, that’s a mood killer.”
“I don’t mind doing it babe,” he said with a shrug. “This form is actually really nice, I feel more energetic. I’d use it more in public if I didn’t think that pretending to be a Yseil'dhraí it might offend some of the Fae. It was kind of fun being Tokh'dhraí though so maybe I can take that form or a Nyiir'dhraí form once in a while. There is one reason that my being in this form is good for you though, aside from the possibility of Yseil'dhraí babies.”
“Oh really? Do tell,” I replied, still feeling a bit put out by Amoiraishe’s interference. I was also uncertain how I felt about being encouraged to pop out a baby. I may be comfortable with myself like this now, but I wasn’t sure that I was ready for motherhood, even in a game. At least the odds were low.
I was so lost in those thoughts that I almost didn’t hear Rei reply, “The Fae have more stamina than Kitsunes.” With that in mind, he pounced on me, assailing me with kisses, licks, caresses, and little love bites to rekindle the flames of my lost desire. Soon I was eagerly reciprocating as we rolled around on the bed in a frenzy of amorous intent.
My entire body seemed aflame with desire and I was soaking wet between my legs when I finally pushed him down onto his back and climbed on top of him. He had very nearly made me orgasm just through licking, biting, and suckling on my nipples and his gentle caresses of my body were sending electric shivers through me. For a moment I just gazed down at him thinking about how wonderful he was and just how much I loved him, no matter what form he wore. “Gotcha,” I told him with a predatory smile.
“Oh no, whatever shall I do?” was his frisky reply as he grinned right back up at me. The grin faltered for but a moment and he asked, “Are you sure about this? We can stop now and hold off until you’re ready if it’s still too weird for you.”
I shook my head and showed him just how ready I was by taking his manhood inside myself and starting to eagerly grind our bodies together. My long and plentiful braids got in the way a bit at first as I rode him and tried to find a rhythm that would bring us both to pleasure, but not too quickly. I wanted us both to enjoy our first time together like this and I had no doubts that I both wanted and needed this. Finally, I couldn’t hold it back any longer and my back arched as I screamed out my pleasure and my tightening muscles caused him to erupt inside me. I barely noticed the strange feeling of his seed filling me though as I was rather preoccupied with the supernova that my existence had suddenly become. My vision went white as burning hot pleasure spread from between my legs to the rest of my body, my entire existence, in wave after gloriously satisfying wave.
Finally, I collapsed atop Rei; my skin flushed and glistening with perspiration and my breathing heavy as I shook slightly from the physical exertion of my first time as a woman. I wrapped my arms around him and just held him close for the moment, trying not to have him slip out from inside me while I savored the afterglow. I had heard that it was more intense for women than men, but wow, whoever told me that hadn’t known the half of it. I guess that it wasn’t really my first time, since I had all those memories of Taelya doing it, but as realistic as those memories were, there was still a difference between remembering something that was done before I became Taelya and being an active participant.
During the next several hours I continued to thoroughly enjoy my first sexual experience as a woman, and as a Fae as he proceeded to show me just how his improved stamina in his current form was good for me. I made damn sure that I wasn’t the only one on the receiving end of the pleasure too. My pride as a Fae wouldn’t let me do any less and I found that I really enjoyed giving pleasure to someone else as much as I enjoyed receiving it, possibly even more. There was something about bringing someone else to orgasm through my own skills and affections that made me feel good about myself. I used every little trick that I knew of from my Faerie Dance training to keep him on the edge of pleasure and then send him hurtling over again and again, even as he did the same for me. He may not have had my training, but he did know how a woman’s body works and what spots to stimulate to the best advantage.
We were laying there snuggled together and wrapped firmly in the afterglow of round six when Daenyss knocked again. “C’mon in,” I called out lazily, my whole body still thrumming in warmth and receding pleasure.
The door opened and Daenyss stepped inside. “Mistress, I have prepared another bath for you and I thought that Rei might prefer a shower while you’re doing that. Lunch will be served in just under an hour. I’m afraid that we have a busy afternoon, but I tried to give you as much time as I could.”
Even from the bed, I could see that she was flushed slightly and biting her lower lip as she awaited my reply. The poor Nymph really was having trouble managing her urges and walking in on us like this couldn’t be helping. I was half tempted to invite her to join us, but she wouldn’t still be keeping such a tight rein on her desires if she were ready for something like that, so instead, I merely nodded. “Okay Daenyss, thank you for everything. We’ll be right out.”
My bath wasn’t really all that long since we had already cleaned and styled my hair earlier. This time it had just been about getting my body cleaned from all of my ‘exercise’ and getting it to smell like flowers instead of sex. She still took great care to get every inch of me properly cleaned and then dried and lotioned, but it took far less time without having to deal with all of my hair as well. Once we were finished she helped me to get into one of the Fae outfits that the Brownies had made for me and to put on some makeup that would look good with it.
The outfit consisted of a top, a skirt, and a pair of soft-soled red silk slippers. The top was nothing more than a crimson strip of silk cloth that was arranged sort of like a halter top, securing around the back of my neck and then crossing in an X pattern over my collarbone to barely cover my breasts and connect to the skirt on my outer hips with a pair of simple gold-colored brooches. The skirt threatened to fall off my hips at first and was made of crimson and gold brocade overlapping panels that had been made to resemble leaves and reached to about mid-thigh. The finishing touch was an umber-hued silk sash wrapped tightly around my hips to hold the skirt in place. I made sure to wear a pair of my red silk panties beneath the skirt since, even if I wasn’t afraid of the skirt falling off and getting me arrested, the panels weren’t really secured except around the loose waistband of the skirt and could easily fly up with a good bit of wind and give anyone who may be watching a show.
Overall the outfit was simple, very Fae, and showed off a hell of a lot of skin. That didn’t really matter much to me except for the brief thought of trying to get Amoiraishe to bail me out of Haven’s jail, should I have some sort of wardrobe malfunction. I would have been just as good going in nothing at all if I thought that I could get away with it. “Humans don’t like nudity, Taelya,” I had to keep sternly reminding myself.
Once Daenyss had applied some subtle makeup to enhance my looks and put on my Nature’s Crown, I just stared at the sexy Fae in the vanity mirror for a few minutes, liking what I saw reflected there. It was me and damn did I look good. “I might have to add narcissist and exhibitionist to my growing list of character flaws though,” I thought to myself.
Rei had finished getting ready before me and was already waiting with the duffel bag containing my gear slung over his shoulder. He chuckled, shaking his head as he saw me smiling at my reflection. “Come on Tae. You can look at yourself more later, I’ll be looking plenty for both of us, and I’m hungry.”
I stood up and nodded as I took his hand. “I guess you deserve to eat, we both did build up an appetite after all. Let’s go Daenyss.”
Lunch was nice, except for those lingering hungry looks that I occasionally saw Narek casting in my direction. Those looks were short-lived though, withering quickly under glares from Nishalle. Narek may not have thought much of Lissany still, probably because he had never seen her in an actual fight or training, but Nishalle terrified him. So for the most part lunch was quiet and companionable. Nobody commented on my good mood until we had arrived in Haven.
“You seem to be in a good mood today, Your Highness,” Lissany said with a smile as we all got out of the pickup truck to regroup our party and make our way to the spot where I would be training my apprentices. Nishalle had of course taken her motorcycle, with Lark riding behind her, but we had been in the truck with Pete, Rei, Venika, Daenyss, and Kinara. Kinara was spending a lot of time with our group, particularly Lark and Lissany. She had been coming to town with us every afternoon for her magick lessons alongside Becky while her father, Narek, and Sahnae all got to know some of the Fae in the Glade a bit better.
“What’s not to be happy about? The sun is shining, I’m with my friends and family, I get to play with magick, I have no more dysphoria, and we don’t have to worry about gasoline for the vehicles anymore,” I said, taking in a deep breath of the country air. Grell had been working with Ashura all week on making our virtual lives easier, the first of these improvements being a magical equivalent of the internal combustion engine. It was efficient, pollution-free, and required no gasoline. The pair had already installed them in all of our vehicles, and most of the others in town as well, before moving on to their current project. I couldn’t wait to see what the pair of Atlanteans were working on now.
“I guess those are all good reasons to be happy,” Venika agreed before seeming to catch all of what I had said. “Wait, no more dysphoria?”
“Yup, my body feels right to me now,” I told them all. “I’m comfortable being Taelya, and I think I even like it.”
Something seemed to click in Nishalle’s mind and she grinned at me. “So that’s why you weren’t with us for breakfast and training this morning. I’m happy for you, both of you.”
“It’s also why we were so hungry at lunch,” I added with a wink. “Now c’mon everyone there’s magick to play with and quests to do!”
I had discovered during the past week that I enjoyed teaching magick as much as I enjoyed playing around with it myself, especially since both Kinara and Becky were eager to learn. I wanted to get as much magick training in as I could with the two of them over the next few days because I thought that we might have to go for another scavenging run within the next week. Our supplies were good for now, but if we wanted to survive comfortably for the next few months then we needed to start making regular runs into the city, and we needed more parties than just my group doing that.
I was planning on holding a meeting of all players in Haven’s Town Hall the next evening to address that matter and cover how we could all work together better, in the spirit of cooperation. I also wanted to get those of us who were more into combat preparing for the inter-server combat tournament. If we were going to win then we needed to start preparing and training early. I felt certain that my group would be ready, but we couldn’t do everything, and people needed to feel like they were doing something constructive and contributing. I had a few ideas to help with that.
The magick lesson went well and soon we were all doing some hunting and gathering quests since the one thing the village and Glade were both short on was meat. There were plenty of people already at the dock and out on the boats to do fishing quests so I figured that some venison or pork might make people happy, especially the village butcher. With that in mind, I put my leather armor and gun belt on over my clothing and we headed out into southern woods to hunt.
We had managed to bag a sizable bag of nuts and two deer and were tracking a third buck under Venika’s guidance when we heard something that made us all turn at once. It was a high-pitched shriek coming from the deeper woods to the west and even Pete had heard it. I quickly gathered in mana, ready to cast a spell if need be, and could sense Venika and Kinara doing the same. I looked over the Summer Court Yseil'dhraí in concern, she was young and hadn’t done much magick outside of our lessons yet. “Kinara, keep close to me, Liss and Nishalle will protect us b…”
I didn’t get to finish that sentence as three small flying creatures appeared from the thicker bush. They just radiated magick and one hit me square in the chest and tried to crawl inside my armor, another flew into Kinara’s loose hair to hide, and a third collided with Venika, knocking both her and itself to the ground. We all looked around nervously, wondering if we were under attack, in fact, the only one who didn’t seem confused or panicked was Kinara. She was giggling in glee as she removed the creature from her hair.
“What the hell?” Venika wondered as she tried to extract herself from the furry little dark blue and white critter she was tangled up with.
“Wisps,” the younger Yseil'dhraí said with a grin as she gently stroked the creature she now held in one hand with a fingertip. “Shhhh, it’s alright little one, you’re safe now.”
“Oh! It’s so cute!” Daenyss practically squealed in delight.
“I thought wisps were like big balls of light,” Lark said, looking at the trembling creature in Kinara’s hand.
“They do kind of look like that at night, with the magical glow they give off,” she explained while I managed to get the one trying to burrow into my armor in my hand and attempted to calm it. “They’re attracted to magic and once they’ve found a magic-user they like good luck getting rid of them because they will follow you around for the rest of your life. It’s better to just keep them as pets and train them to be useful since they’re pretty smart. These are just babies though, adults are like twice this size. Something must have scared them from their nest.”
I examined the one in my hand and thought that it resembled a sugar glider in appearance and size, though its ears were more foxlike and quite a bit larger. It was smaller though, roughly three inches long with another three inches of rudder-like tail. The coloring and markings were like no sugar glider I had ever seen though, the one in my hand was mostly bright pink with black markings; a little mask around its eyes, socks on all four of its legs, rosettes peppering its whole body, and its bushy tail had a black tip as well as three rings over its length.
The one that Kinara was holding was aquamarine and black with wavy stripes branching out from the long black stripe that went from its nose to the tip of its tail. Venika had finally managed to extract herself from the third wisp, which was dark blue with a white mask and a spattering of white spots. “Yay, a pet,” she muttered as she tried to soothe the little critter that was clinging to her for dear life. Well, it wasn’t that little to her, since it was bigger than she was if you counted the tail.
“More of a mount for someone your size, especially if it’s going to get that big,” Nishalle teased, earning a raspberry from the Sprite.
“You’re right Kinara these little furballs are terrified of something,” Rei said, staring at the one that was shaking my hand as I attempted to soothe it.
Kinara nodded, a grim expression on her young face. “As I said, these are babies, the only reason they would leave their nest is if they were terrified and something had killed their parents.”
“They came from that way,” I said gesturing deeper into the woods. “Let’s go find out what has them so scared. Quietly though, if it’s dangerous we want to see whatever it is before it sees us.”
“I’ll go check it out, I’m the stealthiest of us, and going back there might just scare them even more,” Nishalle offered. Without another word and only my nod of agreement, she slipped off into the woods, blending in with the shadows. A good ten minutes had passed, and we had only just managed to somewhat calm the wisps, when my sister returned as silently as she had left. There was a scowl on her face as she said, “You’re really not going to like this.”
I let out a sigh as soon as I saw the look on Nishalle’s face and heard her utter those words. Unconsciously I began to gently stroke the tiny wisp in my hand, though I couldn’t really be sure if it was for its comfort or mine. Kinara said that the wisps were barely more than babies, a little too big to stay in their mother’s pouch, but far too small and young to be out on their own. They also seemed reluctant to leave us because they were comforted by the feel of our magic. We couldn’t even seem to leave them in one another’s care for long before they zipped right back to us, with comical results in Venika’s case. Kinara believed that they had bonded to us and the Sprite didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea. I suppose it would be like if I had to deal with an overly affectionate cú sídhe, they had no concept of personal space.
Now though I was more worried about what news my sister had for us. “What did you find, Sis?” I asked with a feeling of dread.
“Bodies, or rather what’s left of them, and not just those wisps’ parents either,” she replied, her scowl deepening. “There were three of them, all players, one of the smaller parties that set out on hunting quests this morning. One was that handsome Tokh'dhraí Magus, Pharen. Another was Lupin, the Beastkin Brigand with the scruffy white hair and wolf tags. The last was that Beastkin Druid, Hartu, the one with the dark auburn hair and fox tags, the one we thought was a Kitsune at first.”
“Wait, I know that party, they’re mostly pretty tough, but isn’t there usually a fourth with them?” Pete inquired.
“Yeah, her name is Salem, I remember her because she’s the only other person on the server with hair as bright red as mine and Amoiraishe’s. From the looks of if she’s having trouble playing her class if she’s a Magus like I believe. A lot of people think that she’s the weak link on that team. I was going to offer to teach her with Kinara and Becky, but I was afraid that she would take offense,” I responded absently as I thought of the four in question. They were all semi-professional gamers like Grell, Pete, and the jerks from H3lls-Pwn and none of the four were really famous for working with others, except for one another. It wasn’t that they were bad people, sure the guys could be male chauvinist jerks at times but they weren’t as bad as H3lls-Pwn. It was just that they were self-reliant and figured that they could handle anything that this game could dish out, especially since they were one of the few parties to make it through the Deadrush whole and alive. It would seem that they figured wrong.
“Oh yeah, the tiny Witch with the huge chip on her shoulder,” Lissany said, catching on to who we were referring to. “Not that I can blame her for being a bit bitter, she’s a Witch but she can’t even use magic because she doesn’t have a familiar yet. The rumor is that she screwed up the spell for summoning it. I don’t know why she hangs out with those jerks with the way that they’re always putting her down though.”
“How bad is it, Nishalle?” Rei asked after a moment.
“It looked like they were curious about the wisps and while they were looking they were attacked. There were a lot of tracks, but whatever killed them is gone and it looked like they were all drained of blood. Deep wounds, they were done with a sharp weapon and whoever, or whatever did the killing really mangled them good. I figured that you, Taelya, and Venika might be able to figure out what did it or where they went better than I could Rei,” the Tokh'dhraí replied. “You’re our Healer, Venika is the scout, and Taelya and Venika are our monster and lore experts. The three of you may see things that I missed.”
“Let’s go have a look, but everyone stay on your guard,” I suggested as I looked in the direction Nishalle had come from. “I want to try and find Salem too, she could be out there somewhere hurt, or worse.”
Nishalle led the way and soon we came upon a grisly scene. My sister had somewhat understated what had happened, those wounds weren’t just deep, whatever had caused them had nearly cleaved Lupin in two. Whatever had done this it had been vicious and very strong. I could feel the bile rising in my throat as we examined the scene and poor Lark was throwing up. Sure, the three of them all tended to leer at me and made me uncomfortable sometimes, but I wouldn’t have wished that on them.
Daenyss had taken Lark and Kinara aside so they wouldn’t have to look at the bodies too closely, but she made sure that they stayed where I could see them. They had also taken the three wisps along with them to keep them out of the way and prevent them from becoming too agitated after Lark had put the little critters to sleep with a magical lullaby. We didn’t want to miss something because one of us was being distracted. “Whatever did this was mean and hella strong,” Pete said with a frown as he echoed my thoughts. “Beastkin are tough and Tokh'dhraí are damn scary when they want to be, but their attackers carved them all up like a Christmas turkey.”
There are a lot of boot prints here,” Venika provided. “They’re fairly deep on firm ground so whatever did this may have been roughly human-sized, but they were heavy and there were a lot of them. There’s a lighter set of tracks heading off toward the village at a run, I think it may have been Salem from the size of the prints and the spacing. One of the attackers followed her but returned later, just before the group left. She could have gotten away, it could have killed her elsewhere, or it could have brought her back as a captive for some reason, it’s hard to tell.”
Despite all of these deep wounds, there’s not near as much blood here as I would expect,” Rei added with a frown as he looked up from Pharen’s corpse. Then he looked to me with a hopeful expression. “Any idea what could have done this babe?”
I considered all of the evidence we had. “Whatever they were they obviously had a thing for blood. I think we can rule out Vampires and Shadow Walkers though. The latter would have kept the corpses, and kept them intact. Also, both of them would have just sucked them dry, there wouldn’t be any need to kill them so viciously. I have a suspicion, but it would help if I could find a witness to confirm things and maybe lead us to Salem, or what’s left of her.”
“Good luck with that,” Pete scoffed with an undignified snort. “The only witnesses are dead, the ones responsible, or the baby wisps. I don’t think you’re going to be able to get the wisps to talk with them being both infants and animals.”
“Oh ye of little faith, did you forget that I have all of nature at my beck and call?” I chided before reaching out with my senses. The first time that I had used Nature’s Call it had been instinctual and violent, but Mahair had been helping me to refine my skills so that I wouldn’t be sending off a flare to every Fae on the continent and to be able to use it to suit my needs.
I could feel the ebb and flow of mana through the forest and something, a lot of somethings, that didn’t belong in this forest a good distance to the west. I didn’t sense anything that felt like a Witch there, so Salem wasn’t there, was dead, or had escaped when she ran. I carefully noted both their direction and general distance and searched for any sign of the Witch heading northward toward Haven. I couldn’t sense anything Human, but Witches are tied closely to the flow of mana like the Fae, and that could be making her hard to detect since I was still a beginner with all of this.
Wait, there was something close by. It wasn’t Salem, but I suspected that I may have just found my witness. I smiled as I figured out just what I had sensed, opened my eyes, and looked to the large oak tree that bore the wisps’ nest. “Please, show yourself, gentle spirit. I am Taelya, princess of the Autumn Court and my companions and I mean you no harm. Our friends were attacked here and we want to know what happened so we can stop whatever did this and make sure that the Witch who was with them is safe.”
The others were looking at me like I was crazy, but then I was talking to a tree so I suppose that I couldn’t blame them. Then the tree answered. I could barely see it at first, the ethereal presence that seemed to emerge slowly, gradually becoming more earthly as it took the form of a nymph from the hips upward, seemingly growing out of the large tree’s trunk. I nearly fan-girl squeed as I realized that this was a Dryad and she spoke. “Welcome Princess Taelya, I am Gwenaralyn. Thank you for caring for the young wisps who made their home in my branches, I saw them born and am glad to see them still alive and safe.”
The others were staring and trying to pick their jaws up off the ground, well except for Kinara who was giving me a look of respect and admiration. While she seemed young, inexperienced, and naïve in a lot of ways Kinara had known a lot about the wisps, stuff that I didn’t even know with my animal-related skills. She didn’t seem surprised at all by the Dryad’s appearance, only that I had sensed it and managed to coax it out. She was way too comfortable with things like this, but it wasn’t like she was hiding that knowledge, maybe she just had skill-downloads that I didn’t? The pink-haired Yseil'dhraí even smiled at the Dryad as she introduced herself as well. “It’s nice to meet you Gwenaralyn, I’m Countess Kinara of the Summer Court. Could you please tell us what happened here?”
The Dryad began to explain what she saw with no hesitation. “Your friends followed the mother wisp back to the nest because the Witch was curious about her. While they were stopped her companions became impatient and they had a loud argument. The noise drew the Redcaps to them. A small clan I should think, there were nearly forty of them traveling through the woods. They killed your friends to soak their caps and the adult wisps who were trying to protect their young.”
“And the baby wisps fled in terror and ran smack into us,” I said, not happy at all that my suspicions had been confirmed. “I sensed a nasty presence to the west, so that’s got to be the Redcaps, but did you happen to see what happened to the Witch?”
Gwenaralyn gave a sad shake of her head before finally answering me. “She is a gentle soul, one who respects the balance of nature, but she is young and inexperienced with her magick. I was worried for her so I spoke to her mind-to-mind, I instructed her to run. It was too dangerous for her group to try to fight them. Her companions did not listen to her, but she ran after seeing the first of them cut down. One of the Redcaps followed her but I sent someone to help hide her and keep her safe. Follow her tracks and, when you reach the end, tell Brynna that I sent you to ensure the Witch’s safety.”
“Thank you for your assistance Gwenaralyn, we appreciate the help. You may rest now, I have heard how taxing it is when a Dryad takes a physical form to speak with someone and I am honored that you showed yourself to us,” I told her.
“I am bound to the Court as much as any Fae, Your Highness, it was my pleasure to serve. Please, do not try to hunt down those Redcaps by yourselves, I fear that that would only result in your deaths. The Red Dawn comes all too soon. Now, you must go to find the Witch, she was injured before fleeing. I fear that she may need friends now, more than ever, when she awakes. Be cautious, should you encounter a Redcap.” With that, the Dryad’s female form began to retract into the trunk of the large oak.
I considered Gwenaralyn’s words as we followed Salem’s trail northward, with Venika and Lissany taking the lead, Nishalle and Pete bringing up the rear, and all of our senses peeled for potential trouble. I had no intention of trying to take on an entire clan of Redcaps all by our lonesome, the Dryad had been right, it would amount to nothing more than suicide and what the Dryad had said about the Red Dawn coming was similar to something Moira had said regarding an event coming after the full moon. If that event involved a clan of Redcaps then we needed to get the players all unified in preparation for a large-scale attack if we were to have any hope of surviving. I made a mental note to call that players’ meeting I had been planning for that night rather than the next. There were things to discuss and plans to be made. First, though, we needed to find Salem, and we needed to hurry because Nishalle and Venika were both sure that she was bleeding badly.
I was beginning to suspect that Salem’s party had stumbled upon a pre-event unique encounter and that Salem herself had been warned as the female of the group. Dryads typically didn’t trust males of any Race and some of what she had said sounded like a typically scripted NPC. The idea was probably to warn the village and Glade about the upcoming event and as the first group with a female party member in the woods today they had happened upon the unique encounter.
Since we were the first this deep in the forest after them, and Salem’s party had chosen not to take her advice and flee with her, we had gotten our own little encounter with the wisps. That had started this questline, which would likely end with us escorting Salem back to the village so she could deliver her warning. The wisps were part of our incentive ‘reward’ and we’d probably get a party reward and XP when we completed the escort portion of the quest. As the one delivering the warning Salem was probably getting a special encounter or reward while we were tromping through the woods searching for her.
I didn’t know much about Salem, but what little I did know was enough that I could empathize with her, as she was obviously male before entering the game. I had overheard her talking with, or rather yelling at, her party-mates about the dysphoria once after they had made some comment about her at least being good for eye candy. It looked like her dysphoria was as bad as mine had been, maybe even worse than mine and she blamed them for it. At least I had my Fae mental exercises to help me to put it all to the back of mind, but Salem wasn’t so fortunate.
The conversation was limited as we followed Salem’s tracks, and as quiet as we could make it since none of us wanted to risk not hearing something important in the tense quiet that seemed to hold the entire forest in its grip. Mostly it was Kinara trying to distract us by encouraging me and Venika to name our new little wisp friends since she was pretty sure that they were with us for life now, or at least until we got out of the game. “Come on you two,” she said in a hushed tone as she walked beside me stroking the aquamarine wisp with black stripes she held in her hand. “You’re going to need to come up with names for them, they aren’t going to leave you now that they’ve imprinted on your magical presence. I’m naming mine Kimmie, she’s so cute.”
“It just so happens that I have the perfect name for mine,” I replied with a smirk and an equally quiet tone once I confirmed the snoozing wisp’s gender. Yup, definitely a girl wisp. “I’m naming her Willow.”
Rei got the joke immediately and I could hear him chuckling behind me. “Very funny, Tae.”
Venika looked toward the sleeping wisp that Lark was carrying for her and sighed before looking back to the tracks she was following. “Maybe I should name him after one of the bones that he’s sure to break the way he keeps tackling me, or I could just call him Dino. I’ll decide la…” She cut off mid-word as she stopped and stared at the ground before her. It was there that Salem’s footprints just suddenly stopped, right at the edge of a small mossy clearing. “What the hell? Did she just vanish? She left a trail that’s been easy to follow, but now it’s just gone,” the Sprite sputtered in confusion.
“I don’t smell her either. Other than us, I can’t smell anything but moss and trees,” Lissany put in with a frown.
Remembering Gwenaralyn’s words, I looked around and called out just loud enough to reach the edges of the clearing, “Brynna, are you there? I’m Princess Taelya of the Autumn Court. Gwenaralyn sent us to help protect the Witch. Have you seen her? She looks Human and around my age, but she’s maybe a foot shorter than me with the same color hair and green eyes. Her name is Salem.” As I spoke I reached out with my senses and felt two things, though neither felt like it could be Salem. The first was a presence watching us from the trees. It felt similar to Daenyss and Naerysse, but it was different as well, the magick feeling like earth and plants and humming with the life of the forest. The second was similar to the first, but right below our feet. Whatever was beneath us felt powerful, nearly as much raw power as me or Amoiraishe and way more powerful than the presence in the trees beyond our sight.
I was beginning to draw in mana in case this was some sort of attack when a feminine voice called out from the trees, “Wait!” I stopped gathering mana to look at the young woman who just seemed to appear from nothing at the edge of the clearing. She was pretty, shapely, looked much like a Nymph in general shape, and her moss-like skin and the leafy vines of her hair had allowed her to blend into the foliage and remain unseen by even the sharpest eyes of our group. “Please, Your Highness, you must not disturb the induction process. It could be dangerous for my daughter, and you as well. I am Brynna, a Liyun'shael.” The last was said for the benefit of our non-Fae companions since they were all staring at the naked young woman unabashedly.
“A Moss Maiden?” Lark asked, translating the name from Elvish to English as she looked Brynna over. “It kinda fits.”
“Yup, though Humans used to call them Wood Wives,” I clarified.
“They are like cousins to us Nymphs,” Daenyss provided, seeming pleased to be able to offer some information that not everyone knew. “My mother introduced me to a few, but she told me that like our kind they do not stay in the Fae Glade all the time. Nymphs and Liyun'shael are often out tending the forests, not only in the Glade but throughout the entire territory of the Court.”
“And since the Autumn Court has an alliance with Haven, that means that all of the forests in the surrounding area are within our area of influence, even if we don’t lay claim to them, so the Nymphs and Liyun'shael are trying to keep them healthy and watch over creatures that can’t do much for themselves, like the Dryads,” I added before turning to the Moss Maiden and attempting a friendly smile. “I apologize, Brynna, we just came to help Salem and escort her to warn the Human village and the Glade. We’re not here to interrupt anything, so if you can just tell us where you’ve sent her, we’ll be on our way.”
“As I have said, my daughter is undergoing her induction, Your Highness. I am afraid that you will have to wait until it is complete and she has recovered her strength before she can go anywhere,” the Moss Maiden replied.
What she was saying suddenly clicked in my mind, and my eyes went wide in realization as the pieces all started to fit together. This daughter that she was talking about, it was Salem. “Dear Goddess, you’re turning Salem into a Liyun'shael.”
“Yes, Your Highness, the poor girl was terrified when I found her running through the trees and the Redcap following her would have caught up with her soon. She collapsed in this clearing and was not responding, I fear that she was close to death, so I made her swallow my seed and planted her in the earth for the induction process. It hid her from the Redcap and her body will heal as she becomes one of my kind,” Brynna explained.
“You made her swallow your seed? Uhhh… that sounds kind of dirty,” Pete pointed out.
“Of course you would take it that way Pete,” I pointed out with a sigh, not that I disagreed with him. I did explain though. “Liyun'shael are part plant so they don’t reproduce like most of us. They use seeds that grow in their bodies to induct women of other races into their ranks. They only have three seeds to give from the time they are inducted until their deaths though, and they live as long as any other Fae so it is a gift when they choose someone to become one of their daughters, one usually reserved for those that they respect and admire.”
“No offense to either you or Salem, but why her?” Rei asked. “I mean, it doesn’t sound like you got a chance to talk to her and get to know her very well.”
“She was in need,” the Moss Maiden answered simply. “I could not let her die at the hands of that abomination. Gwenaralyn spoke well of her as well, she said that she respected nature and heeded her wisdom.”
“And what if she doesn’t want to be one of you?” Nishalle asked pointedly.
“I doubt that she would rather be dead. At least I have given her the chance to live and choose for herself,” Brynna snapped back.
“True, we’ve all heard about what comes after death in this game and the waiting room sounds like torture,” my sister conceded, seeming to forget that Brynna was an NPC and probably wouldn’t know what she was talking about. “I think that you did the right thing, but I also think that you should be prepared that she may not be too happy about her new situation.”
“I am prepared for that. At least this way she will live and I will help her to adjust to her new life and learn her duties. I planned on returning to the Glade for a time anyway,” Brynna answered before looking back down at the mossy ground. “The process is nearly complete. She may need to rest a bit longer before going anywhere, as she will feel weak for a time and need nourishment.”
I quickly checked the game clock and sighed. It looked like we were going to be heading back in the dark and I didn’t like that idea, especially with a clan of Redcaps somewhere in the woods. I was going to have to try to keep tabs on their location as we walked. Finally, I told the Wood Wife, “We have some energy bars that she can eat and plenty of water in our canteens. We should go as soon as she feels strong enough though.”
It was half an hour later and the sun was setting behind the trees to the west, painting the sky in brilliant shades of gold, orange, and red when Brynna announced that the process was complete. She carefully extracted Salem’s body from the earth using her magick and once the former Witch was settled on a bed of soft moss the others, including Brynna, went to the other side of the clearing to talk amongst themselves. It had been decided that I alone should be there when she awoke since too many people might spook her and, even though we hadn’t really talked, she would at least probably recognize me and any familiarity would be good for her.
She had indeed become a Liyun'shael, her skin now resembling a slightly mottled dark green moss that would allow her to remain unseen should she need to hide in the forest. It looked soft to the touch and so different than her formerly pale complexion. Her hair was composed of long verdant green leafy vines and while her facial features and small stature still showed her to be the same Salem that I had seen around the village and Fae Glade. There was a lot of Fae there as well, especially the nymph-like ears. Overall, people could probably still recognize her, but it was impossible to deny that she could no longer be taken for Human. I wondered just how I was going to break this to her gently as her emerald eyes fluttered open. “Wh…” she started to ask, her voice sounding hoarse and scratchy.
I pressed my canteen to her lips and encouraged her to drink. Once she had had enough to slake her thirst I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Try not to move yet, Salem, you’ve been through a lot. Do you know who I am?”
“You’re Taelya right? The Yseil'dhraí princess? What happened? I was running through the forest and I... I think I passed out…” Then her eyes widened and I had to hold her down to keep her from bolting up into a sitting position as she blubbered, “They’re all dead! Redcaps killed them all! We need to warn Haven and the Fae Glade!”
“They’ll respawn tomorrow, there was nothing we could do when we found them,” I told her seriously. “You would have died too if someone hadn’t intervened, now lay still and rest, we have a lot to talk about. Once you’re ready we’ll all head back to the village together, my team is waiting for us to have a little talk.”
“I probably should have stayed to help them,” Salem said, looking away from me with a guilty expression on her face. “My friends are dead because of me. Another in a long line of stupid decisions.”
“You did the right thing. If you had stayed you would be dead too and you were asked to warn the village and the Glade weren’t you? They should have run with you, you were all outnumbered by powerful enemies, don’t take the blame for their foolishness,” I admonished her.
She at least looked like she had taken my words to heart as she replied. “I guess you’re right, I just… I have a history of making the wrong life choices, so I doubt myself a lot I guess.”
“Don’t, you made the right call, your friends are idiots and from the way I’ve heard them talk to you, they’re not very good friends either. Why do you hang around with those jerks?”
“People aren’t exactly lining up to be my friends in real life,” Salem admitted reluctantly. “As I said, I make bad decisions. They didn’t seem that bad before we got the invites for this game, but we only really knew each other online. When we got the invites one of them commented on a girl in our guild in Starseed Online, the game that we were all playing. He said that she was a guy in real life and I didn’t believe him, so he bet me that he could prove it. Whoever lost the bet was supposed to choose a girl character for this game once we started playing. I lost, and since we entered the game they’ve been jerks about the bet and me living up to my part of the deal.”
“They are jerks,” I agreed. “Playing a girl has been hard enough for me without people like them leering and making comments that made the dysphoria feel worse.”
“Wait, you’re a guy IRL too? I wouldn’t have guessed it, you seem like such a natural girl,” she said, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Yeah, but I’m not playing a girl by choice,” I replied with a shrug. “There was a problem with the gender selector in my character generation process. As for being natural, well, I’m Fae and we’re naturally graceful. Between that and some of my skill downloads, it’s made it kind of hard to not move and act like a girl. My dysphoria seems to be gone now though, and it’s about time too, that’s the worst feeling in the world. Now, how do you feel?”
There was an uncertain expression on her face when she responded a moment later. “Tired, but good? I mean, I feel good for someone who you said almost died. My dysphoria was fading but it’s kind of been worse since I woke up, something feels a bit off. I kind of feel the mana around me now too, better than I did before I screwed up the whole getting a familiar thing.”
“That’s not surprising really, you probably have species dysphoria now on top of the gender stuff. One of my people, a type of Fae called a Liyun'shael, found you but you were damn near dead. To heal you and save your life she had to change you into one of her own kind. Your avatar is Fae now, and part plant. The good part is that Fae are much more connected to nature and mana than Witches so you can probably use magic without having a familiar. Some things like fire magic are going to be impossible for you, but you’ll do well with other stuff and excel at anything with earth or plants. I’d like to help teach you if you’d like that.” I tried to break the news to her as gently as I could and show her some of the positives.
Salem took it like a champ. Oh sure, she was shocked and a bit scared and she definitely cried a bit, but she also couldn’t blame Brynna for doing whatever it took to save her. She was happy to be alive and the thought of actually being able to use her magick now seemed to make her feel better. She even accepted my offer of an apprenticeship. It turned out that she had chosen to play a Support with both Mage and Medic aptitudes, but she hadn’t been able to use magic since she cast the spell to draw her familiar to her. The reason for this was that her familiar had turned out to be a large spider and crawled up her arm and she reacted without thinking, killing both it and her conduit to her magick.
We got to know one another a little as she started to calm down and we talked, between her drinking from my canteen and eating the ration bars that I had given her. She really needed friends who treated her like a friend and not an object of ridicule, her life had been too rough and she didn’t need to feel any worse about it, she had enough confidence issues already. That wasn’t all that surprising though with the turns that her real-life had taken over the years.
Salem’s real-life name was Gary Lincoln and he had grown up an orphan. He worked hard in school though and tried to make something of his life, earning a full ride at McGill on a football scholarship to study environmental sciences. All of that had gone out the window though when he, his fiancée, and some friends had too much to drink one night and one of the friends decided that he was sober enough to drive. The girl that Gary was in love with died in the crash and he had lost the use of his legs and everything else in his life that had any meaning to him. He became a broken man, both physically and spiritually, and began to immerse himself in gaming, losing himself in worlds that didn’t hurt as much as reality. That brought him to Starseed Online and thus eventually to his, or rather her, current situation.
The game had been a Godsend when she had first started playing. She could feel her legs and walk under her own power and, at first, it helped to negate the dysphoria. Her body was so different from her real-life body though, even from when he still had the use of his legs. He had been a big guy, six foot seven, and very athletic. In the game though, Salem was a soft, pretty, and an extremely feminine looking girl who stood at five foot nothing. She had no Fae exercises to help with her dysphoria and her ‘friends’ only made things worse. I made a mental note to keep her away from those assholes if possible, to invite her to stay inside the estate and make her feel welcome with our group while she adjusted to her new situation. I thought that she and Daenyss could become good friends with their similar issues.
Once Salem was feeling strong enough I helped her up and introduced her to her ‘mother’ and my companions. It was dark by that time and the wisps were giving off a bright magical glow; pink for Willow, aquamarine for Kimmie, and azure for Venika’s yet unnamed and overly affectionate new ‘friend’. She was fascinated by the way they glowed and wanted to know about how they just floated in the air. Brynna’s simple answer was ‘magick’.
She did stare a bit nervously at her fellow Liyun'shael in the light provided by the wisps. I think it finally sunk in then that she looked like that now too. Still, she thanked Brynna for saving her and told her that she would do her best to become a Liyun'shael worthy of the name. That took a lot of class, given the situation, and raised my opinion of her a great deal.
I didn’t want to hang around any longer than we had to though, so I got everyone moving after that, occasionally expanding my senses to look for the stomach-turning presence of the Redcaps. They hadn’t moved since I had first sensed them and I assumed that they had made camp and were getting settled in near the coastline, maybe in some caves. My monster lore knowledge suggested that they wouldn’t camp in a place that wasn’t defensible. We probably wouldn’t see them until the event unless we went looking.
There was a smaller presence though, it felt different to my magical senses than the Redcaps, and I had noted its position each time that I used my Nature’s Call. Whatever it was it was moving northward fast, following our path almost exactly. It was tracking us, and gaining ground, despite our brisk pace. We were halfway to Haven when I realized that we weren’t going to make it before whatever it was caught up. “Aww fuck, this is why I hate escort quests,” I muttered before gathering the others close and telling them, “You might all want to get ready for a fight.”
“What’s wrong Tae? The Redcaps aren’t after us, are they?” Venika asked in concern.
“No, the Redcaps have a specific feel to their presence in the forest, but something is following us and will likely catch up soon at the pace it’s going,” I quickly explained, looking back toward the presence that was growing ever closer. “We can either pick up the pace or wait and see what it is. It could be hostile, but I can’t be sure. It feels different than the rest of the forest, a presence that I’m not familiar with that doesn’t really belong here, it feels very wrong. It doesn’t feel like a player, so it’s probably a monster that I am not familiar with.
Nishalle and Lissany quickly took up guard positions around Kinara and me, my sister frowning as she looked through the darkness of the woods around our wisp-lit location. “How far is it?” she asked.
“It’ll catch up before we reach the village. We strayed pretty far in our search for Salem. I’d say that we’re still a good twenty minutes from Haven, even at a fast pace. Whatever is following us is catching up fast, I’d say less than ten minutes away,” I informed the others before focusing on my connection to the forest again. It was moving fast, it would catch us in another five minutes if we stayed still like this. Then I saw something that hadn’t been there when I had checked a moment before. It was enough to shock me out of my connection to the living mana of the forest and make me curse. “Shit!”
“Language Taelya,” Venika scolded me before asking, “Is it that close?” She began drawing in mana in concern.
“Sorry,” I replied sheepishly before shaking my head and drawing in mana as well. “No... I mean yes… it’s right behind us. If I hadn’t stopped us though we would have walked right into an ambush. Something just spawned between us and the village, there are over twenty distinct presences hiding about a hundred meters ahead of us.”
“So, what do we do?” Kinara asked a bit nervously. She had yet to see any real combat yet and though she was learning quickly she had no experience with combat magick in a battle setting.
“You have a teleport spell, right? Could you poof us back to Haven or the Glade?” Rei asked.
“I really need to come up with a mass teleport spell, Venika and I both know a teleport spell, but it’s limited to just us and what we’re carrying,” I explained with a sigh. “Other people are too much for us to bring with us, especially for Venika. So, while we and Daenyss could get there safe, the rest of you would be screwed. I am not going to leave any of you just to get through this alive. We all make it out, or we go down fighting. This situation isn’t looking great though.”
“Rock, meet hard place,” I heard Lark mutter.
My eyes widened and I couldn’t help but grin. “Lark, you’re a genius! You and Kinara stick close to me and Lissany for safety, Nishalle and Lissany will protect us. Kinara, try to stick to single target spells if you can, AOEs are going to be too destructive and I would rather avoid friendly fire or causing too much destruction to the forest. Salem, you’re still weak and you have no magick training or a focus for your power, yet so I want you and Brynna to climb that big redwood there and stay hidden. Take the wisps with you and try to keep them calm. Everyone else, there may be a lot of close combat, but try to use your guns if you have a clear shot, once we know what we’re dealing with. Until then everyone hides in the brush. Liss, you’re pretty quick, you have lots of stamina, and you’re the one of us who can take the most damage, so how do you feel about being bait?”
“I don’t mind if it keeps everyone else safe,” my Guardian said with a grim nod. “What do you need me to do, Your Highness?
“I want you to run up ahead and trigger the ambush that is likely to be waiting and then I want you to taunt them into following you and book it back here as fast as you can to join us. Then you can introduce rock and hard place, and we can ambush them both while they duke it out.”
“This plan is crazy,” Rei accused before breaking into a huge grin. “I love it!”
Brynna had escorted Salem up the large redwood tree where they were now both safely hidden from sight with the wisps, and the rest of us were hiding behind the cover of some nearby moss-covered stones and thick brush. I had also taken the opportunity to try out my new wind-whisper spell to apprise Amoiraishe of our situation just in case everything went to hell, and to ask that she and Sheriff Shaw call a meeting of all players that evening, or the next if we didn’t happen to make it out of this mess.
I couldn’t help but think that when this fight happened, it was going to be crazy. Many people probably would have preferred fighting in an open space, but I figured that all of these trees would provide decent cover and allow us to make easier use of hit and run tactics. Lissany had been gone over five minutes and I could hear her off in the distance yelling at someone or something. A quick use of my Nature’s Call ability showed her heading back toward us, with the intended ambush hot on her heels. And as for our pursuer from earlier, it was practically right on top of us.
It wasn’t surprising that our speedy pursuer was the first to enter the clearing. What was surprising was what it was. The creature that had burst through the trees and was now sniffing around for its prey was vaguely lupine in appearance, stalking the spot where we had discussed my plan on all fours. It was over twenty feet tall at the shoulders with pitch black fur, glowing red eyes, and razor-sharp claws as long as my arm. Acidic drool dribbled from a muzzle filled with fangs and a pair of massive tusks to sizzle on the ground. Bone spikes as long as I was tall jutted from the creatures back.
“Holy shit, it’s a Vhasjin’dhur!” I gasped out, barely able to keep my volume at a whisper. Kinara and Venika were both wide-eyed beside me and I could hear similar curses coming from the both of them as well. As much as I really would have liked to tease Venika about her use of foul language, I figured that in this case it was warranted. Only the three of us, and maybe Brynna, had any idea of just how monumentally screwed that we really were.
The Vhasjin’dhur are chaos beasts, descending from a time before even the Fae walked the Earth. The Goddess Danu had created the Four and the Fae that followed after, to bring a form of order to the natural world and maintain the balance of the elements and the flow of mana. The chaos beasts though were rumored to have been created by the Fomorians, chaos gods that had preceded the Tuatha Dé Danann. They thrived in chaos, they spread it and appeared in times of great turmoil or natural upheaval, and I suppose that the apocalypse following the breaching of the veil would count for that.
What had me concerned the most though, was that my monster lore stated that after many long wars between the Fomorians and the Tuatha Dé Danann, before the last of the Fomorians had met their end, it had imbued the Vhasjin’dhur with an instinct to destroy the Tuatha Dé Danann or anything related to them. To put it mildly, those things eat Fae for breakfast and they could smell us and the power we exude. We had some powerful Fae magic-users in our group right now, and two of us were Yseil’dhraí. All Fae bear strong ties to Danu, but with Yseil’dhraí women it’s more than that; we’re her daughters, her chosen people, and we wear her marks to prove it. Kinara and I were both in very grave danger.
The chaos beast was sniffing its way straight toward our cover and I instinctively shrank back into Rei’s arms. He didn’t know what exactly was wrong, but he knew enough to hold me close and whisper, “It’ll be okay, we can handle this.” I shook my head as I tried to push away the terror that threatened to overwhelm me. It was too close, its nose snuffling the brush, and its tusked maw close enough to snap us up.
Lissany chose that moment to enter the clearing, her massive war hammer in hand and a horde of loincloth-clad Goblins, screaming and swinging swords and clubs right on her tail. “Bad dog!” she shouted as she leaped toward us and brought the hammer down square on the beast’s nose with a painful sounding crack. The beast yelped in pain but didn’t have time to do anything more than that before the Beastkin girl struck again with a mighty backswing of her hammer that caused the weapon’s head to explode as it struck the creature’s jaw. It was staggering from the first blow and now its jaw hung uselessly and its massive tusk on the left side of its face was broken off.
There was a moment after Lissany struck that second blow where everything seemed to have stopped. Then time resumed and everything seemed to be happening at once. Over two dozen Goblins arrived on the scene only to stop and stare in fear and disbelief at Lissany and her large opponent. Everyone else had been in motion as soon as Lissany landed her second attack except for me and Rei, as he held me and I shrunk back while frozen in terror, and Kinara who had begun to scream in fear. Venika peppered the Vhasjin’dhur’s face with a scattershot spell and Daenyss had summoned her AK-47 and opened fire at its face as well. Pete and Nishalle both went for its throat, though they only landed glancing blows as the chaos beast staggered backward from the other attacks. While all of that was happening Lark began singing and I felt a rush of energy as her magical buff took effect on the party.
It was a combination of that energy rush and Kinara’s scream that brought me back to myself. Kinara was under my care and I was not going to let anything happen to her, or anyone else that I cared about, while I still had breath in my body. I felt for the living mana of the forest around me and then I commanded it. Roots and vines erupted from the ground beneath the Vhasjin’dhur, swiftly entwining around its legs, neck, and anywhere else that they could gain purchase, binding it firmly and pulling as hard as they could in all directions. The chaos beast was powerful, and it was resisting, so I poured every bit of willpower and mana that I could muster into the task.
Lark was still singing and the energy that she was providing was helping to keep me focused, but the goblins had gotten over their surprise and had apparently stolen my plan as they moved in to attack while we were still preoccupied with the Vhasjin’dhur. I couldn’t afford to let this thing loose, we needed to kill it quickly so there was no time for finesse or worrying about every Fae on the continent knowing that I was using Nature’s Call. Lissany had surprised and stunned it and now I needed to do my part to finish it off. “Good job Liss. Best. Guardian. Ever. Lissany and I will handle this big fucker everyone. Lark… keep the buff up. Daenyss and Rei, cover fire. Don’t let the goblins get too close until Liss and I are done. Kinara… help the others with the goblins. Nishalle hit from the shadows and keep Kinara safe.” I gritted my teeth as I spoke, showing my determination to the younger Yseil’dhraí as I worked at containing the large beast and trying to rip it apart.
Daenyss and Rei already had their weapons ready and took out some goblins that were heading straight for us and Lark. Kinara stopped staring at me and Lissany, shaken from her fear and awe, and quickly nodded as I began to see a similar determination reflected in her own eyes. “You got it Taelya.” She was already preparing a scattershot spell as she and the others went to intercept the goblins with Nishalle at her side.
Lissany drew her sword as the others ran off and slashed deeply at the chaos beast’s throat. It healed fast though, it was already healing from the damage that she had done to its muzzle. She was giving it everything she had, and I felt that I could do no less, so I continued to put every bit of power that I could into my control over the forest around me. I could sense something else approaching, but I was pretty sure that it was a player, though it didn’t seem to be one that I was familiar with. Maybe one of the Fae nearby that felt me exerting my control over nature?
The others seemed to be doing well enough with the Goblins, though I was only vaguely aware of this with my mind so set on my current task. Venika and Kinara were both taking out single targets when the opportunity arose, though Venika was doing it from above them, where it was safer for her and harder for the Goblins to see it coming. Daenyss and Rei were shooting anything that came close enough for them to get a clear shot without risking a friendly fire incident. Pete was in the thick of it cleaving Goblins apart with his claymore while Nishalle kept an eye on Kinara and moved through the shadows of the darkened forest to quickly dispatch any who got too close to the pink-haired Yseil’dhraí.
Lark was busy singing and I could feel the energy flowing from her music into me. I could also feel when it stopped, and it took every bit of power I had to keep the Vhasjin’dhur from breaking free. A trio of goblins had gotten past Daenyss and Rei, by rushing between them, the cover of trees, and our other party mates, where they couldn’t dare shoot without risking a friendly fire incident. Daenyss had reacted swiftly, pulling the small dagger from the ornament in her hair and throwing it to pierce the chest of one, but that still left two more. They rushed the Bard and she stepped back, barely avoiding a slash from a sword. The blade caught the cord of the pendant maintaining her glamour though and sent the enchanted jewelry to the ground as Lark staggered backward, fear and surprise on her now un-glamoured face as she scrambled back into a tree trunk thirty feet away from me.
The others were too far away, couldn’t see her because of trees in the way, or were too busy to do anything to help, as another trio rushed Daenyss and Rei and I was torn between helping Lark and finishing the beast off. I was barely managing to keep it from breaking free and I was gathering mana from the whole forest just to do that. No, I couldn’t let it free, I needed to finish it and help her. With renewed determination I put every bit of power that I had remaining into my efforts, tightening around and pulling at its legs and neck and finally ripping it apart.
I fell to the ground too exhausted to even move as the large beast expired in an explosion of blood. “Liss… help Lark...”
My Guardian started to run toward the Bard, but someone else arrived before she could. A darkness like a shadow moving swiftly through the darkened trees. Whatever it was it was damn fast and agile and appeared humanoid. It bounced from a tree almost too fast to follow and I heard a gunshot a nanosecond before one of the goblins’ heads exploded. The mysterious figure grabbed the other goblin and threw it aside before it could grab Lark and then leaped on top of it almost before it hit the ground. “Hands off my girlfriend,” a masculine voice hissed before he crushed the life from the Goblin's throat and tossed it casually aside.
It was a Beastkin his hybrid form, a black panther from the look of him. Golden eyes scanned the forest and once he seemed satisfied that the fight was over and the others were finishing the last of the Goblins he approached Lark as the others approached me. “Brynna and Salem, it’s safe to come down now! Sis, Lark are you both okay?” Nishalle called out as they all gathered in concern.
“Peachy, just a bit tired… and covered in blood,” I admitted wearily.
The strange panther Beastkin shifted to his human form, that of a young and fit Latino man roughly the same age as me in the game, with handsome features and short hair with black panther ears atop his head. He was approaching Lark now, sounding a bit exasperated as he said, “Geeze Robyn, you’re lucky that Moira used a spell to send me here to help when I arrived. You couldn’t have waited until I could join the game with you before getting neck-deep in trouble? How am I supposed to keep you safe if I’m not…”
Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by Lissany. She was staring at Lark, who now looked very different than when she was wearing her glamour. In place of the blonde blue-eyed girl that we all had come to know was a Latino girl with dark brown eyes and long wavy hair dyed electric blue. “Omigod! You’re Robyn Reyes!” my Guardian squealed in excitement.
Kinara squealed nearly as loud as Lissany had. “I can’t believe this! This is like, the coolest thing ever!”
They were both right, Lark was really Robyn Reyes, if she did indeed keep her own looks on entering the game. Looking back on it the clues had all been there, the emancipation from her parents, her very vocal dislike of drug and alcohol addiction, and her passion for environmental and equality issues. Robyn Reyes had grown up and still lived in Vancouver, but she was pretty famous all over the world as a pop star since she had gotten discovered on Youtube when she was thirteen.
Robyn wasn’t one of those teen sensations that vanishes or falls into alcohol or drug abuse, in fact, she was very outspoken about her negative view on addiction. That and her involvement in fighting for the environment, equality, and standing up to her parents’ abuse had earned her an almost rabid following of fans who loved her for her activism as much as for her music. The only thing negative thing that people could ever say about her was that she wasn’t a great dancer, unlike a lot of the pop idols out there. It was widely known that she had two left feet so her videos never really showed her dancing.
“Umm look guys, I’d rather this not get out publicly in the game, I’ve really been enjoying hanging with you and just having fun, so could we please just keep this quiet?” the pop star asked uncertainly.
“Of course!” Lissany and Kinara half-shouted simultaneously. Lissany then added, “it’s cool that you’re here playing with us and that you’re our friend, but I can understand not wanting all that attention all of the time. I love your music, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that you’re one of my personal heroes, but that just means that we should try to treat you as a friend and not as a celebrity, you don’t seem like the type who wants fans following them everywhere and this is supposed to be a vacation for you.”
Kinara nodded and they both reached out to hug the famous pop-starlet. Robyn let out a sigh of relief and hugged them back. “Thanks, girls, I don’t have a lot of real friends in real life. I have a lot of fans and people who want to be my friends, but usually, it’s for the wrong reasons. The last week has been great, just being able to be me and have fun with people who seem to like me for who I am instead of what I am. Maybe we can figure out some way to hang out in the real world once this is all over.”
“We do like you for who you are,” Kinara insisted. “You’re one of us and sure you being famous and such an awesome singer is so cool, but that’s just icing on a really great cake.”
“We won’t tell anyone about who you really are, it’s our secret and we’ll keep it in the family,” I assured her, yelping briefly as a blur of pink light assaulted me with affection. A quick glance showed that both the other wisps were back with their chosen caretakers as well, with Venika's sitting atop her on the ground. “Hey, sis can you see if you and find her pendant so we can get her glamour back on before heading to the village?”
“On it Tae,” Nishalle replied as she looked for the object in question.
It didn’t take her long to find it with her superior night vision, and as I set about magically mending the chain so Robyn could wear it and become Lark again, the celebrity in question kissed the panther Beastkin. “Thanks for the save sweetie. So how did the misdirection go?”
“The fan that we got to be your stand-in is now flying to a paid vacation in Hawaii with her parents and the signed copy of your new album, just like you asked. It took the media two days to figure out that it was a fake that I was going around town with and they have no idea where you really are. We should keep her in mind for the future, she’s a nice kid. She was happy just to help you get away from the media for a bit, and with that wig on she looked so much like you that I almost fell for it,” the Beastkin replied with a grin.
“This is my boyfriend and self-imposed bodyguard Roberto Cruz,” Robyn explained as I handed her the repaired pendant and she placed it over her head and around her neck to return to her ‘Lark’ form. “He was supposed to join the game with me but we didn’t want the media knowing where I was so he had to wait a few days to give them a false trail to follow.”
“You can call me Rob,” he said with a shrug, “I chose the name Rob-cat for the game so it should work fine. I’m not the one who needs to worry about a secret identity.”
After that, we made all of the necessary introductions, had Rob and Salem both join the party, and welcomed them to the family as we discussed continuing on our way toward Haven. I was exhausted and could barely walk, but I figured that it would be best if we continued on our way before something else happened. Still, Nishalle and Rei both insisted that I rest for ten minutes with my fiancé watching over me like a hawk while the others looked for loot and chatted amongst themselves. I did manage to use my wind whisper spell to let Amoiraishe know that we were safe and what had happened, though the use of it left me feeling like I was going to pass out after my previous exertion from the battle.
I was still tired as we got underway, but I had some things that I wanted to think about, and I figured that it might take my mind off my shaking legs. With Grell still in the party, despite his current absence, and our new recent arrivals we now had a full party with twelve people. As we made our way to the village I was thinking that it might be a good idea to do some training exercises as a group, especially after what had just happened. I was also thinking that it might be a good idea to split the party into two set units of six for some training sessions as well, in case we need to split up for any reason or attack enemies on multiple fronts while in the field. Venika would be a good leader for the other unit if I could figure out a good composition for each unit to divide our strengths equally.
Lissany was walking several paces ahead of the group while Nishalle brought up the rear. Something was bothering my young friend and since I was trying to be a kind of big sister to her I decided to talk to her about it once I had finished my pondering and walked ahead of the others to join her while I absently petted Willow, who was snuggling in my hands. “You know Liss, I can tell if anything doesn’t really belong in the forest, it should help us to avoid further problems,” I started conversationally.
“Yeah, but you’re tired from all that effort earlier, so you should be resting. I’m not even sure how you can walk after the way you collapsed. No more magic until we’re safe at the Glade. I don’t smell or hear anything yet, so hopefully, we’ll be safe until then,” she said with a frown.
“We should be safe,” I agreed. Then, lowering my tone so that it hopefully wouldn’t carry to back to the others, I asked, “So why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you? Is it about Lark?”
Her ears twitched as they strained to hear my voice. “No, Lark is cool, and I meant what I said. Besides, I think if anyone could use a vacation from the real world it’s her. Have you noticed the way that Kinara has been looking at us since the fight?”
“Do you mean the whole hero-worship thing?” I asked with a shrug. “That’s not exactly new for her, she’s made it pretty clear during our lessons that she idolizes me and she obviously likes you a lot and is a bit in awe of your abilities. It’s not surprising that what you did back there would make her more interested in you. Hell, I’m in awe of the way you attacked that thing while I was too scared to move.”
The Beastkin girl sighed and replied in a hushed tone, “Yeah, she’s told me and Lark that you’re like the big sister she always wanted. She worships the ground you walk on since you started teaching her magick. She’s… umm… kind of been doing that hero-worship stare at me too since we met. She’s been watching me intently since the fight, but when I tried to talk to her while you were resting she got all awkward and ran off to help check for loot. Do you think I scared her?”
“I don’t think so Liss, but why don’t I give her a big sister talk and see if I can find out what’s going on?” I offered, reaching over to tousle her hair.
“Thanks, Your Highness,” she replied with a relieved smile.
“Liss, I told you that when we’re alone you can call me Taelya like everyone else, I’ll go talk to her and send your Mom up here to keep you company.” I ruffled her hair and fell back and after letting Venika know that her daughter might need her company I drifted back to join Kinara. I was happy to see that Salem was learning about the basics of being Fae from Daenyss and Brynna as I passed them toward the back of the column. I thought that it would do both Daenyss and the new Moss Maiden good to have a friend in a common situation and for Daenyss to be in the position to help someone going through something similar to what she had gone through, with similar self-doubts.
Kinara didn’t even seem to notice me until I ruffled her hair and said, “Hey kiddo, what’s got you down?” Deep brown eyes looked up at me in confusion for a moment before the pink-haired Yseil'dhraí, let out a sigh, and looked away. Whatever it was, she was reluctant to talk about it. I wasn’t about to give up though, something was obviously bothering her. So I pressed, “Is it about the fight? That was your first real combat situation and it wasn’t exactly an easy one to start with. You were pretty scared there, so was I when that Vhasjin’dhur showed up. I think you handled yourself well though.”
“Not like you, you were amazing. I wonder if I’ll be able to use Nature’s Call like that someday. And Lissany, she was…” she trailed off uncertainly.
“That was kind of normal for Lissany, throwing herself into certain danger to protect the rest of us. It’s what makes her such a great Guardian. She’s kind of worried that she scared you though,” I told her gently.
“I… What?! No! I was scared, but not of her, she’s amazing and sweet and I really admire her. I like her a lot. I’m just… not sure how to ask her…” Kinara stumbled over the words as she looked at me with a pleading expression on her face.
“Ask her what?” I inquired, uncertain about what she was getting at.
The Summer Court Yseil'dhraí’s cheeks turned as pink as her hair. “You know… for a lock of her hair, for the sahir kien. Why do you not wear yours? It would keep people like Narek from getting any ideas.”
It took my implanted memories a moment to fill in the blank and I cursed that I only ever seemed to get this kind of information when something was said to jog those memories rather than when such information might actually prove useful. She spoke of the lover’s braid. It was an old tradition among the Fae and not practiced much in modern times outside of the Yseil'dhraí. When a Fae has someone that they feel that they share a soul-bond with, someone that they have devoted their soul to, even should they share their body with others, then they both wear the sahir kien which marks them as favored lovers, or consorts in the case of those partnered with Yseil'dhraí females.
Basically, the sahir kien is just the Fae equivalent of a promise ring or wedding ring, a simple braid of the hair of both partners worn around the right wrist of each of the involved parties. It shows that they have been claimed heart and soul and, while a bit of friendly sex is fine, they are already in a committed relationship so nothing more is possible or desired. That little bit of trivia would have saved me a lot of trouble with Narek since it’s considered extremely rude to court another while they wear the sahir kien. I resolved to bring it up with Rei as soon as possible. By not wearing it I was giving off signals that I was available.
That didn’t help with the current problem though. Kinara was either genuinely in love with or crushing hardcore on Lissany, enough so that she wanted to make the offer of a commitment to her. “Rei and I have yet to make ours,” I replied, “we will be doing so soon though. Lissany is great, but you’re only fourteen Kinara. Don’t you think you may be a little young to choose your consort now? You still have almost four years until your Jhashaira” I didn’t mention anything about Lissany not being Fae. For one, I didn’t believe that love had any racial preference and for another, my intended consort was a Kitsune, so who was I to throw stones.
“This isn’t about physical attraction Taelya,” she insisted. “I will not let such thoughts and desires have a place in my mind until my Jhashaira, as is proper. I really like her, I admire and respect her and the more time I spend with her the more I feel that she is someone special, someone, that has already claimed a place in my heart and soul.”
“Then ask her, but she doesn’t know our ways, so explain to her what you are asking and what it means, then let her decide. She may need time to come to that decision though,” I advised her gently, trying not to let my warring thoughts show on my face. I wondered once again just how much of this was a game to the young Yseil'dhraí. There were things that she knew, ways that she instinctively acted or reacted that suggested that this was more than just a role that she was playing. I had gotten similar feelings from Naerysse, Maekin, and Sahnae as well, and especially from Amoiraishe over the course of the game so far.
Inklings of suspicion formed, not for the first time, in the back of my thoughts, making themselves known before I shoved them back in the dark recesses of my mind. This was a game and I wanted to enjoy it. If I allowed those suspicions to see the light they added up to something that didn’t make sense, or perhaps far too much sense for me to accept. I could shine a light on those thoughts and get answers when I had more information and not just wild instincts screaming at me. For now, I just wanted to spend time with the people that I cared about and enjoy my little fantasy.
Sisterly advice given I returned to Rei’s side, leaning on him for the strength that I currently lacked as the lights of Haven shone through the trees, heralding our return to the village. When we left the woods Amoiraishe and Sheriff Becky Shaw were there waiting for us along with the representatives from the other Courts. Amoiraishe wrapped me and Nishalle both up in a hug before we even knew what hit us and I saw that Kinara was getting the same treatment from Maekin. “I’m glad you’re all back safe, you’ve made me so proud. All of the players are waiting in the Town Hall. Are you sure that you want to do this tonight? You and Salem should both be resting, given what you have been through. You can barely stand Taelya.” The last was said as she pulled back a bit to look me over in concern.
“I’m sure Mahair,” I insisted, trying to look more energetic than I currently felt. “We should get this over with, people need to know what’s coming and we need to prepare for the future.”
Amoiraishe’s obvious pride and happiness at seeing us unharmed was both a relief and a concern. The relief was because, well, she was my Mahair and I had all of those dream memories reinforcing that. Also, to be honest, it felt good to have a mother figure to care and watch over Nishalle and me again, even if she did get too involved in my personal affairs sometimes. That’s what mothers do though, not because they like interfering, but because they care and want the best for their children, and Amoiraishe had been treating me and Nishalle both like her daughters more often over the past week since we had returned from our scavenging expedition.
My concern was that as an Admin and the game creator she probably had a pretty good idea about our encounter before I had contacted her. She didn’t seem surprised to see Brynna, or about the fact that Salem had changed species, in fact, she seemed happy about it. She had that little look that she gets in her eyes whenever one of her plans is going perfectly. Yes, I believed that Salem was meant to become a Liyun'shael. It was just far too convenient that the Witch who couldn’t use her magick and studied environmental sciences in real life was the one to become a Moss Maiden, and Amoiraishe could issue quests so all that she really needed to do was point Salem’s group in the right direction.
Then there were the Wisps coming right to my group. I mean, sure there weren’t many parties questing in the southern woods and we were the only ones besides Salem’s group that had been confident enough to go that deep into the woods. I was absolutely certain though that no other party would have been able to complete the quest of getting Salem safely to Haven. I had sensed the Dryad and spoke with her, something that nobody else on the game, except perhaps our guests from the other Courts, could do. Sure, another parry might have tracked Salem to where Brynna was inducting her into the ranks of the Liyun'shael, but I was pretty damn certain that no other party could have taken down the chaos beast and the goblin ambush. I had had to use every ounce of power that I had to for the former and hadn’t been able to assist with the latter, other than coming up with a battle plan of sorts.
No, this had been a challenge for us personally, something to push us to our limits. It wasn’t really all that surprising, given just how much that Amoiraishe had been pushing us to train and become stronger for the inter-server tournament at the end of the close beta test. She wanted us to become the best that we could be, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this than just her wanting Autumn Server to win the eventual tournament. “That was a test wasn’t it, Mahair? And this whole thing before the event… you wanted to see how strong we’re getting and to make us work harder at training to keep improving, didn’t you?” I asked her in a near-whisper.
Amoiraishe smiled at me and nodded just enough that I could see it before replying in a quiet tone, “Yes. It was as much to challenge you as to gauge your strength, and to show you where you need to improve. Everyone needs to get strong enough to survive what’s coming and to be able to contribute. I apologize for not giving you any warning, but you passed with flying colors.”
“And if we hadn’t? What if I wasn’t able to keep that thing contained?”
“Then I would have stepped in to ensure you were able to escort Salem here,” she replied to my question, her smile not fading one bit. “I had confidence in you though, in all of you. The others count on you and trust you and you’re a good leader. You are powerful, but you also think ahead and use your resources wisely, you know when to fight and when to run, you don’t want to see anyone hurt, and when you take on a task you are always determined to see it through to the best of your ability.”
I shook my head sadly. “There is still room for improvement. I kinda freaked out and panicked a little when I saw the Vhasjin’dhur. Lissany saved our asses and Lark too, by buffing us. If it weren’t for them, and that I was so scared for Kinara, that fight might have had a very different ending. I was overconfident too, with my plan to try and get them to attack one another. We should have taken care of the Vhasjin’dhur first and then triggered the goblin ambush afterward.”
“Fear is not a bad thing, it lets us know when we are in danger and nobody is truly fearless, everyone fears something. When your companions acted and you realized that it wasn’t just you in danger you found the courage to push past that fear and act, and that is what is important. As for your plan, it wasn’t a bad idea, if it had been anything but a Vhasjin’dhur then it might have even worked,” she offered, putting an arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer as we walked.
“Thanks, Mahair, but Salem… why her? Hasn’t she suffered enough without the added dysphoria? You sent her a quest to start this whole thing didn’t you?” I didn’t so much accuse her, as ask what she was thinking as I allowed myself to lean into her embrace.
“She has suffered, and that is precisely why I chose her to be the courier of the message,” the Fae Queen agreed. “Like you, she surprised me by choosing to become female in the game and her first attempt at summoning her familiar went badly. She could be a fine Medic but to truly be useful, and the type of class that she wanted to be, she needed her magick. She is nearly as powerful as you and me and her being able to access that power will mean a great deal in the future. Her being female allowed me to give her a second chance at having her magick by becoming a Liyun'shael. She is uniquely suited to being one with her area of studies and I think that it will bring her happiness once she is past the dysphoria, so I sent her a quest to follow that wisp, hinting that she could get a second chance at getting her magick.”
She had been telling me a lot more as we were becoming closer and I wasn’t really sure whether I should be worried or comforted by that as I pulled away slightly and said, “You just didn’t say how.”
“No, I did not, but does that matter if she can become truly happy in the long run?” she countered.
I sighed and shook my head. “I guess not, but how can you know what will make her happy in the future? A background check doesn’t tell all that much about who she is as a person.”
“I can’t know, not for certain, nothing is absolute. I can only follow my vision and hope it all works out for the best. Seeing the future beyond thirty seconds or so is never certain, too many things can change the picture it paints; free will and the machinations of other people can affect a lot more than people realize. But certain people are like focal points capable of changing events far more than the average person, with the right motivation and circumstances; you, Salem, your sister, and all your friends. You are all like bright threads in the tapestry that I am trying to weave with this game, bringing it closer to matching my vision. From some, I could sense it when we first met, and I could sense it from certain people from their background checks.” She turned her head to look back at Salem and Daenyss chattering away like long-time friends. “I cannot be certain how some of those threads might affect the overall tapestry, the best that I can do is to guide them with a steady hand and hope for the best.”
I think that this was the most direct answer that Amoiraishe had ever given me, even shrouded as it was in symbolism. But this talk of her vision and our roles in it bothered me. The first time that she had spoken of her ‘vision’ I had thought that she had meant the game and that she was speaking in a purely artistic sense, but this made it sound like the game was only part of a larger plan? Given my other suspicions, this worried me. I liked and trusted Amoiraishe, despite her tendency to doublespeak, and I knew deep down that she wouldn’t harm us. I even felt that she wanted the best for us, but what would this mean for all of us once the game was over, and just how far did her vision reach? It was a lot to think about and with answers either out of reach or hidden in the darkest recesses of my mind where I wouldn’t have to confront them it gave me a lot to think about. I remained quiet as we continued our walk to Haven’s Town Hall.
I stopped at the gas station restroom with Lissany, Daenyss, and Salem before going onward to make ourselves more presentable before showing up for the meeting. Of all of our group, we looked the worst off and we needed to do something about that before going into a meeting with all of the other players. The new Moss Maiden’s clothes were covered in soil from her recent burial, and Lissany and I had Vhasjin’dhur blood all over us, though Lissany was safe in her armor and at least my hair had managed not to get any in it.
I removed my blood-caked leather armor and accessories, then with Daenyss’s help I washed the blood off my skin. When that was done I changed into my Autumn Court finery from earlier in the day, which had been stowed safely in my duffel bag. Then, while Daenyss was touching up my makeup and making me look as nice as I could under the circumstances I created illusory clothing for her, to keep her decent. Meanwhile, Lissany cleaned the blood from her armor and Salem got the worst of the dirt from her clothes. It wasn’t perfect, but at least we looked presentable and not like some extras from a horror movie. Now we just looked like extras from a fantasy movie, which was about normal for us while in this game. Once Daenyss figured that we were all presentable we joined the others outside and made our way to the meeting.
Except for those who were in Hell at the moment such as Salem’s former party-mates, all of the players, both Human and otherwise, were gathered in the Town Hall when we arrived. Amoiraishe and I waited with the rest of our group at the Town Hall’s entrance for the meeting to begin. That group of course now included Salem, Rob, and the representatives from the other Courts. The Fae were of course in their court finery since we were in town and had to look presentable. Luckily my party-mates hadn’t gotten too messed up from our fight, except for me and Lissany, but at least we had taken care of that. As for the Wisps, they were all perched where they could see everything, Willow on my shoulder, Kimmie peeking out from Kinara’s hair, and Venika’s newly-named Silverheels sitting with her on Lissany’s shoulder.
Brynna had returned to the Glade to await Salem at the Manor with the other NPCs since she was uncomfortable in the village and she hadn’t been wearing clothes. It was a players’ meeting so the NPCs wouldn’t be attending, even those like Naerysse or the other NPCs who I suspected may have been real people playing background parts but who were still pretending to be NPCs for some reason. It wasn’t a surprise that they weren’t attending, because that would have just confirmed my suspicions and they were all working very hard to maintain that illusion of being NPCs, just as Amoiraishe had with us at first. The only reason that the queen of the Autumn Court wasn’t doing that now was that she was officially in the game now as an Admin, though she left the GM duties mostly up to Sheriff Shaw since that was her job and Becky was more than happy to do it.
So it was Becky who called the meeting to order while the rest of us waited with Salem at the entrance. “Good evening players of Apocalypse Dawn! You have been gathered this evening at the request of the Autumn Court to discuss matters of importance to all players. To start, I’d like to call Salem up here to tell us about what happened in the Southern Forest today, you’re all familiar with Salem aren’t you?”
There was some murmuring in the crowd as people told those who didn’t know Salem who she was, a lot of people referring to her as the tiny girl with the bright red hair. One male voice could be heard above the others though as he said with a derisive laugh, “Yeah, she’s the useless little Witch who leeches off those two Beastkin and the Shadow Elf. The one that nobody wants in their party.”
Becky frowned in the direction of the voice. “Stow that shit, Hawkin. Nobody here is useless, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. I figure that you should know that since you’ve had to respawn three times his week. I haven’t seen Salem have to respawn since the game started, not even during the Deadrush.”
I had seen Hawkin around before, he was a tall muscular Human with short brown hair who had chosen the Warrior class and liked to think of himself as a tank, but he really couldn’t hold a candle to Lissany. He was also a loudmouth who tended to jump into situations without thinking first and spoke his mind without considering who he might be hurting. He wasn’t a bad guy, just a bit insensitive and slow-witted in my opinion. Still, Salem didn’t deserve that. I liked her and I felt the need to defend her though so I said loud and clear enough for the whole Hall to hear, “Actually, I want her in my party. If you’ll look at our party list you’ll see that she’s already joined. It wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t use magick before, but now she can and I will be teaching her personally. Come on Salem, you have a report to give.” I took her carefully by the hand and led her down the aisle between the chairs toward the podium.
There was a hush as people realized just who was speaking. That shifted to confused mumblings as I walked Salem to the podium. “She’s with Taelya’s party now, where is her regular crew... Wait that’s not Salem… I don’t know what that is…”
The confusion kept the crowd mostly quiet until Salem stepped up to the podium, with me right by her side for moral support. “Hey everyone… I… umm… know that I look a bit different, but I am Salem, not a pod-person or anything.”
“You kinda look like Salem, but why are you green?” one voice said in the brief silence that followed.
“Yeah it does kind of look like Salem, I guess,” another agreed, “but I bet it’s not easy being green.”
I groaned at that comment and Salem bravely pushed on, trying to deliver her message even though the crowd wasn’t making it easy for her. “My old party was wiped out by Redcaps in the woods, there are a lot of them and they’re really dangerous. They could attack any time and we need to prepare. The only reason I’m not dead is because I managed to get away and a Moss Maiden found me and saved me before I could bleed to death by turning into one of her own kind. I guess I don’t look much like a Human anymore and I’m a Fae now, but…”
“You’re Fae now? So is the grass really greener on the other side?” another voice from the crowd joked.
“Really? Have a little maturity people, this is fucking important,” I thought to myself with a groan.
I was about to make my thoughts on the matter clear to everyone when Salem stood up straight and said as loudly and clearly as she could. “Okay! We get it, I’m green and it’s just so fucking funny! Do you know what’s not going to be funny?! When those Redcaps decide to come and attack and you’re all making these fucking jokes in Hell while we wait to respawn and they’re using your blood to dye their caps! There are over forty of them and they wiped my party out! They just cut my friends apart like they were nothing and we didn’t even put a scratch on them! If you want to keep making jokes, fine, I don’t give a shit, I delivered the message like I was told to!”
I got a notification that the quest was complete as the crowd went deathly silent, but I shoved that and the level-up notice aside for the moment as I put an arm around Salem’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay Salem, you’re with us now and we take care of one another,” I whispered before turning my attention to the now silent players seated in the Hall. “Yeah, real mature everybody. Make fun of the girl who came to warn you all of the impending danger and went through something pretty traumatic while doing it. I know that you were all probably thinking that since this is a player meeting that it was going to be all OOC and giving feedback about our game experience so far or something, and maybe have a bit of out of character fun. That is not why I called this meeting. I want you all to start thinking like your lives depend on what we’re telling you because they do, and I doubt that any of you want to spend another minute in Hell that you don’t have to.”
I had their attention, they were listening now, even if a lot of them were looking down at the floor in shame or embarrassment from their fellow players’ behavior. If XP were being given for guilt trips I might have gone up another level as I let them stew in their juices for a minute before speaking again. “So, to redcap… err… recap, there is a clan of over forty Redcaps out in the southern woods. They are insanely strong and hard to hurt, even without their weapons and armor, and they want to violently kill you and bleed you dry.”
Becky stepped up beside me and began to lay it all out. “The Redcaps are part of an upcoming event called Red Dawn. Tomorrow night is the full moon and at dawn the next morning the event will begin. At some point, those Redcaps are going to attack Haven, the Fae Glade, or both. It could be that morning, or it could be a week or more after the event starts, the triggers have been put on random so that not even Admins will know where or when the attack will come. We don’t even know how many there are for certain, and the event will not end until every last Redcap has been defeated. You could of course choose to attack them pre-emptively or stay in town and wait things out, but keep in mind that there is a sizable force and that for the duration of the event there are no safe zones. You could be killed in the village or Glade as easily as you can be killed out there in the wider world, and there will be other monsters ready and willing to attack both. Taelya’s party encountered just a taste of what could randomly spawn during the event while they escorted Salem back here to the village.”
There was a lot of muffled cursing in the silence that followed Sheriff Shaw’s revelation, especially once the Sheriff opened up a video file in mid-air of the horde of goblins erupting from the trees. This was followed by a second video of Lissany jumping into action against the Vhasjin’dhur, focusing on the chaos beast, and the battle with it until I eventually tore it apart. There was a large communal gasp as Lissany’s war hammer exploded from the force of the blow that broke its tusk and jaw and I had to admit that it was pretty cool the way that my eyes glowed when I used Nature’s Call, a bit scary too. From across the room, I could see Narek go as white as his hair, looking from me to Lissany and then back to me. Clearly, he had just realized exactly how much he had been underestimating both of us and I had to stifle a giggle. I was pretty sure that he was thinking, “And she’s the nice sister?” as he turned to look warily at Nishalle.
There wasn’t much time to think about that though as Sonja, a Human woman with short black hair and a massive double-bladed ax, stood up and shrugged as she said, “Sure a bunch of Goblins could be a problem, but that thing doesn’t look so scary. I mean, it had a glass jaw and the princess there was able to take care of it practically single-handed.”
I just stared at her in disbelief for a moment before replying, “A glass jaw? Lissany’s hammer exploded from the force of the impact, and sure it broke its jaw, but that only really stunned it for a few seconds and you can see on the video how quickly it healed from the damage we were doing. If Lissany hadn’t taken it off guard and I hadn’t contained it until I could rip it apart then none of us would be here right now, and I had to call on the living mana of the entire forest just to do that. Not everybody is going to have that little trick available.”
Most of the Fae in the crowd were nodding and to my surprise, it was one of Sonja’s party-mates, Níala, who informed her gently, “I could feel how much power she was using from here in the village. If all that was barely enough to contain and kill it, then most of us would have no chance against something like that alone, or even in a party.” The Nyiir'dhraí Scout with the long chestnut-colored hair shook her head sadly at Sonja who frowned in response as she sat back down.
Suddenly it was very quiet and they were all looking at me expectantly once the barely audible question finally surfaced. “What do we do?”
“We get stronger,” I said. “We all train hard to become the best we can at our classes, level up, and gain new skills. We also need to start working together more, all of us. This is a cooperative game people, and we need to start getting organized and cooperating, all of us doing what we do best. Crafters, start producing gear to help those of us out there fighting. Fighters and magic-users start training hard with your parties, doing quests, and gathering what the crafters need to do their parts. If you are not in a party, join one, there is safety in numbers as well as being able to train together. The maximum number for a group is twelve, I have that many in my group, and I’m hoping to have us do training exercises as a group and as two smaller units of six in case we need to split up or attack from multiple fronts, I would suggest that other groups try something similar.”
“We also need to be ready wherever they might attack. That means organizing defenses for both Haven and the Fae Glade, and being ready to back one another up,” Nishalle pointed out from the back of the room.
Amoiraishe was beaming with pride as she walked up the aisle to join us at the podium and address the group. “My daughters are both correct; form groups, and start working together, challenging yourselves, and improving. You regular players will need to start organizing. The village and Glade will also need to plan defenses and communication to start working together. Taelya will represent the players living in the Glade, but the Human players should select a representative to speak for all of you and Haven.”
“Tien!” someone called out, a call that quickly spread throughout the Humans in the Hall. I recognized the name, though I only really knew of her by reputation. Becky had told me quite a bit about her after one of our magic lessons earlier in the week. Apparently, as two of the few Asians in the game, they had started talking and become good friends.
Tien was an Arts student in real life and had gotten the invite from her aunt, who worked as Moira’s receptionist but had no interest in joining the game, so Tien had joined and decided to play a Druid. Her parents owned a shop in the Kensington – Cedar Cottage area of Vancouver that some people refer to as Little Saigon. She had learned about running a business from them and when she saw the need she had put her experience to good use. It was when the supplies had burned up after H3lls-Pwn’s actions that she had started a sort of trading post in Haven, selling her herbs and potions and trading for whatever people managed to gather or get in quests that they didn’t need. She now had quite the brisk trade of all sorts of items and had a reputation for being fair, and often charitable when it was needed. She had quite a sense of humor too since the name Tien meant “Fairy” in her native Vietnamese and she had gone out of her way not to play a Fae.
Soon Tien was being practically dragged out of her seat by those around her to come and join us at the Podium. She was an unassuming looking Vietnamese girl, about twenty years old, probably looking a lot like she did in real life. She was dressed fairly casually in some of the clothes we had brought back from Walmart; a simple hoodie, jeans, and sneakers combination. She did look a bit nervous though, so to put her mind at ease I offered my hand and smiled as I told her, “It’s nice to finally meet you officially, Tien. I’ve heard good things about you.”
“Nice to meet you, Your Highness,” she replied with a nervous-looking smile. “I guess we’ll be seeing more of one another now though.”
“Then you should call me Taelya, at least when we’re being informal,” I offered with a smile. After that the meeting went on for another hour as possible tactics and training methods were discussed, parties were formed or expanded, and we discussed maintaining communications at all times. That was when Grell and Ashura revealed the new project that they had been working on, cell phones.
The only problem with using phones before had been that outside Haven it would be hard to keep them charged and getting a signal could be a problem if cell towers were damaged or not getting power, the satellites were still up there though. With that in mind, the pair had created a sort of magical battery for cellphones that was constantly charging from the mana around them. They had also vastly increased the signal range and strength so they could work just about anywhere. So far they had over two dozen of them altered and offered one to both me and Tien to help with communication. They planned to have one for each crafter’s shop and each party leader and had even outfitted a couple of laptops with similar artificed tech. Things were starting to look up as the meeting came to a close.
I was really tired by the time we had gotten home, had dinner, and gotten Salem settled into one of the guestrooms. Daenyss would have been willing to share with her, but she had a fairly small room next to her mother’s in the servants’ quarters and there probably wouldn’t be room for the two of them comfortably while they both still suffered body dysphoria. Salem seemed a little uncertain about staying in the manor but I told her that she was our friend and our guest and that she should come and see me or Daenyss if she needed anything at all.
As tired as I was, I still wanted to enjoy some time with Rei. It was so wonderful not having that constant dysphoria hanging over me and feeling comfortable with my body and who I was right now. It was as Rei and I were snuggling together in bed, savoring the afterglow of another few rounds of amazing sex that I asked him, “Honey, do you think that I could have a bit of your hair, you know from your usual Kitsune form?”
“Sure, babe, what do you need it for? Do you need it any specific length?” he queried, regarding me with the currently golden eyes of the Yseil'dhraí form that he had taken for our amorous encounters.
“It’s kind of for a Fae thing,” I began to explain. “We take a lock of each of our hair and braid them together into a pair of bracelets that we both wear around our right wrists. It’s called the sahir kien and the braids are made from three groups of hair, one of mine, one of yours, and one of a mix of the two. It’s sort of like the Fae version of a promise ring or wedding ring and it shows that we have been claimed by one another, heart and soul. It would also tell people like Narek that, while a bit of friendly sex is fine, that we are in a committed relationship and I don’t want anything more, so he might back off.”
“I don’t think that Narek will be pushing again after what he saw on that video,” my lover said with a grin. “I can’t tell if he’s more scared of you or Nishalle now.”
“True, he was surprisingly respectful at dinner, but I would still like to do this, just to let everyone know that we belong together. So... umm… what do you think?”
His answer was to shift into his, or rather her, androgynous Kitsune form and kiss me deeply, causing my desire to flare up again. It wasn’t too surprising since his male form had been getting more androgynous over the course of the day. I kind of figured that he was in one of his gender-neutral moods when the Yseil'dhraí form he had taken was so feminine looking. Once she had broken the kiss she smiled at me, still close enough that our breasts were touching and causing little shivers of delight to run through me as she said, “Call Daenyss and see if she has some scissors in that hairstyling kit of hers.”
Soon Daenyss arrived and unbraided my hair so that she could snip a lock from the nape of each of our necks where it wouldn’t be too obvious. Once she was finished she hugged us both, congratulated us, and then headed back to whatever she had been doing before to allow us to complete our task in privacy. I didn’t really know how to braid hair, but Rei showed me how and I got the hang of it pretty quick with my nimble fingers. Soon we had the braided bracelets secured around our wrists, loose enough to not be uncomfortable, but tight enough to not just slip over the hand accidentally.
“Wow, it feels so official now,” I said as I smiled and stared at the band of hair around my wrist, my bright red-gold contrasting her jet black.
“Yeah, it’s not like we had a wedding ceremony or anything, but I feel like that too,” Rei said as she looked at her own bracelet. “I’m actually kind of worried about losing it if I have to change shape to a Sprite or something for some reason.”
“Maybe Mahair has some sort of spell that will let it change size with you, I don’t know anything like that yet. We can ask her about it tomorrow,” I suggested.
“Speaking of tomorrow, have you decided if you want to go to that… uhh… ceremonial Fae orgy thing tomorrow night? You know, one last night of fun before the uncertainty of that event.” She sounded uncertain about whether she should ask or not.
I kissed her softly and held her close. “All I need is you, honey. As fun as it sounds with my dysphoria gone and all, I’m committed to you so I won’t be going. It’s not like I’ll be the only Fae not there since I doubt that Daenyss or Salem will be going, and Kinara is too young. So, the two of us can just spend a nice quiet night in.”
“Actually, I was… umm… talking to Amoiraishe earlier when I got my new skill download for Fae Culture and I sorta asked if I could be included tomorrow night. I know I’m not Fae, but I am your fiancée and you’re the princess. She agreed and I’ll be going through the ceremony with all the newbie Fae,” she said, looking a bit worried.
The reason for her nervousness suddenly clicked. She hadn’t been nervous about whether I was going to go, she had been worried about telling me that she was going through with it herself, and as one of the initiates. “Wait, you took Fae Culture as your new skill? And you’re going through the Jhashaira rite?”
She nodded and then kissed me tenderly before looking me in the eyes and saying, “Yes, and I want you to be there, so we can do this together babe. I know how much you enjoy being Fae, even with the dysphoria you’ve been so much more open and at ease with yourself since we started playing this game and you became Taelya. I love seeing you like that, seeing how you’re growing from this experience. So I want us both to be able to embrace the Fae culture, all of it, and I meant what I said about us having an open relationship. Sex is fun, and now that I have the new skill I can kind of see how the Fae view it; it can bring you closer to people that you care about, but it’s not really important in the grand scheme of things. It’s just our bodies, not our hearts and souls. As long as we’re both being safe about it and I know that I’m the one who wears your sahir kien and the one that you love and come home to every night, I think we’ll both be very happy.”
The look in her eyes, her words, she wasn’t lying to me. She wanted this, for both of us. My heart fluttered, my breath quickened, and I could feel tears coming to my eyes. This was like, the sweetest thing that she had ever done, and as both Rei and Jess, she was the sweetest and most supportive person I had ever known, though my sister came a close second. Finally, once I thought that I could control my voice, I spoke breathily. “No worries then, my love, because the only one I want to share my life, heart, and soul with is you. For the rest of our lives, in this body or any other.” We kissed then, tenderly, trading soft caresses as our tongues danced. Soon we were doing more than kissing as we picked up where we had left off before making our sahir kien and got some practice in for tomorrow night.
I think that there is something about waking up with your lover’s arms wrapped tightly around you that is primal, no matter what Race you are. There’s that feeling of safety and companionship and a sort of certain rightness to it. When I awoke on the morning of the full moon I just laid there for a bit in Rei’s arms savoring the warmth of that feeling, Rei’s scent, the heat of her body holding mine so close, and the early morning quiet as the dawning sun peeked through the curtains and Willow snoozed on the pillow beside my head. Maybe it’s a girl thing, maybe it’s a Fae thing, or maybe it was because I was finally comfortable as Taelya now that all the dysphoria was gone but, for me, it was the perfect moment and I just didn’t want it to end.
So I was understandably reluctant to leave my current cozy situation when light tapping sounded at the door, followed by Daenyss’ voice calling out, “Mistress, it’s time to get up and get ready for the day.”
“Give me five minutes please, Daenyss?” I called back as I snuggled closer to my fiancée.
“As you wish, Mistress, I will begin running your bath,” she replied before I heard her footsteps padding away from the bedroom door.
For five more minutes, I luxuriated in Rei’s embrace, just drinking in her presence and that we were together and for once we were both happy with who we were. Being together with the one that you love is great, but there is nothing quite like being together with the one you love and both being truly, deeply happy. That is a very rare thing, something that should be enjoyed and appreciated whenever possible. Despite my suspicions that Moira was hiding things and that there was much more going on here than a simple game, I was truly grateful to her for giving not just me and Rei, but everyone that I cared about at the moment such an opportunity.
Once I reluctantly slipped from between the sheets and Rei’s arms, I took Willow in hand and once again placed myself into Daenyss’s capable hands to get ready for the day ahead. While she went through our usual morning routine of doing her level best to get me looking, smelling, and feeling my best we chatted a bit and managed to get Willow to use the little litter box that I had arranged for her. The Wisp was leery of the water though and watched Daenyss bathe and pamper me from a safe distance.
As uncertain as I had been about Daenyss at first, she had become more than just an attendant to me, she was a now close friend as well. This wasn’t just a time be pampered it was one on one time for the two of us. I think that I would have been hard-pressed not to like Daenyss once we both started to discover the kind of person she was. She always did her best at everything she did, she genuinely cared for people, and while a lot of people in her situation would have been upset that they couldn’t remember their past, Daenyss took it as a blessing and an opportunity to find herself and be the type of person that she wanted to be.
She enjoyed the time as much as I did since, even though she would still address me as Mistress. It was a chance for us both to be relaxed, casual, and just talk as friends would. Usually, we took this time to talk about what had been happening in the game, discuss our various misgivings and uncertainties, and teach Daenyss about all of the everyday things that I took for granted, but that fascinated my Attendant’s childlike curiosity. She usually wanted to learn about the world around us, things that she didn’t know or had lost the knowledge of along with her memory, but today another topic dominated our conversation.
Daenyss wanted to help others, it was an almost desperate need in her, so it came as no surprise that Salem was that topic. As I had been hoping, she felt a kinship between herself and the new Moss Maiden and she was eager to teach her all about being a Fae, one of the few things that she did know with any certainty. For my part, I tried to encourage that. They would both benefit from being friends and if anyone could understand what Salem was going through, it was probably Daenyss.
She and Salem were both still suffering from body dysphoria, though it seemed to be fading in Daenyss and Salem’s species dysphoria wasn’t near as bad as the gender dysphoria that she had started with. So when I asked about that evening’s Jhashaira ritual as she was braiding my hair it was no surprise that the Nymph shook her head. “I will probably attend on the next full moon, Mistress. I am still a bit uncomfortable with my body so I thought that maybe I will spend some time with Salem tonight while you are off enjoying yourself. I think that she needs real friends.”
“Me too,” I agreed, resisting the urge to nod as I tried to keep my head still for her. “That’s why I wanted her in the Estate and away from those jerks that she was hanging around with. I want her to see all of us as friends and to know that we value her as a friend. I’m glad that you’re making an effort with her, I think you’re the perfect candidate to get her to relax with the rest of us and help her gain a bit of the confidence that she needs. I hope that learning magick will help with that too. I’m going to talk with Mahair about making her a focus after breakfast so I can start teaching her today.”
“She mentioned that she was looking forward to learning from you yesterday, she respects you a lot. It is so kind of you to teach her, Kinara, and Becky like you are. It is not surprising though, you are kind to everyone and I am so proud to serve you, Mistress,” the Nymph said as she smiled at me in the mirror.
I flushed a bit in response. “I just try to be a good person Daenyss, just like you. I know that I probably don’t tell you this near enough, but I’m proud to have you as my Attendant and as my friend and I appreciate everything that you do for me.”
“You have been telling me that every morning Mistress. I am glad that I swore the Viyr Jhaith, you are my Mistress, teacher, and best friend and I do not think that my life would be the same without you.” She finished the last braid and leaned forward to kiss me tenderly on the top of the head. “Now, let us get your clothes and makeup done so I can help Rei get ready for breakfast as well.”
I had a lot more clothes, now that the Brownies had access to sewing supplies and fabrics that wouldn’t bother my skin. My closet was almost full of the various Fae outfits that had been tailored for me and added to the various high-end clothes that I had gotten during our last trip to the city. They were all comfortable, easy to move in and I liked the look and feel of them now that I had shed the last of my male inhibitions about showing off my currently feminine body.
I was half tempted to forget about clothes altogether, but we would be heading into town after lunch for magick lessons, and I was worried that the morning’s training session might be a little strenuous and I wanted proper support for that. After I had appropriate underclothes on, we settled on a pair of form-fitting cotton leggings and a sleeveless halter top with a pair of soft-soled suede boots and of course my Nature’s Crown. The boots were tan and the clothes were hunter green, they weren’t my usual Autumn Court colors, but they would be comfortable and easy to move in. While I busied myself with getting dressed, Daenyss started running a bath for my fiancée.
Daenyss was just starting on some light makeup when Rei finally joined us and muttered sleepily, “Mornin’ girls.”
Good morning, Lady Rei, I have run a bath for you. If you would like to settle in and relax I will be with you in a moment,” my Attendant offered with a smile.
“Thanks, Daenyss, you’re the best,” the Kitsune replied as she stopped by to kiss me on the cheek before heading toward the bathroom with her tails swishing behind her.
I got in a quick peck in return before watching her go. “Damn shapeshifters, I wish I could look that gorgeous when stumbling out of bed and still half asleep,” I teased.
“You do, but for you, there’s no shapeshifting involved,” she retorted as she looked over her shoulder and blew me a kiss before stepping into the bathroom.
“She’s right, Mistress, all that I do is help you tidy up and get a specific look for the day. Now that we’re done with that I should go help her so you are not late for breakfast.” With that Daenyss left to do so and I spent time playing with Willow.
Breakfast was satisfying and filling, as it always was at the Estate, though Kinara, Venika, and I found ourselves feeding our Wisps as well and we had to be careful to pay close attention while we did since they were still so young. Salem and Rob both seemed to be settling in well and I was pretty happy as we talked about the upcoming day and evening. I must admit though, that it surprised the hell out of me when Narek wasn’t just being civil through the meal but also congratulated me and Rei on making our commitment to one another official. I wasn’t the only one surprised by this change in attitude either, I think that almost everyone at the table stared at him in disbelief when he said that.
After we were finished Rei and I pulled Amoiraishe aside before we all went outside to begin our morning training sessions. “Mahair, may we have a moment of your time?”
“Of course, Taelya dear, I always have time for you,” she said with a smile as she pulled both me and Rei into a hug.
Once she released us I smiled back at her. “Thanks, Mahair, I was wondering if I could get your help with a few things. I’m not quite far enough into my magick yet to create artifacts or major enchantments and I was thinking that since I want to start teaching Salem magick today she’s going to need a focus. Also, I was wondering if it’s possible to make Rei’s sahir kien change sizes with her when she changes shape, so it doesn’t slip off or get too tight.”
The Fae Queen held out her hand palm up and a delicate golden ring appeared in it. “I knew that Salem would need one for her lessons, so I took the liberty of making her one last night. I will give it to her this while you are all training this morning. I would like to teach her some of our mental exercises in preparation for her magick lesson with you this afternoon. As for Rei’s sahir kien, that should be a simple matter. Could you hold this for a moment?” She handed me the ring and I took it, smiling at the warmth of the magic that I could feel radiating from it. Then she carefully took Rei’s wrist in her right hand, gently touching her sahir kien, channeling her magic into it, and speaking clearly as she drew the sigils with her left hand. “Ysoldir zishe Rei!”
The braided bracelet of our entwined hair was now infused with warm magick and it felt like it was connected to my fiancée somehow. “Thank you, Mahair, for all of this and for allowing Rei to participate in tonight’s Jhashaira. She’s not Fae, and she’s certainly not a virgin after the past few nights so I appreciate that.”
“She is your fiancée Taelya, and she is Kitsune, they too were created by one of the Divine with a purpose in mind and are as long-lived as we are, so I consider them cousins of a sort. The Fae of the Spring Court feel the same way. The Jhashaira is not simply about losing one’s virginity, it is about celebrating mastering self-control over one’s body, physical distractions, and desires. Kitsunes must have that type of self-control as well to consciously change their shapes and Rei has proven that she has possesses it as much as any Faeling by waiting until you were comfortable with your new self before doing anything of a sexual nature, or even touching you in ways that might make you uncomfortable. She has earned this honor and I am glad that she has chosen to embrace our traditions,” Amoiraishe explained as she hugged us both once again.
“Still, you didn’t have to allow it and I appreciate it. I may be a little suspicious of your motives sometimes and I know that you’re holding some things back, but I just want you to know that I do appreciate everything you’ve done and the opportunities that you’ve given us. You’ve been like a mother to Nishalle and me and it’s… nice to have someone care about us like that again.” I spoke just loud enough for her to hear as I held her tight.
“It’s nice to be able to care again,” she admitted softly. When I lost Rhaennan I never thought that anything would fill that void in my heart. I was empty without her and for far too long only my vision kept me going. Nobody can ever replace Rhaennan, but you both are so different than her and that void is still there, but it’s not as big and overwhelming with you to fill it, dear one.” She let us go and I could see tears at the corners of her eyes as she quickly changed the topic. “Oh! That’s right! You, Nishalle, and Kinara need to go see Hadrick before we begin our training sessions today. I contacted him to make you some proper armor with the assistance of some of the Brownies and I have been told that it’s finished. Rei, you and any of your other party-mates who want some made should see him so that you can get measured for it as well. The Brownies only had their measurements on hand.”
I would love to have a little more protection out there, but armor is a little impractical with shapeshifting,” my fiancée said with a sigh.
“Hadrick has mostly crafted Taelya’s from the Lindwyrm hide that you brought home from your last expedition so that it will be comfortable and should protect against fire, bladed weapons, and small arms fire. Your team brought it back so it is only fair that you should all have the first chance to put it to use. Perhaps you should ask for something similar and have it made for your current size, then I can enchant it like I did your sahir kien, so that it changes size with you,” Amoiraishe suggested.
“That could work, thanks for the suggestion and the offer, I would be nice to be able to change size without worrying about either shrinking out of what I’m wearing or having it rip at the seams,” Rei said with a sigh.
I quickly nodded in agreement. “We’ll ask him about it when we see him then, thanks again Mahair.” With that in mind, I handed back the ring and we joined the others to go off in search of Hadrick’s forge.
The forge was located in a small clearing amongst the trees, not too far away from the gates of the estate along with some of the other crafters’ shops in the Glade. It was sort of like a one-stop shopping center for the Fae and other non-Human races. Aside from Hadrick’s forge, there was also Laesa’s clothing store for Sprites and other Fae of the small variety, a clothing shop for regular-sized Fae and other Races set up by a brunette Nyiir'dhraí woman named Shaoli, Denise’s custom firearms and ammunition shop, and Ashura was manning the artificed innovations shop that she and Grell had started. Most of the shops were open stalls with a product or two on display, but most of the stuff that they sold was, out of necessity, made to order.
While the rest of us made our way to the forge, Venika went to visit Laesa accompanied by her Wisp, Silverheels. She wanted to order some clothes from her fellow Sprite, whose tiny little stall sat atop one end of the counter of Shaoli’s shop. It seemed that the two had decided to work together. We saw a similar spirit of cooperation when we got to the forge, where Hadrick had set up shop with a tanner and fellow Dwarf, Yola. She was short, even for a Dwarf, with rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes. She also wasn’t quite as stocky as other Dwarves I had seen and had her long midnight black hair tied back in a tight French braid.
“Yer Highness! Friends! Welcome to our little place of business,” Hadrick called out at our approach. “Yola has spent most of the week preparing the skin of that big snake ya killed, but she’s managed to finish the order that Her Majesty requested. I have something for you as well Lissany, just try to break this one.” He was grinning at my Guardian as he produced a new war hammer.
Lissany hefted the weapon experimentally, her eyes widening. “This is the same size as my old one, but it’s heavier.”
“I used the densest alloy that I could manage for it and I just finished it this morning,” Hadrick explained with a nod. “It’s a good thing Dwarves don’t need much sleep because it was a long night between making this for you and the order I got from that white-haired Fae. It’s some of my best work though, and if you can make this one explode then I’ll eat my hammer.”
As that exchange was going on Yola produced three bundles of Lindwyrm hide and placed them on the counter. “If any of the rest of your party want armor made from that hide, I‘d like to have Jira and Salus get their measurements now, so I can get started on them before we start getting too many other orders.” She gestured to the two Brownies that were waiting eagerly for something to do. “Once people know about this hide the orders are going to come fast and I’ll likely run out quick.”
Everyone except Lissany and Venika was going to have some armor made. Lissany didn’t need armor and Venika was too small, even if she wasn’t busy talking to Laesa about clothes. Daenyss wasn’t really comfortable in clothes and Salem looked like hers were driving her crazy since Liyun'shael are just as uncomfortable In them as their Nymph cousins, but I wanted them both safe in combat so I managed to convince them both to have a set made. Perhaps Daenyss could keep them in her chest and summon them when we thought there might be a fight coming up.
So while everyone else was getting measured and Lissany was talking to Hadrick and testing her new war hammer, Nishalle, Kinara and I tried on our new Lindwyrm-hide armor. Each set consisted of a pair of soft-soled boots, form-fitting leggings, bracers, and a thigh-length hooded tunic with elbow-length sleeves and a high neckline that secured with a pair of decorative clasps. I was a bit worried about the leggings being too tight, but the hide had a bit of stretch to it that made them fit somewhat comfortably. The tunics were fairly loose and had an almost inch thick layer of padding while the bracers and boots were made of thick and durable leather covered in Lindwyrm hide for added protection. There was also a pair of thin leather gloves, probably because the Lindwyrm scales were too big to properly cover the fingers.
The scales covering Nishalle’s outfit retained the Lindwyrm’s pitch black color to allow her to blend in with the shadows better while Kinara’s and mine had been dyed somehow, Kinara’s were dyed a deep emerald, and mine a dark ruby hue with tan hued gloves and boots that suited the Autumn Court fairly well. To my surprise, mine even had a tan leather belt with an ammo pouch over each hip and matching thigh holsters for my Colts. I just stared at Yola for a moment. “Wow, you put a lot of work into all of this. We barely know you though, and we haven’t done anything for you yet.”
“I’ve been working most of the past two days on all of this, and I needed Shaoli’s help to come up with something comfortable and easy to wear that would still give full body protection, but we were both glad to do it when Her Majesty asked. Don’t sell yourself short, Your Highness. You do a lot for those of us of the Non-Human persuasion and we can trade in the village because of your efforts too. Your team also brought in most of the materials that we have to work with, so this is fair trade,” the Dwarf replied with a shrug. “We tried to give as much padding for the tunics as possible without making them too bulky or hard to move in. Those scales may stop small arms fire and bladed weapons, but you’re still going to feel the force of any hits.”
“Thank you, is there anything else that we can do to thank you for all of this?” I asked the pair of Dwarves.
“Well, for one, you could make a delivery for me,” Hadrick suggested. “Once you’re all properly outfitted, you could all give us your old armor for resale too, It may be mostly reproduction stuff, but it’s still good quality and a lot better than what most players have.”
“Done!” I quickly agreed.
With a deal made, measurements taken, and Venika back with us we headed back onto the Estate grounds and toward the beach where we all did our daily training sessions. As we walked, Lissany stuck close to me. It wasn’t because she was on guard, the Estate was still a safe zone until tomorrow and she was way too spaced out to use that as an excuse, even if that weren’t the case. Finally, I had to ask, “What’s wrong kiddo?”
She turned to me, her voice quiet and uncertain as she responded. “Can we… umm… talk? Y’know privately? I need some advice, but talking to Mom about it would be really… awkweird.”
“Hey! Awkweird is my word! Make up your own,” I teased as I slowed my pace to give us a bit of distance from the others.
“But it fits so well,” the Beastkin girl mock-whined. “It would be both awkward and weird talking to my mom about relationships and sexuality and all that stuff. Having her give me the sex-ed talk was bad enough. You’re kinda like a friend, a big sister, and a personal hero all in one though, and you’ll understand a lot of the stuff that I need to talk about.” She looked deliberately down at where my sahir kien encircled my wrist.
“So she asked you, did she? She explained it all?” I asked calmly. I had been expecting Kinara to bring it up so it hadn’t really come as a surprise to me.
“Yeah, she asked me last night when we got back to the Estate,” she confirmed. “She asked for a lock of my hair and kinda explained that it was her way of asking me to be in a relationship with her, that it would show me as a favored lover so no other Fae would try to pursue either of us romantically. I told her that I would think about it but I’ve been feeling kinda awfuk since.”
“Awfuk?” I asked as I absently petted Willow, who was sitting on my shoulder.
“See, I can make up new words too, Your Highness,” she replied with a faint smile. “It’s kinda that feeling you get when you’re feeling awful, uncertain, confused, worried, and a bit scared all at the same time. You know, kinda like you just want to say ‘Awwwww fuck’.”
“Hey, if you get to use my word, then I get to use yours,” I teased again with a light jab of my elbow to her ribs. “So, what about this has you feeling so awfuk?”
“She said it would mark us as favored lovers and I am nowhere near ready for what kind of relationship yet, I don’t think either of us is. I’m fifteen and she’s only fourteen.”
I tried not to laugh and only just succeeded. “Liss, I know that a lot of Fae can be really casual about sex, but believe me she does not want a sexual relationship with you, at least not until she’s eighteen. Fae are forbidden from doing anything of a sexual nature until they are eighteen. Anything more than hugging or innocent kissing is out of the question for her until she is of age. She will not go against those rules and risk becoming an outcast. She as much as told me when she brought up how to ask you that she has no intention of doing so.”
“But she said…”
I placed a hand gently on my Guardian’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “Some things can get lost in translation, basically it’s like wearing a promise ring until you’re both of age, and once you are it’s the Fae equivalent of being engaged or married. It’s her way of saying that she loves you and wants to be your girlfriend. How do you feel about her, are you attracted to her? Do you like her? Do you even like girls, in general, that way?”
A long sigh of relief slipped out from between her lips. “I… I’m still kind of figuring that out, now that I feel like I’m in the right body, but I think I might be bisexual. I really like her, she’s sweet, cute, and we have a lot of fun together. The way she said lover really freaked me out though, neither of us is ready for that.”
“Liss, did she ask you in English or Elvish?” I asked.
“Um… Elvish, she said something about following proper protocol,” my young Guardian replied.
“Okay, so yes, something was lost in translation when you tried to put it in terms you could understand, Liss,” I told her with a sigh. “The Elvish language doesn’t really have words for fiancée or marriage, and the word for friend and lover are the same, so I could see how you would be confused. The sahir kien are meant to show that two people belong to one another, heart and soul, and if the relationship doesn’t work out in the long term you can both always remove them. It doesn’t have to be forever, in fact, you may never see one another again once we’re out of the game.”
“Yeah, I guess so, but what if she decides that she wants to keep that relationship going when we’re out of the game? I’m not a real…”
I placed my fingers on her lips to silence that train of thought and used my other hand to gently touch her forehead and then over her heart. “None of that, you’re a girl where it counts Liss, never doubt that. I don’t, not for one minute. Remember that communication is the most important thing in any relationship, whether it's a friendship or something more. Talk to her tonight, get to know one another more, and talk about your concerns. If it bothers you that much then be honest and upfront about your real-life situation. I don’t think that she’s the type who would be bothered by it, she’s adopted a Fae mindset very easily and she and her father both seem very open-minded.”
Lissany reached out to hug me, careful not to dislodge the Wisp seated precariously upon my shoulder. “Thanks, Your Highness. For someone who hasn’t been a girl for long, you give great sisterly advice.”
Amoiraishe was already waiting for us at our usual training spot on the beach, along with our diplomats from the other Courts. It wasn’t uncommon over the past week for Sahnae and Maekin to watch us train and occasionally offer a word of advice, but Narek was there as well. My Mahair did not seem overly concerned by this and I had to wonder what had changed because until now she had made no secret that she didn’t trust him, in fact, they had been openly hostile toward one another until that morning at breakfast. I found myself really hoping that he hadn’t managed to find his way into her bedroom the night before, the mere thought made me very nauseous. "Ick, I know that she's a Fae like me and probably loves a good romp as much as any of us, but she's my Mahair and I do not want that picture in my head, especially with Narek’s presumed participation," I thought to myself bitterly.
The Fae Queen pulled Kinara, Nishalle, and I aside, saying, “The Dwarves did a fine job on your new armor girls. If you would like I can give you each a mark like Lissany’s that will allow you to summon it in exchange for whatever you’re wearing, and vice versa. It will save you the time and effort of having to get dressed in it every time you think there may be combat and none of you have chosen a quest reward yet for getting Salem safely to the village.”
Of course, we all agreed, since it would save us having to carry our armor and weapons around all of the time. She would need to make some preparations first, but she promised to give us the marks after lunch. I could wait a little while though, I was just glad that I wouldn’t have to carry that big ass duffel bag around everywhere anymore. It was as we were all about to go to our respective training when she said carefully, “Before you get started on training your Nature’s Call, Taelya, Narek would like a little of your time. Alone.”
I’m not sure who groaned the loudest, me, or Nishalle. “Oh wonderful, I guess that I should get it over with,” I muttered. I really hoped this wasn’t another obvious attempt to get into my panties, but at least we would be within view of everyone else and it would let me make that delivery that Hadrick had requested. I had planned to do it after lunch, but this would save time if I was going to have to put up with Narek anyway. Apparently, after the previous night’s meeting, the Winter Court Fae had approached the Dwarf with a rush order for a new pair of swords. Hadrick had worked for most of the night and into this morning to produce both them and Lissany’s new weapon.
I took the pair of swords from Nishalle and warily made my way over to where Narek stood at the water’s edge. Why did he need them anyway? He already had a pair and he had made that quite clear to everyone by wearing them in the house. The swords were beautiful workmanship though; slender, sturdy, and slightly curved in the Fae style. They were delicate and ornate, almost feminine. The blades were made from a sturdy steel and were razor-sharp, though both weapons looked a bit smaller than his usual pair, even the hilts seemed made for a smaller hand. They didn’t come with any sort of sheaths, just leather loops that could be attached to a harness or belt.
I approached him, trying not to show the uncertainty that I was feeling, and held the swords out in offering, careful to keep the blades facing downward. “How can I help you this morning, Narek? Aside from delivering these for Hadrick, that is.” I spoke carefully, with as much civility as I could summon.
Narek made no move to accept the offered weapons and he didn’t offer me the same civility, he simply said, “Just who do you think that you are?”
I just stared at him for a moment, shocked by his accusatory tone and the sheer audacity of the question. I almost dropped the swords and had to take a breath to settle myself before answering as evenly as I could. “I am the princess of the Autumn Court, as a guest in our Glade you would do well to remember that.”
He merely shrugged and smiled at me as he replied, “Yes, you are, Your Highness. And by all accounts, you are filling that role wonderfully, but I want to know just where your true loyalties lie.”
The combination of his accusatory words and that slightly arrogant smile of his made me seethe inside. Willow was hissing at him from atop my shoulder, but I couldn't be sure if the cause was his behavior or my emotional reactions to it. I was furious and I wanted to show him personally just who I was and what I was capable of, but I managed to keep my violent urges at bay for the moment. “Seriously, I have fucking swords here and he’s doing his level best to piss me off, is he trying to get me to kill him?! What, he couldn’t get me in bed so now he’s going to try to make me look bad?! Not going to happen.” I took a deep breath and carefully controlled my voice as I responded, “You doubt my loyalty? After everything that I have done to work for peace between Fae, Humans, and all of the other races?”
“I don’t doubt your deeds, girl, I doubt your motives. Are you doing this for the Fae or the Humans? Whose side are you on? You’re too soft, too trusting of the Humans, just like R… I just, like really need to know; if Humans attacked us and it came down to us or them, who would you choose?” Narek’s eyes narrowed as he looked at me intently.
To say that I was pissed off would have been putting it mildly. I was actually shaking in anger as I dropped the swords to the ground and I had to stop my hands from beginning to draw the sigils of a spell that would shut Narek up permanently. Instead, I attempted to clamp down on the fury building up inside me as I looked up to the heavens in frustration. “Goddess!! Could you, like not be an asshole for just one fucking minute?!” Willow hissing from atop my shoulder added punctuation to my own anger.
The others were looking at us uncertainly now and both Lissany and Nishalle were approaching with concerned expressions on their faces, but I was too mad and insulted to let this go now. Narek had been trying to provoke an emotional reaction from me since the moment he had shown up and now he was going to damn well get what he wanted. “You want to know who's fucking side I’m on?! See these pointed ears and Danann’syr? I’m a Yseil'dhraí and that means I’m on everyone’s side! I’m on the side of preserving life and peace! I’m on the side of maintaining the balance of nature and magick! Those are the things that we Fae were created for! There is no them or us! There is just us and our duty! My first priority is to that duty, my Court, and the Fae as a whole! You speak of trust and loyalty to the Fae, but I’ve only seen petty Winter Court games and manipulation from you since you got here! Trust is earned, be it from a Human or a Fae! Deception, betrayal, lies; you’ve proven that all Races have the capacity for that, including the Fae! Don’t talk to me again about trust until you deserve it!”
With each point I made I moved closer and he took a step back until he fell on his butt in the water lapping at the shore. He looked up at me, his eyes wide and a stunned expression on his face, like he had gotten exactly what he wanted, but it wasn’t really what he had been expecting. For a long moment he just stared up at me, and then a smile split his face and he flowed back onto his feet in that fluidly graceful way that only the Fae possess, only to kneel before me with his head bowed. “Well said, Your Highness, you have your mother’s fire. On behalf of Queen Seshaire, it is my pleasure to inform you that the Winter Court humbly grants our allegiance to the Autumn Court and I shall remain here as our representative, at your service.”
He produced an envelope from somewhere in his jacket pocket and offered it to me, remaining on one knee. At first, I couldn’t speak. I was so floored by his sudden turnabout that I wasn’t sure what to think or do. I had suspected that he had been trying to get a rise out of me since he had arrived, but I hadn’t been sure why. Then I realized that this had all been some kind of test/lesson for me. Narek had played to every Winter Court stereotype that I could think of from the start. The arrogance, the womanizing, and the rudeness had all been an act, to get me to react emotionally and see If I would react like a Fae or a Human when push finally came to shove. The only time he hadn’t been trying to push my buttons had been when I had shown myself to be following Fae traditions by wearing the sahir kien.
They wanted to know where my loyalties laid, but it was much more than that too. They wanted to know my values and if I would cave to pressure or stick to my guns, but they didn’t just want themselves to know where I stood, they wanted me to know it too. Yes, it was Court games, but they needed to know that I had the interests of the Fae in mind and that I wasn’t going to be some sort of loose cannon if they were going to put their support behind Mahair’s plan for all the Courts to work together and with the other Races as well.
I looked at the stark white envelope in Narek’s hand and saw that it bore the sigil of the winter court in the pale blue wax of the seal. It was addressed to Taelya nír Keshwaindyr, Princess of the Autumn Court. It was my formal name, all Fae have one, but I hadn’t really heard mine outside of my dreams of Taelya’s childhood. Basically, it could translate to “Taelya of the Keshwaindyr”. It was one of those Elvish terms that don’t have a real English equivalent, but the word referred to the sunrise on the morning where autumn and winter meet.
My hands were shaking slightly as I broke the seal and read the letter. It was a formal letter offering the allegiance and support of the Winter Court to the Autumn Court. There was no mention of their little games or apologies for them, but then, I didn’t expect any. Queens of the Courts do not apologize for actions that are deemed necessary for the benefit of all. Once such matters are finished they are quickly forgotten with each party knowing that no ill-will was intended. I probably would have been pissed if my Fae Culture and Governance skills hadn’t made me aware of all that but now that I actually knew what was going on there was no use getting bent out of shape when I could see their reasoning for it. I didn’t like being pushed like that, but I couldn’t really hold a grudge for it either.
I nodded to Lissany and Nishalle to let them know that everything was okay, let out a sigh, and then turned around to retrieve the discarded swords. Narek hadn’t moved a muscle and was still kneeling with his head bowed so I held the weapons out to him. “You may rise Narek, I believe that these are yours.”
The Winter Court Fae stood but quickly shook his head. “I had them made yes, but not for me. Those are for you, Your Highness. Consider them a personal gift and a mark of my esteem.”
“Thank you, but I wouldn’t know what to do with them. All that I know is that the pointy end is supposed to go in my opponent,” I said with an unladylike snort. “I can’t learn right now either, I just used the only skill point that I had on acrobatics last night.”
“That is why I will be training you, the old fashioned way,” Narek insisted with a smile.
I shook my head. “I thank you for the offer but I have plenty of ways to protect myself already and Nishalle and Lissany wouldn’t let anything happen to me. If I have to fight anyone on my own I have my magick and my guns, and I know Kurinshal too.”
“I mean no disrespect to you or your protectors,” he assured me. “Lissany has proven herself a fearless, loyal, and powerful Guardian. Quite frankly, your sister is terrifying at times. And as for you, I have never heard of a Yseil'dhraí using Nature’s Call at such a young age, let alone using it to kill a Vhasjin’dhur. I would rather never find myself opposing any of you. You may be a powerful Magus and you know how to use those guns that you wear, but no matter how skilled that you and your protectors are you still may find yourself in a situation where your firearms and magick are either ineffective or impractical and fighting barehanded would be foolhardy. Those blades, and the knowledge of how to use them, may save your life in such situations. Should your mother approve you will spend your training sessions dividing your time between her teachings and mine.”
I found myself smiling at that, picturing the look on his face when Amoiraishe shot down that little idea. “Well, let’s go see what she has to say about that.” With that, I made my way back to where my Mahair was speaking with the others to hand her the letter.
A smile played upon the face of the Fae Queen as she took the letter and pulled me aside as she read the contents. “Very good. It would seem that the Winter Court approves of you Taelya, or rather Narek does, and old Sasha trusts him enough to leave the decision in his hands. She wouldn’t have sent her son here otherwise, especially given our history. Though I suppose that history made his hostility more believable.”
“History?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s… complicated,” she replied with a frown before asking, “did he say anything else when he gave you the letter?”
I gave her a quick rundown of our entire conversation. When I got to the part about the swords and his insistence on training me to use them she let out a sigh. “Of course he would want that, now that you’ve proven yourself. I will allow it, you don’t need to spend the entire morning training with Nature’s Call. You have already proven that you’ve developed a fair amount of control with it.”
“I have enough on my hands learning to use Nature’s Call more effectively and expanding my spell list though. Not to mention all of the other things keeping me busy. Like I could really work with him even if I did have the time, I barely know him and I may understand why they did what they did, but I don’t like being played like that.” I was frowning as I spoke and crossed my arms beneath my breasts. Nope, I didn’t want to work with him, no matter how nice he was being now, and nothing she could say was going to change my mind.
She sighed again, looking at me as if I were an obstinate teenager, which I suppose may have been a fair assessment. “Taelya, please. Think of it as fostering goodwill with the Winter Court. You could do an hour with him each morning, followed by an hour with me, and then an hour of those group training sessions that you want to do. During your time with me, I can help you hone your fine control of Nature’s Call and I will start teaching you some of my more advanced spells as well.”
I may have perked up a bit as she mentioned that last part. Amoiraishe knew me way too well. I bit my lip as I thought about all of the things that she could teach me, all of those new spells that I could add to my repertoire. I was learning fast, but until now I had been mostly self-taught, trying to combine sigils in new and interesting ways. I could learn a lot faster if she could teach me. “Okay, but I want to learn a mass teleportation spell today.”
“We have a deal, my little rose,” my Mahair replied with a smile, shaking her head at my eagerness.
After coming to that agreement with Amoiraishe I took my party-mates aside for a few minutes to tell them what was going on before we got involved in our morning training sessions. Kinara expressed her distaste for Court politics, but like me, she could see why they had done what they had. Everyone else was pretty pissed about it, especially Nishalle, Lissany, and Daenyss. They only calmed down about it a little after Kinara had explained the Winter Court’s probable reasons for it. For a fourteen-year-old with a distaste for Court politics, she was very perceptive.
Following that conversation, I found myself alone with Narek once again. He had me clip my new swords in place behind my hips and after teaching me how to properly draw both blades from that position he began to work my pretty little Fae ass off. I had been expecting him to teach me blocks, parries, and swings through repetition but it was almost like he was teaching me some long and complicated dance, beginning when I first drew the swords. Apparently, it was only the first part of a much longer dance that I would learn as our training continued, but he wanted me to master the first sequence before going on to the next.
Narek was a firm taskmaster, it was the hardest that I had ever worked in my life. Every time that I was positioned slightly wrong, a body part was even a few millimeters out of place, my shifting of stance was wrong, or I wasn’t holding one or both swords just right he would correct my position, and then we would start at the beginning until I did have it right. I was very glad that I was Fae because I couldn’t see how anyone who wasn’t could have pulled some of those moves off to his exacting specifications. My gymnastics and Acrobatics skills seemed to be helping as well, since they had made me fairly nimble, flexible, and well balanced, even for a Fae.
Still, it seemed like I was endlessly repeating the same dance over and over with Narek constantly saying things like, “No, you’re holding swords, not snakes, you must use them as an extension of your body,” or “Your elbow was too low, it should be here. Start again.” My personal favorite was, “You’re stumbling about like a Human. Move faster and don’t stop when you get to the next movement, each must flow into the next like water. You must be a river, not a landslide.”
As much as I really wanted to snap at him, and nearly did a few times, I had promised Mahair that I would do my best and try to use this to build a little bit of goodwill between us. So I just held my tongue and tried to be a good student, even though I would rather be learning new spells. “Get through dinner first Taelya,” I reminded myself. “Mahair promised you dessert after.”
It was a good thing that most of my work with Mahair on refining my use of Nature’s Call was based on meditation and focusing exercises because I really needed to be able to sit down after my training with Narek. I was exhausted, and sore in places that I didn’t know I even had places. So while I sat in the lotus position and rested my poor body I worked my mind equally hard to master my control of nature. Once Amoiraishe felt that I had had enough for the day she began teaching me a spell that would allow me to tag whatever objects or people that I wanted within a fifty-foot radius and move them all to a place that I was familiar with by forming an image of that location in my mind. It took a lot of power to cast and required five sigils and a bit of time, but it would be good to know in case my group ever needed an emergency escape.
After that, we settled in for some group training before lunch. I split our party into two teams with Venika leading one and myself the other and we had a sort of mock battle to work on combat situational awareness and teamwork. My team consisted of myself, Lissany, Nishalle, Daenyss, Rei, and Kinara. This was mostly because Nishalle, Lissany, and Daenyss felt that they needed to be with me to properly do their jobs and Rei wanted to stick by my side as well. I felt better having Kinara on the team as our second mage so that my protectors could keep an eye on my fellow Yseil'dhraí as well.
That left Lark, Rob, Pete, Grell, and Salem on Venika’s team and I felt that it split up the resources pretty well, or would once Salem learned a few spells. Both teams would have two mages and a good mix of ranged and melee combat and Rei could use her Priestess skills to act as the healer for my team while Salem’s Medic sub-class would allow her to fill that role on Venika’s team. While Venika’s team may not have a dedicated tank like we did with Lissany, we both felt that Lark’s Bard skills could even the playing field in that regard.
It was as we made our way tiredly back to the house for lunch that Nishalle muttered, “Is it me, or is it weird having Narek not being an asshole? I was about ready to kill him when I saw how upset he was making you during that little talk you had, Sis. Now he’s being Mr. Helpful. While you were training with Mahair he was sparring with Lissany and helping her to improve the rough parts of her swordsmanship. It’s like he just flicked a switch.”
I shrugged, trying not to show how bothered I still was about being played like I had been. “Well it seems that was all an act, and there’s no sense keeping it up now that he’s gotten the assurance he was after and the Winter Court is on board. I could do without having to play nice and learn to use swords though. I thought there would be a lot more repetition of blocks and thrusts and stuff, not learning a bunch of sword-dance sequences.”
“Weird, he just sparred with me and then had me correct anything I had to work on over and over until I got it right. We must have gone through that one parry over two dozen times before he was satisfied,” Lissany put in. “What’s really weird though, he actually complimented me. He said that I needed some work on my swordsmanship, but that overall I’m a fierce warrior, worthy of being your Guardian. I had no idea what to say I was so shocked.”
“I was watching him train both of you while I practiced my spells,” Kinara said after a moment, though there was a slightly perplexed look on her face. “He was training you totally differently. With Lissany he sparred with her first, got a feel for her, and then had her repeat anything she was doing wrong as he showed her until she had gotten it right at least ten times. That’s how the royal guards are trained, it’s all about utility and proper form, no movement is wasted. He’s training you differently Taelya, he’s not teaching you all the basics first like a front line fighter, he’s teaching you an art form.”
I turned to look at the pink-haired Yseil'dhraí, my brow furrowing. “Wait just a minute Kinara. You’re saying that he’s teaching me sword ballet? Is this going to be useful at all? What the hell? Is he still messing with me?”
“Relax Taelya, I don’t think he is, in fact, you should probably feel honored,” Kinara assured me. “It’s an art-form, but a deadly one. That’s got to be his family fighting style. Sharing something like that with outsiders is practically unheard of, and I’ve never heard of a twin-sword family style before. Most Yseil'dhraí rely on magic and don’t even have family weapon styles and common-born use single weapon and shield or two-handed weapon styles. My father wants to start teaching me ours, but I guess that we use a spear and he’ll need to have one made for me.”
Once again, I found myself wondering about Kinara’s knowledge of things and her casual Fae-ness as we made our way to the dining room and then ate our lunch. I could have probably known as much on the topic as her but I would have had to have someone mention the topic and then wait while the memories associated with my Fae Culture skill dredged up the pertinent information. Those details seemed to come to Kinara and the others visiting from the other Courts as naturally as when she was talking with Lissany about their favorite bands or videogames. Once again I forced those suspicions about the game to the back of my mind though. Suspicions were all I had for the moment and a wild theory that any sane person couldn’t possibly take seriously. And with no solid proof to back them up, it was better to just bury them in the back of my mind and keep my eyes open for something more.
After lunch, Amoiraishe gave me, Nishalle, and Kinara the marks that would allow us to summon our new armor when needed, just as she had promised. Then I went upstairs with Daenyss to get ready for going into the village for the afternoon magick lessons and possibly a bit of questing. Once my Attendant had me looking amazing and dressed in one of my Fae outfits that covered enough to make me legal, I cast an illusory outfit on her and we returned downstairs and headed into Haven with the others.
Once in Haven, we split up. I went with Kinara, Salem, and Venika to our usual practice spot on the edge of the woods while Daenyss, Lissany, and Nishalle followed. They would give us plenty of space to do our thing, but all three wanted to be there in case something happened and I needed them. Rei and the others went to see how the village was doing for supplies, check the village quest board, and to try to make themselves useful.
Sheriff Shaw was waiting for us in the usual spot and I decided to start off by teaching her and Kinara both a new spell. When I was certain that they had the basic idea and all the sigils for the Ice Lance spell down I left them to practice with Venika keeping a close eye on both of them as she got her own practice in. Then I got in some one on one time with Salem, beginning by teaching her some of the various sigils and what they meant. She took a while to both speak and draw them properly, but once she had I taught her the simple Flash Freeze spell. It was fairly easy and one of the first spells that I had learned as well. I would have taught her Combustion, but as a Liyun'shael she would likely have problems casting fire spells, so I wanted to work up to those.
Things would have been much easier for both of us if Salem had a general knowledge of the Fae language or culture, but I had encountered similar issues when I had started teaching Becky. Just like the Sheriff, Salem would be getting off to a slow start because I was having to teach her the basics of what the sigils meant, but she was very eager to learn. At least Amoiraishe had been able to teach her some of the basic mental exercises while I was training with Narek earlier that morning. We would have to expand on that knowledge in time and maybe have her take the Fae Culture and Elvish language skills to make it all easier for her, but I felt that I could still get her off to a solid start.
The look on Salem’s face when she cast her first successful spell and encased that target in ice made it all worth it. She looked like a kid who had just had her wildest dream come true. For that instant, all of her discomfort, all of her uncertainty and self doubts just faded away as she squealed in excitement, “I did it!” Hers wasn’t the only face to light up at her success either since Daenyss was beaming from where she was watching with Lissany and Nishalle.
I could feel my own lips turning upward in a grin as well as I told her, “Of course you did Salem. You’re smart, determined, and you’re probably almost as powerful as I am. With the right knowledge and training, you can do anything that you put your mind to. Now do it again. If you can get this one down today I was thinking of teaching you something really cool tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened a bit as I winked at her and gestured to Daenyss, dispelling the glamour that made it look like she was wearing clothes for just an instant and then quickly recasting a new glamour of her wearing a completely different outfit. Salem’s clothes were obviously bothering her, she had been tugging at them and scratching all day when she hadn’t thought anyone was looking. “You’ll teach me that?” she asked, looking wistfully toward my Nymph Attendant.
“Yup, all that you need to do is cast that Flash Freeze spell nine more times to show me that you’ve got it down.”
Salem was smiling as we made our way through Haven to meet up with the others. Proving to me, and herself, that she was able to cast her first spell reliably had improved her mood from the day before considerably. The fact that she had people around her who seemed to care and who talked to her as a person and a valued friend helped a lot too. My promise of teaching her to create illusory clothes was the icing on the cake.
This had her and Daenyss embroiled in a discussion on various women’s clothes that she might be able to produce and since Daenyss had all the fashion and appearance-related skills the pair were chattering eagerly about looking at some of my clothes for reference or having Daenyss sketch out some simple designs for the Moss Maiden that evening while most of the Fae would be occupied with tonight’s Jhashaira ceremony. It was nice seeing them both smile and laugh as they made plans. It wasn’t all that uncommon for Daenyss, she seemed to see the world through a lens of childlike wonder, but seeing Salem that way really warmed my heart.
As luck would have it, that was when we ran into her former party-mates. They were with Hawkin who pointed straight at Salem and smirked. “See, I told you guys that she’s some half-plant Fae freak now.”
Salem’s previous good mood evaporated as they wheeled on her, fear and uncertainty written all over her face. Pharen, the Tokh'dhraí Magus of the group glared at her. “Seriously Salem, what the fuck?! First, you fucking run off on and leave us to die and now you’re hanging with Princess Popular here?! You could have stayed and tried to res us!”
“I… t-told you that we should r-run. W-we had no chance, b-but you wanted to stay and fight. I... I couldn’t stop to revive you. A-artificial resuscitation takes time, there were too many R-Redcaps and y-you were hacked to pieces. I couldn’t do anything for you like that, I n-needed to come and warn the village,” Salem stammered as she backpedaled away from the group.
“You had one fucking job, but you couldn’t even do that right, you little bitch! Tierr…” His hasty attempt at speaking an incantation and the corresponding hand motions were both aborted with a pained gasp as Nishalle appeared from behind her fellow Tokh'dhraí from his shadow. Before he could so much as whimper she had grabbed his casting arm, taken it in a hold that bent it back at a painful-looking angle, and forced him downward to kiss the pavement.
“Not very smart trying to attack Salem, dipshit, especially when she’s standing beside the princess,” my sister whispered coldly as Daenyss and Lissany stepped protectively in front of me and Salem. “One of Her Highness’s overeager protectors could take it the wrong way and you’d end up right back in hell. Salem is with us now, and we don’t take kindly to those that attack our friends. Speak if you catch my meaning.”
He didn’t so much speak as whimper, “I understand.” His pained eyes were looking frantically toward his companions, who were measuring us up and probably trying to decide if the risk was worth it.
“Player-killing is against the rules douchebag, we’re all supposed to be working together. We’re also in a safe zone, so your spell would have backfired,” Venika pointed out.
“After tonight though there are no safe-zones for a while though, so maybe you’d like to pick this up tomorrow,” I said with a smile as I looked at the others. “I’ve had some new spells that I’ve been wanting to try out. I wouldn’t kill you, but I could make you wish that you were dead. What do you girls think? We could call it training.”
“Sounds good to me, Sis, I think they could use the training too. I could attack them anywhere at any time, nothing lethal of course, I’d leave them with just enough spark of life to recover so we could do it all over again,” Nishalle said, grinning enough that her fangs were showing.
Bless her heart, Lissany caught on real quick too as she said thoughtfully. “I really should test out this new war hammer, I guess. Hadrick tells me that this one shouldn’t explode no matter how much strength I put into a blow, but you never know.” Hawkin, who had seen the video, apparently decided the risk wasn’t worth it as he backed away from my Guardian and suddenly remembered that he was needed elsewhere.
“Moving targets are much better training too,” Kinara added. “I’m sure that Salem and I would pick it up pretty quick though. I mean, she’s almost as much as a natural with magick as you and I are, Your Highness. Are you guys sure that you want to mess with some of the most powerful Magi on the Server? Or the daughters of the Queen of the Autumn Court?”
Lupin, the white wolf Beastkin shook his head. It would seem that he remembered what happened to the last guys to mess with my group. “Fine! You can have her! She’s useless anyway!”
“Fuck you guys! I warned you that we couldn’t handle it and we should run! But you guys rushed in like idiots expecting me to heal you after like you always do! I’m through with you! I’ve got friends who actually give a shit about me now and you and your fucking abuse can go to hell!” Salem snapped. Nishalle chose that moment to release Pharen and the moment that she let go he got to his feet and he and his friends bailed.
Daenyss was hugging Salem while we stood around the pair and watched her former party-mates go. I didn’t think they would dare try anything, but if they did we would kick their asses. The important thing was that Salem was in a safe and supportive environment now. “Are you okay?” Daenyss asked the Moss Maiden in concern.
Salem sniffled a bit but nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I’m so glad to be done with them. Thanks, everyone, it’s nice to have real friends.”
It was after dinner and I was helping Rei to prepare for the evening ahead. Nishalle and Venika would be in attendance as well, but most of our crew were going to be doing their own things for the evening. Kinara and Lissany were going to watch some DVDs in Kinara’s room and hopefully have a serious talk about Kinara’s request for a relationship. The pair had also offered to Wisp-sit for Venika and I since we both felt that having them flitting about at the Jhashaira might make things awkward. Pete and Grell were planning to make use of the pool table in the mansion’s recreation room, while Lark and Rob had decided to have a romantic evening in and catch up on lost time. As for Daenyss and Salem, they planned to hang out and spend the evening together getting to know one another better as friends while the Nymph introduced the Moss Maiden to the world of female fashion. I was glad that she would get to use her knowledge for the benefit of someone other than me for once.
Rei hesitated at the doorway as she inquired nervously, “Are you sure that we have to go like this?”
“Yes, the tradition is to present yourself naked. I have been through this before, or well, dream me has anyway,” I assured her. “You’ll be fine, it’s a warm night and you’ll have to get used to casual nudity around the Fae anyway. Besides, everyone is going to be naked and it would be pretty silly to get all dressed up just to go to an orgy and get naked anyway, wouldn’t it.”
My fiancée let out an uneasy giggle. “I guess you’re right. I never really considered that.”
I put an arm around her and kissed her earlobe before softly tugging on it with my teeth. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. You can still back out and I wouldn’t care. You’re the only one that I need my love.”
“No, I want to do this. I just.. this is my first orgy. What should I expect? Are there any rules that I need to know about?”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell you any specific details, you will find out when we get there. It’s part of the experience and having your eyes opened to the world of adulthood. All that I can tell you is that the most important thing is for you to enjoy yourself and to try to make sure that your partners do too, their needs and desires are as important as your own. This is about finding yourself. That said, nobody will make you do anything that you’re uncomfortable with because they will expect the same courtesy from you.”
Rei took another deep breath and nodded. “Okay babe, let’s do this.
I guided her outside and escorted her to the clearing set aside for the evening’s festivities, the full moon providing all the light that we would need. Once we reached the edge of the clearing I left her with Nishalle, Venika, and the several dozen other Fae who had chosen to go through with the ceremony, and then I left them to join Mahair in the center of the clearing. There were many Fae of both the player and NPC variety in the clearing, including Naerysse and Brynna, both of whom looked eager for the festivities to begin. Narek, Sahnae, and Kinara’s father were there as well. So many naked bodies bathed in moonlight, blankets laid out on the ground, and a wide variety of beverages and snacks to help the revelers to keep their energy up. It was both strange and familiar to me at the same time.
Once I was standing in my place at Amoiraishe’s side she smiled at me, and then she turned that smile out to those waiting at the edge of the clearing. “Welcome Faelings, step into Danu’s light and see the world through adult eyes,” she stated clearly and loudly enough for everyone gathered to hear her. “Tonight you shall be called Faelings no longer, for tonight is your Jhashaira. Tonight you will be able to give in to the pleasures of the body that you have worked so hard to deny yourself until now to become true adults, and starting tomorrow you will learn the secrets of the Faerie Dance.”
Rei and the others stepped forward as instructed and as they did I took a deep breath and then said my part. “Tonight you will learn of joy. You will learn the joy of the pleasures of the body, but you will also learn the joy that can only come with bringing pleasure to another. There is a balance in the pleasures of the body as there is balance in all things. Maintain that balance and you shall do your people proud. Pleasure and be pleasured, teach, and learn. Find a partner, or partners, and begin your journey into adulthood.”
I may have had more experience with the Jhashaira than Rei, but calling it experience may have been overly generous. Sure, I had the memories and the dreams that I had had of my Jhashaira and those memories were crystal clear to me, in fact, they were a lot clearer than a lot of my memories as Caleb. There was a bit of a disconnect with those memories though, maybe it was because I knew that they weren’t really mine and that I hadn’t really experienced those things, or maybe it was the clarity of the memories themselves. I had noticed that my racial bonus for memory made me remember everything that clearly, all my memories of being Taelya were easily accessible to my mind, and that made me think of Taelya’s memories as happening in the game and not real because my memory had never been this good in real life.
So, understandably, this was like experiencing it for the first time for me. Not the sex part of course, since I had been doing that the past few nights with Rei, both from the girl-girl and girl-guy perspectives. What I really mean is the whole comradery and companionship through sex that is so much a part of the Fae social dynamic. It’s not just about physically pleasuring themselves, it’s about sharing that pleasure, giving it to others, and getting to know others on an entirely new level.
That being said, as open as Fae are sexually, there are certain lines that we just won’t cross. The first of those is family. Sure, Fae might see family members naked or having sex at some point, in fact, with events like this it’s almost a given. Family, you know your whole life and they care deeply about you and know you better than anyone. So, not only do you not need to have sex to get to know them better, but family is associated with childhood, especially parents and siblings. To Fae, sex is about being an adult and moving beyond your childhood, but your childhood will always be important to the core of who you are. Changing those close childhood relationships could drastically change who you are as a person and damage those relationships as well, so it’s one of those taboos that’s obeyed but not really spoken of. If a person was an important figure in your childhood or you were an important figure in theirs, whether related by blood or not, it’s just not done. Most Fae won’t even have sex with very close childhood friends that aren’t related to them by blood.
Secondly, there’s the whole age thing. The Fae strictly believe that you must be an adult and exhibit both physical and mental discipline to have sex. As much fun as it is, it can also lead to parenthood for those of us who are extremely fortunate so it is a responsibility as well, one that a person needs to be prepared for. Sex is as much a part of that great balance that we Fae are dedicated to as much as everything else in our lives because it can lead to creating new life and in that balance, it is the opposite of death, one of the greatest threats to the balance of nature.
Other than those two things, pretty much anything goes so long as all participants involved are willing and/or eager. So, as soon as Rei and the other supplicants were given consent to begin things got underway. Things started slowly, kind of like that first school dance when you’re a child who’s fast becoming an awkward teenager but instead of girls on one side and boys on the other, it was the experienced Fae waiting for the supplicants to approach them. The supplicants were all anxious, uncertain of what to do or say, and were trying to work up the courage to approach us. Since they didn’t make the first move it was up to us.
My fiancée was looking as nervous as all the others, possibly more so, but that wasn’t a surprise given that she wasn’t Fae and since she had remained in her Kitsune form at first, rather than taking on a Fae form. Because of this, she was getting a lot of curious glances which was only making her more nervous. I was a bit nervous myself, not because I had any sort of modesty thing going but I think that Caleb, my human side, was holding on for dear life and insisting that public sex and nudity was wrong. I just gave that side of me an indignant sniff and thought, “Humans.”
Okay, I know how that probably sounds but I thought that there was a lot wrong with humanity before my brain was rewired to Fae in the game. “Prudish” was just another new mental addition to a list of unfavorable characteristics of humanity that had been growing since my father left us when I was a child. It was a large part of the reason that I didn’t really understand other people and only really spent time with my sister and fiancée. As a species Humans have a lot of flaws, they’re selfish and often hateful, but I also think that most Humans can be nurtured and taught a better way with the right influence.
The more time that I spent in the game the more I found that I really did prefer being Fae; things made sense to me, I loved my connection to magick, and I liked myself much more as a person than I ever had before, even while I was still experiencing body dysphoria. It was like now that I wasn’t Human I could accept those flaws because I didn’t have to count myself among them. I think that that is what bothered me most about my growing suspicions about Moira and the game, especially since I had no real proof to back them up. It made me question how much was suspicion and how much was wishful thinking. Until I knew for sure it was better just to try and bury those lines of thinking as soon as they emerged.
I shook those thoughts away as I looked toward where Rei and the other supplicants were looking uncertainly across the clearing at those of us with experience. Nobody was going to rush them, they needed to do things in their own time and way. Still, it would be easier once things actually got started and the ice was broken. With that in mind, I gave Rei a come hither look and waggled my eyebrows playfully. Her night vision was almost as good as a Fae’s so with that big bright moon I could tell that she had taken the hint as soon as her cheeks flushed and she swallowed that lump in her throat.
I was certain that my fiancée would have the hardest time overcoming her inhibitions since she wasn’t Fae like the others and still had a sense of modesty. No matter how much she wanted to do this, that and a lifetime of somewhat conservative human social conditioning was going to make this hard for her, even if it was just in a game. With how eager and excited she had been beforehand though, I had no doubts that she would get over that fairly quickly once we got the ball rolling and she began to relax. So I had plans for Rei.
“Nobody is doing anything,” she spoke hesitantly, in a near whisper, as she approached me.
“Because they’re all as nervous as you, and those of us who are experienced won’t push any of you into doing anything until you’re ready,” I told her after kissing her tenderly. “Once someone starts then they will relax and get involved at their own pace. So why don’t we help things along?” I whispered softly in her ear, allowing my warm breath to bathe her sensitive fox ear. Then I lovingly trailed my fingertip along the underside of her jawline before following up with a deep and passionate kiss.
Rei’s breathing quickened and she let out a soft and sensual moan against my lips as I continued to kiss her and softly kneaded her right nipple between my thumb and forefinger, lovingly pinching and pulling enough that she gasped in pleasure and broke the kiss. My other hand had already reached behind her and I trailed the tip of my fingernail with agonizing slowness downward along her spine from the back of her neck to the base of her tails. It just barely touched her flesh, just enough to elicit a shiver of pleasure as she leaned forward to kiss me. Her lips trembled briefly against my own and her eyes darted about uncertainly before closing as she gave in to the desire and the soft touch of her lips against mine became an insistent assault.
We stood there together for several minutes as I kissed, caressed, and teased her with ghostly touches. Anywhere that I could reach was fair game as I held her close and lovingly stimulated her until her pulse and breathing were rapid and her flesh warm with excitement. “Now remember to pay attention and learn my love, because I expect to be on the receiving end of some of these techniques as well,” I whispered with a giggle as I suddenly swept her up in my arms and then oh-so-gently lowered her to the ground, climbing atop her to look deeply into her eyes as our breasts touched. Her hard nipples pressed into my breasts as her chest heaved in excitement and I kissed her again.
I could have started to make love to her then, she was certainly eager enough to begin since I could both feel and smell the hot wetness emanating from between her legs. This was an important night though and she was so eager to accept and be a part of my Fae nature that I wanted to make this time special before we both found other partners. I wanted to relax her and show her that no matter who else we had sex with, that when it was me and her it wouldn’t be just sex, it would always be making love.
So, as other people began to get into the spirit of things now that the ice was broken, I eased Rei into it with passionate kisses, playful licks, soft caresses, and paying attention to every part of her body so that nothing was left out, no erogenous zone left unteased. Then I made use of every technique that I could think of for one woman to pleasure another, my lips, tongue, fingers, and even toes constantly teasing and bringing her to the very edge of climax before moving on to something else so I could bring her to that plateau again. I wanted to take her to heights that she had never dreamed possible before.
Fae have very nimble fingers and that was a big benefit as I played with her body like a musician with a prize instrument. Though the sounds that she made were not quite musical, though I will admit that I did enjoy each and every one. They were expressions of her pleasure; gasps, moans, groans, her breath catching in her throat, and the occasional whimper or primal growl. Only once Rei asked to climax, in a throaty and near desperate voice that I found so goddamn sexy, did I finally take her over the edge, her back arching and hands clutching at the ground as she screamed out in ecstasy. I didn’t stop there either, I did so again and again until she was a trembling puddle of Kitsune on the ground. With each scream, each pleasured moan, I told her that I loved her.
We took a short break then as I held her in my arms and whispered softly in her ears, tenderly kissing and caressing her as she returned to her senses. Only once I had made sure that we had both drank some juice to replace lost fluids did we move on to round two. That second round was more give and take, equally pleasuring each other while Rei showed me what a very good student she was. When that eventually turned from lovemaking to a more playful romp I motioned for Naerysse to join us.
There were several reasons why I chose Naerysse. First, she was between partners having already worn out her first. Secondly, she wasn’t a complete stranger. Rei was familiar with her, she had shown interest in both of us before, and I knew that Rei would be in good hands with her. Thirdly, she was a Nymph and as much as they love being on the receiving end of the pleasures of the body, they love giving that pleasure just as much. Seriously, it’s like an art form to Nymphs and I suspected that Naerysse was a true artiste.
Naerysse was every bit as talented as I had suspected. Rei and I both thoroughly enjoyed her ministrations and gave back as best we could in a tangle of female bodies until I whispered one last, “I love you,” to my fiancée before slipping away to leave her to get used to participating sexually with others without me there. I didn’t jump right back into things myself, I wanted to watch Rei for a bit first and make sure that she truly was getting used to it and enjoying herself. So I had a drink and a few bites to eat to get up my energy for the remainder of the night as I did that. Only once Rei and Naerysse had parted and Rei had accepted an offer to join a handsome Nyiir'dhraí did I try to find a bit more fun of my own.
I wasn’t lacking on offers but I had been half-fearing that Narek would have jumped on this opportunity. Instead, he seemed to be trying to avoid any such thing. He would hardly even look in my direction and only offered a polite greeting, telling me how happy he was that I was participating tonight and that Amoiraishe had allowed my intended to as well. He was kind of acting like Amoiraishe had been since I had first convinced Rei to come and get things started, trying not to get too involved in what, or who, I was doing and making sure that there was a healthy amount of space between us if I was with someone.
That kind of behavior was completely understandable for Amoiraishe since that was a standard parental reaction at an event such as this, but having it come from Narek stumped me. After all of that hitting on me before, it was a little hard to get used to from him. It sort of cemented the suspicion in my mind that it all had been an act from the start, pushing me to react emotionally and testing me to ensure the Winter Court that I could be trusted to act like a Fae and not a Human when push comes to shove. But why wouldn’t he be interested in me? Even putting the whole princess thing aside, I was a young and attractive Yseil'dhraí and that reaction just didn’t make sense to me. I felt like I was missing something important.
Speaking of Narek and my Mahair, they spent quite a bit of their time that evening entertaining one another. I tried to ignore that though, since the mere thought of that disturbed me for two reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t really picture it because of how hostile they had been to one another since Narek had arrived. I mean, what would angry Fae sex even look like, and no, I had absolutely no interest in watching to find out. When they walked off together they had been tender, almost affectionate though, even if there was still some anger there. I tried to find my own fun since the second reason it disturbed me was that just the thought of them having sex hit me right on the “Ewww” button for some reason.
I guess I would have had that reaction to anyone who paired off with my Mahair though. I mean, I’m well aware that she has sex and enjoys it as much as any other healthy Fae, but like any child, I just don’t like my brain to go there when it involves my mother, and she had become very like a mother to me and my sister. I wasn’t alone in my reaction either because from a brief conversation that I had with Nishalle when the moon was high in the sky and we were both between partners, it seemed that she was trying to avoid seeing, or thinking about, Amoiraishe ‘dancing’ too.
That conversation was way too awkweird with her being my sister. I didn’t want to think about her having sex either, though she seemed to be really enjoying herself. So we changed the topic to something we could both get behind, juicy gossip about a good friend. “Venika seems to be enjoying herself too,” I offered with a smile as I thought about how I had seen her smiling and holding hands with one of the rare male Sprite players in the game. I had been trying to let her have her privacy as much as possible, just as I had with Nishalle and Amoiraishe, but it was nice to see her enjoying a guy’s company. From what my sister and Lissany had told me she hadn’t had anything like a relationship, even a brief fling, in far too long.
“You saw her with Phinik too, huh?” My sister asked, baring her fangs in a wide grin. “Nick works at Pegasus Entertainment too, he’s in my department, one of my artists. He’s a nice guy but he’s really quiet and shy and I think he’s been crushing on her for a while. He asked me to find out what kind of character she was going to play before he chose his own, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw that he chose to be a Sprite too. It’s nice to see them both happy. He’s a good egg, it’s about time that he made a move.”
“That’s sweet, I hope that it goes well, for both their sakes. If anyone needs to get laid and find a nice guy, it would be Venika,” I replied smiling back in happiness for our Sprite friend.
Nishalle took a sip of her juice before nodding. “You got that right, this might be just the thing that both of them needed, and it would be good for Lissany too. The poor kid feels responsible for her mother’s lack of social life, though Venika adores her and would never blame her for it.”
“Speaking of Liss, I really hope she’s having a good talk with Kinara,” I said with a sigh. At the Tokh'dhraí’s raised eyebrow of inquiry, I quickly explained and pointed to the bracelet of braided hair encircling my wrist. “Kinara asked her for a lock of her hair, but some stuff was lost in translation so I had to explain to Lissany what it means. I told them both to have a serious talk about it, so hopefully, they’re doing that as we speak.”
“They’re a bit young, but Kinara does seem smitten with Lissany and I think they’d make a cute couple,” my sister offered. “I’m worried that it may be a problem when we leave the game and Kinara has to go back to London though.”
“Yeah, Lissany was worried about them becoming too close in the game too,” I agreed with a nod, “and what happens after. Though she was kinda freaking out more about Kinara finding out that she’s not biologically female IRL and taking it badly.”
She shook her head. “I don’t see it. Kinara and Maekin don’t seem the type to react like that, they’re pretty open-minded people.”
“That’s what I told her. I also told her that she’s a real girl everywhere that counts.” I said before downing the last of my fruit juice.
Nishalle put her own drink aside and wrapped me up in a hug. “That’s what I love about you, Sis. You care about everyone and you’ve just come so far out of that shell that you used to keep yourself in since we’ve been in the game. I loved Caleb, but you seem so much more natural and at ease as Taelya, and you don’t just care but actively try to help people and make the world a better place. I like myself better here too, I can be myself and people accept me for that even when I’m being an intimidating bitch.”
I just hugged her right back. “I love you too sis. You may be intimidating sometimes, well maybe a lot of the time, but you’re never a bitch. You’re my sister and my best friend. You’re always looking out for me, even when I don’t think I need it, and anybody who ever calls you that to your face is going to see just how much of a bitch I can be.”
My sister’s cheeks flushed a dark purple. “Yeah, well, somebody has to look after you while you’re looking after everyone else. I’ll never let anything happen to you on my watch, Sis, no matter what happens. I should go and… ummm… y’know, the night is still young and there’s still lots of stuff I can still learn.” She released me from her arms and wandered off to find a bit of action, leaving me blushing as well.
With that, I called off my self-imposed break as well and approached Lourke, one of the other player supplicants for the evening. He was a handsome Nyiir'dhraí with long ash-blond hair and bright green eyes who, from all the accounts I had heard was very gifted with a bow. Looking over his naked body I could see other ways that he was gifted as well. We teased and played, getting to know the secrets of one another’s bodies as we learned more about one another. Most of the things that I told him were things about my life as Taelya though, Caleb had no place here. The only thing that I really told him about my life outside the game was that I was a computer programmer and IT specialist.
Lourke seemed like a nice enough guy, and he was very attentive to my needs and desires, but he admitted to being a bit of a geek in real life. He was studying computer sciences in college and he seemed genuinely pleased that we shared a similar interest there. I was relatively certain that he was a virgin in real life, so I was glad that he was able to have his first time among Fae who would want to make him enjoy it as much as we did and I decided to make this as memorable as possible for him.
I was giving my all to keep him on the edge of pleasure through foreplay and was almost ready for the main event when he asked, “Y…you’re engaged right?” I nodded an affirmative and he added uncertainly, “So why are you doing this? You seem really nice, but I don’t want your fiancée to get mad at you.”
I let out a throaty giggle in reply. “I guess that you could say that I’ve embraced my role here, I feel good not just receiving pleasure, but giving it as well. As for my fiancée, I would have not participated had she wished it, in fact, I was prepared for a quiet night in, just the two of us. She wants us both to embrace the Fae culture though because she knows how much I love it. She’s the Kitsune if you didn’t know, and we’re both here tonight because this is what she wanted. She’s been having as much fun as I am, I assure you. She did have one stipulation though.”
He seemed surprised by my answer and asked tentatively, “What stipulation?”
“Well, we’re about at that time so it’s probably easier to show than tell,” I told him with an impish grin. Then, as I had with all the males that I had been with that night I used a small bit of my stored mana and directed my thoughts. “Kaida liantuir ikandiir aentuire!”
He let out a surprised gasp as the warmth and faint vibration of the magical field covered his manhood. I had made them in a few colors throughout the night, but I made his green, like his eyes. “I..is that…?”
I attempted to control my giggling as I nodded. “Yup, it’s a magical condom. Safe sex and all that. I’m not quite ready to get pregnant in this game yet unless it’s Rei’s.” I didn’t mention that Rei would also be casting cleansing prayers over both of us after the night was over as well, and any time we had sex with anyone other than each other to prevent us from catching anything. He didn’t need to have the night ruined by the thought of the admittedly low chance of contracting a VD.
“Umm…. Does it have to glow… or vibrate like that?” Lourke asked, looking down at it with a quite frankly hilarious look on his face.
“The glow lets us know it’s there, and working. I could try to get it to make lightsaber sounds when you move too, but that costs extra,” I teased, causing him to laugh. “The vibrating is due to the nature of the spell, not any desire on my part, it’s kind of an energy sheath to keep what’s in you, from getting in me. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to feel everything and I’m told that the vibration, in addition to the other more natural sensations makes things very interesting. Now, show me what you’ve learned tonight.”
I kissed him and teased him a bit longer to get him worked up and then I let him take the lead. I had the feeling that he lacked confidence with girls and I figured that letting him control the pace and try to use what he had learned to pleasure us both might help him in that regard. Not that I was laying back and doing nothing. No, I was kissing him, teasing him with nimble fingers, and doing everything else that I could to make this the best sexual experience that he would ever have.
Lourke was not the last of my partners that night. We all enjoyed ourselves until the moon was getting low in the sky and then, in the cool darkness of the very late night/early morning, we wandered off by ones and twos to sleep. Rei and I were walking back to the manor with Nishalle keeping a close eye out for trouble when I stopped to kiss my fiancée at the gates. “Thank you, my love, for being there, for wanting to go through this for me, with me. I only hope that it wasn’t too awkward for you. You’re not really Fae so…”
She silenced me with a kiss of her own. “I was nervous at first,” she admitted, “but you made me feel so relaxed, wonderful, and special that by the time that it was just me and Naerysse I was comfortable with where it was going. I’m understanding the Fae point of view more and more now, and I really enjoyed myself tonight. I managed to shake a lot of my hang-ups too, they just didn’t feel important with everything that was going on. It feels so liberating, and now I’m going to crawl into our nice warm bed with you and that’s all that matters to me at the end of any day. I love you, and I always will, Taelya.”
“You two are so sappy,” my sister said with a chuckle. “It was a nice night though, I think that I like being able to let loose and enjoy myself like that. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night though.”
“Don’t you mean today?” I corrected, frowning as I thought of the day ahead. “We’re not going to get more than a few hours’ sleep and I’m going to have to go through another sword lesson with Narek. I’m still sore from the first one. I am not looking forward to that. What’s got you looking so happy?”
“Well, Amoiraishe will be giving all of us newbies who participated our Faerie Dance skill and I’m looking forward to showing Pete everything that I’ve learned.” The Tokh'dhraí flashed a bright white smile as we proceeded through the gates and toward the house.
“Does Pete know about this?” Rei teased.
My sister gave an innocent smile that was everything but innocent. “Not yet, but I think he’ll enjoy the surprise.” She was still giggling in anticipation as we went our separate ways and toward our beds.
I looked around carefully as I appeared at my hiding spot just outside the Glade, began shedding the human clothes I had been wearing, and placed them in the small hollow beneath the roots of the large oak. I couldn’t allow anyone to see me in such clothing, and to be honest it was a relief to remove them. I was still not used to wearing such clothes during my visits with Seamus into the human village and the fabrics were coarse and uncomfortable. I sighed, in both relief and uncertainty, as I finished hiding the human clothes. My day had not been a good one and my cheek still stung.
It had started off well enough; I had managed to get out from under my guards’ noses somewhat easily this time and met up with Seamus in our usual meeting spot near the edge of the forest and then it had gotten really fun… until it wasn’t anymore. “You have been out with the human again,” a familiar voice accused from the branches above me.
“I…” I tried to think of some excuse, but I knew that Venika wouldn’t believe me. And I couldn’t lie to her, she was one of my best friends. Instead, I told her sternly, “He is not ‘the Human’, he has a name, Venika. He is called Seamus.”
“So you have said before, but you need to stop this. You could get…” the Sprite began to say as she fluttered down toward my shoulder and caught sight of the bruise on my cheek. “He struck you?! I keep telling you that humans are dangerous, everyone keeps telling you that! They are horrid creatures not much better than monsters. I am going to Her Majesty.”
She rose up from my shoulder to do just that, but I called out, “Wait! Please, do not do that! He’s… not like that. It was a… misunderstanding. I used magick to speed up my healing so the bruise should be gone by morning.”
“A misunderstanding?!” Venika sputtered in disbelief. “What I understand is that he struck a princess of the Autumn Court. You need to tell Her Majesty about this and where you meet with him so she can arrange for the Wild Hunt. The Humans need to know what happens when they cross the Fae.”
“No! It really was a misunderstanding. You do not know him as I do, he just does not understand Fae culture,” I tried to explain. “I shared my body with him tonight, I wanted to show him everything I’ve learned from the Faerie Dance and to get to know him better.”
“I would say you learned enough to know better than to see him again,” she responded with a glare at the bruise on my cheek.
“No, it was wonderful and we did get to know more about one another, but it was difficult since I still do not speak the Human tongue very well. We were talking afterward and I told him about all of the fun I had during my Jhashaira and learning the Faerie Dance. He got upset and slapped me, but I wasn’t sure why because he was speaking too quickly and used words I did not know. There was something about a hoar, I think. The way he said it, it did not sound like a nice word and he told me that I could not share my body with anyone else, that Humans do not do that, they only share their body with one person,” I told her carefully.
Venika was seething now, it looked like I was only making the situation worse. “He dared to strike you and to tell you what you can and cannot do?!”
“I explained it to him, that Fae are just friendly that way and it is part of who we are, and he calmed down. He apologized and promised to not get upset like that again,” I assured her.
“Your Highness, please, you must put an end to this. You cannot see him anymore. You endanger not just yourself, but all of the Fae. Think about your duties to the Autumn Court. Please, you need to…”
I was woken from my dream, and what very little sleep that I had managed to get by digital beeps and boops that were probably intended to sound like music, but this early in the morning it was just torture. It absolutely refused to stop and let me sleep, playing over and over again until I sat up, rubbed my bleary eyes, and tried to figure out the source of the annoying sound. Rei protested beside me, “Turn off the alarm honey, I don’t wanna get up yet, just five more minutes.”
I didn’t blame Rei for wanting to sleep longer, it was just barely after seven in the morning and we had only gotten to bed less than three hours ago. The source of the sound turned out to be the altered cellphone that Grell and Ashura had issued me after the players’ meeting. “Who in hell would call me at this hour? Whatever this is about had better be a matter of life or death,” I grumbled as I snatched up the offensive device and tapped the icon to answer the call. “Mmmmhello?” I mumbled sleepily.
“Taelya? It’s Tien…” I could barely hear the young Vietnamese woman over the background noise of crashes and screams, not that I was really conscious enough to focus that well anyway. Her next words though, managed to pierce the fog of sleepiness and brought me wide awake. “We need help, the village is under attack!”
I was already shaking Rei awake and making my way out of bed. “Okay, Tien, you need to calm down and I need to know details; what’s attacking, where they came from, how they got past the village’s barriers, and anything else that might be important. I’ll rally the Fae and we’ll be there as soon as we can, but it will help us all if we know what exactly we’re dealing with.”
“I don’t know what we’re dealing with, I haven’t seen anything like them before in the game,” Tien said somewhat more calmly after I heard a slow release of breath on the other end. “They didn’t come through the barriers, they came from the docks, right out of the water I think. They look like… I dunno they’re kind of like fish people. They’re really ugly, covered in dark blue scales, have webbed hands and feet, and big red fins on the tops of their heads. They’re wearing some kind of light armor, have weapons, and I’ve seen some of them casting spells. I’d say that there are at least a couple hundred of them.”
“Shit,” I cursed as I used my new mark to summon my weapons and Lindwyrm-hide armor. It looked like there would be no pampering this morning, and no time for getting dressed the usual way either. “It’s a Suvas’taäl raid.”
“What the hell is a Soovas Tahiel? And why are they raiding us?” Haven’s Human representative asked. Her breathing seemed to quicken and become more haggard for a moment and she shouted, “Get the Magi and Priests to the water! We need defensive spells until we can get reinforcements! Sorry Taelya, they hit us at the worst time. We’re all still half asleep and not very organized.”
“Have your Magi use electric or fire spells if they have any, Tien. Those will work best against them while they’re out of the water,” I quickly instructed as Rei started throwing on clothes beside me. She was still in a girly mood it seemed and had this really sexy just tumbled out of bed look going, but she was hurrying to correct that, prompted by my conversation and probably the pissed off expression on my face as well. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, Tien. You’re facing Suvas’taäl, humans used to know them as Finfolk. They’re raiding you for whatever resources that you might have that they are in short supply of for their people; food, weapons, and especially women. When they are finished they will kill any men left standing and raze Haven to the ground.”
“Okay I guess that makes sense… so they’re sort of like Vikings? Wait… women?!” She was trying very hard not to completely freak out, I could hear it in her voice and she was only having moderate success as she put two and two together. “They want to…” She couldn’t seem to finish that sentence and just left it hanging there.
“Yes, women… to become their Finwives,” I explained with a shudder. “They will take the most beautiful women for that, and any others still alive for labor. Female Finfolk aren’t born very often so wives are much sought after on these raids. Raids of settlements are a competition, and Finfolk can increase their rank and prestige within their community by having the most beautiful land-dweller for their bride. The women they capture are trophies as much as mates, seen as a mark of the Finman’s virility and battle prowess. Those of us who come to reinforce you will have to be especially careful because if it looks like they aren’t going to win they’ll just take what, and who, they can and make a run for it and Atlantean and Fae women are especially prized. Atlanteans because they can survive on land and in water without having to cast spells on them, and Fae women because they are beautiful, notoriously difficult to capture, and live for a very long time.”
The line was quiet for several long seconds except for the sounds of fighting in the background. “Okay, that’s just… eww. We’ll try to hold them off until you get here Taelya. Please hurry.” She disconnected the call and I put the phone in one of my ammo pouches.
“Trouble in the Village?” Rei asked as she finished pulling her boots on and directed a concerned look my way.
“Yeah, sorry sweetheart, but we don’t have time for pampering or breakfast this morning. Haven is being raided by the creatures from the black lagoon. I just hope that it’s only Suvas’taäl in that raiding party, I’m too damn tired to fight a Kehüvakt today.”
Rei was snatching up her shotgun, and the pack with the extra drum, clips, and shells. “I heard you telling Tien about the Suvas’taäl, but what in the hell is a kehyvoct?”
I barely heard her as I was a little preoccupied at the moment by using my wind whisper spell to contact my Mahair. Quickly I cast the first incantation, my hand drawing the sigils in the air as my lips spoke them, followed by the message that I wished to convey. “Tanuus tiurin’híel naethrin aentuire, Mahair the village is being raided by Suvas’taäl. They need our help, we must send reinforcements immediately.” With the message ‘recorded’ I finished the spell by speaking Amoiraishe’s name and drawing her personal sigil, using it as the trigger to complete the spell and send the message.
I didn’t get quite the reply that I was expecting. There was a flare of power that told me immediately that Amoiraishe was using Nature’s Call. She wasn’t using it to control plants, animals, earth, or water though. No, she was controlling the air and doing the same thing that I just had with my spell, but on a much larger scale. The air in my rooms seemed to hum and vibrate as I stepped from my bedroom with Rei in tow. This message wasn’t just to me, it was to everyone in the Glade, and I could feel with my magick sense how far the vibrations reached as her voice sounded, seeming to come from everywhere at once. “Fae of the Autumn Court. Trusted allies and friends. My daughter has just informed me that the village of Haven is under siege by Suvas’taäl. They are our allies, and we swore that we would protect them in times of need, just as they swore the same to us. We shall not allow them to come to harm! Warriors, to arms and prepare for battle! We rally at the gates of the Estate with all due haste, let us show them what the word of the Autumn Court is worth!”
“Damn, I really need to get her to teach me how to do that,” I said, shaking my head and grinning as Rei and I left our rooms and headed downstairs.
Most of our group were already downstairs and eating breakfast when Amoiraishe had sent her message. As luck would have it, they were all geared up already in preparation for the morning training session, except for Daenyss who could just summon what she needed from her chest, and Lissany and Kinara who had a mark to summon their armor and weapons. Only those of us who had been out partying and having wild sex all night had still been sleeping, and Daenyss had planned on letting me and Rei sleep in a bit today since she had suspected that we had gotten in late. So I found her eating breakfast with Salem, Lissany, Kinara, Lark, Rob, Grell, and Pete. All of them had gotten a somewhat decent amount of sleep and at least Rei and I had a chance to grab something quick to eat while the other Fae were waking up and preparing to mobilize as quickly as possible.
“I apologize, Mistress, I should have been ready when you woke up. Why did you not call me? I would have come right up,” my Attendant said with a slightly disappointed frown.
“No time for pampering, or much of anything this morning,” I replied as I started to make short work of a bagel. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do for now. Willow had zipped over from Kinara’s shoulder to take her place on mine and started nuzzling me affectionately as I sipped at a glass of juice to wash down my meager breakfast. Rei had taken the hint and was working on eating her own bagel as I quickly explained to the others, “The call from Tien woke me up so I just got right into my armor since we’ll need to head out as soon as everyone is ready to go. We should get to the front gates.”
Nishalle, Venika, and Amoiraishe made their way downstairs next. Nishalle was fully armored like me and looked in dire need of a cup of coffee or ten so she made her way straight to the pot and downed one as quickly as she could without scalding herself. Venika didn’t even have time to grab coffee or food before Silverheels leaped from Lissany’s shoulder to affectionately tackle her. At least that seemed to wake the Sprite up a bit. I felt sorry for her though. She had still been going when Rei, Nishalle, and I had decided to call it a night so she couldn’t have gotten much sleep.
I quickly explained to everyone what was happening in the village, or at least what I had suspected given the information that Tien had provided, as we made our way to the gates of the Estate. Lissany and Kinara decided to summon their armor and weapons as we walked, but not before I had noticed the matching bracelets of entwined pink and black hair encircling each of their right wrists. Despite the grim task ahead of us, both girls were smiling and holding hands as we awaited the remainder of the Fae host and the other non-Humans who would be going out to support the village.
The Huntsmen had been waiting and mounted on their Cú sídhe when we got to the gates, and Amoiraishe was starting to organize the other Fae who had already arrived as she mounted her Vsilja. Theíldhúr was one of the only two Vsilja that we had at the moment and he was a truly fearsome stallion who only truly calmed under the Fae Queen’s hand. I gave the other Vsilja, who had decided that she was mine, an affectionate pat, but shook my head at her. “Sorry Ghost, not this time. I haven’t been trained in mounted combat yet, and I figure that casting spells will be easier with both feet on the ground. I’ll come to see you in the stables later and we can go for a ride then.”
She was stamping all six of her hooves in anticipation for battle and didn’t look happy that I was leaving her out, but I just didn’t feel confident enough in my ability to cast spells while mounted and she wouldn’t listen to anyone but a Yseil'dhraí. She barely tolerated the presence of my friends, and only because I had been trying to drill into her head that they wouldn’t hurt either of us. We weren’t used to working together either since I had only ever ridden her a few times. She wasn’t the only animal unhappy to be left out though as we had insisted on leaving the Wisps at the manor where they would remain safe. We’d actually had to be very stern with them to get them to obey.
To my surprise, our diplomats had joined us as well, each of them prepared for a fight. Narek and Maekin were both in full armor, the former with his twin swords at the ready and Kinara’s father bearing a bow and arrows and a long and deadly-looking spear strapped across his back. Sahnae had a bow as well and wore form-fitting leather armor. Both of those items looked well-used and well-maintained. It wasn’t something that I had expected from the friendly Duchess of the Spring Court. I probably shouldn’t have been too surprised though since I had seen her hit the target the day before with unerring accuracy during my short break in training.
The warriors of the Autumn Court and our allies from the other Courts and non-Human races were still gathering when I used my newest spell to teleport my group to the edge of Haven. We needed to send an advance group to check things out so the main force could deploy where they were needed most once they were ready to move, so I had volunteered us. We were all prepared though, and I had promised Tien that I would come quickly, so I was going to do so as soon as possible.
The sounds of fighting, gunfire, and spells going off could be heard clearly and we rushed toward the village proper to join the fray. “Okay,” I told my group as we made our way toward through the village, planning to head for the docks by way of the square, “there’s no real plan going into this. This is probably going to be thick and heavy fighting so we’ll all just need to try to keep one another covered. Rei and Salem, try not to get too involved in the fighting if you can manage it. We’re going to need your help with the wounded. Kinara, you’ll need to stick close to me so Liss and Nishalle can protect you too. We need to take these Suvas’taäl down so they won’t be getting back up, but try not to use AOEs unless they have a Kehüvakt or two.”
“What in the hell is that?” Pete asked, turning to give me an uncertain look.
“They’re the great grand-pappy of giant squid, also known as a Kraken. The Suvas’taäl have been known to use them as living siege weapons,” I reported with a frown.
“That’s just fantastic,” I could hear Rob grumbling from where he was shadowing Lark, his guns already drawn. “Stick close to me babe.”
The Bard in question was flipping the safety on her Glock, but she gave her boyfriend and protector a wink as she replied, “Try to keep up, honey, I’ll try to buff where I can.”
There was no more time for idle chatter then as we reached a hill with a good view of the square, where we first saw the fighting. I could see columns of smoke billowing upward from the direction of the dock too, where the fighting seemed to be at its thickest. I used my Wind Whisper spell to let my Mahair know to take the main force to the dock and then I led my team toward the square itself, where small groups of humans were gathered and holding off an attack.
Haven’s forces had done a good job of keeping the attackers from getting beyond the dock and the village square, mostly through the use of suppression gunfire, but it was at best a holding action since they had been greatly outnumbered, those in the square were running out of ammo, and some of the invaders were magick users. There were pockets of fighting everywhere and I could already see a couple dozen dead or injured Humans and a good deal of dead enemy combatants all over the square. Those on our side that were still standing were having a difficult time holding out against groups of enemies advancing from the dock to the west. There was also a small group of Humans covering the southeast corner of the square and the building where the village supplies were being stored. Our forces were spread so thin and we were going to be outnumbered, so I needed to come up with a plan.
After a moment of thought, I began to issue orders. “Rei and Salem, start gathering the wounded and set up a triage on the southern edge of the square. Venika, Rob, Grell, and Lark, you’re going to provide cover fire for them and help as best you can to secure the southern end of the square. Nishalle and Pete, I want you to reinforce those people holding the west side of the square toward the dock. Everyone else, we’ll help take the pressure of those protecting the storehouse.”
“Sis, I can’t protect you if I’m focussed on a battle on the other side of the square, I don’t like this idea,” Nishalle stated flatly with a grim-looking frown on her face.
I reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder, looking her straight in the eyes. “That’s what Liss is for, Nishalle. She’s my shield, and I know that I can count on her to protect me and Kinara. Daenyss has our backs too. You’re my sword, and right now that sword is needed to keep us from being overrun by enemies. You and Pete are our strongest melee fighters, you’re needed there, and your shadow shift ability will allow you to do the work of four other fighters. I don’t want to make this an order Sis, but I will if I have to. If you’re worried about me then that just gives you more reason to take care of the situation faster.”
My Tokh'dhraí sister let out a sigh and gave me a hard look, though the sunglasses protecting her sensitive eyes from the morning sun diminished its intensity. “You’re right, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it. Don’t do anything stupid. Stay safe, Sis.”
“We’ll do our best, you and Pete do the same,” I replied, giving her a quick hug. “Now let’s go kick some ass.” We made for the square and then broke off through the chaos in the square to see to our tasks, dashing off in separate directions as I rushed to where Tien stood with a large group of Humans with Kinara shadowing me and Lissany and Daenyss watching for any possible threats to our safety. Tien had tossed an amber sphere roughly the size of a baseball that exploded when it hit a small group of advancing Finfolk trapping them in some sort of super-sticky sap. “Tierre-aeluine thren’dhal utaera!” I swiftly drew and spoke the sigils and the instant that the small fireball formed in my open hand I tossed it at a Finman who was managing to break free from the sap, engulfing him in flames before he could free himself completely. “The cavalry is here!” I announced with a reckless grin to cover the Finman’s dying screams as Lissany swept in and made short work of the other two trapped Finfolk with her war hammer.
“Thanks for coming, Your Highness,” Tien replied with a relieved look on her face.
“Hey, you invited us to a party, we couldn’t just leave you hanging. Take a breather, Tien, you’ve earned it,” I told her. She looked exhausted and I knew from experience how taxing constant magick use can be, but it’s even harder for Druids since they can’t just draw on the mana around them like those of us who use magick naturally. The twenty or so others in her group looked just as worn down as she did too, and most of them were crafters. “Not many of you here,” I observed with a concerned frown. If I had to guess there were less than forty of the human players in the square altogether and they were outnumbered by a four to one margin, though it seemed that a large portion of the dead Humans were NPCs.
“Sheriff Shaw, Hawkin, and Sonja led an assault on their main forces at the dock. A dozen of us stayed behind to protect the village’s supplies and those of us who aren’t combat-focused, though most of them ended up fighting anyway,” the young Vietnamese woman offered with a sigh.
“Rei and Salem will do what they can for the injured, they’re setting up a triage at the south end of the square. Maybe you should put your herbalism skills to work and help them. We’ll help mop up here before going to join the assault at the dock. Don’t worry we’ve got this.” I gave Tien’s shoulder a good squeeze and then I got back to work with the others, quickly casting a Scattershot spell and targeting a large Finman with a sword and shield. “Tierre kiara tala-aeluine utaera!”
Seven screaming blue balls of flame flew straight up from my outstretched hands to pummel my target from various directions. Two of them he managed to catch with the shield, but the others soon had him on the ground in a scorched heap. The smell of frying fish had barely reached my nose when Lissany intercepted the head of a Finman rushing toward us with her war hammer. Two others were downed by well-placed shots from Daenyss’s handguns and yet another by an Ice Lance spell from Kinara.
We stood together as Kinara, Daenyss, and I targeted enemy combatants from a safe distance as I called out targets when necessary. Any of them who managed to get in close were promptly met by Lissany’s shield or the head of her war hammer. At one point she struck her shield with her hammer, the noise reverberating throughout the square, and then she yelled, “You shall not pass!” She was a wall that they just kept falling at.
With Lissany there, I was feeling pretty good about our defense when I sensed the strange magick coalescing beneath our feet. Kinara must have sensed it too because we both shouted “Move!” at the same time.
Everything kind of jumped into high speed then as we all dove away from the spot we had been standing together in, a spot now taken up by some sort of large green crystal formation. We were spilt up now and Lissany was trying to free one of her feet from the strange crystal. I could sense it draining her energy as she kept striking it with her hammer, each strike having less strength than the last. I was moving to her side when I felt the strange magick again and leaped aside as another massive green crystal appeared where I had been standing. I had barely landed when I had to avoid a third such spell. Whoever was casting them was doing it fast, I didn’t have the time to cast any counterspells and they seemed to be targeting me specifically since Kinara and Daenyss weren’t having to dodge similar spells.
“Kinara, try to free Lissany! Daenyss, cover them!” I shouted as I nimbly evaded another spell. Those crystals seemed to be meant to capture, and drain the victim of energy so they couldn’t resist. That type of spell wasn’t surprising for someone looking for an unwilling bride, and in all honesty, neither was the fact that he was targeting me. The others had been protecting me and Kinara, but I had been the one calling the shots. Between that and the very obvious Danann’syr on my forehead, it was pretty clear that I was the highest ranking. And even if he didn’t know my exact rank, having a high ranking Yseil'dhraí as a Finwife could greatly improve his social status.
What wasn’t obvious, and what concerned me most, was who it was and how he was casting his spells so fast. I guess the how didn’t really matter since it wouldn’t change the fact that I didn’t have time to cast counter-spells, but I figured that it was probably something like Daenyss’s Nasyr Taka markings, a spell woven into his body somehow so he didn’t have to actively cast it. No matter what it was, it had me at a distinct disadvantage. I needed a plan, and I needed it fast.
I dodged several more crystals, feeling for the source of the spell as I did so, trying to sense the currents of mana connecting the final spell to where that mana had originated. “There!” It was a short and somewhat stocky Finman who was hiding in the shadows of one of the buildings on the east side of the square and watching me intently. I leaped out of way of another crystal appearing from nowhere, performing a handspring to launch myself toward the wall of a nearby building then rebounding off that same wall before another large crystal appeared on it. A backflip took me back to the ground and I had to use the momentum to roll out of the way of yet another crystal.
I had learned two important things. First, I was pretty sure that he had to wait a few seconds between castings, or half the southern part of the square would be filled with crystals by now from his attempts to catch me. Secondly, it seemed like he couldn’t just crystalize me directly, he needed a large and unmoving solid surface to attach the crystals to. If they could materialize on just anything he would have targeted me directly instead of the ground or wall, and he could have hit me while I was moving or in the air, when I couldn’t change direction.
As soon as I was back on my feet I pivoted and took off at a run as I drew my Colts. I kept my path unpredictable, turning, rolling, leaping, and flipping away whenever I felt his spell forming near me or if another Suvas’taäl tried to make a grab for me as I made my way toward a clear shot at him. As I moved I took out any targets of opportunity, aiming for their heads, but the movement of bodies was making it hard for me to get a clear shot at my ‘admirer’. Some of those targets were making a grab for me others for Lissany and the others, while my Guardian was attempting to free herself with Kinara’s help. Daenyss was giving cover fire to the pair as best she could, but she was just one person and there were still quite a few Finfolk. She was also limiting herself to handguns rather than automatic weapons so she wouldn’t hit any friendlies.
I had already used half of the bullets in my clips, and it didn’t matter that we were running out of targets as well. I needed a clear shot so I could end him or I wouldn’t get the chance to reload or cast spells. With all the moving bodies in the village square that was easier said than done while on the move myself. I made my way back to Lissany and the others as the stirrings of an idea came to me. They had managed to chip away enough of the crystal for Lissany to work her foot free, though she was looking pretty drained and I didn’t think she would have the strength right now to give me the lift I needed. It was time to improvise, and possibly kill two birds with one stone. “Kinara! Earth assault!” I shouted, gesturing toward a group of over a dozen Finfolk rushing toward my companions.
Kinara’s eyes widened in surprise since I had specifically forbidden AOE spells unless absolutely necessary. Then she nodded and began to quickly draw and speak the sigils for the spell. “Kuor tala-soldis utaera!” The second that she finished casting six stone fists erupted from the ground beneath the group of Suvas’taäl. I reached them as the fists sent them flying in all directions and jumped onto one of those fists, using it as a springboard to launch myself into the air and above the mass of battling bodies. As I flew through the air I got a bead on the crystal caster and fired, causing a red mess to explode from the back of his head before he fell lifeless to the ground.
The ground, and a large number of Finfolk, rushing toward me quickly put a stop to any celebratory thoughts I may have had as I emptied the remainder of my clips into the group, taking out four of them, and then curled myself up into a ball to hit the ground rolling. Instead of the ground though, I slammed into a pair of Finfolk that were still standing, bringing them to the ground along with me. I recovered almost immediately and mentally checked for injuries as I pistol-whipped one of the recovering Finmen and kicked the other away before holstering my guns. I was debating drawing my swords to finish them off, but with only one lesson under my belt, I’d probably be more of a danger to myself than my enemies.
I was in enough danger already, separated from my party mates, surrounded by Finmen, and a searing bolt of agony had shot through my right shoulder when I had holstered my Colts so I had a feeling that my right arm wasn’t going to be much good at the moment. I gritted my teeth against the pain and was about to cast a defensive spell left-handed when Ghost appeared, with Narek on her back. She slammed into the one I that had kicked away like a bulldozer, stomping him into a red paste, and then set herself to viciously kicking and biting any enemies that dared to get close to me. Narek leaped from her back, swords drawn before he even hit the ground, and began to attack anyone within range with grim determination.
“Your Highness, are you alright? You should not be separated from your Guardian. If anything happened to you…” He didn’t finish that sentence, he just cut his enemies apart, a look of cold fury upon his face. His movements were quick and agile, a dance of death and destruction as he began to dispose of the remaining Finfolk with terrifying precision. And he thought that Nishalle and I could be scary?
A spell lit a nearby Finman of fire, courtesy of Kinara, even as I cast a Scattershot spell left-handed to bring down another pair. Lissany was still looking drained, but she and Daenyss were at Kinara’s side and my Guardian smacked another aside with her shield as they made their way over to me to cover my back, while Ghost and Narek dedicated themselves to eviscerating the enemies in front of me. I still had my left arm working so I contributed spells where I could as well. Only once no other enemies were standing in the square did we allow ourselves a breather. Ghost took the opportunity to nuzzle me affectionately, while giving me a look that clearly said, “Never run off into battle without me again.”
“That was, quite possibly, the most badass thing I have ever seen, Taelya,” Kinara said with a grin as we took that moment to catch our breath. “You flying through the air to attack them and then Narek and Ghost coming in all cavalry-style.”
“I dunno, Liss and Nishalle are pretty badass on a regular basis, I don’t think I can top them, Narek coming to the rescue was pretty cool though, not to mention surprising,” I said, wincing in pain as I rolled my shoulder. It hurt, but it didn’t feel like it was broken or dislocated. That seemed to be the worst of what I had gotten from my little aerial adventure though, so I counted myself lucky. “Now that we have the square under control we should make our way to the dock to help Mahair. She’s been using Nature’s Call and it feels like whatever she’s using it to do over there is pretty intense.”
“She’s battling the Kehüvakt so the rest of us can take out the rest of the Suvas’taäl. She’ll need help though, she can’t keep using Nature’s Call to that degree for long. She’s going to wear herself out doing something foolish like that without help. Apparently, you take after her in more than just appearance,” Narek stated with a frown.
“We need to go help her,” I said, wincing again at the pain in my shoulder as I moved too fast.
Daenyss shook her head as she watched me in concern. “Please, Mistress, take a few minutes and rest. I must insist on healing your shoulder first, and Lissany can barely stand, she needs to rest for a bit longer.”
My shoulder felt much better by the time we left the square to join the counter-attack at the dock. Daenyss had cast her healing spell on it, and I had added my own spell to speed up my body’s healing, and by the time that the rest of our party had joined us Lissany and I were both ready to accompany the others. When Rei had heard I had been hurt she had of course insisted on adding her own healing prayer as well, so not even the jostling as I rode Ghost caused my shoulder too much discomfort as we arrived at the dock.
It would seem that the reinforcements from the Fae Glade had turned the tide. Everywhere I looked there were Humans, Fae, and members of other allied Races locked in mortal combat with the Finfolk and spells flying everywhere as we fought our way to the waters’ edge. We were pushing the invaders back to the water except for a few small pockets of the more stubborn of the Finfolk who wanted to capture brides. The big problem was the Kehüvakt; it was close to one hundred feet long and most of the boats at the dock were sunk, destroyed, or both. The water around the beast had been frozen solid and pitch-black clouds overhead rained lightning upon it. The great squid was shrieking and thrashing, but Amoiraishe just sat there calmly atop Theíldhúr on the ice as she faced it down and had nature do her bidding.
She wasn’t the only one fighting it either, several Magi from various Races were pounding it with spells as well and archers were pelting it with arrows. The latter were piercing it but didn’t seem to be having much effect on it other than to annoy it. We were just rushing to join the fray and had made it halfway to where Amoiraishe was making her stand when Grell said, “Damn, that thing can take a beating.”
Pete slid to a stop and asked, “How in the hell do we help take that thing down? I’d think hacking and slashing would work if we worked hard enough at it, but quite a few of us are wearing a lot of metal and have metal weapons. If we get much closer we could get fried with all that lightning.”
We all stopped to join him as what he said sunk in. Pete, Lissany, and Grell were out for sure because of their armor, and so was Narek. Most of us had some sort of metal weapons too. I was considering how to answer his question when my eyes fell upon the thermos hanging from Nishalle’s waist. “Sis, is that…?”
My sister followed my gaze and quickly nodded. “It’s not coffee, or I’d be drinking it. Even if I did coat my sword with it though, I probably couldn’t get close enough to use it without getting electrocuted.”
“We don’t need to coat your weapons,” I replied with a grin before pointing toward the group of Fae archers including Sahnae and Níala who were peppering the Kehüvakt liberally with arrows. “You put it on theirs.”
Nishalle’s grin showed her fangs as I began casting Exodus, my new mass teleportation spell. I focussed on the spot where the archers were firing from and swiftly drew and spoke the sigils. “Kaida liantuir tala siashe yasrin!”
The world seemed to lurch for a brief instant and then my companions and I were all standing twenty feet away from Sahnae and the other archers. Nishalle ran to talk to them and I could see them speaking quickly and a look of surprise cross Sahnae’s face, followed by a huge smile as I tried to calm Ghost down. Animals don’t like teleportation and she was a bit spooked so, since she would only really listen to me, it fell to me to calm her while Nishalle handled the delivery.
The archers dipped their few remaining arrows in the thermos and began to fire and I absently stroked Ghost’s mane as I watched and waited, wondering how long it would take for the Lindwyrm venom to take effect. Wondering if it even would. Venika, Kinara and I added our own spells to the barrage already pounding the Kehüvakt. I couldn’t just stand there and wait, I needed to do something. This had to be taken care of fast, I could already sense Amoiraishe’s control over the elements slipping.
Using Nature’s Call is exhausting and I couldn’t be sure how long that she had been keeping that thing contained. I was pretty sure that I had felt her exert her control when Narek came riding to my rescue and that had been a while, it was hard to really keep track of the time in a battle like this, it all seemed to be going either super fast or in slow motion. The one thing that was clear to me was that she was nearing her limit. Suddenly the ginormous squid gave one last shriek, breaking free of the ice as the roiling clouds above ceased spewing lightning and Amoiraishe collapsed and fell from Theíldhúr’s back.
“Mahair!” I screamed out as Amoiraishe fell from Theíldhúr’s back. My heart was suddenly hammering away in my chest and my breath caught in my throat, but I brutally shoved aside that anxiety for her welfare. It wasn’t going to help her and I needed to act fast if I was going to. Spells weren’t doing much damage to the Kehüvakt and Amoiraishe had barely been able to keep it contained with Nature’s Call. The Suvas’taäl were running for the water, but some of them were trying to take captives as they left and my Mahair would make a tempting target, an unconscious Yseil'dhraí on the ice with only Theíldhúr to protect her. There as also the rampaging Kehüvakt to consider, it was furious now and one of its massive flailing tentacles was heading straight for Amoiraishe.
I needed to protect her, but I also needed to find some way to stop that thing, or at the very least slow it down. Our archers were out of arrows and it was difficult to tell if the Lindwyrm venom was having an effect yet, supposedly even the smallest drops were deadly to anything that managed to briefly survive an encounter with a Lindwyrm, but that Kraken was freaking ginormous. Without a word, my group began rushing to Amoiraishe’s side to protect her, as were all the Fae in defense of the Queen of the Autumn Court. I held on to Ghost’s crimson mane for dear life to stay mounted, only paying as little attention as was necessary to that task while I dedicated the remainder of my focus and will to reaching out with my senses to become one with the natural world around me.
I could feel everything; the water, the ice, every living creature, every stone, and even the air between me and the ice where Amoiraishe had made her stand against the Kraken as if they were a part of me. I could also feel the mana that was part of all of them. The Kehüvakt was weakening, I could sense the poison running through its veins, but it was fighting it. I needed a way to contain it, to sap its strength until the venom could finish it, and I had an idea on how I might accomplish that.
First, I needed to protect my Mahair. At my bidding water rose into the air and froze solid, forming a massive ice wall between Amoiraishe and the Kehüvakt’s fast-approaching tentacle. I could feel it crack at the impact but quickly reinforced it as the massive squid shrieked in fury. Only once I was sure that she was safe would I concentrate my efforts upon the Kehüvakt. Several Finman had made a beeline for the unconscious Queen of the Autumn Court, but two found themselves kicked and then trampled by a ferocious Theíldhúr while the others were intercepted by Amoiraishe’s royal guards who had seemed to materialize out of thin air to surround their Queen.
Now was my chance. Every portion of my mental fortitude that wasn’t focused on keeping that ice wall between Amoiraishe and the giant squid, or staying mounted, was now reaching out and drawing in all of the mana that I could gather. Using Nature’s Call had heightened my sensitivity to the natural flow of mana, and my ability to harness it, and now all I needed to do was direct as much of that flow as possible through me.
I had gotten a pretty good feel for that crystal capture spell when I had been repeatedly dodging it earlier, so I thought that I could probably replicate something similar, and with some modifications, it might just work. I knew that I couldn’t encase the whole Kehüvakt in crystal, it was just too massive, but just having her foot caught had been enough to sap Lissany’s energy. The big problem was going to be using Nature’s Call to gather and use that much mana. There could be consequences to this. No living creature could possibly contain as much mana as I planned on using, but I didn’t plan on storing it, I planned to use it. Holding Ghost’s mane tightly in my left hand, I used my right to draw the sigils as I spoke them and directed all that mana through me and toward the Kehüvakt. “Kaida kuorüis miska!”
It was like millions of pinpricks of electricity were targeting every nerve ending in my body, my very soul seemed to burn as I gritted my teeth against the agony and channeled the mana through myself, my intent laser-focused. After what seemed like an eternity of pain and the world moving in slow motion, a dozen sea-green crystalline spikes shot up from the water beneath the giant squid, rising thirty feet into the air in a circle around the Kehüvakt. Some impaled a few of its tentacles, but that hadn’t been my intent. My intent had been to cage the creature and weaken it enough for other players or the Lindwyrm venom to finish it off. I smiled at my seeming success as I fell from Ghost’s back to the ground, and as I lost consciousness I saw Narek rushing toward me.
I sat in the throne room of the Autumn Court Glade, one of several rooms of the royal residence. It was at the center of the Glade and one of the most secure places in the Autumn Court’s territory, surrounded by watch-posts and the homes of other Fae. Unlike other Fae homes, which were treehouses designed to be hidden from view high amongst the upper branches of the trees, the royal residence had been magically grown inside the trunk of a massive oak tree. My smaller throne beside Mahair’s had been made as comfortable as possible for me, but I did not like sitting in it for a long time and I was getting bored.
I tugged nervously at the clothing that I was wearing, a dress in the bright gold and crimson of the Autumn Court. I didn’t wear clothes often, but today was a special occasion, or at least that was what Mahair had told me. There was a Yseil'dhraí visiting from the Winter Court and she had said that I had to meet him. I would have much rather been playing with Venika and Nishalle or walking through the forest to see if I could spot that Human Seamus that I had met a moon cycle ago, or maybe some other Human, I was so curious about them.
Mahair had insisted though that it was important that I meet this Yseil'dhraí and make a good first impression. I wasn’t sure why, but it would give me a break from my lessons and I really did not want to get in any more trouble, at least not for a while. Mahair was still unhappy with me for talking with Seamus rather than coming back to the Glade when we first saw him so I needed to be on my best behavior. So, here I was wearing a dress and waiting with Mahair for this visitor to arrive.
As much as I didn’t care for wearing clothes and would rather be doing something else, I could feel butterflies in my stomach at the thought of meeting a Yseil'dhraí from another Court. I had never met another Yseil'dhraí before since Mahair and I were the only two in the Autumn Court. I wondered what he looked like, and why he was visiting. It was not common for Fae to visit other Courts except when there was a Council. The curiosity and nervousness were making it very difficult for me to sit still.
“Stop fidgeting, my little rose,” Mahair said with a patient smile. “You can go play as soon as we are finished. You just need to meet him so we can perform the Jisa nir Faeshûin.”
I stopped fidgeting to stare at her. “He is my Pájar?”
“It is not certain, little rose. It can be difficult to tell with Yseil'dhraí children unless the father is Yseil'dhraí and the mother isn’t since we inherit all of the Yseil'dhraí features. Even then, it cannot be absolutely certain. I already tested most of the possible candidates when you were an infant, but it is possible that you were conceived when I was at the last Council, hosted by the Winter Court. Narek and I became very close while I was there, so he could be your Pájar, which is why we must test to find out.” She took my hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze as she smiled reassuringly at me.
I had always wanted to know who my Pájar was. All of the other Fae children knew who both of their parents were and got to spend time with both of them, while I only had my Mahair. I knew that she loved me and she tried to spend as much time with me as she could, but most of that time was spent teaching me to become a good Queen should anything happen to her. Now I couldn’t wait to meet this Narek.
Unfortunately, I did have to wait, and it seemed like I had been sitting on my throne and wearing that dress for an eternity before Siggurd entered the room. The Brownie who was the head of the royal servants bowed before us and said, “Your Majesty, Your Highness, may I present Narek, son to Her Majesty, Queen Seshaire of the Winter Court.” His introduction complete, Siggurd left us to wait outside in case we needed him for anything else.
I looked at the visitor, drinking in every detail with wide eyes. He was taller than most of the Fae males that I knew, but aside from that, his pale blue eyes, and long white hair he looked very much like a Nyiir'dhraí male. He was very muscular and his face lit up with a smile once he had bowed and looked up at my Mahair. “Amoiraishe, it is so good to see you again, it has been far too long. I am afraid that I cannot stay long, Humans have been encroaching upon the southern border of our Glade. Our magicks have kept them from finding us so far, but it may come to a battle at any time. What business do you have with the Winter Court that you would send for me?” Then his eyes fell upon me and widened slightly.
“It is good to see you as well Narek. If not for the tension between the Courts and the fact that you are needed to defend the Winter Court I would have asked you to come sooner, and to stay. We too have had Humans come uncomfortably close to our Glade.” There was sadness in my Mahair’s eyes as she spoke, but she quickly put on a smile once more as she gestured to me. “This is Taelya, my daughter, and possibly yours as well.”
Pale blue eyes widened once again, looking me over intently, and then twinkled as he smiled at me and said, “Taelya, wake up!”
“Taelya, wake up!” Narek was looking down at me in concern, his eyes filled with the emotional upheaval that he refused to allow to show on his face.
“Is this Hell?” I inquired. Damn, my tongue and throat seemed to be the only parts of me that didn’t hurt. My jaw however didn’t seem to be exempt so talking hurt. Even turning my head to see that, no I wasn’t in the waiting room that had been described, caused me tremendous pain.
Rei and Salem were right there too, and my fiancée was frowning as my eyes fluttered. “No, not that you didn’t give it your best shot. Don’t move Tae, we need to make sure that you’re not seriously hurt. You passed out and fell off Ghost.”
I didn’t plan on moving any time soon, even if I had thought that I could. My whole body felt like I’d been electrocuted; I hurt just about everywhere, even my hair, and my muscles felt like jelly, jelly that was on fire. “M…Mahair?” I managed to ask.
“She’s safe, and Khyrin is looking her over now. It looks like she just overdid it with Nature’s Call,” Salem offered. “That was some spell you cast there. That big squid thing is pinned now and almost everyone who can fight is trying to finish it off. The Finfolk have all retreated too, so we should all be safe once it’s taken down.”
“Goddess! What in name of Danu do you think you were doing, Taelya?! You could have been killed trying to channel that much mana through you at once! First, you pull that high flying stunt, and now this! Just because you can be resurrected in this game doesn’t mean that you should taunt the reaper at every given opportunity! I swear that you are as terrifying, frustrating, reckless, and fool-headed as your Mahair! You two are going to be the death of me! What will Amoiraishe think?! Don’t you realize how important you are to us?! What you mean to the Winter Court?!” Narek berated me frantically. “Do what your consort says and lay still, not one word out of you, and don’t you ever scare us like that again young lady!”
If I could have moved without searing pain, I would have shrunk away. He was right, I had been reckless, but I had needed to do something. What concerned me far more at the moment though was his assertion that I was his daughter in the game, a claim that seemed to be supported by my earlier memory/dream. He may as well have said, “No Taelya, I am your father!” in a deep voice while breathing heavily as much as that little tidbit of information had blindsided me. It did make his recent protectiveness and his desire to train me to fight in his family’s style make sense, although it made his testing of my character a little bit unnerving, especially if he knew about that while pretending to constantly hit on me. Ewww. At least I was relatively sure that both that and the arrogance had been an act now, especially given the way that he had gone out of his way to avoid me altogether during the previous night’s carnal festivities.
I obediently laid there quietly like a good little girl while Rei and Salem looked me over. I had aggravated my healing shoulder injury from earlier since Ghost had been running at a good clip when I unintentionally dismounted, but she had managed to slow her pace and lower her body a bit once she realized that I was falling. Salem figured that it was Ghost’s presence of mind that had prevented me from getting a concussion as well, so I only ended up with a good lump on the head. I had also overtaxed my body as a whole with my mana channeling stunt.
Rei performed some healing prayers and gave me a severe look as she delivered the prognosis. Then told me, “That’s the best that I can do for now. I could use my hands-on-healing ability, but I would rather keep it in reserve in case there is anyone near death when the other wounded start coming in. And maybe this will teach you to stop overdoing it. I want you on bed rest for at least two days, under observation at all times, while you heal up. No strenuous activity of any kind and no magick.”
I wasn’t happy, and yes I did pout a bit, but when all was said and done I figured that it could have been a lot worse. And at least I wouldn’t have to go through sword lessons with Narek for a few days. Hell, I might just need a few days just to come to terms with him getting all parental on me. It wasn’t long after that when we got notifications that the Kehüvakt had been killed and our XP rewards for the completed battle. I had gained another level and increased my mana absorption ability, but nothing more than that, but I didn’t mind that at all. I wanted other players to enjoy the game and its rewards and I was just happy that we had come out of the battle without an overly excessive number of player deaths. We had lost twenty-seven players overall, which wasn’t near as bad as I had been fearing and all the players who had gotten involved in the day’s battle had made a good amount of XP.
I was dutifully resting under Narek’s watchful eye while Salem and Rei helped tend to the wounded and the others in my party searched for loot for our party along with all the other players without serious injuries. Níala and Sonja's party had gotten a choice of special rewards for landing the ‘killing blow’ on the giant squid, but there was plenty of loot to be found on the corpses of the Finfolk, such as armor or weapons that could be repaired or re-forged and possibly a few magical artifacts. There was also talk of harvesting the Kehüvakt for food for the village, if it could be cooked properly to inactivate the Lindwyrm toxin.
It was while I was resting that Sahnae and Sheriff Shaw showed up. “How is Taelya?” the Duchess of the Spring Court inquired.
I was about to answer when Narek gave me a stern look and did so for me. “She needs to rest and heal but she’ll live. She’s got her mother’s stubbornness. How is Amoiraishe?” His expression quickly turned to one of concern as he asked.
“She’s about the same, Theíldhúr prevented her from taking any real harm, but she overdid it with Nature’s Call. She’s conscious now, but she may have to take some time while her virtual body is recovering to check on things in the real world. The techs on the outside forwarded some distressing news from the New York branch.” At the Winter Court representative’s look of alarm, she quickly assured him, “It’s nothing serious… at the moment. Some of our American investors didn’t like having the tables turned on their little lockout by the board of directors, especially with everything going on out there, but if it does get serious it could impact our timetable, and possibly the emergency plan for the New York office.”
Narek wore a frown once more as he asked, “Everyone there is alright then?”
“For the moment, yes. Everything is secure,” Sahnae confirmed, eliciting a sigh of relief from Narek. “From the sound of it Sasha is furious, but she’s taking what action she can. It will help if Moira can be freed up for a few hours or more in the real world to discuss a plan of action with her though. You should go talk to her now if you have any input on the matter, Narek.”
“Thank you, I’ll do that. Could you please watch Taelya while I’m gone and make sure she doesn’t pull any more stunts like her Mahair?” I resented his insinuation that I needed a babysitter, but I liked Sahnae and Becky so I decided to let it go. Besides, Becky looked as confused and concerned by their conversation as I was. Were they just talking about business matters, or was it something more? Either way, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. Becky must have thought the same because instead of pressing the issue once Narek had left she smiled down at me, “Hey Tae, since Sahnae was coming to check on you, I decided I’d join her so I could give you your special reward for today’s battle.”
“Wait, I thought only Níala’s party got the special rewards for finishing it off,” I managed to get out, wincing a little at the pain from moving. I had been given something to ease the discomfort, but it had barely put a dent in it so far. That and the lessening of pain in the rest of my body only made my shoulder hurt that much more.
“Hey, I’m the GM. You turned the tide when Amoiraishe went down and I thought you should have a reward for creative, and slightly crazy, thinking. I coded it for you myself.” The last was added with a grin before a look of concentration appeared on her face and then something alarmingly pink appeared in her hands. It looked like some sort of stuffed animal and once she knelt down to give me a closer look I saw that it was a big cutesy-looking pink squid, with eight fuzzy tentacles and big anime-styled eyes. Wait, were those straps underneath? Sure enough, when she tilted it up and turned it so I could get a better look I discovered that it was a stuffed squid motorcycle helmet. On the back, there was even a red reflective light and above that, in red letters, it said, “Take me to your leader.”
“Ow! Ow! Don’t make me laugh, it hurts!” I complained through a bout of painful giggles.
“Serves you right for trying something so insane. At least next time you’ll have some protection when you decide to do something crazy and fly off Ghost’s back,” the sheriff chastised me.
“You’d know crazy,” I retorted once the painful giggles had subsided.
“Yup, I do, she’s teaching me magick,” she shot back with a grin.
I groaned and didn’t dignify that with a response. Sahnae though wore a serious expression as she sat down beside me and patted my hand gently. “Taelya, that spell was a great idea, and so was using the Lindwyrm venom but you put yourself in serious danger, not only by channeling that much mana through your body but also by drawing so much mana from a single area. If you had drained an object or living thing of all its mana the result could have been disastrous. The whole reason that we’re taught to draw mana from multiple sources is so we don’t deplete one source completely.”
At the looks of confusion on both my face and Becky’s, Sahnae let out a sigh. Then she picked up a tiny pebble from the ground. “You are a gifted Magus Taelya, but you are still learning. Allow me to explain. Are you familiar with the saying ‘Nature abhors a vacuum’?”
Once we had both nodded and confirmed that we were indeed familiar with the quote, the Spring Court Yseil’dhraí continued her explanation. “This quote is very apt where mana is involved. Mana is present in everything and because it’s such an important part of the natural universe, such an integral part of all things, matter does not want to be absent of mana. What would you do if all of the breathable air was suddenly sucked out of this area? You would try to find more air before you suffocated, yes?”
“Yeah, we’d probably die otherwise,” I responded hesitantly. I suddenly had a very bad idea of where she might be going with this.
“Now, let us say that I completely drained this pebble of all of its mana without giving it time for the natural flow of mana to replenish it,” Sahnae continued. “It doesn’t want to be without mana, mana is essential for its continued existence. So, just like you searching frantically for air, it’s going to rush to the nearest source of mana as fast as it can. Now, the air around it, and my fingers have mana so the outside of the pebble will try to rush toward that mana. But the closer you get to the center of the pebble, the further away it is from what it needs so it’s going to rush faster. So the pebble would explode, tearing itself apart from the inside out to fill itself with mana again and utterly destroying itself in the process. In that destruction we lose part of creation forever, the balance of nature is disrupted, and anything around the pebble could be irrevocably damaged as well. Now imagine that on a larger scale, say that new helmet of yours or a living creature.”
I almost threw up in my mouth as I pictured the last suggestion. I also decided right then that I was going to be a lot more conscious about just how much mana I took from any one thing and that I was going to make this a mandatory lesson for my apprentices. “Thanks, Sahnae,” I said somewhat sheepishly as I reflexively shrunk back in shame and winced from the pain that It caused in my shoulder. I should have thought things through more, but I guess that I was panicking a bit.”
“You were concerned for the welfare of your Mahair and others and the idea was sound,” she said, smiling down at me. “I’ve never heard of anyone trying to use Nature’s Call in that way. Please try to avoid nearly killing yourself in the future though, you do your Mahair and your Court proud, and they need you.”
“I dunno, I never really wanted this whole leader thing and I think there are a lot of people who could do it better, people who wouldn’t be so impulsive and make mistakes like that,” I said with a shake of my head, causing pain to shoot through my shoulder again.
“The Fae and non-Humans love you Tae, so do quite a few of the Humans,” Sheriff Shaw corrected. “You lead by example and you care about everyone.”
“She is right Taelya, and I believe that you saw Amoiraishe out there going toe to toe with the Kehüvakt?” Sahnae pointed out with a slight smirk on her face. “The two of you have a lot in common. Trust me, everyone makes mistakes, and I have made more than a few myself, it is part of the learning process. You may not have wanted to be a leader but you do it naturally and you are always learning and making an effort to become a better leader, not for yourself, but for those who follow you. I have heard this from several people and observed it myself. True wisdom isn’t about not making mistakes, it is the lessons that we choose to learn when we know that we are not wise.”
Rei wouldn’t let me out of bed for three days after the battle in the village. During that time there were two more minor skirmishes; one with some goblins in the southern woods and another when a Shadow Walker and his undead minions tried to enter the Fae Glade. Both battles were easily won through the combined efforts of the Humans in Haven and the residents of the Glade, or at least that was what I was told in the reports that Nishalle and Huntsmaster Nakir were delivering while Amoiraishe was temporarily out of the game and I was in charge.
Rei had been serious about the twenty-four-hour observation as well. There was always someone watching over me, the only place I could get a moment’s peace was in the bathroom, sometimes anyway. When Rei wasn’t watching me herself it was Daenyss and when it wasn’t Daenyss it was Salem or one of our other party-mates. I may not have been allowed to use magick myself, but at least I could teach Salem a few new spells to get her started during her shifts. First I taught her the illusion spell that I had promised and then the beginner teleportation spell.
Everyone else tried to keep me entertained and keep my spirits up though and Willow seemed to enjoy spending all of her time with me. Rei, Venika, Lissany, Nishalle, and Daenyss were the worst mother hens, even cutting my meals for me, though I drew the line at letting any of them feed me. When it was Lark’s turn she would sing and/or play one of her instruments and I could sense the healing magick that she was sneaking into the music. It was much appreciated. Narek had even tried taking a shift of watching over me, but it was ridiculously awkward for me with the elephant in the room, and he seemed to have something on his mind. Whether it was his apparent fatherhood to me or something else I wasn’t sure, but our conversations during that time were awkward and limited.
I wasn’t the only one on the mend either. We may have only had twenty-seven players die during the Suvas’taäl raid but nearly a hundred of us were nursing some sort of injuries. The death count could have been higher, but between Salem and a few other Medics knowing CPR and Rei gaining a Resurrection Prayer, our losses were mercifully light. At least the dead who hadn’t been resurrected could respawn the next day and be useful again, the living injured weren’t so fortunate. Rei had been out most of the first night from using her hands-on healing on a Human who had had nearly half the bones in his body broken when he was hit with a flailing Kraken tentacle. They were both fine after a good night of sleep, but Grell and his Atlantean girlfriend and business partner, Ashura, had both been injured fighting off several Finfolk who had tried to capture her.
The pair had been injured so badly that an Atlantean Priest NPC had taken them both away with another Atlantean player and three Atlantean NPCs for a process that the Atlanteans called ‘Restoration’, or at least that was what it translated to. It was some sort of Atlantean trade secret for Atlanteans who were near death, an artificed device that they were placed in for a couple of days to heal. I was a bit jealous since the pair had returned the day before I was let out of bed looking and feeling as good as new, they didn’t even have any scars from what Pete told me.
By the time the three days were up and Rei felt that I was fully recovered I was itching for something to do. Amoiraishe had returned to the game that morning as well, but saying that she was not in a good mood would have been putting it mildly. Between that and the cloud of a possible Redcap attack that could happen at any time hanging over us, the mood during breakfast was subdued. I was actually happy to get back to my training with Narek. I was happier refining my abilities with Nature’s Call and learning new spells from Amoiraishe, but even sword training with Narek was preferable to lying in bed doing nothing or brooding about things that I had no control over.
It was during a break in my lesson with Amoiraishe that I finally asked, “What’s wrong, Mahair? You’ve been agitated and distracted since you got back in the game this morning.” I sat down on the soft sand of the beach, gently petted Willow, and looked off in the distance at the crystal spikes still jutting out from the water in Haven’s small harbor as I awaited an answer.
It was several minutes before that answer came. “One of the American investors broke confidentiality and told a general with the US Department of Defense what we have here after I took a controlling interest in the company. They have political backing and are pressuring Sasha to sell them our technology. Their last attempt came with a threat to invoke the Defense Production Act and force her to sell it to them at what would be a huge loss.”
“Can they do that?” I asked, frowning in concern.
Amoiraishe sniffed indignantly. “They wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on, and they know it. We may have some American investors, but we are a Canadian company and our corporate headquarters is in Canada so their Defense Production Act doesn’t apply to us. Sasha and the legal team are stonewalling them for now, but I don’t like being threatened and I don’t trust them not to try to take what they want by force if we won’t give it up willingly. We may need to move our people and tech to a more secure location off US soil before they can attempt that. We were planning on moving everything to more secure compounds after the closed beta, but this may step up our timetable, which would force us to cancel the inter-server tournament and shut down the game while we move our assets.”
Anxiety swirled around in my chest like a tornado at that revelation. It was the first serious panic attack that I had had since my body dysphoria had left me and I had to force myself to breathe properly and calm down. What would we do if they had to shut down the game? I loved being Fae, it was like I had finally found myself after a lifetime of not knowing who I should be. For the first time in my life, I was actually happy with who I was, comfortable in my own skin. Jess was so happy being Rei too, being able to have her body match how she was feeling inside. We weren’t the only ones who would lose out either. Practically everyone that I cared about had found something in this game that made them happier than they had been in the outside world.
I tried to keep telling myself that it was just a game, that we could come back to it once they got everything more secure and the game was officially released. Could I really go back to working a monotonous job every day and then logging into the game for a few hours to feel like myself? Could Jess or any of the others do that? If I was comfortable as Taelya what would that mean when I tried to become Caleb again? Would I go back to the same self-loathing with a bit of dysphoria thrown in? The thoughts just kept assaulting me until finally, I had managed to control my thoughts and breathing with Fae mental exercises. With that done I asked, “So what happens now?”
“Our New York office and Winter Server are in the most immediate danger,” my Mahair replied cautiously. “We’ll try to give as much notice as we can if we decide to shut down Autumn Server and move to a more secure location, but I have everyone on the outside preparing for the possibility. The other offices are doing the same. I would rather avoid shutting the game down early, it’s such a pleasant little dream, isn’t it? You’ve all become so comfortable here as your new selves and you’re not mentally prepared to go back to face the real world yet. I would prefer to give you the time to adjust to the idea. Until then we keep the game going as if nothing has happened. Try to enjoy yourself, push yourself to be your best, and treat each spell you cast, each action you take as if it could be the last you make in the game.”
I worked my ass off training for the rest of that morning and after a brief lunch, my friends and I all got back to work with another group training session. Amoiraishe had had to leave the game for a phone conference with the heads of the London, Tokyo, and New York Branches and was expecting to be out of the game for a good four or five hours from our perspective. So I worked all of our asses off as I took my Mahair’s words to heart. Even after the training session, I encouraged all of my friends to work hard that afternoon when we split up. If the game was going to end soon then I didn’t want to have any regrets, I was going to give it everything I had and try to make sure that we all went out on a high note. With that in mind, once I had finished a grueling magick lesson with my apprentices that afternoon I went to go speak with Hadrick and Denise in the Glade’s small marketplace. I had an idea that just might help with the Redcaps and they were just the people to help me.
Of course, I didn’t go alone. Lissany, Nishalle, and Daenyss wouldn’t let me out of their collective sight and the minute I entered Hadrick and Yola’s shop with my three shadows in tow we were greeted enthusiastically by the female Dwarf. “Your Highness! You didn’t need to come to pick up the armor for your party, I would have gladly brought it to the Estate. They turned out as nice as the ones I made for you, Nishalle, and your Summer Court friend though. It’s a good thing I gave your party priority though, after that battle with those fish-folk I had a bunch of players asking about that armor of yours.”
“They’re ready?” I asked blinking in surprise once she had finally come up for air. “We’ll gladly take them while we’re here, but I actually almost forgot that they were supposed to be done soon. I came to see Hadrick and Denise about an idea that I had.”
“Yup, they’re ready alright. They should keep your friends plenty safe, so long as they don’t go flying off anything they might be riding at the time,” she replied with a playful wink that had my face hot with a fierce blush. Did everybody know about that? “Haddy! You got a visitor!”
Once I had sat Hadrick and Denise down in Denise’s workshop and explained my idea they both stared at me for a long moment as if they weren’t quite sure that I was playing with a full deck. I just sat patiently though, showing Willow some affection while they considered my request and Hadrick stroked his beard thoughtfully. Suddenly Denise’s doe ears twitched as an amused smile spread across her face. “That’s not a bad idea at all, Your Highness. There is certainly plenty of material to work with, but we’ll need to wear protective equipment and we’re going to need some help. Maybe Ashura and that handsome buck, Lincoln.”
“Lincoln? He’s a Druid isn’t he?” I didn’t really know much about the Beastkin beyond that since I had only really seen him in passing. She was right though, he was a handsome buck, in every sense of the word. He was a tall and muscular man in his early twenties with chiseled features, cocoa-hued skin and eyes, and ebony dreadlocks nearly as intricate as my braids. Like Denise, he was a Beastkin with deer tags, only instead of just the ears and tail he also had an impressive set of antlers that had to make walking through doorways hell with his natural height.
“Yeah,” the Doe Beastkin replied with a slightly dreamy look in her eyes that nearly made me giggle. “He’s got a contract with an earth elemental, so he can shape earth and stone fairly easily. He should be able to help us do what you want.”
“We’ll be needin’ some strong backs too, anyone that ya think ya can spare,” Hadrick said after a moment. “Those Redcaps could attack any time, so if yer wantin’ us to be ready, we’ll need folk who aren’t afraid of a little hard work.”
I nodded slowly. I had after all expected as much. As good as the pair were at what they did, this was a big project and we couldn’t be certain how much time that we had left before the Redcaps attacked. “I’m sure that Jira and Salus will be happy to help you recruit other Fae from the Glade for this project, especially if they know it’s me asking. I’ll contact Tien too, and ask her to see who the village might be able to spare who can help. Let’s get recruiting so I make sure that everyone has proper protective gear before you get started.”
It took two hours to get everyone for their team recruited and outfitted, but at least half of that time was dedicated to me using my Magic Craft skills to enchant everyone’s clothes and gloves with the proper protective spells for the job. While it was nice to try using that aspect of my magick a little more, and I had developed the enchantment with this in mind, using it over and over again enough times to provide protective gear for everyone involved proved to be extremely tiring. By the time we were finished and it was time to return to the Estate for dinner I could barely stand.
Lissany, Nishalle, and Daenyss were very concerned during our walk home. At one point it looked like my Guardian was going to pick me up and carry me the rest of the way, and then probably straight to my bedroom, but I shook my head. We were in the heart of the Glade and it could hurt morale if the Fae saw their princess being carried like a small child. They would worry, and that would only distract them from important things. So I walked on my own, perhaps a bit slowly, but portraying all of the grace and confidence that I could muster until we were finally back inside the house and seated in the dining room.
Amoiraishe had returned and Tien and Sherriff Shaw were both our guests for dinner, so I immediately suspected that something important was going to be happening. So I was only mildly surprised and a little relieved when just before dinner began Sahnae and Kinara, as the official representatives of the Spring Court and Summer Court, joined Narek in swearing the allegiance of their respective courts to the Autumn Court. Like Narek, they would be staying as official ambassadors to ensure the continued spirit of cooperation and goodwill between the four Courts, at least until the game would have to be shut down. The announcement almost made it seem like the game would keep going for a while longer, but none of us could hold any illusions about that once Moira made an announcement of her own as we ate.
I had been discussing another venture into the city for more supplies once the Redcaps were done with, trying to act as if everything in the game was progressing normally. We were beginning to run short on food and other supplies unless we wanted to be eating Kraken for the next few weeks. Amoiraishe spoke hesitantly, which in itself started the alarm bells going off in my head since I had never seen her be hesitant about anything before. “I… I am truly sorry about this everyone. I had hoped that we could keep you all here for the promised time, but the future is somewhat hazier than it once was and events in the outside world are forcing my hand. Things have become… chaotic and Sasha tells me that she has been fielding calls all morning from government and military officials and she has had to put the New York office under lockdown. They’re not willing to wait and the building is being watched. If we are going to protect our assets and our people there then we will need to move quickly.”
“How quickly?” Narek asked from across the table. The Winter Court Yseil’dhraí wore a concerned expression on his face and every muscle looked tense. We hadn’t really talked all that much since he had claimed to be my in-game father, except while he was teaching me to use my swords, but that was all business. I think that he realized that he had said too much, while I wasn’t really sure how to talk to him. First, he was doing everything that he could to piss me off, then he’s suddenly swearing fealty to me, and then he’s my father. That would be hard enough for most people to figure out, but given that I barely remembered what it was like having a father in real life and the hatred I felt toward my real-world father for abandoning us, I had no clue on how to deal with him. There was also the fact that I was pretty sure that he was still hiding something from both me and Amoiraishe, and I had the feeling that it was something big.
The Queen of the Autumn Court let a small sigh slip from between her lips before replying. “To be safe, we’ll need to start relocating all of our resources to the sanctuary by tomorrow morning New York time, hopefully before the Americans can make their move. That means three game days, at the most, before we have to shut down the servers. I will be announcing it after dinner. Again, I am sorry everyone, I had hoped to give you more time to train and enjoy this time together before leaving this dream to face the pressures of reality.”
I just sat there, completely stunned. I wasn’t the only one either. All of my friends looked like they were in shock, the only exception being Kinara. She, like my Mahair and the other representatives of the other Courts, looked resigned to it and perhaps a bit guilty as well. Narek looked especially guilty as he looked from me to Mahair and back to me again. The rest of the meal was quiet until Narek finally excused himself, followed quickly by Sahnae, Maekin, and finally Amoiraishe. Kinara looked like she wanted to leave too, nearly standing when her father did, but she stayed seated and moved closed to Lissany, gripping the Beastkin’s hand almost desperately in her own.
Rob was the first one of us to speak, voicing what we were all thinking. “Well, this fucking sucks.” He sighed as his panther-like ears twitched in agitation. “I finally get used to having a tail and the game is going to end.”
“Tell me about it,” Salem spat bitterly. She looked by far the most depressed of us all. “I finally got over my body dysphoria, I made real friends, and I was learning magick. Now I’m gonna be stuck in that wheelchair again, all alone. I’ll never be able to run through the forest and feel the earth between my toes again.” She started crying then and I got up to comfort her, but Daenyss beat me to it, wrapping the Moss Maiden up in her arms and holding her tight as she sobbed.
“You won’t be alone, none of us will. Not ever again. We’re friends,” the Nymph said, barely loud enough for the rest of us to hear. “When I came here I had no memory, and I was afraid of being rejected because of things I couldn’t even remember doing. Mistress and her friend helped me, they even welcomed me when they had every reason not to. I’m a bit scared of going back to the real world, but I won’t abandon any of you there, because I know that you won’t abandon me either.”
My heart swelled with pride in my Attendant. Of us all, she had possibly the most to lose. She had no family, no memories and I was very worried about how she would adjust to real life and Dennis’s male body with only her memories of living here as a Nymph to work from. She didn’t think of herself though, that wasn’t who she was, she thought of others first and was probably one of the most loyal people I had ever met, and that was saying something since I had Lissany as my Guardian. Finally, I nodded slowly. “Daenyss is right, we’ve got each other. I’m scared to go back too, I’ve gotten so used to being Taelya, and for the first time ever I like who I am. Going back to being Caleb scares me, what if I’m so used to being Taelya that I can’t take being who I was. I know that I’m not the only one in that boat, though. No matter what we all have to deal with when the game is over, we’ll do it together, because that’s what real friends do. I’m not going to let any of you down.”
Rei took a deep breath beside me and nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to miss being whatever I feel like at the time, but we just need to manage until all of this blows over and the game can be released, right?”
“Yeah, we’ll be able to keep you all updated on the release date and what’s happening with Apocalypse Dawn once we’re back to work,” Venika promised.
“If we get back to work,” Nishalle muttered darkly. “I’m worried about what’s happening out there. If things are bad enough that Moira and the other heads are planning on moving everything offsite to be safe it could be a while before we’re back. We may even have to relocate.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Venika replied with a sigh. “I’d hate to have to have Danielle start at a new school in the middle of the year.”
Lissany snorted derisively. “Yeah, because I’m just so popular at my current school, Mom. The only thing keeping me from getting the crap kicked out of me every day is that teachers watch me like a hawk. It’s not even like they care about me, except for how the bad press and potential lawsuit would make them look if the tranny freak got beat half to death on school grounds.”
Kinara was looking at Lissany in sudden concern, and so was everyone else, including me. “Please, don’t talk about yourself that way, you’re not a freak, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I… I wouldn’t ask just anyone to be my soulmate.”
Lissany looked down at the table clenching her fists tightly. “I’m just repeating what most the other kids are saying, some of the teachers too when they don’t think I’m around. So what if I get shoved around a lot, called nasty names, and have to change for gym in the handicapped washroom, I’m never going to let them break me.”
Venika looked like she was about ready to cry and then asked her daughter in a near-whisper, “Why didn’t you tell me it was that bad?”
“I didn’t want you to worry about me, Mom,” The jaguar Beastkin said with a sad shake of her head. “But it’s why I was looking forward to playing AD so much. I could finally feel like myself and be seen as the girl I am inside instead of some sort of freak. I love this game… here I’m important, I have friends, and I’m not scared of when some kid is eventually going to go too far. As Lissany I’m strong and I can protect myself, and I can protect all of you too.”
By now Kinara had her arms wrapped around Lissany protectively. She was concerned, but there was something else there in her eyes as well, she was torn. I was about ready to ask her what she and the other ambassadors from the other servers were keeping from us when Pete spoke up and sent a wry smile across the table toward Lissany. “You’re not just strong because you’re avatar is strong Lissany. You’ve got that strength inside you too. You are the most bad-ass and courageous person I’ve ever met and when you take a look around this table, that’s saying something. You stepped between Taelya and bullets before you could even be sure if your armor could take it and stood against massive monsters thinking of our safety instead of yours. Even in a game, there’s not a lot of people who would do that selflessly for someone else. Sure your avatar is strong, but your best qualities; that courage, inner strength, and loyalty… that’s all you.”
“Pete has a good point, Lissany,” Grell quickly agreed. “I can’t imagine how hard a time Pete and I would be having in this game if we hadn’t joined up with you, Taelya, and the others. A lot of times it hasn’t been special skills or weapons that saved our asses, but you throwing yourself headlong into danger so we would have the time to use those skills and weapons. Like my buddy just said, you’re a badass no matter what body you’re wearing.”
“Still, I’ll look into getting you into a more accepting school, if we can’t find one then we’ll look into homeschooling. I just want you to be happy, baby,” Venika said as she hugged her daughter as best she could with her tiny Sprite form.
Sherriff Shaw and Tien had been quiet up until this point, merely nodding where appropriate. Tien finally spoke though, shaking her head sadly. “I was really getting into this, being a Druid and using magick is so cool and I actually like running my trading post. I never thought I’d say something like that after growing up helping with my parents’ store. Maybe I should choose business or economics as my major when I get back to school.”
“I think we all need to keep our options open when we leave here,” Becky said with a frown. “There’s something more going on here than just trouble with the Board of Directors or the US government putting pressure on the New York Branch. Since I’m the GM I can talk with the techs on the outside and they’ve confirmed those issues, but they’re not talking to me about anything else that’s happening outside the game. I’ve asked about all sorts of little things, but I’m getting nothing from them, just the business updates and a notice a few hours ago that we’ll be shutting down all of the servers at 3 a.m. local time on December 31st. Red Dawn is going to be the final event of the game, whether we kill all of those Redcaps or not.”
Hearing Becky of all people voicing the same concerns that had been floating around in my head for some time now hit me almost like a physical blow. Just what was going on here? I quickly turned to Lark’s boyfriend/bodyguard. “Rob, you were the last of us to enter the game, what’s going on out there?”
Rob looked thoughtful for a moment, but then shrugged and sighed. “I don’t really pay attention to the news much, it’s too damn depressing and even if I did, I was so busy going around town with Robyn’s double trying to be seen and keep the newshounds off her scent. And let me tell you, that wasn’t easy with most of the city blacked out for almost two days. I had to conserve my cell phone’s battery so I couldn’t do much online. The newspaper headlines looked about normal. Y’know, stuff on the blackout, murders, fires, that viral outbreak down in the States. It was pretty much the usual fare for the front page, the worst news they can find.”
“Kinara,” I pressed my apprentice, hoping that she could tell us something. She was keeping something secret, but I couldn’t be sure what it was and how it affected us, even if I did have my suspicions. “Can you tell us if you saw anything strange or unusual before coming here from London to join us?”
“No,” she said shaking her head with a guilty expression, “there was nothing unusual, to me. I wish that I had more that I could tell you.”
I sighed. She was double-talking, just like Amoiraishe, and I was getting tired of it. The last person I expected to get that from was Kinara. The girl idolized me and I knew that if she was keeping quiet about something then she probably had a good reason for it. Tien regarded her suspiciously though, pressing her. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“It’s just… umm… company business,” she said swallowing in sudden fear. “I was told when I was sent here that I couldn’t tell anyone. I am oath-bound.”
“If she’s promised not to tell, then there’s no way we can get her to spill that info, even if it did somehow apply to us,” I told Tien candidly. “She’s Fae, and Fae always try to keep their promises, it’s why magical oaths exist. Just look at Daenyss, hers is there for all to see and she can’t break it as long as she remains Daenyss. And if it’s company-related, then there’s probably NDA’s and stuff that she has to consider too.”
“Maybe we should ask the one who’s hiding behind a glamour then? You got here the same day as Kinara didn’t you Lark?” Tien stated more than asked as Lark’s eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t think I’d notice that every time you’re around wearing a glamour?”
“Tien, please,” I said, giving her a serious look. “I’ve seen under Lark’s glamour and I know why she wears it. She’s not our enemy, she’s one of us. She arrived shortly before Kinara and the other ambassadors and she was pressed for time to arrive in-game before them so she didn’t have time for the whole avatar design process.”
Lark sighed and removed her pendant, dropping her glamour and revealing the pop-star Robyn Reyes and both Becky and Tien gasped in surprise. “This is who I really am, and I wanted to escape the fans for a bit. I barely had time to choose my name and skills to get here before the ambassadors, I was surprised when they didn’t arrive until a few hours later, but Moira also asked me to keep myself looking like I do in real-life. I’ve known her since I left my parents, we’ve been working on some environmental conservation projects together and she thought it would be good publicity if I could reveal myself at the end of the cross-server tournament and maybe give a little concert to show my support. So when five spots opened up she kept one available for me and Rob and there were a couple of movie stars she was trying to get to join as well, but they had schedule conflicts.”
Robyn paused, letting out a sigh before adding, “I was really enjoying having friends who weren’t after me for my money or fame, and just being able to be myself, but I’m a celebrity. I can totally have an entourage if I want one once we return to the real world. I’ll warn you all though, it could end up being a media circus. Damn, I’m going to miss this glamour.”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Tien hastily apologized to both Kinara and Lark, the latter of whom was putting her pendant back on. “It’s just this as supposed to be a game and now it looks like there’s a whole lot more going on here. I kinda freaked out a bit, and I apologize for that.”
“We all know how you feel,” Rei said with a sigh.
“We do,” I agreed. “I have so many questions going through my mind, and have since I started the game really, but we’re going to start getting some answers soon.” As luck would have it, that was when we all got a pop-up notice.
The game clock changed to a countdown, ticking down the seconds from 78 hours, 23 minutes, and 19 seconds. And I thought sadly, “It won’t be long now. We might as well get the most of the time we have left because I’ll have my answers soon, and whether we go back to our old lives or something weird really is going on here, things will never be the same again.”
The next morning I once again put everything I could into my training, developing and learning new spells, and pushed myself and my party hard during our group training session that day. We split into our two groups and did some patrolling and hunting in the southern woods, our two teams communicating through the Wind Whisper spell. I had taken the time during the previous day’s magick lesson to ensure that Salem, Kinara, and Venika were all properly proficient with the spell, but we also had a pair of the cell phones that Grell and Ashura had modified, mine and another that Grell himself was holding on to for the other team. The Wind Whisper spell might be good for sending quick messages, but the phones were a lot easier and less taxing where actual two-way communication might be needed.
Currently, our group training session had been extended as we searched for any signs of Sonja and Níala’s party. They hadn’t reported in with Tien on schedule earlier in the morning and were still missing. We had grabbed some provisions so we could eat our lunches on the go and then we split up in search of them. I had sent Venika’s team to a high hill that gave a good view of both the surrounding forest and village to do some scouting and to look for anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, my team was searching for the missing players. First, we headed to the party’s last-known location and from there I used my Trail of Light spell to lead us to them, or rather what was left of them.
I probably could have just used Nature’s Call to search the entire forest for them at once, but using that ability on a large scale like that was exhausting and with other search parties in the forest it would just make it harder to pinpoint them specifically so it was just easier, and less draining, to first use a more basic spell. After all, we never knew when we might have to fight a powerful monster or group of monsters, especially without any safe zones. For that same reason, I was especially glad that each member of our party, with the exceptions of Lissany and Venika, was now equipped with a set of the Lindwyrm-hide armor from Yola. Each of us could summon it should we need it and Mahair had even enchanted Rei’s to change shape and size with her that morning.
As we followed the glittering path of light along the ground Daenyss, Kinara, and I were looking for any tracks or signs of anything dangerous as well, with me making use of my new tracking skill. I probably could have just used my skill point I had spent from my level-up for a sword-wielding skill of some sort to avoid my fa…. Narek, but I had realized that I needed to be practical. I was already learning to use swords from someone who had proven themselves to be lethally efficient with them, even if it was the hard way, and I felt that both teams in our party should have a competent tracker. I had found the tracks of our missing party heading west toward the ocean, but they had been moving at a slow and even pace and there was no sign of any trouble in the area.
I wasn’t the only one on my team who seemed to have a bad feeling about this search either. While the three of us were following the trail and keeping our eyes open for any clues Nishalle and Lissany flanked us to either side, keeping their senses peeled for any signs of danger from the forest around us. Rei had changed into a Sprite form and was getting a view from above us, both to warn us of anything approaching and to look for anything that seemed amiss from the air. Still, none of us had found anything out of place yet and the forest was deathly quiet as if holding its breath in anticipation for something to happen.
With all of that tension in the air, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong and I was hoping that Venika’s team was having better luck than us since lookout hill would help give them the lay of the land. Lookout hill was really more of a small mountain, a high peak near the coastline to the northwest of our current location that gave a good view of the surrounding area. From its summit, one could see far out over the ocean to the west the thick rainforests in all directions, the village of Haven, and on a clear day, a person with good eyesight could even see the city, or what was left of it, to the southeast.
As we followed the glittering path, the flickering lights became brighter, showing that we were nearing our quarry. Rei had come back from another aerial reconnaissance and had returned to her normal Kitsune form to conserve her energy. We were far further to the southwest than I was comfortable with, far too close to wherever the Redcaps might be hiding out. We could all feel the wrongness in the forest, like some sort of cancer in the natural flow of mana. The wisps could feel it too, Willow had fled to within the confines of my hood to hide, fear and anxiety coming off her in waves as she made piteous mewling sounds, and Kimmie had done the same with Kinara, hiding not just in her hood but in her hair as well. The brighter the starlit path became, the worse that the feeling of dread grew.
I was becoming so tense that when the cellphone began to vibrate in one of my ammo pouches I had to quickly slap a hand over my mouth to muffle my shriek of surprise. After a moment of letting my breathing and heart rate slow a bit, I fished the cell out of the pouch and answered the call in a hushed tone, “Taelya here.”
“Heya, Taelya. It’s me, Grell. You’re not going to like this, but we’re at lookout hill and Venika found tracks here,” the Atlantean of our party said grimly.
“What kind of tracks?” I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear it, since I already had a bad feeling about what the answer would be, that stomach-churning feeling of wrongness was all too familiar. I needed the confirmation though.
“Boot prints,” he offered with a sigh. “Venika thinks five of them from the looks of it. They’re several hours old and the prints and depth are a good match for those of the Redcaps that killed Salem’s old party. Venika seems pretty sure that they were here doing what we’re doing, getting the lay of the land, then they went back the way they came.”
“A scouting party,” I spat. “They’ll be heading back to report to their clan about the village, there’s no way they could have missed seeing it from that vantage point. Once they get back to the rest of their clan with that info we can expect a full assault on the village within the next day or two. Grell, tell Venika that we’re going to need you to join us ASAP, I have a pretty good idea of what happened to our missing party. Oh, and call the other search parties and let them know that they need to get home to strengthen the defenses for the village and the magicks keeping the Glade hidden and secure.”
“You got it Tae,” he responded before I ended the call.
Rei frowned as I put the phone back in its place. “That didn’t sound like they found something, well at least not something good. You’re wearing your determined, frowny face too, so I just know that this is going to be…” She didn’t finish that sentence as her head swung around, the fur on her tails bristling and her ears twitching seconds before an ear-shattering shriek and a blast of freezing air bombarded us, leaving us covering our sensitive ears and shivering as Willow began to freak out inside my hood and tried to hide within my braids.
“What in the hell was that?” Nishalle snapped, still wincing from the sound as she looked around for any signs of danger.
“Níala?” Rei half-whispered as she stared at empty space, her bright red fox ears and tails now as white as snow.
“Sounded like a Banshee from that wail and the blast of cold air. We’re being warned away,” I muttered while trying to shake off the ringing in my ears and extract my Wisp from behind my head to try to calm her. Only then did I process the changes in my lover’s color scheme and her hushed inquiry. I followed her gaze, but I couldn’t see anything.
It was several long moments before a hazy form began to appear. At first, it was hard to make out but gradually it coalesced into a translucent and very familiar Fae. “You need to go, the Redcaps killed everyone when we stumbled upon their camp. I managed to get away and hide and was going to tell the village, but Sonja had the phone and it was still on her body. So I started hoofing it for Haven and ran right into their returning scouting party. They’re still there, not far away, and probably soaking their caps with my blood. Go, before they notice you,” Níala’s shade cautioned in barely more than a whisper. “Get Her Highness to safety.”
“I don’t like leaving you here,” I told her with a grimace, the others nodding in agreement.
“We’re already dead! Go! You’ll see the others when they respawn tomorrow,” she insisted.
“The others?” Daenyss asked with a slightly confused expression, beating me to it by a hair’s breadth.
“It’s my penance for choosing to become a Banshee and warn you away.” the spirit replied, refusing to look any of us in the eyes. “I was given a choice, to move on to the waiting room or to warn you. Now I’m trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. I can’t move on to the afterlife, hell, the waiting room, or whatever you want to call it.”
Lissany was the first of us to realize the implications of that and her eyes went wide. “Wait, if you can’t go to the waiting room then you can’t fill out the paperwork for an auto-respawn. You’ll be stuck like this.”
“It doesn’t matter, go and make sure to keep anyone else away,” she insisted. “You… must… go now. It’s getting hard for me to make those of you without the Sight hear and see me.”
Níala’s image began to fade and we were all left looking at empty space. All of us but one. I could sort of sense her there like I had with Gwenaralyn the Dryad, and there was a slight drop in temperature. Rei was still looking determinedly at the empty air though and talking too. “How long ago did you die? Well then that still gives us around four hours for me to resurrect and heal you, we just need to get to your body… I don’t care how impossible it is! And you know damn well that Taelya wouldn’t either or you wouldn’t have tried to shoo us away so fast and pull the disappearing act!” She would have been shouting if she wasn’t making a concentrated effort not to let her voice carry farther than our small group.
“Níala,” I stated firmly and in my best royal command voice. I may not have been able to see or hear her, but I was pretty damn sure that that didn’t go both ways. “You are Fae, and I like to think that you’re a friend too. So if there’s a choice between leaving you like that or saving you, then there is no choice. We’re getting your body back and nothing is going to stop us.”
“You bet my fluffy red tails, we are!” Rei agreed vehemently.
“Ummm…. Rei…” Kinara interrupted with a small cough, “You… might want to look behind you.”
The Kitsune turned her head as directed by the pink-haired Yseil'dhraí and gaped at her now snow-white pair of tails. “They’re white! When the hell did that happen?!”
“So are your ears,” Nishalle pointed out casually.” It happened right about when that horrid shrieking started.”
“That’s totes not important right now, the clock is ticking, so we need you to get Níala to tell us where her body is.” Lissany’s normally cute kitty nose wrinkled as she frowned.
“Liss is right, we have work to do and not a lot of time to do it in,” I agreed before turning my gaze upon Rei once more. “So please, my love, find out what you can while I try to come up with a plan.”
As Rei was speaking with the Banshee that once was Níala about where her body was, what condition it was in, and any other pertinent details, I watched my intended with interest as I tried to figure out a way to get Níala’s body back that wouldn’t get us all killed. Why were her ears and tails suddenly white? It wasn’t as if all color had drained from her completely. Her skin tone was still that pale gold of the Asian persuasion and her long hair was still jet black.
“Did she shapeshift without realizing it?” I wondered. I quickly dismissed that thought though. She had been working too hard to master her shapeshifting and had she seemed even more surprised at the development than we were. Had it been shapeshifting she would have merely returned to her standard Kitsune form, but since she hadn’t changed back that meant that something about her base form had changed that she had no control over, and that concerned me. While I hoped that it was nothing serious I did have to admit that the snow-white ears were very striking sticking out from her jet black hair.
I attempted to shake off my worries and focus on the matter at hand, getting Níala’s body back. I knew that Redcaps didn’t take trophies other than blood to dye their caps, so maybe it would be best to wait until they had left? No, the clock was ticking and we would have to face some of them eventually and who knew how much time Rei would need to repair her body to the point where she wouldn’t just die again from the wounds and blood loss as soon as she was resurrected. We would have to approach, but cautiously, so we could observe our enemies and attempt to take them by surprise.
I pulled out my phone and called Grell. “Hey Taelya, what’s up?” Don’t you just love call display, it saves you from all that awkwardness of waiting to hear whoever is calling you and lets both parties get right down to the business of what the call is about.
“You know those Redcap boot prints that your group found?” I asked. Then, without waiting for his answer I added, “Tell Venika that I need your group to follow them.”
There was a brief exchange on the other end and then he must have put the phone on speaker mode because Venika’s voice came over the line, faint but audible. “You want us to follow them?! I hate to break it to you Taelya, but even if we did manage to track them to their camp, the six of us aren’t going to be a match for a whole clan of Redcaps. If we get caught…”
“I don’t need you to follow them all the way to the camp, just until you reach us, and I need you to hurry as much as caution allows. Níala’s party already stumbled upon the Redcaps’ camp and got wiped out. Níala managed to get away but she ran straight into the scouting party. They’re bleeding her now and we need to get to her body so we can resurrect her.”
“Can’t she just give us any details when she respawns tomorrow?” the Sprite asked incredulously.
“No, because if we don’t get her back in her body in the next four hours, she won’t be able to respawn,” I quickly explained. “She risked this to warn us, and if we can’t resurrect her in time she’ll be stuck between life and death permanently.”
“Okay, what’s the plan then?” Venika asked grimly. I could hear the assent of the others in her group as well.
“You track them, and once you catch up try to stay out of sight and send me a text. We’ll try to get to the south of them and stay unseen. Once you’ve texted us that you’re ready we’ll try to catch them in a pincer attack,” I explained, laying out my very rough plan. Then I quickly cautioned, “No AOEs though, if we could get away with it then I’d just meteor shower them or something, but we can’t risk damaging Níala’s body any more than it already is. Rei’s going to have a hard enough time to repair enough damage to resurrect her and have her stay alive as it is. She might need Salem to help stabilize her, depending on what the damage is.”
“Okay Taelya, we’ll get there as quickly as we can. I’ll follow the tracks and have the others follow a bit behind so I can find a good spot to attack from. The Redcaps are less likely to see me if I’m on my own anyway since I’m so small. I’ll have Grell text when we’re ready to attack.”
With that our conversation was concluded and as my group silently maneuvered through the woods to find a safe spot and observe the Redcaps from the south I explained what we were facing in as quiet a voice as I could manage to carry to my companions' ears. Redcaps resemble short and somewhat stocky humans covered in muscles and have long prominent teeth, blood-red eyes, long skinny fingers armed with razor-sharp claws, and they wear blood-red hats atop their heads. They usually wear thick leather armor and carry bladed weapons and they drain all the blood from their victims to dye their hats, stealing their life-force. Their strength and durability far surpass that of mortal men as their skin and muscles are thick and extremely dense and they gain power from the life force of those they have killed through their blood. The darker red that the hat is, the stronger the Redcap.
We found a good spot on a ridge to the south of the Redcap scouting party, where I had Nishalle set up her sniper rifle. It was a bit far for my liking, but I didn’t want to risk them discovering us, even accidentally until we were ready to engage. It also gave a good view of the clearing they were in, where Níala had practically run right into the Redcaps. If it had been anywhere in the forest but an open clearing then she could have used her Nyiir'dhraí racial ability to hide herself from them, but it would seem that luck just wasn’t with her.
“We’ll watch them from here, if we’re quiet enough then we should be able to hear them, with a little help,” I told the Tokh'dhraí assassin. “I want you to try to cover us from here when things go down, but don’t shoot until I give the signal or things go pear-shaped.”
Nishalle nodded and began to get set up as the rest of us crouched in the brush to watch the Redcaps. “I only spot four,” Kinara said after a moment. Kimmie wasn’t riding in her usual place on the Summer Court Yseil'dhraí’s shoulder. In fact, both she and Willow had retreated to hide in the back of our hoods as soon as we started getting close to the Redcaps. I could feel Willow shaking in fear from her current place at the back of my neck, hidden beneath my braids and hood.
“Fu… fiddlesticks,” I nearly cursed as a quick visual check of my own proved Kinara right. And Venika wasn’t even there to chastise me, so I guess that her constant corrections and attempts to get me to act more ladylike were beginning to have an effect. “They must have sent one back to the camp already to report about the village. Let me see if I can help us to hear what they’re saying.”
I focused my gaze upon our enemies. As Kinara had said, there were four of them, ugly and a bit taller and bulkier than Dwarves, with dark matted hair. Three of the four wore red hats, one was fairly dark but the two others were closer to fuchsia than red. That meant that one of them was pretty powerful while the other two were still young and growing in power. If the fourth didn’t have a hat it was fairly likely that Níala had been the first kill that it had participated in. Níala’s body hung upside down from a tree branch, she had been run through with a sword, had other various deep wounds all over her, and her blood was dripping into a metal bowl while the hatless Redcap seemed to be examining her.
I began drawing in mana and then carefully directing it as I focused my thoughts on us being able to hear them. Then I quickly spoke and drew the sigils as I let my magick fly. “Tanuus alysse siashe aentuire!”
“Skinny Fae,” a voice spat bitterly. “Hardly enough undamaged skin ‘ere fer a proper cap.”
“Oh ‘urry up a’ready Thurk. “She’s a’most blooded proper, so git skinnin’ so’s ya kin make yer cap an’ we kin git back ta camp.”
I could feel the color leaving my face as I crouched there, my fists clenched tightly enough that my nails drew blood from my palms. They had killed one of my people, someone that I considered a friend. They had killed her, blooded her, and now they were going to skin her like some sort of animal. And now, they would pay for it. I was not going to just sit back and watch this perversion of nature happen. The wind whipped and the sky darkened above us as thunder boomed overhead. “Nishalle, if you have a shot on any of those bastards, you fucking take it.”
“A’right a’ready, keep yer trous…” Thurk stopped speaking as the darkened sky lit up, another peal of thunder shaking the very air, and the bolt of lightning arced downward to strike the hatless Redcap and send him into convulsions. Even as the lightning struck Nishalle fired, hitting the monstrosity with the darkest hat in the head. He fell to the ground, but seemed to shake it off and stood back up scanning the area for whatever had hit him. I didn’t give him much chance to do that as I peppered the clearing with lightning, only being careful not to strike anywhere too close to Níala’s body.
“Holy shit… no fucking way,” I heard Nishalle mutter in astonishment.
“Did you miss?” Rei asked.
“No, I hit him right in the head, I can see the wound through the scope but it isn’t very deep, the bullet barely penetrated. How the fuck are we going to take these guys down?”
“They have to have weak spots, we just need to find them,” Lissany hissed.
“Well we’ll need to do it fast because any second they’re going to figure out that this isn’t a natural storm and that they’re under attack,” Nishalle pointed out.
The phone started vibrating in my pouch, but I had other things on my mind and I couldn’t afford to let up on them now. These things were tough, even Thurk, who didn’t have a cap yet was starting to get up and I had hit him dead on with a lightning bolt. “Daenyss, phone please,” I muttered, my brow furrowing as I kept pounding the Redcaps with lightning, wind, and hail. It wasn’t my only means of attack though as I was already reaching out with my mind for the trees to issue my commands.
Daenyss reached into my pouch, extracting the phone and seconds later was answering, “Mistress’s phone, Daenyss speaking… Ummm… yes, we have found them… I don’t think it’s a storm… Mistress got a little upset… Thank you, Grell, I’ll tell her.” The Nymph took a deep breath and put the phone back in my pouch before speaking again. “Venika’s group are coming as fast as they can, Mistress. If we can keep the Redcaps’ attention on us they’ll attack from the rear as soon as they arrive.”
I nodded in acknowledgment of my Attendant’s words but I was far more focused on the clearing at the moment. Roots rose from the ground, shooting toward Thurk as another bolt of lightning struck him and sent him staggering back into them. The roots wrapped around his limbs, tightening their grip and pulling at them like I had done with the Vhasjin’dhur, even as I continued to pelt his companions with powerful winds, lightning, and now softball-sized hailstones as well. Redcaps may be strong and sturdy, but they couldn’t compare to a Chaos Beast. Still, it took a lot of effort and I could feel a headache coming from my over-use of Nature’s call when I finally ripped him apart to the sounds of his screams and a spray of crimson.
I staggered on my feet and Daenyss caught me in her arms. “Mistress!”
I smiled tiredly at her and managed to get to my feet. “I’m fine Daenyss, I just overdid it a little with the storm and tearing him apart. I just need a minute to catch my breath and do something about this headache. One down three to…”
Another scream of pain emerged from the clearing, cutting me off. I looked down to see one of our opponents with the fuchsia-hued caps screaming and covering its eye. “I think I found a weak spot. But that still should have fucking killed a normal person. I need more penetration.”
“I’m sure Pete can help you with that later,” I teased. “We have other concerns right now. Nice shot though, Sis.” I focused on pushing my migraine and near-exhaustion to the back of my mind. “Seriously though, to be honest, I was worried about this, Redcaps are tough nuts to crack so we’ll need to find ways to weaken them if we’re going to stand a chance. “Liss, how do you feel about doing something crazy?”
“Oh, you know me, Your Highness,” my Guardian said crossing her fingers and wearing a reckless grin. “Crazy and I are like this.”
Nishalle and Rei weren’t thrilled with the plan, but I needed them doing their part to make it work just as much as I needed Lissany doing hers. I hadn’t been kidding about it being crazy, but Kinara and I had prepared my Guardian for her task as best we could. If any of us could stand a chance one on one with a Redcap it was Lissany and between the magical protections that I had just imbued her armor with via my Magick Craft skill and the pair of protective spells that Kinara and I had cast on the Beastkin girl in the armor added to her innate regeneration and durability she might just have a chance. She had even switched to her hybrid jaguar form beneath her armor to take advantage of the extra speed and strength that she possessed in that form.
Between my earlier use of Nature’s Call and some pretty powerful spell work I was pretty damned tired, but once again I shoved that weariness to the back of my mind. We all needed to do our parts here and I was no exception. Nishalle had managed to keep them pinned down with sniper fire while I explained my plan, she had even managed to take out another pair of eyeballs so that now the one she had first injured was completely blind and the other one with the fuchsia-hued cap was missing one of his. Now it was time to put the plan into action.
Rei had changed into a Sprite form for this since she would need to move fast and couldn’t afford to be hit, so while she flew northward over the heads of our enemies with Níala’s spirit accompanying her the rest of us launched ourselves down the ridge and toward the clearing with reckless abandon. Lissany led the charge, heading straight for the strongest of the three remaining Redcaps and delivering a blow with her hammer that would have taken the head clean off of just about any other enemy, but merely sent him staggering backward several steps. Daenyss had her AK-47 out and peppered the half-blinded Redcap with a spray of bullets while Kinara and I both let off Scattershot spells. We had barely fazed the creature, the bullets had done little more than bruising it, and our spells had only caused minor burns.
Still, we had given Nishalle the opportunity that she needed. She slipped from the shadows of the tree to cut down Níala’s body and then she was off to the races and following Rei northward to meet up with the others. There, Rei and Salem could try to resurrect the fallen Nyiir'dhraí while the rest came back to attack our enemies from the rear. All that we needed to do was keep them focused on us and facing south. Oh, and staying alive would be nice too.
The now-blind Redcap was getting up and since I figured that he would be just as dangerous, if not even more so, flailing around blindly, I reached out with my Nature’s call once again. I was really going to feel this once all the adrenaline wore off, and I knew it, but I needed to at least keep him temporarily out of the fight to make it more even. Thick roots shot up from the ground, wrapping him up in a thick wooden cocoon, but I was so busy securing him that I barely saw one-eye’s ax swinging toward me in a vicious arc that would have cut me in two if Daenyss hadn’t knocked me to the ground. The ax whiffed through the air missing us both by inches.
One-eye recovered quickly raising the ax, only to take all five blue balls of fire from Kinara’s Scattershot spell to the face, hissing in pain from the burn. By the time he had brought the ax down both Daenyss and I managed to roll out of the way. All that we could really do was keep dodging, keep hitting, and running, but rather than wearing them down it seemed to be having the opposite effect. Lissany wasn’t really doing much better than us. Sure, she was holding her own, but the pair were at a stalemate and it looked like my Guardian was beginning to tire from the effort. Her movements seemed slightly slower and her blows weren’t hitting quite as hard.
I watched one-eye carefully as I gathered mana and considered my next spell. I needed to think of a damn weakness to exploit against these guys, but first I really needed that ax out of his hands. “Kiara aeluine!” The brilliant flash of light from my spell went off right in front of his face, momentarily blinding his good eye again “Tierre liantuir!” The second spell caused the handle of the ax to burst into flames and old one-eye dropped it like a hot potato. I wasted no time, drawing and chanting the sigils for a third spell, “Kaida siashe!”
The smoldering ax flew southward, as far toward the rocky ridge we’d been on earlier as I could hurl it with my mind. It was out of his hands now, but that didn’t mean he still couldn’t hurt us, especially since he looked pissed off enough to rip us all apart with his bare hands. The three spells in quick succession had me barely able to stand. None of them had been all that powerful, but I had been channeling a lot of mana, and casting a lot of spells and I had used Nature’s Call twice. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep this up and the others didn’t look much better off.
Singing and war-cries filled the clearing and as the effects of Lark’s song hit I felt like I just drank a barrel of espresso. I got to my feet nimbly evading the charging one-eyed Redcap as our reinforcements entered the clearing. Lissany was now beating mercilessly on her adversary but now she had Pete and Rob helping her. Venika hit one-eye from behind with a Flame Arrow spell, but it just shrugged off both that and Grell’s blacksmith hammer to the eyeless side of his face. Nishalle managed to slice the side of his armor open with her katana, but it wasn’t deep enough to even break the skin beneath.
“These things have to have a weakness, how can they be so damn powerful?” I mentally grumbled as I backed out of one-eye’s reach and tried to figure out how to overcome such power and strength. “Wait, power! Redcaps get their power from the life energy imbued in their hats! I managed to take that first one down because he was capless!” I drew in mana and started to speak and draw the sigils for my combustion spell. It was a simple spell, the first I had learned, but I was going to put as much power into it as I could manage. I focused my intent and all that power on one-eye’s hat and let loose. “Tierre liantuir!”
The bloody hat burst into flames as one-eye screamed. I wasn’t sure if it was anger, pain, or something else, but I had a feeling that it might just be all three as he fell to one knee. Venika seemed to catch on immediately and followed my example by throwing her own combustion spell at the cap of the one that her daughter was currently smacking silly with her war hammer and renewed vigor. It scorched the hat, but it didn’t burst into flames. That cap was a dark red and probably contained a lot more life force than the one that I had just destroyed though. “Venika! Kinara! All together, put everything you have into it!” I called out. As one we all drew in mana and focused on that cap as we spoke and drew the sigils. “Tierre liantuir!”
He screamed, staggered, and tried to make a break for it, but Lissany quickly caught up and grabbed his arm. “I didn’t say we’re finished yet asshole, you’re not going anywhere!” He took a swing at her, but Lissany shrugged it off and refused to let go, giving Rob time to grab his other arm so Pete could help finish him off.
I turned as I heard one-eye scream again. Nishalle had managed to get another slash in with her katana, slicing clean through his leather breastplate and leaving a shallow wound on his chest. It wasn’t deep, but she had managed to cut him. He was furious, swinging at her wildly with his fists, but she just kept dancing out of the way to get in cut after cut as Kinara and I pelted him from opposite sides with Scattershot spells. His swings were getting more off-balance and one-eye was staggering more with each swing until he finally collapsed to the ground in a dead heap.
She hadn’t cut him all that deep, and our spells had only caused minor surface burns so I guessed, “Lindwyrm venom?”
“Yeah, I figured that we were going to need an edge so Pete and I coated our swords in it, used the last of that first thermos, but at least we know it works on these guys if we weaken them enough first. She nodded her head toward the Redcap that Lissany and the others had been fighting who was collapsing to the ground as well, now that the pair of Beastkin had let go of his arms.
We had one Redcap left to take care of, but he was blind and contained so once we had destroyed his cap we made short work of him and then headed northward to join Salem and Rei. I had nearly collapsed from exhaustion once Lark’s buff wore off, but I managed to make it there under my own power. When we arrived Níala was alive but unconscious. Since Rei was unconscious as well I assumed that she had decided to use her Hands-on Healing ability after resurrecting her to ensure that the Nyiir'dhraí wouldn’t just die again before she could be properly cared for.
Salem was watching over them and was beginning the sigils for a spell to defend them as soon as she heard us approach. Most of us might be Fae or Beastkin and able to move quietly through the forest, but Pete and Grell weren’t and Pete’s a big guy so he makes a lot of noise when he’s not being really careful not to. “It’s okay Salem, it’s just us, “Daenyss assured the Liyun'shael, who relaxed visibly and ceased her casting.
“Looks like Níala is okay, Rei used her special ability?” I asked, looking over the pair in concern.
“Yeah, there was a lot of damage and we couldn’t be sure that she wouldn’t just die again from her wounds or blood loss. I promised to keep them safe until you got here.”
“Thanks, Salem, good job,” I said as I hugged the tiny Moss Maiden. When I pulled away I groaned and said, “I guess all that remains is for me to cast a spell to take us all back to the Glade. I’d rather not wait around for something else to attack and we should report in.”
“You’re doing nothing of the sort Missy!” Venika snapped. “You can barely stand because you over-exerted yourself again. You should have stuck to the plan and waited until we were in position.”
I looked away guiltily, gently stroking Willow’s tiny form. I knew she was right, I had made a good plan, but I was the one who risked it all by going all vengeful Fae on them. “I’m sorry. They had her hanging from a tree, draining her blood. They were going to skin her. I couldn’t let them do that to her, not while I could prevent it.”
“I wouldn’t expect otherwise Taelya, but we’re a team so next time please warn us if the plan is going to change or you feel like summoning a hurricane,” the Sprite gently chided me.
“So, you… ummm… saw that then?” I asked, my cheeks flushed.
“Saw it?!” Salem asked with a stunned expression. Even if that storm hadn’t hit as far as the Glade, every Fae there could have felt how angry you were. Poor Venika and Silverheels had to hide in my medical bag to be safe from the high winds and hail. Thankfully it didn’t last long. It cleared up completely by the time we met up with Nishalle and Rei.”
Venika nodded in agreement, “I don’t even want to think about how tired you must be after summoning that and fighting the Redcaps. So no more spells for you right now. You can teach me the Exodus spell and then I’ll use it to get us all home.” Her tone and the Mom-look would allow for no arguments.
Venika had managed to learn the spell well enough to teleport us all home by dinner time. I was quiet during my evening meal, though I did make sure to eat enough to replenish my energy. I had used a lot and Salem hadn’t been exaggerating when she had said that the storm had reached as far as the Glade. I could claim that I was just too tired to hold a conversation, but in truth, there were two reasons for my silence and that wasn’t one of them.
Firstly, I was embarrassed that I had gotten so angry that I hadn’t even realized how powerful a storm that I had created. No wonder I was so wiped. Nobody had gotten seriously hurt or anything and everyone could understand the reason for my anger, but I still felt ashamed that I had been that oblivious in my desire to make the Redcaps pay for what they were trying to do. I needed to exercise more caution and not let control of my emotions slip like that.
Secondly, I was worried about Rei. I wasn’t worried about her going overboard with her healing ability and passing out. It wasn’t the first time that had happened after all, and every previous time, both she and her patient had woken up in perfect health, even if they were both really hungry. No, what had me concerned was the current color of her tails and ears, or rather lack thereof. They had remained snow white since we had first encountered Níala as a Banshee. The color had yet to return when I had had Lissany place her in our bed and that worried me. I didn’t know all that much about Kitsunes though, so as I silently ate I decided that I should talk to someone who would.
The obvious choice for that was Sahnae. She had come from Spring Server, which was located in Tokyo and Japan was where the Kitsune legends had originated. She had also mentioned before that while there were only a few Kitsunes on Autumn Server, they were a lot more common on Spring Server. So as we were finished eating and everyone started to group off for post-dinner conversations or activities I approached the Duchess of the Spring Court. “Sahnae, I was wondering if you could come to my rooms for a talk, I’m worried about Rei.”
The green-haired Yseil'dhraí didn’t even need to take time to consider it, she merely nodded. “If I can assist in any way then I would be happy to, for both you and Rei.” As we walked to my rooms I could hear her sigh before she offered advice on an unrelated topic. “You and Narek need to talk, Taelya. You can’t keep ignoring your Pájar like this. Family is important, especially to us Fae.”
“You know about that, huh?”
Sahnae merely smiled and nodded. “I have eyes and ears. I suspect that I may even know how it came to be.”
I groaned as we reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hallway. “You’re right, but Nishalle and I don’t really have a dad in real-life, he abandoned us and our mom when we were little. It’s awkward for me. Besides I’m not the only one doing the avoiding.”
“I realize that you don’t really know how to interact with a father figure, but the two of you can learn that together. You need to get to know him better as a person. I suspect that he would do anything for you or you Mahair. He would do anything for the Fae, even if it causes him great suffering,” Sahnae offered with a sigh. “He too has reasons for avoiding your mutual relationship. Perhaps you should try to discover them, maybe then you can forgive him.”
I was a little lost on just what she was talking about, but she was right about me needing answers “What? Forgive him for avoiding our relationship? I’m not so shallow that I would hate him for doing something that I’m doing myself,” I replied feeling a little offended.
The other Yseil'dhraí shook her head sadly. “No, you would not, but it is not his avoiding your relationship or even the relationship itself that you’ll need to forgive. You’ll need to forgive him for how it came to pass.”
We had reached the door to my rooms now and I was frowning as I reached to open the door and led Sahnae inside and to the bedroom. I didn’t want to think about it anymore, especially while I still had a migraine from over-use of my magick and Nature’s Call. I was glad when we reached the bedroom and I gestured to my fiancée laying sprawled out on the bed fast asleep, her snow-white fox ears twitching in her mussed up black hair. “What’s wrong with her?”
Sahnae looked her over with a faint smile and turned to me, “There is nothing wrong with her.”
“But her ears and tails turned white,” I insisted. “They were always red before and they’re not changing back.”
“You are asking the wrong question Taelya,” she advised gently.
“Wha…” I started to ask in confusion. Sahnae didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with her at least nothing serious enough to talk about, so then why the hell were her ears and tails white? She said I was asking the wrong question, so what was the right one? If there wasn’t anything wrong with her, why had she changed like that? Finally, I asked, “Why are her tails and ears white now?”
“That, my dear, is the proper question,” Sahnae said with a smile. “I have told you before that Kitsune are a lot like the Fae?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, you said something like that, I think. Mahair said something similar too, that we’re sort of like cousins.”
“Yes. We Fae are children of the Goddess Danu, created by her own hands for a purpose. We are here to manage the balance of the natural world and the flow of mana. Kitsunes are the children of Inari as much as we are to Danu, and they too were created for a purpose. Kitsune are messengers of Inari and they share as close a bond to Inari as we do to Danu. Danu marks her favored children, our features and Danann’syr shows other Fae that we are those that She approves of to lead our people. These features and her marks are not mere accidents of birth, we have them because Danu sees the potential for great things in us. Inari has her favored children too, those that She sees potential in. It is they who are chosen to manage the balance between the living and spirit worlds. White ears and tails mark these favored children. There is nothing wrong with Rei, my dear, Inari has simply appointed your lover as a spirit-shepherd.”
I looked long and hard at the Duchess of the Spring Court. “Spirit-shepherd, what does that mean, exactly?”
“Precisely what it sounds like, I would imagine,” Sahnae replied with a shrug and a patient smile. “I know that they can see and speak to spirits, help them move on to the spirit world, and can even physically interact with them to some degree, but my knowledge on the topic is limited. Her duties, other abilities, and the role that Inari wishes for her to play, these Rei shall have to discover for herself. Inari will speak with her when the time is right. I can only help prepare her for the journey.”
I sighed as I turned to look over my slumbering fiancée. I had been hoping for more immediate and detailed answers, but at least I had gotten something. “I guess I’m just worried about her, it was a pretty sudden change.”
“Taelya, you more than anyone should be able to embrace change,” the green-haired Fae pointed out. “Amoiraishe has said that you have changed much since you first awoke in this virtual environment, and yet you are thriving. Life, the universe, and magick, all of these are in constant change, it is their very nature. Rei is changing, you are changing, your friends are changing, this virtual world is changing, and even the world outside is changing. We cannot stop change, merely observe it, and sometimes guide it in a direction that is perhaps not so frightening.”
I’m not afraid of change,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m afraid of those I care about being hurt. They’ve all found themselves, or something important to them in this game. They’re happy with who they are and I guess this has made me start thinking about what we could all lose.” If the game ended then close to two hundred and fifty people on Autumn Server alone could lose something special and if there was more than just a game going on, we’d probably all still lose something. But then they had chosen mostly loners, gamers, and social misfits for a reason. We wouldn’t really be missed all that much, except in some cases by one another.
Rei had begun to stir as we spoke, shifting and mumbling a bit, and now she sat up to peer intently at us both. “You worry too much Tae, about everyone around you. You’ve always been that way. It was one of the things that attracted me to Caleb. You didn’t really understand most other people and they often got under your skin with their selfishness or stupidity, but you still cared, helped when you could, and then worried whether it was enough. Even your anxiety showed that. You’d start panicking, thinking about the right way to respond to a person and I could almost see you going through all these different scenarios in your head trying to find the right thing to say. Then you’d end up freezing up and unable to say anything. It wasn’t because you were afraid that you’d look stupid or insensitive, but because you were afraid that the person could take offense, that you would hurt them. Sahnae is right though, we’re all changing, especially you.”
“You’re awake,” I stated the obvious in a mix of relief and uncertainty. The relief was because she was awake and seemingly fine. Sure she had pulled this before and been fine, but the whole spirit-shepherd thing was still kind of throwing me for a loop. The uncertainty though was from so many worries whirling about inside my chest, like a blender was mixing them into one big anxiety smoothie. I was worried about all of the things that didn’t add up about this game, my suspicions, and that none of the conclusions I was drawing made sense. Sahnae’s comments about change and her insistence that I talk to and try to forgive Narek was just more fuel on the fire. I was worried that I had changed, I could see some of the changes myself and it wasn’t just from being a girl, but were those changes good or bad? But most of all I was worried about us all having to go back to lives that would just end up making us miserable because we couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle and be the people we were before the game. What if it ended up driving us apart? I wouldn’t care if I lost everything else in my life but Rei, Nishalle, and the others, they were family and friends and they meant everything to me. I couldn’t lose that, and I didn’t think any of the others could either.
“You’re worrying about everyone again,” Rei said with a sigh.
“Yeah especially those of you who are only going to suffer back in the real world,” I admitted with a sigh of my own. “You, Lissany, Salem, and Daenyss worst of all. Nishalle won’t have an easy time either, she hasn’t changed much, not inside, but people don’t look down on her for being the way she is in the game, they respect it. Then there’s Lark having to go back to dodging the paparazzi all the time and having no time to really relax and hang with her friends. Thinking about all of you going back to that, it pains me, and I can’t help but wonder, have I changed too much? What if I can’t go back to being Caleb?”
Rei slipped the covers off and crawled over the bed to kiss me tenderly, holding my face and gazing lovingly at me as our lips parted. “You’ve changed, but at the core, you’re still you and I think all of your changes have been positive. You’re confident and at ease with yourself, you’re not afraid to take charge and do something when you see something isn’t right. Before you used to bottle up your feelings and now you wear your heart on your sleeve. People would do anything for you because they know that you’d do the same for them. I didn’t think I could love you more before we came into this game, but I was wrong. You’ve become this amazing person that I always knew was inside and now that she’s out there for everyone to see I’ve fallen for you even harder and in an entirely new way. I wasn’t in love with you because you were Caleb, I fell in love with who you were inside, the you that I now see in Taelya every day. I don’t want to think about what happens when we leave here, let’s just… hold on to this as long as we can. We’ll deal with reality, and whatever is waiting for us out there, when it happens.”
Sahnae sighed and it looked like she wanted to say something, but she held off. To be honest I had almost forgotten that she was there with us as I gazed into Rei’s dark chocolate eyes. “Was there something that you wanted to tell us?” I asked pointedly, hoping that maybe she would give me the answers that I needed.
The Spring Court Yseil'dhraí shook her head sadly. “Nothing that I can tell you, but you’ll find out soon.”
I nodded my head and shrugged my shoulders, not terribly surprised by her reply. I figured that she was probably oath-bound, just as Kinara was. Still, there were others who I could ask my questions of and other questions to ask now as well. “Thanks for being honest about it, Sahnae, and I do appreciate your advice. Do you think that you could teach Rei more about her Kitsune heritage and what she should expect as a spirit-shepherd?”
A subtle nod and a smile were her immediate answer, followed quickly by the words, “Of course, Taelya. I am afraid that many answers she must seek to her own but I will gladly share with what knowledge I possess and guide her along her path until a more suitable teacher can be found.” They began speaking back and forth then in rapid Japanese that my limited exposure to anime couldn’t come close to helping me follow.
I had to search for my own answers anyway though so I quickly excused myself. “I have some other things to do so I’ll leave the two of you to it. I’ll have someone bring you up something to eat though sweetheart, you must be starving.”
“Thanks, Babe,” Rei replied, leaning over to kiss me once again before I could leave.
I found Daenyss with Salem, talking with Amoiraishe in the ‘throne room’. I could have just called her name to summon her to my side, but I didn’t like to do that unless it was really important. It was why I told Rei that I would get someone to bring her something rather than mentioning Daenyss by name. If I spoke her name she would hear it and she’d come regardless of what she was doing. I wanted her to have a life aside from serving me and time for herself once in a while. As my friend, she deserved that and she wouldn’t get it if I summoned her every time I needed something or had a hair out of place. Sometimes it was just better for me to search her out so that she knew that I cared about her needs as much as my own. If she was busy, or better yet relaxing for once, then I had two good hands and feet of my own to carry a tray of food.
Seeing that she was talking with my Mahair and the diminutive Moss Maiden I was about to slip out and take care of it on my own when Amoiraishe caught sight of me and smiled. “Taelya dear, are you here for your two skill downloads as well?”
Warmth spread across my cheeks in a flush as I looked down at my shoulder and gave Willow some affection to cover my embarrassment about being so absent-minded. “I actually kinda forgot about that, Mahair, I’ve had a lot on my mind. Rei is awake so I was going to ask Daenyss to bring some food up to her while I check on Níala and take her something.”
“I would be happy to, Mistress,” Daenyss replied with a smile. “Her Majesty already gave me my skills so I can go do that while you’re receiving yours.”
Salem quickly added, “And don’t worry about Níala, Taelya. I’ll go with Daenyss and take something up for her. I wanted to check on her and make sure that she’s not feeling any lingering effects or trauma from her ordeal anyway.”
“Thanks, both of you,” I replied, hugging each of the pair in turn and causing a weak protest from the Wisp being jostled on my shoulder. “So, what did you take for skills?”
“I kinda figured since I’m Fae now that I should take Fae Culture and Elvish Language. I still had a skill from my last level up too, so Daenyss suggested… umm… Faerie Dance as well. Getting three downloads at once was a bit of a rush, so we were just chatting while my head cleared.” It was hard to tell with her mossy skin but Salem seemed a bit self-conscious about that last skill, her body language making it seem like she was nervous about something.
“Nishalle suggested that I take another gun-related skill since I seem to be doing pretty well with them. I guess she thought a second sniper could help cover the party in some situations. And it could be useful if she needs to be by your side and I don’t so I could cover you. I guess my other skill doesn’t really have a name,” Daenyss provided, looking toward Amoiraishe uncertainly.
“I had a skill-download compiled just for Daenyss,” my Mahair said, smiling at the Nymph. “I wanted to give her a general knowledge of some of the more important and common aspects of modern North American culture to help her cope when we have to return to the real world. Things that we take for granted, such as the value of money, everyday technology, and things she would have learned in school. I can’t replace what she lost, but I wanted to give her a good start for her life outside the game.”
“That sounds like a big download, do you feel okay Daenyss? Maybe you should rest and let your mind absorb it all,” I said, stopping my gentle stroking of Willow as I gave my Attendant a worried look.
“I feel fine, Mistress, please don’t worry. Her Majesty said I’ll probably dream a lot for a while though, while my mind tries to make sense of it all in my sleep. We’ll go take some food up to Rei and Níala and then we’ll take it easy for the rest of the evening unless you need me for something,” Daenyss promised. “Salem and I were just going to hang out in her room and get to know one another better anyway.”
My eyes widened a bit and I tried and probably failed, to hide a smile. Between the Nymph’s heady scent of arousal and Salem’s awkwardness, I was pretty certain that they were going to ‘get to know one another better’ in the Fae manner and would likely be testing out the new skill that Daenyss had suggested to the Liyun'shael for the rest of the night. I did manage not to giggle though as I winked at my Attendant. “Okay, I don’t think I’ll need you for anything else tonight Daenyss, so you have the rest of the night off after delivering those meals. Enjoy yourselves, girls.”
“Thank you, Mistress. I will see you in the morning,” Daenyss replied with a grateful smile. The two bowed and then headed off toward the kitchen, Salem reaching out to take Daenyss’s hand almost timidly as the Nymph walked off with a little extra wiggle in her step.
I merely smiled as I watched them walk off, happy that they were becoming so close. At least they would have the time to find a few moments of happiness with one another before we all had to go back to reality. “Thank you for doing that for Daenyss, Mahair.”
“It is my fault that she lost her memories,” the Fae Queen said with a pained expression. “That debt had to be paid before she returns to the outside world. I know that you were uncertain about her at first, but she needed this chance at a new life after what she lost.”
“Yeah, I was,” I admitted, “but I’m glad that you did it. She’s been a great Attendant and an even better friend. I’m going to miss her and the others when we return to the real world.” I sighed, knowing that what I had to ask might hurt her, and I didn’t want to do that. Even if it weren’t for the ‘Taelya’ memories telling me that I was her daughter, just the way that she treated Nishalle and me, the way she interacted with us, would have made me think of her as a mother. “Are we going back to the real world? You chose misfits and loners to test this game for a reason didn’t you?”
I could see from the look in her eyes that the accusation hurt, probably more so because of how accurate it was. “I also chose some of my employees, people I call friends,” she reminded me softly. “It is true that I chose most people based on them having few connections to people in the real world or people that were close to me. Perhaps this was in part because you wouldn’t be missed as much by the world at large, but I also wanted you all to form bonds of friendship and camaraderie here. We will return to the outside world, that I promise you, and when we do we will need the friends, family, and companions that we have made here. The Americans are watching the New York office like rats trying to figure out how to safely steal the cheese from a mousetrap. They will try to make their move soon, they feel that they need our technology too badly not to. Do you really think that anyone connected to this project will be safe after this with the knowledge that we’ve given you?”
She promised, and so like a dutiful daughter I believed in that promise, but she was also right, even taking magick-related skills out of the equation there were people like my sister. Even without her Tokh'dhraí abilities, she would still leave the game with all the skills and knowledge of a master assassin. “They’d round up all of the American players, interrogate them, and then draft the useful ones. They’d probably stick the rest in a dark hole somewhere because they wouldn’t really be missed anyway and could be considered ‘dangerous’. And if our governments were to find out, the same would probably happen to those of us on the other servers as well. Why would you start all of this if you knew this was going to happen?”
Amoiraishe shook her head sadly. “I didn’t know. As I have said before, seeing more than thirty seconds into the future is difficult and the machinations of other people can greatly change things. There was no certainty that this would happen and events in the outside world have changed things. It wouldn’t have happened if the board hadn’t pushed selling the technology. I was following my vision, trying to make the world a better place, and make better lives for those of you who needed them.”
“You keep talking about following your damn vision, but that doesn’t tell me anything. What is this it that you want? Why are you so dead set on doing whatever it is you’re doing and what the hell do you plan on doing once we’re out of here?! From what it sounds like, your vision is putting all of us in danger!” I was getting tired of not getting any straight answers and from the sounds of it, it wasn’t just her company’s assets that were in danger now. Willow shifted hastily on my shoulder, disturbed by either my anger or the outburst itself, I wasn’t quite sure which.
My Mahair shook her head, placing a finger to my lips to hush my protests. “I know that you want answers, little rose, and I want to give them to you, but that time has not yet come. You shall have them soon, I will answer all of your questions when the Red Dawn event is over.”
“That could be after the server goes down,” I countered.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “The Redcaps will attack the village in force tomorrow night after dark and, no matter what happens in that battle, this chapter of our lives will draw to a close soon after.”
“Tomorrow? You’re sure about that?” My heart began to race as I considered how the hell we were going to take down an entire clan of Redcaps at once. My party had had trouble with just four of them and three of them hadn’t even been all that strong.
“All the signs are pointing that way,” Amoiraishe confirmed. “Everyone from your party has already chosen their new skills except for you and Rei, you should do so as well if you want to be prepared. Have you given it any thought?”
I hadn’t, but I did have a few ideas. “What do you think about Military Tactics and Japanese Language? I figure that the first might be useful in the battle, maybe I can figure out some sort of strategy to use against the Redcaps.”
“And Japanese because Rei is now fluent in it and you want to be able to share that?” she suggested playfully.
I just shrugged since I didn’t see any reason to be ashamed of that. “Well, it might also be useful if we ever travel, and I wouldn’t have to wait for the really good manga and anime to be translated.”
Amoiraishe stared off into space for a moment and then placed her hands on either side of my head. As usual, the rush of unfamiliar memories playing through my head on fast-forward left me feeling slightly dizzy and full of new knowledge once the deed was done. When my vision had cleared she was still cupping my face in her hands. She gave me a long look, a war of emotions being fought within her golden eyes. Finally, she let go of my face to wrap me up in a tight embrace as she whispered softly in my ear. “Taelya, aine vehl amistriel. Even should you, your sister, and the others hate me for what I have done, please know that my feelings for you will not change my little rose. I have only done what I had to do, for all of us.”
It was the first time that she had said those words to me out loud and her saying them in Elvish seemed to make it all the more personal and meaningful. “I… love you too, Mahair.” I thought about the words as I spoke them and I found that I really did mean it. I knew that she meant what she said too, she would never purposely hurt any of us, at least not without a very good reason. “You… ummm… keep calling me your little rose, even in my dreams.”
She almost pulled away from our embrace. “Does it bother you, Taelya? It was something that I used to call Rhaennan and you remind me of her a lot sometimes. You look a lot like she did and she could be willful and stubborn too. I guess I just fell into the habit, but it does suit you.”
I shook my head against her shoulder, unwilling to break the hug for the moment. “I don’t mind, so long as it isn’t a painful reminder or anything. It felt a little weird at first, but now it feels, sort of right. Maybe it’s just because of the dreams reinforcing it, but it makes me feel special. Does Nishalle have a pet name too?” I inquired, genuinely curious.
She actually laughed at my question, a throaty giggle that almost made me feel like when she would laugh at something cute I did when I was a child. Even though I knew that the memories weren’t really real, it made me feel so connected to her. “Yes, little rose, Nishalle has a pet name too, she’s my little thorn. She can be prickly and she doesn’t get noticed as much as you, in fact, she prefers to stay mostly hidden in your shadow, but I know that she will never leave your side or stop protecting you. I would have liked for her to have chosen to become Yseil'dhraí when the two of you and Rei decided to join the game, but in hindsight, I think she chose appropriately. I think that you both did.”
“She’s always been that way, sticking by my side and trying to protect me from the world. She’s the younger of us, but you’d never know it the way she acts,” I said laughing as I finally broke the hug.
“She thinks the world of you,” Amoiraishe said with a distant smile. “She told me and April often enough about how much she hated that you weren’t living up to your potential and hiding in a job that you hated and were overqualified for. She worried about you and your fiancée a lot, she just wanted to see you both happy. You should have seen her face light up when she came out of her first playtest of the game and I told her about the Kitsune race. I could just see the determination to get you both in the game written all over her face.”
As much as I liked this closeness with her, I still had the whole Narek situation to deal with and I would also need to figure out some sort of plan for when the Redcaps attacked the next night. “That sounds like her,” I said with a lazy smile. “I should get going though, Mahair, I have a lot to do, Thanks for the skills, and the talk. Just remember that once we’re done with those Redcaps I’ll be holding you to your word.”
She nodded and we both reluctantly parted. “I welcome spending time with you whenever I can, little rose. You will have your answers as promised, you may not like them, but you shall have them. I should be going anyway, I shall see if Rei is ready to choose her skills and then I should make the rounds of the other players in the Glade to give them their skills as well. Everyone will need to be ready when night falls tomorrow.”
Narek wasn’t in his room, or the stables, or anywhere else that I could think to look for him. Finally, I made my way to the recreation room, hoping that my Pájar might actually be relaxing for once. He wasn’t there either but most of my party-mates were, with the notable exceptions of Rei, Salem, Daenyss, and Venika. Lissany and Kinara were snuggled up on one end of the couch gently petting Silverheels and Kimmie, so I gathered that Lissany was Wisp-sitting for her absent mother.
Rob and Lark cuddled on the other end of the couch as Lark hummed softly. Pete was teaching Nishalle to play pool, holding her close from behind and showing her how to handle the stick. Really? Those two just needed to have sex and get it over with, especially since I knew damn well that Nishalle knew how to play pool. She had made quite a bit of extra money in college by hustling people at pubs and pool halls. To my surprise Ashura was there as well, snuggling in an overstuffed armchair with Grell as they talked about something technical-sounding.
“Hey everyone,” I called out as placed them all, but alas no Narek. “You’ve been working on my special order with Hadrick and Denise, right Ashura? How are they coming along?”
“We have a prototype ready to go and we could have as many as three more ready to assemble once it’s been tested. We’ve had to scavenge some things to make it work, but I was also able to make some Artificer improvements to Denise’s design so it should be fine. The ammunition is the hard part, but Denise is sure that she and Lincoln can pump out a decent supply in a day or two.”
“They have until dark tomorrow,” I told her grimly. “That’s when the Redcaps will attack.”
“Well shit, I guess I should tell them to kick it into high gear then. We might just have to pull an all-nighter,” the Atlantean woman responded with a grimace as she stood up.
I felt bad about sending her off to work when she was getting a chance to relax and spend a bit of time with Grell. “I’m sorry, I wish I could give you more time, but my Mahair seems fairly certain that that is when the Redcaps will attack.”
“I’ll come with you Ashe, it sounds like you could use the extra hands,” Grell offered as he took her hand in his and led her out of the room calling over his shoulder, “Don’t wait up for me.”
“I guess the rest of us should enjoy the time off while we have it then,” my sister said with a sigh before turning around to grab Pete’s pool cue. She lined up a quick shot that sunk the three remaining striped balls on the table. Then before he could pick his jaw back up she sank the eight ball with another shot, dropped the cue on the table, and grabbed the large Human by the collar of his shirt. “As fun as it would be for me to let you ‘teach’ me how to play. I can think of much better ways to spend our evening. C’mon big boy, let me show you how I can handle another type of stick.” White teeth flashed in a grin, showing just a bit of fang and standing out against the dark blue of her skin as she half-dragged him from the room with a wicked glint in her crimson eyes.
Pete for his part seemed more than happy to be dragged along as he called out, “So… I guess I’ll see you all later then.”
“Much later,” Nishalle purred as the pair headed off toward her bedroom.
“Poor guy doesn’t know what he’s in for,” I muttered, trying not to laugh. Since Rob and I were now the only non-minors in the room I didn’t want to say anything more. Virgin ears and all that.
I was half-tempted to go scratch my own itch with Rei, but she was probably still getting lessons on the basics of being a spirit-shepherd and with Sahnae’s roundabout way of teaching, that could take a while. Instead, I took a seat right between the two couples on the couch. I started asking the others what they thought of the Redcaps and possible ways to fight them, but it wasn’t long before my eyelids began to droop. I just wanted to find Narek so he could tell me why he was avoiding me and what exactly I needed to forgive him for, but the jerk didn’t want to be found. Maybe if I just sat there long enough then he would come to me.
“She’s falling asleep,” Lark’s voice teased the edges of my consciousness.
“I’m not surprised, I would be too if I used that much power in a fight, I’m surprised she stayed awake as long as she did,” Kinara’s voice put in.
“I could carry her up to her room,” Rob offered. His voice paused for a moment before adding, “Actually I don’t want to do anything that might make her uncomfortable later. Maybe you should do it Lissany, you’re her Guardian after all.”
“I don’t want to risk waking her, she needs her rest. Let’s just get a blanket and cover her up,” the Beastkin girl’s voice countered. “I’ll take Willow so she doesn’t get hurt if Taelya changes position or something. Kinara already has two Wisps sleeping in her lap, what’s one more?”
The Jisa nir Faeshûin was a boring ceremony, and I was already bored from spending so long waiting to meet this Narek person. He was nothing like any other Fae I had met with his long white hair and pale blue eyes. He reminded me of the ice and snow that we sometimes got when the weather turned cold. The snow was fun to play in. Venika, Nishalle, and I had all had fun the last time we had some in the Glade. The ceremony was definitely not fun. Kneeling on the ground was uncomfortable, the thorn that Mahair poked my finger with hurt, and the sight of my blood dripping on the round stone table made me sick to my stomach.
My finger didn’t bleed for long, but there was still that small pool of my blood, dark red on the pale gray stone on the table. Mahair made sure that I held my finger over the little circle in the center of the table until it had stopped bleeding so that all of my blood made a tiny pool in the center of the table. I tried not to look at it as Mahair and Narek both pricked their fingers on opposite sides of the table, making their own tiny pools of dark red on the flat surface. We all were just sitting there with the blood not moving from where it fell to the stone of the table while Mahair cast a spell over the pool of my blood. I could feel her weaving the magick as she said, “I call upon the blood of this blood. Blood of the mother and blood of the father, unite with the blood of this child.”
I could feel the tingle of her magick coming to life as the blood in front of each of them flowed across the table to join the pool in the center. Mahair’s eyes went really wide before she turned to smile at Narek, whose pale blue eyes were as big as hers. “Narek, may I present your daughter, Taelya nír Keshwaindyr, Princess of the Autumn Court.” I thought that my eyes must look even bigger than theirs had been as I stared at Narek, my Pájar.
I spent most of the afternoon with my new Pájar. He told me stories about the Winter Court and he made each of us a viyr’kuor. He cut off a lock of his hair and used a spell to grow a pretty blue crystal around it. Then he did the same with a bit of my hair, growing an amber crystal the color of my eyes around it. Then we braided some cord from some long grass to hang them from. He put the blue one around my neck and put the amber one on himself as he told me, “There, now no matter how far apart we are you will always have a part me with you and I will always have a part of you with me.”
When we were done with that he told me why instead of having one sword like the Fae of the Autumn Court he carried two. He promised to teach me one day if I wanted to learn. I thought that it was interesting, but it sounded like more lessons to me. I had enjoyed spending that afternoon with him because it was exciting getting to know my Pájar and I didn’t have to spend the day with Mahair learning everything that she wanted to teach me. I loved my Mahair, but the lessons were boring and I would much rather spend my time playing or doing things like what I had done with my Pájar.
I was unhappy that night when he had to return to the Winter Court. I wanted him to be able to stay so we could have more fun together and see each other all the time like other Fae with their Pájars. It wasn’t fair that he had to be so far away. He promised to visit as often as he could so we could spend time together and then he kissed me on the forehead and showed me the amber crystal hanging from his neck. “Remember, a part of you is always with me and a part of me is always with you.”
I was awoken by Venika’s anxious voice in my ear. “Taelya, I’m on the roof with Phinik, we were… enjoying the evening air together. That’s not important right now though, you need to get up here now!” A Wind Whisper spell, she probably hadn’t realized that I was asleep. I snapped right to attention and my fellow couch occupants nearly fell off in surprise as the blanket that I had been covered with fell to the floor. Kinara had barely managed to keep the Wisps from falling out of her lap as she jumped. The Wisps stirred briefly but apparently decided that it wasn’t worth waking up yet.
“Taelya, what’s wrong?” Lark asked. Her was face a mask of concern as she watched me.
“I don’t know, Venika just called me from the roof and it sounded urgent,” I quickly explained before thinking to ask, “How long was I out?”
“Maybe an hour,” Rob offered in answer to my query.
Lissany was focused on other matters though as her brow furrowed with worry. “Is Mom okay?”
“I’m sure she’s fine, she just said she needed me up there, I’ll be right back.” I wasn’t about to explain what her mother had probably been doing up there with Phinik and it had sounded urgent so I drew in mana and quickly started on the sigils for my single-person teleportation spell. “Kaida Venika!”
The cool evening air completed my journey to wakefulness as I appeared on the roof of the Estate near a pair of naked Sprites. Venika was pointing to the south so I turned to see what had her so concerned. Off in the distance, the darkness of the night was tainted by a malevolent orange glow. It was hazy and seemed to waver, but it was growing larger and more ominous with each passing second. I couldn’t blame the night air for the chill that slithered down my spine. Haven was burning.
For a moment I could only stare at the ominous orange glow in the distance as my breath caught in my throat. Once I could get the words out I asked, “What happened Venika, when did it start?”
“It’s only been a few minutes. I called you as soon as I first saw the fire, it just appeared so suddenly and it’s spreading like crazy,” the Sprite replied with a worried expression.
“I’ll try to call Tien and see if she can tell me anything.” I took the phone from my pocket and called Tien’s number. It rang several times and then went to her voicemail. Either she was too busy dealing with whatever was going on or it had caught the village completely by surprise. Neither was a reassuring thought. “Can you see anything with your Farsight ability, Venika?”
The Sprite’s tiny eyes seemed to go super focused, and at first, she just stared off into the distance. “Just fire, smoke, and shadows… oh shit.” The last was sputtered after she gasped and from the expression on her face, whatever it was she saw wasn’t good.
“What is it, Venika?” Phinik inquired before I could. “Is it the Redcaps?”
“Oh Goddess, everything is burning. I saw a large shadow passing through the smoke and flames. I thought it was my imagination at first, but I just saw it again.” She shook her head slowly and turned toward me. “We have to do something, Taelya. It’s a dragon, and it’s destroying the whole village.”
“Aw crap.” See Venika, I didn’t swear just then, even though I really wanted to. It was going to be like fighting the Lindwyrm all over again, only this time we had no horde of undead handy to lead it to a gas station that we could blow up. Hell, the only gas station that Haven had was down to fumes anyway. Regular guns, bows, and melee weapons weren’t going to do shit to that thing unless we could weaken it first and I wasn’t sure about sending anyone inside its mouth, we had been lucky that Nishalle hadn’t been roasted alive the first time. I could try something like what I’d used against the Kraken but while it was up in the air I had nothing to anchor the crystals to, even if I did have the energy to pull that off again, which I sincerely doubted given my lack of proper rest and overuse of mana earlier in the day.
“Well, they did want to test it, and now is as good a time as any,” I muttered as I found Denise’s number on my phone and hit the call icon.
It was several rings before she picked up. “Faun Firearms, Denise speaking.”
“Hey Denise, it’s Taelya, Ashura told me that you have a prototype ready to test?” I quickly fired off.
“Hey, Your Highness. Yeah, we got one ready to go and three others ready to assemble if the test goes well. We were planning on testing first thing in the morning. We’re trying to pump out as much ammo as we can, just like you asked.”
“We’re going to need it ready to go ASAP. A dragon is burning Haven to the ground and I’d really like some way of taking it down. What’s the range on it? Do you think it can take down a dragon?” I pressed.
“She should remain accurate at just over a kilometer and a half and Ashura modified the scope for night vision. I don’t know if it’ll take one down, but it’ll probably feel it. It’s pretty ironic because we decided to call this baby the Dragon. She’s all about firepower.” she answered confidently. I’ll have the whole kit and a bag of ammo ready to go in a few minutes. You’ll need someone strong with you though, the Dragon’s no lightweight.”
“I’ll bring Lissany, she should be able to handle it, thanks, Denise.” I quickly disconnected the call and reached out with my senses, calling out to the wind element and willing it to carry my words to everyone in the Glade. “Fae and allies of the Glade, this is Taelya nír Keshwaindyr, Princess of the Autumn Court. Haven is being attacked by a dragon. I’m calling on anyone willing to help the village in their time of need, as we have pledged to do. Until we can get the dragon out of the sky this is a search and rescue mission, it is about saving lives not being heroes so please don’t endanger yourselves needlessly trying to slay the beast. All I ask is that you help find the wounded and evacuate the village and that Magi prepare to put out the fires and Healers prepare for the injured while I work on a plan to distract the dragon and take it down. All Sprites with magick please meet Venika at the front gates to the Estate as soon as possible.”
Venika and Phinik nodded grimly as I finished my speech. “What do you need us to do?” Venika asked.
“I need you both to get every magically inclined Sprite in the air to pester that thing with every spell you can. Keep your distance though and try to stay out of its line of fire. Just keep its attention on you instead of the village for a bit while I get things ready. I’ll wind whisper you when we’re ready for stage two,” I told them, trying not to show just how tired I was from using Nature’s Call again like I just had.
I felt bad about having to interrupt their fun, everyone’s actually, but I opened my menu screen and furiously typed out a party alert message. Usually, I’d use a spell to contact each of them, but I was too tired and I was pretty sure that I was going to need to conserve my energy for later. -Sorry everyone, but I need everyone on search and rescue duty in the village. Lissany, Daenyss, and Nishalle, I’ll need you in the living room ASAP.-
I teleported back to the living room where I found Lark, Rob, and Kinara already in their Lindwyrm-hide armor and heading toward the door while Lissany waited for me and the Wisps slept peacefully on the couch. “No need for your armor yet Liss,” I told my Guardian quickly. “I’m going to need your strength though so you might want to change forms.”
“You got it, Your Highness,” the Beastkin girl agreed, making her armor vanish while she changed into her hybrid-jaguar form.
Daenyss appeared in front of me, looking a bit flustered from whatever I had interrupted between her and Salem but she was ready to go. “Sorry Daenyss,” I told her sympathetically. “I know that I promised you the night off.”
“You needed me at your side Mistress, so that is where I will gladly be. I know that this was not something that you were expecting and that you did not want to summon me. You’re a better Mistress than I could have ever hoped for, you’re always thinking about my needs and desires as much as your own and I appreciate that. Salem and I can continue some other time,” She said with a smile that was probably meant to reassure me of the truth of her words. She did mean what she said, I knew that because that was just the kind of person and friend that Daenyss was. I still felt bad though.
I felt worse as Nishalle appeared from the shadows under the stairs a moment later looking just as flustered as Daenyss. She was in her armor, but her hair was a mess and I didn’t need a sensitive Fae nose to smell what both she and Daenyss had been up to with their respective partners before my rallying cry put an end to it. “Sorry,” I muttered again.
“You’re planning something crazy and probably reckless. You’ll need me by your side, Sis.” Nishalle wasn’t fooled by my act, she could see how tired I was already, and I could see it in her crimson eyes.
“Yeah, I have Denise and Hadrick working on a little present for you and I’ll need both you and Daenyss to familiarize yourselves with it. There’s three more in the works and they were meant for the Redcaps, but it needed to be tested anyway and I can’t think of a better time,” I explained before gathering mana and performing the sigils for the Exodus spell. “Kaida liantuir tala siashe yasrin!”
I teleported us directly into Denise’s workshop where she and her team were working furiously. As soon as she saw us the Doe Beastkin half-dragged me to a large, roughly-made workbench where the fruits of her labors sat. I didn’t even have a minute to get over the dizziness of casting another high-level spell while already exhausted. I turned to Nishalle and offered a tired smile. “What do you think? Is that enough penetration for you?”
“Omigod, it’s so huge!” Nishalle exclaimed as she just stared for several long seconds at what was being offered to her. “Is that a fucking anti-tank rifle?!”
Denise just grinned at her. “It’s a custom anti-materiel rifle, I call her the Dragon. Hopefully, she should have the stopping power you need. We haven’t tested it yet, but I think she should have about a one-point-eight kilometer range and she fires 22-millimeter shells. She’s a bolt-action, can be quickly assembled or disassembled, has a swing-out bipod, a night vision scope especially artificed by Ashura, side-mount 5 shell detachable box magazines, a recoil reduction system that Ashura and Grell came up with, and the ammunition comes in three tasty flavors.”
“Three?” I asked in surprise. “I only asked for the shells made from the energy-sapping crystal that I used on the Kraken.”
“I thought that I should come up with alternatives in case the crystal didn’t work on the Redcaps,” the Doe said with a shrug and an evil grin. “So you have your crystal shells, high explosive, and incendiary rounds.”
Once she had shown Daenyss and Nishalle how to tell the difference between the different types of rounds and how to assemble and disassemble the Dragon, Denise gave the fully assembled rifle to Lissany and a duffel bag with three of the magazines and extra shells to Nishalle. “You know, I might be able to fit one of those in my chest in your rooms Mistress, once it’s fully broken down,” Daenyss said thoughtfully. “I should have enough room left for it and some spare magazines.”
“That might be a good idea, you could just summon the pieces when you need it and we wouldn’t have to haul that big cannon around with us,” I agreed. “Is it too much for you Lissany?”
“This is heavy, but I can handle it,” Lissany replied. “It’s not much heavier than having my full armor and all of my weapons on, it’s just the length that makes it a bit awkward.”
“Yeah, she’s not meant to be carried fully assembled like that,” the Doe admitted, “but I figure that you’ll want her ready to go. Careful with that bag Nishalle, remember that some of those shells are meant to go boom. Good luck ladies, and let me know how she handles.”
After I had teleported the four of us back to the roof of the Estate and Nishalle had gingerly put down the duffel bag and showed Lissany where to set up her new toy I allowed myself a few minutes to rest while she got set up. Exodus was a mana-hog of a high-level spell and I had just used it twice in a relatively short time while I was already tired. “Are you alright, Mistress?” Daenyss asked in concern.
“I’m fine, I just need to sit and rest for a few minutes before using any big magick again,” I told my Attendant with a weak smile.
She wasn’t the only one looking over me in obvious concern. Neither she nor Lissany seemed to be buying it and Nishalle kept stealing glances at me as she finished setting up the Dragon. “Okay, I’m all set up here, Sis. Do you want me to try the crystal shells first?”
“Yeah, if they can pierce a dragon’s scales then they should work on the Redcaps. If they don’t penetrate or don’t do much damage try the other rounds and see what works,” I instructed the Tokh'dhraí Assassin.
“We might be a bit out of the range, even if it’s as high as Denise thinks…” Nishalle muttered. “Okay I got it in my sights…whoa she didn’t say anything about the scope having a target-range detector. Damn, we’re just over two kilometers away, I could try shooting from here, but I’d probably just waste ammo with all that smoke from the village obscuring it. We’re going to need to get closer.”
“Or we bring it toward us,” I thought aloud before querying, “Can you see how the Sprites are managing through that thing?”
“Yeah, it’s a little hard to see with the smoke but it looks like they’ve got its attention, they’re pounding it with spells from two sides. Oh! Those sneaky little devils!” Her while teeth flashed against the darkness of her skin and the night in a grin. “It’s big but it’s slow to turn. As soon as they see it about to turn to try and flame them they scatter or teleport away and start attacking from another side. I don’t know how long they’re going to last though, they’re really peppering it.”
I smiled as drew in mana and started to draw and speak the sigils for the Wind Whisper spell. I knew I could count on Venika. “Tanuus tiurin’híel naethrin aentuire,” Then I quickly spoke my message “I need you to draw it toward the Glade, try to keep it in the air above the forest so its flames can’t do any serious damage and keep it halfway between the village and the Glade. We’re going to try to bring it down. Send Sprites that you trust to tell anyone from the village and rescue teams and Mahair and the Huntsmen what we’re doing and to be prepared to box it in but not get too close until it’s weakened, Venika.” As I spoke her name I also drew her personal sigil to send the message.
It was a good thing that I was sitting down because I was really getting tired, and a bit light-headed, from all the magick I’d been using. My three companions looked at me in concern and Nishalle muttered to Daenyss, “When this is all over please make sure she goes to bed and stays there, I don’t care if you have to get Rei to tie her down.”
“I shall see that Mistress gets proper rest,” Daenyss promised.
I was too tired to even give an indignant snort. They didn’t have to baby me like a small child, though I did appreciate their concern. I did work up the energy for an exasperated sigh though when Nishalle lined up her first shot and grinned as she fired and said, “Oh yeah! Bitches love cannons!” Rei and I really had to stop watching anime with her. It was a terrible influence on her.
My sister was just gaping and staring through the scope for what seemed like an eternity and we were all pretty tense as Lissany asked, “What? Didn’t it do anything?”
“Actually, I was just expecting much more of a kick and it surprised me. I don’t think I pierced its skin, but I’m pretty sure that I blew off a few of its scales on its chest. This baby has some punch, but it has less kick than my sniper rifle. I’m loving this recoil reduction system. I’m going to try to hit the same spot as before, maybe with the scales missing I can penetrate its skin.”
Nishalle fired again and let out an excited whoop. “Got it! That one definitely penetrated! I’ll empty the rest of the clip into that big fucker and… Are they bat-shit fucking insane?!”
“What?!” Lissany, Daenyss, and I asked as one since we couldn’t see what my sister was going on about.
She took another shot before saying, “Sorry Tae, but I think you come by the Fae crazy-gene honestly. Your Fae-daddy just teleported onto the dragon’s back with Maekin and now they’re shredding its wings. I can’t rule out Mahair though either, she’s done some crazy shit too.”
I was a little pissed off now. I spent most of the evening looking for Narek and he chooses to appear just to do something that would probably get him killed. And he thought that Mahair and I were reckless and stubborn? “I hate to break it to you Sis, but if Mahair is crazy and it is genetic… well you’re her daughter too,” I pointed out.
“So?” Nishalle said with a shrug and a grin after taking another shot. “I like being crazy.”
“Of course you do,” I replied with a shake of my head.
“They’re heading to the ground pretty fast, so there won’t be much more that we can do from here,” the Tokh'dhraí reported. Then after far too long a pause for my comfort she spoke again. “I can’t see really well through the tree cover, but it looks like they managed to jump free before it hit the ground.”
“If that jerk lived, I’m going to kill him,” I muttered. “Let’s leave your new toy here for now and see what we can do to help finish that thing off.”
Nishalle put a hand on my shoulder as I started gathering mana, when I turned to face her she shook her head. “No, Sis. Lissany and Daenyss may not feel it’s their place to tell you what to do because you’re the princess. But I’m your sister before anything else. No more magick. You’ve been overdoing it all day and you can barely stand right now.”
“I’m not going to go lay in my cozy bed and sleep while our people are fighting something like that, they need to see me standing with them, and the people of the village are going to need us,” I insisted. At Nishalle’s stern expression and the worried looks on Daenyss’s and Lissany’s faces though I offered a compromise. “I’ll ride Ghost there and I won’t cast any spells or use Nature’s call unless it’s absolutely necessary. I do have other skills besides magick you know.”
Nishalle sighed and relented. “Fine, but you’re only there for morale, leave the fighting to us. I know that you can do things other than use magick, but I know you love using it too, and it’s almost instinctual for you sometimes to use it before anything else. Now let’s going and finish this so Her Highness will go to bed without arguing.”
It took longer than I would have liked to get to the stables since Nishalle wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to use magick to do it, not that I intended on breaking my promise to her. I would only do that if lives depended on it. Ghost seemed eager to go though and made up the time fairly quickly. The others rode behind us on Cú sídhe, though as part cat Lissany still wasn’t entirely comfortable riding one of the large green canines.
The downed dragon had been severely weakened by the combination of Nishalle’s new toy and its forced landing when Kinara’s father and mine had clipped its wings. Nishalle’s last shot had pierced deeply enough to strike the dragon’s heart and by the time we arrived at the crash site, the uninjured players from the village and the members of the Fae host were just trying to stay out of harm’s way and contain any fires as the massive reptile trashed its way through its death throes. Thankfully most of the players and NPCs from the village seemed to be fine including Tien, though her arm was in a sling.
I was relieved to see the Vietnamese Druid since I had been worried when she hadn’t called about the attack or answered her phone. I dismounted Ghost and gave her a nice affectionate rub and then went to speak with Tien, “Thank Goddess that you’re okay, I was worried about you.”
“That dragon hit us out of nowhere, half the village was on fire before we even knew what hit us,” she replied with a shrug and wincing at the pain it caused her. “Part of the building that I and some of the others were in came down on us. My phone’s lost in the rubble, I would have been too if some of your people hadn’t found us and dug us out when they came to get everyone out of the village and see to the injured.”
“How bad were the losses?” I asked in concern.
“From the last count we’re still missing a couple of dozen players from the village, only ten dead so far though and that includes some of the Sprites that came to draw the dragon away from the village. The healers think that they should be able to resurrect most of them and heal them up though,” she answered. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared it would be at least, but I still felt a pang of guild about the Sprites.
“Are Rei and Salem working with the other Priests and Medics with the injured then? Was Venika among the dead or injured?” I was worried about Lissany’s mother. I had sent her into that situation, but I was worried about all the members of my party. I hadn’t seen most of them since before all of this started.
Tien seemed to understand and tried to address my concerns. “Salem is working with the other Medics, Priestesses, and Priests. Rei went with your mother when she and the other mages went to see about putting out the fires a little while ago, she thinks she can help locate any others who may have been trapped and need to be resurrected or at least get a better count of the dead. Venika is fine, but she and a lot of the other Sprites were exhausted from too much spellcasting. Lark, Pete, Kinara, and Rob all went to either help put out fires or look for injured.
“We should go and see what we can do to help,” I said with a sigh but the looks on the faces of my sister, Guardian, and Attendant quickly nixed that idea.
“Daenyss and I are going to take you home so you can rest, Your Highness,” Lissany stated, proving the futility of thinking about doing any such thing.
“And I’ll put my new favorite toy away and go let Denise, Hadrick, and the others know how well it worked so they can assemble the others and pump out more ammo,” Nishalle added. She took one look at the expression on my face and sighed. “I know that you want to do everything that you can to help everyone, Sis. Sometimes that means taking proper care of yourself so that you can be ready when we really need you. In twenty-four hours or less, we’re going to be facing a clan of Redcaps and we’ll need you at your best. Please, for all of us, go and get at least six hours of sleep.”
“I… okay sis, I did promise after...” I stopped speaking mid-word as I looked around and caught sight of Narek getting treated by Khyrin, who was casting a healing prayer over his right knee. My brow furrowed and I threw a cold, “Excuse me for a moment,” over my shoulder.
I barely heard Lissany mutter “Uh-oh.”
I strode purposely toward the pair, ignoring the comment. I had my mind on something else. Khyrin looked up at my approach and quickly smiled and bowed. “Your Highness, how can I help you?”
“Good evening Khyrin, what is my Pájar’s condition?” I inquired a little more stiffly than I intended. I felt bad instantly, it wasn’t her fault that Naerk was an asshole. I did look him over in concern though. What he and Maekin had done was reckless and stupid and I was pissed at both of them, especially after Narek had lectured me and Mahair about the same thing. I noticed that he wasn’t wearing the amber crystal from my dream, but I hadn’t seen him wear it since I met him. I didn’t have a viyr’kuor either, so why the hell would I dream about that? I tried to shake it off, I had more important matters to attend to.
“He merely sprained his knee when he landed,” the Fae Priestess offered. “He should be fine in a few hours with the prayer I cast.”
“That’s the only thing wrong with him?” I asked. When she nodded in confirmation I gave her a weak smile. “Thank you Khyrin, I would like a moment alone with my Pájar please.”
Narek looked decidedly uncomfortable as the Priestess excused herself. He looked even more so after I slapped him as hard as I could and started yelling at him. “You arrogant, hypocritical, frustrating, asshole! First, you drop that ‘I’m your father’ shit on me and you’ve been avoiding me every chance you get since! I spent all evening looking for you so we can talk about all of this and maybe figure out what we are to one another and you were nowhere to be found, but a dragon shows up and suddenly you and Maekin pull that cowboy shit! Were you both trying to impress your daughters or something?! Dying doing something stupid isn’t impressive, it’s just stupid! You said that Mahair and I are frustrating, stubborn, and don’t think before we act and then you go and do something like this?! I cannot believe the balls on you!”
“Taelya, I…”
I cut him off. I wasn’t finished yet and I really didn’t care to hear his excuses right now. “Sahnae says that you’re avoiding me because you’re blaming yourself for something, and at the moment I don’t care what that is, but make no mistake we will be having words about that! You don’t want me and Mahair endangering ourselves needlessly then you better damn well do the same thing! No more avoiding me! My dad in real life up and left when Nishalle and I were kids. Doing the same damn thing to me after telling me that I’m your kid isn’t the smartest way to start off a relationship with me if you want to be a father figure!”
He at least looked contrite with his head hung as I continued to berate him. “You can’t have it both ways! You can’t start teaching me the family fighting style and avoid me the rest of the time because you’re afraid that I might get upset about something you once did! I… I…” That was when everything that had happened and the overuse of magick seemed to catch up with me all at once and I passed out.
I was slipping back to my private quarters in the royal residence after having to practically order Venika to stay quiet about my visit with Seamus. I was nearly there when Mahair’s voice spoke behind me. “Where have you been all day, Taelya? How are you going to learn more than the most basic spells if you do not take your lessons seriously?”
I sighed and turned around as I attempted to come up with a reasonable excuse. Her amber eyes widened as I turned to face her and her face contorted in fury. “You have been injured. Who dared to strike the Princess of the Autumn Court?!”
“Takahl!” I mentally cursed. I had forgotten about the bruise on my cheek with the healing magick dulling the pain. “It is not what you think, Mahair... I was… I fell.” No other excuse came to mind. I knew that this one was not going to fool her. Fae are not as clumsy as Humans, we do not simply fall and hurt ourselves.
Should there be any more fire in her glare I likely would have been reduced to ashes. “You have been outside the safety of the Glade with that Human again after I forbade it?! Do not lie to me! Did he do this to you?! Did he dare to strike you?!”
“Mahair, I…”
My hesitation was all the answer that she required. “Taelya nír Keshwaindyr!! You are an adult now and you must begin behaving as one! If anything should happen to me, you will become Queen of the Autumn Court and our people will turn to you for leadership and guidance. You could be a great Queen for our people if you would only apply yourself! I can feel the great power sleeping inside you and you sense and manipulate the flow of mana around you without even trying. You are perhaps the greatest magical prodigy that our people have ever seen and you squander your potential and ignore your responsibilities! I have warned you countless times about the dangers that Humans present, but you do not listen! You continue to endanger yourself and your people by dallying with that hrukash!
“I do not want that! I have never wanted that, Mahair! I never wanted the lessons, the responsibilities, or the expectations that you have thrust upon me since the moment I was born! He is not a darkbeast! He is a Human, his name is Seamus, and I am in love with him!” I screamed back at her.
“Stop being a fool, Taelya! Neither of you can change what nature has made you. His kind hunt and kill ours and care nothing for the balance of nature and magick!” Mahair countered angrily. ”His violence toward you only proves this!”
“He is not like that. You do not know him as I do…” I tried to explain. Why couldn’t she see him as I did? He didn’t mean to hurt me, he was just upset because he didn’t understand. And he had promised to never do it again. I needed something to prove her wrong, so I snapped back at her, “What of the Wild Hunt? Is that not the same as what they do to us?!”
“The Wild Hunt is a punishment for those who would invade our lands and not show proper respect to the balance! We do not go to their lands and hunt them down for nothing more than sport or because they are different, as they do with us. They do not understand the delicate balance that we must maintain, nor do they care to. They think only of themselves and spurn anyone that is not like them. If you keep pursuing this Human he will be the death of you!” She was furious, but she was taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself.
Once she had restored her sense of emotional balance she gave me a long imploring look. “Little Rose, please consider this: If this… Seamus truly loved you back would he show it by harming you? We do not harm those we care for, we try to keep them from harm, as I am doing for you. He has struck you once, I should think that proves his nature. Go to your quarters, you shall stay there until you have had proper time to reflect upon my words and your duties to your people, and should this Human enter our forest again, he shall be greeted by the Wild Hunt.”
It was two days later that I came to my decision. Mahair and I had not spoken for the whole time and I had been reflecting as Mahair had asked. I loved her, but she did not understand me, she never had and likely never would. She spoke of not harming those we love, but she was doing that by trying to keep Seamus and me apart and by threatening his life. It was overhearing her speak to my Pájar that decided me. I did not mean to overhear, it was just that I could feel her working a spell and when I reached out with my senses to see what it was I just heard the message that she was sending him.
“It will be good to see you again, my love, even if it is only briefly. Taelya should be happy to see you as well so maybe you can talk some sense into her where I do not seem to be able. Perhaps you are correct. Taking her to stay with you in the Winter Court for a time may show her what Humans are really like, though I will fear for her safety there with the constant attacks you have been suffering. At least there she may get over this foolish notion that Humans would accept her and begin to take her responsibilities seriously.”
She was going to send me to live with my Pájar? If that happened I may never see Seamus again. No, I could not accept that. I decided that I would leave that night when everyone was asleep. I would do as Seamus had asked and become his ‘wife’. I still had much to learn about Humans and their customs but I knew that I could make a life for myself among the Humans if I tried. I have decided that I will leave my Aen’kuorüis for Pájar in my quarters with a short note. Perhaps he will understand where Mahair could not.
When I awoke I was in my bedroom and the light of a golden dawn was streaming through my window. Rei seemed to be in a male mood today and I could feel his toned body tight against my naked skin as he held me close in his arms. It was nice and I thought that I could get used to having him holding me protectively like that. Willow was snuggled up on the pillow beside my head, her emotions indicating that she was having pleasant dreams. My mind was having trouble shaking that last dream and there was a lot there to mentally address so for a while I just laid there with my eyes closed, attempting to enjoy the comfort as I considered the dreams of my youth as Taelya.
First, my dreams made it seem like the Taelya in my memories was very different than I was. She could be irresponsible and selfish and, judging from her relationship with Seamus and how she had only gone through her lessons because Amoiraishe expected it of her, she seldom stood up for herself and was an abuse victim waiting to happen. The only times she seemed to assert herself was when it was someone she had authority over, and even then she pleaded and cajoled rather than taking a stand. She also didn’t want to learn magick, despite being a natural, and had a curiosity about Humans that blinded her to their dangers and those who really did care about her.
I on the other hand may not like having to be a leader, but I did it because I was it was my responsibility and I cared for my people. Not just my people but all people, because I didn’t want to see anyone hurt and because that was what the Fae should do if we really were meant to maintain the balance of life and magick. I took my duties seriously and I loved learning magick more than just about anything, but I also knew that with great power comes great responsibility. Sure it’s a comic book saying, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
I also know humanity for what we are and what we could be. I care about them, as I do for almost everyone, but I don’t blindly accept everything about them out of misguided faith or curiosity. I stand up for myself and those with me whenever necessary, something that I had only seen my dream self do when she was being backed into the corner about Seamus’ abuse and taking her responsibilities seriously. Overall, I didn’t really like dream-me. She seemed mousey, selfish, easily manipulated, and short-sighted.
Sure as Caleb I had been one to avoid being in charge of anything and I didn’t really know how to deal with people, but that was largely because of my anxiety issues. I had felt that anxiety less intensely and less often since becoming Taelya, and barely at all since I got over the body dysphoria. The only anxiety I had felt at all recently was over things that I had no control over and my suspicions about the game. I may have matured a little bit as Taelya too, but despite my earlier fears that I had changed a lot, now I could see that it was more like the person who I already was inside was being set free. With that in mind, it was like dream-Taelya and I were completely different people.
I guess that couldn’t be too much of a surprise, since these memories were probably programmed beforehand and they couldn’t know exactly what I was like before joining the game. Still though, if my mind really was taking the people and other things that I wasn’t familiar with and filling in the blanks, shouldn’t there have been less of a difference in personality?
That brought up my other main concerns. The biggest of those was, what the hell was with Seamus? I had never known anyone like that and he, and my dream-self’s feelings for him, stuck out like a sore thumb. Why didn’t that blank get filled in? I mean, I was bisexual as Caleb and had my share of crushes on guys, so why hadn’t my mind placed one of them in Seamus’s place? And why did all of those dreams feel like they had happened hundreds of years ago instead of in a more modern setting that I would be more familiar with? I could clearly remember the visits to Seamus’s village; sights, sounds, and smells and quite frankly I didn’t think that my imagination was that good.
Then there was the thing with the viyr’kuor that Narek and dream-me had made together. I had never seen him wear the amber-hued crystal since we met and I certainly didn’t have one of my own, blue or otherwise, so what was that about? And what was an Aen’kuorüis? Even if I hadn’t had the familiar elvish root words to work from, merely thinking the phrase was enough to get my Fae Culture skill to twig on it. That sudden realization gave birth to another and with a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach, I had a pretty damn good idea where those dream memories came from.
Everything made sense now. Well, not quite everything. There were still a few missing pieces to the puzzle, but there was more than enough to paint a fairly good picture and give some of my suspicions form, where before they had only been shadows. And given the picture that these clues had painted thus far, it didn’t take much imagination to fill in those blank spots. I wanted answers, but I knew that I would have to be patient. I would know for sure once the Redcaps were taken care of, but first, we needed to live through it.
I removed Rei’s arm from around me and climbed out of bed before making my way out of the bedroom. It wasn’t until I was in the living area of my rooms, with the bedroom door shut behind me that I called out, “Daenyss, could you please join me?”
My Nymph Attendant materialized in front of me wearing a relieved smile. “Good morning, Mistress, it’s good to see you awake. We were all worried about you when you collapsed the way that you did.”
“I’m feeling much better now,” I assured her. “How long was I out?”
Daenyss took my hand gently in hers and guided me toward the bathroom for our morning ritual. “You passed out about nine hours ago, Mistress. I had Lissany carry you here so you would be more comfortable and Venika promised to have a status report on the situation with the village for you at breakfast.” I sighed and let her pull me along and start running a bath. She was getting far too good at anticipating my needs and desires.
If I was out for nine hours, even after my brief nap on the couch the night before, then I must have really overdone it with the mana use. Usually, Fae only need 4 hours or so of sleep to feel fully rested. I felt bad for worrying everyone but even worse that I hadn’t been able to help with things in the village before passing out. I had a lot to feel bad about that morning, or so it seemed to me. “I’m sorry that you and Salem didn’t get to finish what you started last night,” I told Daenyss apologetically. “I had to interrupt Pete and Nishalle too, and you all deserved some downtime to spend with each other.”
“Mistress, do not worry yourself about that. You needed us so we were by your side, where we belong,” my Attendant admonished me with a shake of her head as she embraced me. The warmth of our naked bodies mingled as we waited for the bathwater to finish filling and she added softly, “Besides, we will still have plenty of time to finish what we began after the Redcaps are dealt with tonight.”
“Yeah, plenty of time,” I replied morosely. I couldn’t help but think that when this was all done and we returned to the real world that Daenyss would pay the heftiest price of us all. I gave her a long searching look as we got me settled into the hot water and she began unfastening my braids so she could wash my hair. “Daenyss, you… you knew how binding the Viyr Jhaith is and yet you chose the wording, you bound yourself to serve me for all time. I know that you can’t lie to me so I need to know, do you ever regret that oath?”
The Nymph looked down in surprise from where she was unbraiding my hair and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “Mistress, you treat me more kindly than I ever dared hope for when I made that oath. You treat me as a friend and think of my needs as much as yours. At first, it was a penance I placed on myself for the one thing I do regret, causing you to suffer. I may not remember it, but I did it and I regret that every day because I don’t ever want to see you hurting. This was my choice, my oath, and I’m glad that I made it because it brought you into my life, a life that would have been empty otherwise. It gave me a best friend that I would do anything for because I know that you would do anything for me too.”
“I’d free you if I could,” I said softly, leaning my head into her shoulder.
“I know you would because that is the kind of person you are. But I am happy, and I get the feeling that I could never really say that before my life started again and I met you. So please, do not upset yourself over a decision that was mine to make, one that I would gladly make again knowing you as I do now.” She hugged me tightly and kissed me lovingly on the cheek and then returned to my morning pampering.
It was as Daenyss was braiding my hair and putting it back into its usual style that Rei emerged from the bedroom. My Attendant looked over my fiancé and offered, the bathroom is free if you would like to take a shower Rei.” She was getting as good at anticipating Rei’s needs as she was mine it seemed. Had my fiancée been looking especially feminine, the Nymph would have offered to start running a bath for her instead. When she was feeling especially girly she loved a nice hot bath and a bit of pampering, but at all other times, especially when male, he preferred a quick hot shower.
“Thanks, Daenyss,” the Kitsune said with a nod and a smile. Then he turned his gaze on me, concern in his eyes. “I hope that you’re feeling better this morning honey, you had a lot of us worried when you collapsed. Narek was being all ‘over-protective father’ and wouldn’t let anyone but us Priests and Paramedics close until he was sure you were okay. You really need to stop over-taxing yourself like that.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling much better,” I admitted. “I’m sorry for worrying everyone. How bad were the numbers last night?”
Rei let out a sigh, which quickly turned into a yawn that he covered with a hand. “We managed to resurrect everyone but two of the players in the village, but then we spent half the night performing healing prayers and various medical procedures to keep the ones we rezed alive and to get them to where they’ll be in shape to help fight tonight. Still, it could have been a lot worse.”
I nodded slowly. “And you complained that I was overdoing it. I understand why, we’re going to need every warm body we can get tonight, but how much sleep did you get, sweetie?”
My Kitsune lover shrugged tiredly. “Maybe four hours, we didn’t get in until almost three in the morning. I think I’ll take a cold shower rather than a hot one this morning, it’ll help wake me up. Love you, Babe.” With that he headed for the bathroom and his cold shower, not returning until after Daenyss had finished with my hair, gotten me dressed, and had just finished working on my make-up.
Daenyss thought that I should inspire confidence and pride in being Fae so she had dressed me in the very same outfit that I had worn on the day that we had amassed the Wild Hunt to punish Razor and his cohorts. She wasn’t aware of the significance of the outfit, but she thought that it looked great on me and I had to admit that I didn’t mind wearing it now that I no longer had that body dysphoria hanging over my head. The lack of any sort of modesty probably helped my comfort level with it too.
The gold-hued chainmail bikini top, with its silk inner layer inside the cups, so it wouldn’t chafe my sensitive breasts, had gone on first. Then she attached the golden chains from the underside of each cup to the other golden chain that they held up to hang off my hips suggestively. The sheer crimson panels of diaphanous material were attached to each link the belt chain to sway and shift teasingly around my legs down to my ankles with every movement giving brief glimpses of the crimson silk bikini bottom I wore underneath. Completing the outfit was the pair of gold sandals that laced up almost to my knees and golden armbands on each of my upper arms with more transparent crimson panels fluttering loosely down to connect to the golden bracelets which adorned my wrists. Last, but not least, my Nature’s Crown was placed upon my head.
My Attendant went pretty daring for my makeup too. Apparently, she thought that I needed to be able to call attention to myself, not that I didn’t already. If she added a little green I could have been a traffic light. Crimson lips stood out against my pale skin and thick long lashes with pale rose and bright gold on my eyelids fading into one another like a sunset called attention to my big golden eyes.
For a moment there Rei just stood in the bathroom doorway gazing at me with the towel hanging around his waist forming a noticeable tent. “Uhhh… maybe I should go take another cold shower.”
“Too late for that,” I teased. “I’m ready to go, so go get some clothes on and think of baseball or something.”
Breakfast was a somber occasion. Nobody sitting at the table looked very happy and most of them had been up late into the night trying to help the players and NPCs in the village deal with the aftermath of the dragon attack. At least Narek wasn’t trying to avoid me, though he did have a distinctively guilty expression on his face every time that he looked my way. Venika’s report on the state of the village consisted of only five words; “You should see for yourself.” No, that didn’t sound ominous at all.
Nishalle had slightly better news for me. Denise, Hadrick, and their team had completed assembling the other three Dragon anti-materiel rifles after the successful test-firing and had spent a good portion of the night pumping out ammunition for them. They would be doing the same for most of the day today as well and then delivering them to our designated snipers once we decided where to position them for the counter-offensive.
There would be no morning practice session that morning. If we wanted to be prepared when the Redcaps attacked then we were going to need the time to assess the damage to the village and make preparations based on that. Amoiraishe and Sheriff Becky Shaw would be participating in the battle, but not leading it since they were both admins and didn’t want to affect what tactics that we players chose to employ. So it looked like the planning of the battle would be left to me and Tien as the de facto leaders of our groups.
With that in mind, as soon as we finished breakfast my group headed into the village, or rather what was left of it. Every home, every business, the town hall, and even the boats and docks had been burned until only ash, blackened concrete, and bitter memories remained. All that remained was the defensive wall that we had built around the village out of whatever scrap and materials that we could find, but even with that, there were several sections of the wall that had been either badly damaged or were gone completely.
The people were no better off than the once-rustic village. Almost everyone was in what had once been the village square and they looked tired and bereft of hope as they sifted through the ashes of what had been lost. How in the hell were Tien and I going to convince these people to fight tonight? What would they even be fighting for, a pile of ashes? How could Tien convince them when she looked like didn’t see the point either? Becky had come to greet us but even the sheriff looked tired and unsure of what to do.
“Tien and I have tried to get some life into this sorry lot, but the village has been getting the crap kicked out of it since the event started and the dragon left nothing left worth fighting over. I’m not sure that even you can change that,” Becky said with a sigh.
I took a deep breath and began to issue orders. “Pete, the village’s food supplies burned up along with everything else. I need you, Rei, and Nishalle to take the truck back to the Estate and bring back every bit of food that we have except what the Brownies absolutely need for our people for tonight and tomorrow in the delivery truck. And bring some Brownies to cook it. Let’s get a good meal or two into these people today. Hopefully, they’ll feel more like fighting on full stomachs.”
“You got it, Your Highness,” the Human Soldier said with a determined nod.
“Nishalle, I want you and Mahair to bring everyone in the Glade who can fight or cast a spell to Haven, except those working on ammunition for the Dragons. That includes Selkies, Undines, and other aquatic Fae. I’d like them and any of our Atlantean friends to be prepared on the off-chance that the Redcaps come by water. And load the pick-up with all four of the Dragons and whatever ammo they have made so far. I’ll tell you where to place them, and have you and Daenyss show any other snipers how to use them, when you get back,” I told my sister.
“On it, Sis,” the Tokh'dhraí replied as she quickly trailed after Pete.
I gave Rei the brightest smile that I could manage. “Sweetie, I’ll need you to bring back all of the medical supplies from the Glade that you can get in the truck with you and Nishalle. You’ll be working with Khyrin and the other healer-type players and NPCs to set up an infirmary, preferably somewhere secure near the northern gate.”
My fiancé gave a determined nod as he ran off to catch up with Pete and Nishalle and I turned my attention to my apprentices next. “Kinara, Becky, and Salem, once we get enough Magi here we’ll need to start fortifying the barriers and sealing up the north entrance to the village. We can use basic stone pillar spells for that. You can start on the breaches on the southern barrier since those have the highest priority and I’ll join in once I have everything else organized. I don’t want an ant to be able to get through that defensive wall unless we let it. We’re going to leave them with only two options, come at us through the south entrance or by water and I can almost guarantee that they won’t choose the water since Redcaps usually can’t swim.”
The three of them saluted and gave an enthusiastic, “Yes, Your Highness,” before heading off to the southern defensive wall to look for any breaches to seal.
“Venika, I want you in charge of the Sprites. Until the battle tonight I want you sending out pairs to do an aerial reconnaissance of the southern forest every hour on the hour, and once the battle starts I have something in mind that I think you’ll all like.”
The Sprite gave me a curious look and once I leaned in closer to whisper my idea her tiny face broke out in a grin. “Oh, you devious little bitch, I love it!”
“Language, Venika,” I teased with a grin of my own before turning to the four remaining members of my party. “Lark, you and I are on morale duty and I doubt that Daenyss or either of our bodyguards will want to let us out of their sight, so they’re with us.”
The pair of feline Beastkin both nodded and the similar looks of determination on Rob’s and Lissany’s faces made me smile as I turned around and led the way toward Tien and the huddled Human players. “Don’t worry Tien, I have my people coming. They’ll bring food and medical supplies and tonight we’ll fight off those Redcaps together.”
Before Tien could reply a male voice cut in acidly, “Do you hear that everyone? Everything is going to be fine now that Princess Perky is here. Where the fuck was she last night? Probably in her palace in the woods, which I’ll bet isn’t a pile of ashes right now.” Of course, it was Hawkin.
The more I had heard about Hawkin since we met, the more I didn’t like what I heard. He liked stirring up trouble and he was one of those eighteen-year-old semi-pro players like those who had been in H3lls-Pwn. In fact, I had heard on good authority that he had tried joining them before they got banned for attempting to rape and kill me. He liked being the top dog or at least the center of attention and he’d do whatever it took toward that purpose.
“She was organizing search and rescue parties, people to fight the fires, sending her people to get the dragon’s attention off the village, and coming up with a way to kill it. She could barely stand and damned near killed herself doing it and she still wanted to come to assist the village personally when she finally passed out from exhaustion, you ungrateful piece of shit!” Lissany snarled.
“Says the princess’s pet,” Hawkin spat. “You wouldn’t be acting so tough without that armor and shield.”
Lissany’s response was to step between me and Hawkin and allow her armor to vanish. “Why don’t you come and try me asshole.”
I placed a hand gently on my Guardian’s shoulder, though I had to smile at the fact that Hawkin still hadn’t made a move toward her. “Enough Liss, I appreciate your concern and loyalty but this isn’t the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Whether you believe it or not Hawkin, we’re here to help. Yes, this village is pretty much toast, but these buildings can be rebuilt, probably better than they were before. The important thing here is that you are all alive and that you continue to live after the Redcaps attack. I have a plan to…”
“Why should we listen to you? You’re just some spoiled little bitch playing princess while the rest of us had everything we’ve worked hard for turned to ashes,” Hawkin taunted.
I didn’t allow him to goad me. It was Rob who answered his question. “Look at the top of the XP leaderboard. That’s her name there. Where’s yours?”
“Everyone knows that she’s in the top spot because the admins want her there,” Hawkin accused with a sneer. “One is playing ‘Mommy’ to her and the other is her apprentice. She’s got this whole game rigged in her favor.”
No,” Lark said, glowering at the large man. “She’s at the top because she’s willing to do things that others aren’t and for the sake of everyone, not just herself. Those supplies that you ‘worked so hard for’ and those clothes you’re wearing. Those were mostly from her leading her party into the city to gather supplies, not just for her party, or the Fae, but for everyone. She’s personally had a hand in killing most of the toughest creatures on this server too, not because she wants the XP but because she cares about everyone, and whenever we need a miracle she finds a way to pull one out of her pretty little ass, usually at great cost to herself!”
“You better believe it!” Daenyss emphatically agreed. “And she will probably do it again tonight because that’s the type of person she is.”
The way I hear it you’re just Little Miss Princess’s slave so you have to do whatever she says. Or is that just in bed?” Hawkin forced a laugh as he stared hungrily at Daenyss’s illusion-clad form. Then he turned to sneer at Lark. “And you, you would be a nobody if you weren’t hanging off the redheaded bimbo all the time. I overheard that idiot sheriff and Tien talking about how you wear some sort of glamour because you rushed through character generation to be with her. Now that is fucking desperate. Are you that ugly in real life? Or maybe you’re some guy pretending to be a girl. Is that it?”
Lissany smiled enough to show her kitty-fangs and looked at Hawkin like he was a particularly stupid child. “Does this tactic of bullying people into following you or backing down usually work? Well, it won’t work with any of us, because every single one of us believes in Her Highness.”
Lark was quick to agree with my Guardian. “Unlike some people who need to try to make themselves look good by acting tough or bullying others, people follow her because she cares about everyone. I would follow her into the mouth of Hell because I know that she wouldn’t just do the same for me, she’d lead the fucking charge. When it comes to friends I prefer quality over quantity and you can’t find better than her and the others in this party. If you really want to see what’s behind the glamour though, I’ll gladly oblige.”
Rob gave his girlfriend a concerned look but she shook her head. “It’s okay sweetie, the plan was for me to reveal myself to the players at the end of closed beta anyway, and it’s looking like that’ll be in just over twenty-four hours.” The bard removed her pendant to a chorus of surprised gasps as most of the crowd recognized the Latino girl with the electric blue hair that the glamour had been hiding. Then she said in that clear and confident voice of hers, “My name is Robyn Reyes, and I’m proud to call Princess Taelya my friend.”
Lark’s, or rather Robyn’s, little reveal had managed to take all of the wind out of Hawkin’s sails. I’m not sure if it was because he was secretly one of her fanboys or because he realized that he had made himself look stupid enough already, but it might have been both. With him no longer trying to cause a scene I was able to discuss my plans with Tien. The Druid was willing to go along with my ideas once I had explained things to her.
I think that she realized that she wasn’t really a military-type leader and my plan did make sense. That’s not to say that she didn’t contribute. For instance, she was able to provide the names of two people with the sniper skill to handle the other two Dragons. The first of these was an Assassin class like my sister, a tiny little blonde female Witch only an inch taller than Salem who went by the username Whisper. The other was a Human Brigand by the name of Manny. She said that he liked to play the role of a Latin lothario but he was a damn good shot and the type of guy that you could count on to have your back when the chips were down. Personally, I thought that Tien might be a little sweet on him, but from what I had seen of him I could also agree with her assessment.
Until the food and the cooks arrived from the Glade Robyn tried to raise morale with an impromptu concert. This was done with the aid of some of her fellow bards who were only too happy to play a set with the famous pop star. It was working too, having a celebrity in their midst telling them that everything was going to be okay and that we could win the coming battle together seemed to lift a lot of people’s spirits. It helped that she was generally an earnest and down-to-earth kind of girl. Rob was keeping a close eye on her, but it seemed that she handled the crowd well enough that Rob didn’t feel the need to interfere and protect her. Robyn’s efforts gave me the time that I needed to finalize plans with Tien and my Mahair then to set up for the evening attack.
I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon organizing things. First, I had to make sure that all of our combined forces knew exactly what the plan was. Then I was organizing mages to help my apprentices ensure that the defensive wall around the remains of the village was completely secure. I had to help with my share of that as well and took responsibility for sealing up the northern entrance. If they somehow made it through my trap then I wanted to make it as difficult as possible for them to get to the Glade. We needed to make our stand in Haven.
By lunchtime, the mood of the Human players had improved considerably. Under Tien’s direction, they were starting to contribute to the preparations for the evening battle. Everywhere you looked people were discussing the strategy, sharpening weapons, making arrows, helping with cooking and distributing the midday meal, or finding other ways to get involved. Human and non-Human players all working together for the good of all of us. It was a nice thing to see.
Nishalle and Daenyss were giving Whisper and Manny a lesson on how to use their new best friends and I had instructed each of them where I wanted the weapons set up atop the defensive wall. Given the size and weight of the weapons and the ammo that came with them, I had to assign them help to get the weapons in place. Daenyss was able to just climb to the top and then set hers up since she and Nishalle had placed the disassembled prototype and ammo bag in her trunk the night before to summon when she needed them but the others weren’t so fortunate. There were no shadows up on top of the wall for Nishalle to take even the disassembled pieces up using her shadow shift ability. So, once they were ready to place the weapons I had Lissany shed her armor, switch to her hybrid form, and carry the pieces up for them.
That did bring up the question of how we were going to get the rest of the ammo up to all four of our snipers though once it was delivered. I asked for Tien’s help to come up with a solution for this problem since she was well known for coming up with solutions that were a little outside the box. She promised me that she would have something ready by that afternoon, whatever it took, and began gathering a team to help her.
At that point, Salem and my other apprentices were starting to get tired from using too much magic so I had them tag out and supervise other tasks to get some rest before the evening’s battle. Salem I sent to help Rei with making sure the infirmary was set up to run as smoothly as possible in the burnt-out concrete husk of a former house’s basement. I had Becky helping Tien organizing the Human players and I had Kinara working with the other Yseil'dhraí and her father at organizing the Fae forces and relaying messages.
I had our forces digging and hiding holes in strategic locations. After I sealed up the north exit through the defense wall and made a circle of the entire village to ensure that there were no weak spots, I turned my attention to checking on the various tasks that I had assigned. Lissany wasn’t letting me out of her sight as I made my rounds of the village remains checking on work, offering encouragement wherever it was needed, and trying to boost morale.
Sonja and the other members of Níala’s party respawned just before lunchtime and Níala was quick to inform them about the dragon attack, the current situation, and what their roles in the evening’s battle plan would be. Their party was pretty eager for some payback after their accidental encounter with the Redcap clan. With that in mind, Sonja was able to provide general numbers and information on their combat tactics during the encounter.
It was mid-afternoon by the time that all of the preparations were made and I had everyone taking well-deserved breaks. Everything was set up as well as it could be and Tien had, as promised, solved the issue that she had set her mind and team to fairly creatively. Her solution had been to have her team assist her with making some lifts to carry loads of ammo up the walls to the waiting snipers. The materials used were some blackened, but not too badly damaged, metal shopping baskets from the former market and some scavenged pulleys, chains, and other materials retrieved by Atlanteans and water-dwelling Fae from the half-destroyed and sunk fishing boats at what remained of the dock.
The lifts weren’t pretty to look at, but they definitely did the job once the ammo had been delivered by Pete with the delivery truck. I unsealed the northern entrance long enough for him to get the truck through and then sealed it right back up again. We were as prepared as we were going to be. Denise, Lincoln, Ashura, Grell, and the others had gone above and beyond by working through the night to provide that ammo so I had called the Beastkin gunsmith’s cell phone to tell them all to get some rest once they had loaded all the ammo for delivery.
The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and preparing an early dinner so everyone would have the energy for the evening’s battle. I seemed to get progressively more nervous the closer that it came to sunset. As we sat alone and watched the south gate from the shadows of a burned-out building Lissany remained my silent Guardian, clad In her armor and ready to move or defend me at a moment’s notice. When darkness finally settled over what had once been the village of Haven I found myself showing my affection to both Ghost and Willow as I waited for the attack to come.
I alternated between lovingly petting both creatures. They were both anxious, but whether they were picking up on my own nervousness or not I couldn’t be sure. Ghost was ready for battle, stomping all six of her hooves and her golden eyes giving me a stern look. “Don’t worry Ghost, I’m not leaving you out of this fight, it’ll be you and me girl.” Her head bobbed up and down as if she understood, and perhaps she did, Vsilja are very smart creatures.
“You too little one, get up there and do your job,” I told Willow, kissing her softly before tossing the Wisp up in the air to join her brother and sister, adding the Wisp’s bright pink glow to the aquamarine and blue of her sister and brother. They and the ghostly lights provided by Rei and the few other Kitsune players provided an eerie light to the darkened village and the blackened skeletons that were all that remained of its homes and businesses. It was as I was gazing up at the display of lights and trying not to think about those shadows that Venika approached.
“They’re coming, they’ll be here soon,” the Sprite told us, a determined look on her tiny features. “I’ve sent other Sprites to inform the team leaders.”
“Thanks, Venika. We’ll be ready. Go and join the welcoming party, I’ll send up the signal when it’s time.” I climbed aboard Ghost’s back and summoned my Lindwyrm-hide armor as the Sprite flew off to follow my orders and then turned to her daughter. “Are you sure that you want to be here with me, Liss? There won’t be much chance to leave unseen once they come through that gate.”
The Beastkin shook her head. “I’m your Guardian, my place is at your side and I wouldn’t be anywhere else. No matter what happens, I will stand by your side and protect you, Your Highness.”
“You’d best get ready to do that then because any minute now a clan of Redcaps is coming out of those trees and charging through that gate,” I shot back. I felt oddly serene now that the time had come. I gave my Guardian a wistful smile and then I began to prepare my first spell.
It was several minutes before the Redcaps rushed out of the woods, onto the road, and through the southern gate of the defensive wall into the village. A full contingent of Fae warriors awaited them beneath the ghost lights cast by the Kitsunes and the floating Wisps. I had hoped that they would show some hesitation at facing the entire host of the Autumn Court, but it seemed that such was not the case. They were lusting for blood and charged right into, and then through the leading line of warriors.
Lissany, Ghost, and I kept to the shadows watching it all play out from a distance. I smiled tiredly as I allowed my illusion to dissipate. That was a hard spell to cast and hold in place but it had done its job. While the Redcaps were looking around in confusion I focused my attention on gathering mana for my next spell and traced the sigils in the air with my right hand as I spoke them and looked above me to where I wished to have the spell take effect. “Kiara aeluine!”
It was a much simpler spell than my first and as the small but bright golden light flashed high in the night sky, close to three dozen Sprites and three Wisps saw that signal and swooped down from above, each snatching up a hat from our opponents and flying off into the direction of the village square. The Redcaps angrily pursued them, but while the hat-snatchers could fly straight our opponents had to navigate through the village’s streets and around the burned and collapsed remains of former homes and other buildings.
Once I was sure to give them enough of a lead I rode Ghost out of the shadows of the building remains we were hidden in with Lissany by my side and gave a low whistle. Burned remains were shifted and illusions were dropped as my people emerged from every basement, cellar, and hiding spot we had been able to find or make on the south side of the village. Then we followed in pursuit of our quarry.
We had barely moved forward when an orange glow lit up the darkened sky ahead of us. That would be my Mahair, my apprentices, and every Magus or Druid among the Human or Witch players casting their most powerful fire spells on the recently delivered pile of hats. I could hear the Redcaps begin to scream as a brief green flash in the night sky signaled them entering the square and our snipers’ Dragons began to roar, each shot echoing across the remains of the village.
“That’s music to my ears, and our cue,” I said, turning to nod to Sahnae and the Fae archers that I had put under her command, including Níala and Lourke. “Archers! To the front and let ‘em have it!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” they called out as they moved ahead to get a good view of the square. The rest of us followed behind and Robyn began singing to cast an accuracy buff so they could aim for spots already hit by the snipers. The minute that her troops were in position with some cover and a view of the square they fired off a volley of crystal-headed arrows dipped in Lindwyrm venom. We didn’t have much of the venom or the arrowheads so those first shots needed to count. They would take other opportunities to fire as they presented themselves.
I began to issue the orders as I turned to our gathered warriors with a grim nod. “Rob and Maekin you’ll stay here with a small contingent to cover our archers and Robyn. Robyn, we’re going to need those buffs. Narek, Lissany, and Pete, you’re with me and the main force. For the Glade and our allies! Warriors to arms!”
At my war cry, we charged past the now-concealed archers and down the darkened street into the village square. Amoiraishe had already erected a stone barrier at the east side of the square between the Redcaps and the retreating magic users. Those spell-slingers had run off to safer casting positions immediately after setting the pile of hats ablaze so that we were free to engage. The Sprites would begin casting from above as soon as it looked like the targets were suitably weakened and other Magi as soon as they found good positions. I would have gone to join the other Magi, but I was needed to lead my people and come up with alternate strategies in case our battle plan went to hell.
From the sounds of the gunshots the snipers were really peppering the enemy forces and changing magazines fairly quickly. Nishalle had planned to have them alternate shooting two at a time. Not only would this make it harder for the Redcaps to get their position, but also allow them proper time to reload. The pair not shooting would count off ten shots and then start firing while the spent pair reloaded or changed magazines and counted off ten shots from the new firing pair. If they could target the eyes they would, but they would try for other weak points as well. The Dragons had a lot of stopping power and might just be able to pierce both the armor and flesh on the Redcaps.
Our job would be to harry them and keep them from looking for the snipers, spell casters, and archers and take down any that looked sufficiently weakened with whatever weapons we had at hand. Narek and Pete led the charge into the confused and furious group of Redcaps as I looked for a position to cast from where I could still issue orders. I could feel the surge of energy rush through me as Robyn’s voice rang out in song and I moved into position. Lissany wasn’t letting me out of her sight, sticking closer to me and Ghost than our own shadows.
To my pleasant surprise, there were already a few redcaps down from the sniper fire and several were already starting to look weakened. Narek focused the attack on those to thin their numbers while I searched for any hats that hadn’t been snatched that I could set ablaze. It was as I was doing that that I noticed movement at the north side of the square. “What the hell? They’re supposed to wait for the signal. We haven’t completely engaged the enemy yet.”
It was Hawkin. Of course, it was. He had emerged from his concealment early and I was half tempted to use my first spell on him if he gave away the plan. Damn it, he was going to charge them. “Is he an idiot or is he just that crazy?” Lissany muttered from beside me, informing me that she too had seen him.
“He’s doing it just to spite us, because he wants in on the killing, and probably to be a glory hog. Does he even know the meaning of the word teamwork?” I whispered back as I made my decision. I couldn’t afford to let him screw up our strategy. I quickly drew the sigils and sent the mana into the spell as I spoke them and concentrated on Hawkin. “Kaida siashe!”
Hawkin was thrown violently back into the pit from whence he came and I was going to hold him there until the damn signal was given. It pissed me off though since I could have actually been using spells to help my forces if I wasn’t having to hold him in place to keep him from giving away the plan. I was so focused on keeping him from doing something stupid that I barely noticed the Redcap approaching until Lissany had placed herself between the two of us and delivered a blow to his head with her war hammer that made a thunderous cracking sound but only managed to stun him. He had a dark red, almost black cap and a few really big but shallow bullet wounds, and the slash of his scythe that had been aiming for Lissany’s throat skittered harmlessly off her shield from the force of her blow.
He shook his head as if to clear it and grinned at me and my Guardian. “So much life an’ power inna two o’ ya. An’ a Fae princess tae, Mòrag will be right pleased.”
He lunged at me, trying to get past Lissany, but two things happened at that moment. First, Narek let out a shrill whistle signaling that the Redcaps had their attention focused on us. That allowed me to let go of my spell on Hawkin while the other Human fighters emerged from their hiding places in covered holes at the north side of the square to attack the Redcap forces from behind. The second thing was that a bullet whizzed past me and Lissany to catch the Redcap in the left eye, causing him to scream out in pain.
The shot came from the southwest so I reminded myself to thank Nishalle later for watching our backs. Now wasn’t the time though since the battle had become a free-for-all with the Redcaps trapped between our combined forces. Spells and bullets were still raining down on them, but now I had something else on my mind. “Mòrag?” I muttered in confusion. This couldn’t possibly be good. Not only did the mere name, and the reverence with which he spoke it, send a cold shiver slithering down my spine but named creatures were always bad news and usually some sort of boss. It also sounded like a female name to me and when Redcaps were involved that could be a very bad thing.
I guided Ghost with my knees, backing her off a bit and moving her in position to take advantage of our adversary’s new blind spot. While doing that I drew in as much mana as I could and started feeding it into the palm of my right hand as I drew the sigils with my left and spoke them aloud. “Tierre-aeluine thren’dhal utaera!” The fireball was my most powerful single-target fire spell and I poured as much mana as I could into it as it formed in my hand. “Lissany, roll!”
At my shouted command my Guardian rolled to her right and toward me, giving me a clear shot to toss the fireball over her, hitting our opponent’s near-black cap and causing it to burst into flames. As he screamed Lissany got back to her feet with all the grace of her feline heritage, turned on her heel, and rounded on our now cap-less opponent. He wasn’t finished yet, and I had a feeling that we needed to take care of him quickly. If I was right then there was something far worse that we needed to worry about.
Our opponent turned on us in fury, rushing toward us, only to have his scythe ring off Lissany’s massive shield again as her war hammer went for his blindside. The impact sent him reeling and I wasn’t going to let him regain his senses as I rode Ghost in close and had her deliver a solid kick with her front hooves to his face. While he was staggering from that I drew one of my colts from my right thigh and filled his empty eye socket with hollow points. For a moment I wasn’t sure if that would be enough to finish him, but after what seemed an eternity he collapsed and I was able to replace the clip and return the gun to its holster.
With our opponent down I risked a look around. I needed to know if this Mòrag was what I feared it was. Our forces were managing the Redcaps well. We were taking some losses but while that was sad it was no less than we had been expecting and I couldn’t afford to focus on the lost lives at the moment. Rei and the other Priests, Priestesses, and Medics would focus on them when the battle was done. “Keep your eyes open for a woman with red hair, Liss, and I don’t mean me or my Mahair.”
We scanned the area and Lissany asked, “A woman with the Redcaps? I’ve only seen dudes so far.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way, but keep your eyes on the shadows. I have a bad feeling about this,” I grumbled as I scanned the area cautiously. “Dammit! I should have considered this possibility, but I only considered the Redcaps, not their creator.”
Redcaps don’t just come into being on their own, they’re created by a creature that the Fae called a Shíle’rhük, also known as a Red Hag or a Blood Queen. Shíle’rhük usually only stay with a clan long enough to build up their numbers before moving on to create a new clan. When they figure they have enough clans serving them they travel between them to collect blood tributes. With the size of this clan being so large the odds of this clan’s ‘mother’ being with the specific clan that we were currently fighting for a blood tribute were probably less than ten percent. Between that and neither Níala nor any of her party members reporting the presence of a woman, I hadn’t even considered the possibility. Damn, I felt stupid.
I explained to Lissany about the Shíle’rhük as we monitored the fighting and I threw spells as needed. The fighting was going well. Even if they were damn durable we had the Redcaps outnumbered from the beginning and between our snipers, destroying most of their caps, and keeping them off balance we were doing pretty well for ourselves. There were less than ten Redcaps left alive and it looked like our combined forces had them well in hand. Lissany was still watching our surroundings carefully though as she asked, “You said that this Blood Queen creates the Redcaps, could she be creating reinforcements somewhere? How does she make them?”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about, Liss. Redcaps used to be Human men.” I let that sink in for a moment as I scanned the battle scene. “She curses them and binds them to her by making them swallow her blood. She chooses bloodthirsty and selfish men with darkness in their hearts. Sometimes they use the same method to change dark-hearted Human women into another Shíle’rhük, but that’s unlikely. Still, we need to find her quickly and we can’t risk letting her near any Humans.”
“Shit,” Lissany cursed as her eyes scanned the battle and the dimly lit shadowed remains of the village around us.
My Guardian and I may have both had fairly damn good vision at night and in low light but this was getting us nowhere. “Liss, I’m going to see if I can find her another way. Cover me and Ghost please.”
“I’m on it, Your Highness,” I heard her reply as I closed my eyes and reached out with Nature’s Call. I could sense the stomach-churning presence of the Redcaps. They were being overwhelmed and I could feel them becoming weaker with every moment, even as the sickening light of another of their lives was extinguished. The remainder were surrounded and wouldn’t last much longer under the sustained assault of our combined forces.
I pushed my senses outward and away from the diminishing group of Redcaps. It was possible if she was here that she would flee with her clan being decimated the way that it was. This was a battlefield though and bloodlust was plentiful and so were the Humans, so it was just as likely that she would look to recoup some of her losses. I reached out to the edges of the square and intended to go further when I felt her.
And I had thought that the Redcaps felt stomach-churning. Compared to her they were a small case of slight nausea. She was sneaking along the western edge of the square northward and right toward the Human forces that had attacked the Redcaps’ rear. How in the hell had I not seen her? When I switched my settings to label usernames and enemies I saw the title over her head, Blood Queen Mòrag. It was as I switched my settings back to avoid the headache from too much extraneous input that I realized why she was making me feel so sick. The flow of mana around her was disrupted and it was like looking at a bloody festering wound. She was damned magic-user.
I figured that she was using some form of invisibility spell but she didn’t draw on mana from various sources a little at a time or take what the natural currents of mana offered as they flowed around and through her. She greedily gobbled up as much mana as she could from the area immediately around her. We were damn fortunate that she was on the move, drawing mana from everything around her equally, and that her capacity to hold mana was finite or we could be in big trouble. It immediately brought to my mind Sahnae’s lesson on what could happen if something were to be completely drained of its mana.
I couldn’t let Mòrag get to the Humans I needed to stop her here and now. At least she wasn’t as big as that damn Kraken so I wouldn’t have to pull in near as much mana to make this work. “Kaida kuorüis miska!” I quickly spoke and drew the sigils and poured the mana into the spell as I used the currents of mana to track her position.
Eight crystal spikes, each of them five feet in length, erupted from the ground around her and she became visible as she screamed in pain. One of the spikes had pierced her shoulder, though not as deeply as I would have liked. She angrily snapped the end of the spike off and pulled it from her shoulder then stepped from between the spikes to look around for her attacker. Well, at least I’d gotten her attention. Now I just needed to keep it. I could sense her casting so I cast a spell of my own as quickly as I could speak the words and draw the sigils. “Tierre kiara tala-aeluine utaera!”
The blue balls of fire from my Scattershot spell screamed as they flew from my hand to pepper the Red Hag, or at least that was my intention. Instead, they harmlessly hit a barrier before they could strike her. From how far each of them had detonated away from her body I figured that it had to be some sort of magical defensive sphere. It was then that she turned around to regard me and I got my first good look at her.
Mòrag was roughly five foot four and clad in the tattered remains of what was once most likely some form of dress. Her skin was an unhealthy-looking white, even paler than my own and her blood-red hair was so long that it dragged a few feet behind her on the ground. Her eyes were nearly all black and when she opened her mouth to grin at me I could see rows of viciously sharp teeth like a shark’s.
“Umm, I don’t see a hat on her, Your Highness,” Lissany offered uncertainly.
“That’s because she doesn’t dye a hat, she dyes her hair,” I replied trying not to toss my cookies as I thought about it. She was casting another spell though so thankfully I didn’t have too much time to think about it as I readied another of my own. “Kaida liantuir ophaíne!” I had never really been in an all-out magic battle so I figured that I should start by increasing my defense. That spell was my own sphere of magical protection, but just in case I followed it up with the same spell that I had used to infuse Lissany’s armor and shield with magical defense, “Kaida ikandiir ysoldir aentuire!”
Just as I finished the second spell stone spikes flew from the ground to launch themselves through the air toward me. Lissany quickly leaped in front of me and Ghost, her shield taking the beating for us. I was readying a more offensive spell when some sort of dark energy blast flew over Lissany’s head and damn near knocked me from Ghost’s back. That was a powerful spell, and I didn’t think my defense could take another hit like that. I really didn’t want to get hit by another like that one.
I righted myself on Ghost’s back, guiding her with my knees again as I prepared another spell. At least it had hit me and not Lissany. I had embedded protective spells into her armor but I wasn’t really sure how much of a pounding she would be able to take. I was worried that I might have to find out when I saw her readying another spell and Lissany shifted position, ready to jump if need be.
Several explosions hit the northeast side of Mòrag’s defensive shield. I guess it was Daenyss’s turn to cover me, and she had switched to high explosive rounds for the occasion. I smiled as I glanced past Lissany’s protective form in front of me and Ghost and sent a barrage of icicles pounding into the Blood Queen’s shield spell. “Aes’Suvas tanuus tala-soldis utaera!”
I wasn’t the only one whipping spells at her either. Our battle had gotten some attention and Venika and several Sprites had broken off to contribute as had some of the mages. Between all of the spells raining down on her and the high explosive rounds Mòrag’s shielding spell was weakening, I could feel it. A high-level fire spell that I was pretty sure came from my Mahair finished it off, consuming the area around the Red Hag. I could feel the heat from where I was standing a good forty feet away and for a moment it lit the night so brightly that it was painful to look at.
Then the flames were gone and Mòrag remained standing. Her shielding spell was gone, as were her clothes, but otherwise, she appeared entirely unharmed. “Holy shit,” Lissany sputtered beside me. “How did she live through that?”
Her goddamn hair wasn’t even singed and that had been a really powerful spell. What the hell were we going to do? She was as durable as the Redcaps, if not more so, and it wasn’t like we could have the Sprites snatch away her hair and burn it. It was so freaking long too, I didn’t even want to think about how much stolen life energy was stored in there. She really needed a damn haircut. Maybe if I could come up with a spell to weaken the hair enough to cut some of it off then it would weaken her.
It was as I was considering that option that I saw Hawkin coming at Mòrag from behind. She was sniffing the air and grinning again and I could tell from the look in her eyes that she knew he was there. As she began to turn around to greet him I called out to warn him. “You idiot! Don’t get too close to her, it’s too dangerous!”
“Fuck you bitch! This is a boss and you’re just trying to hog all of the XP for yourself!” he shouted as he slashed at the Red Hag with his sword. I don’t think that he even managed to break her skin before she finished spinning around and reached out to grab him by the throat.
“Just fucking great, she’s durable, fast, agile, and has magick that’s going to make this sooo much easier,” I thought bitterly.
If she managed to get any of her blood down Hawkin’s throat then he would become one of her Redcaps, bound to her will and we’d have to kill him. I couldn’t be sure if when he respawned from that if he would do so as a Human or a Redcap, but curses were like oaths and they could transcend death. The only way to make sure he’d revive as a Human and not some bloodthirsty monster would to kill him before he could be changed or get her to let go of him before she had a chance to do her thing.
I didn’t have an angle on him from my position, but apparently, I also wasn’t the only one thinking along those lines. As Mòrag bit her finger to draw the blood she required she and Hawkin both were engulfed in another powerful firestorm. Both of them screamed, Hawkin in his death throes and Mòrag in rage. While her focus was elsewhere I took my chance and started casting a new spell that I hoped would do what I wanted, focusing the mana into my right hand as I cast the sigils with my left. “Kaida kuorüis poshe thren’dhal!”
I was really glad that I was wearing gloves and gladder still that I had imbued them with protective magicks earlier as a sword appeared in my hand. It was made from the energy-sapping sea-green crystal and its edge was razor sharp and brimming with destructive magick. For such a small effect that spell had been a doozy to cast power-wise. I was only going to have one chance at this.”Liss, let’s go!” I kicked Ghost into motion and galloped forward with Lissany loping alongside us, now in her hybrid jaguar form for its speed and strength boosts.
We had crossed half the distance by the time that Mòrag dropped Hawkin’s smoking corpse to the ground. She was still being peppered with spells, but they were smaller spells now and mostly from the opposite direction of my approach. A Wind Whisper spell carried Kinara’s voice to my ears. “We’ll keep her attention away from you, Your Highness. The Redcaps are almost finished and Her Majesty thought it was better to kill Hawkin and have him respawn later than to let him become one of those things. I’ve instructed the snipers and more powerful Magi to hold off attacking again until you are back out of the line of fire.”
I didn’t have time for a response, but she probably wasn’t expecting one. Morag was shielding her eyes from a barrage of spells that were mostly just bright light and loud concussive blasts meant to keep her attention on the threat in front of her and away from me. As soon as I was within range I grabbed the Blood Queen’s crimson hair as close as I could manage to the back of her head and hacked it off with my crystal blade.
Mòrag swung around to face us, screaming as if she had been set on fire. I tried not to laugh at the irony since she hadn’t seemed to feel anything but anger when she was set on fire only a moment before. Instead, I tossed the crystal sword to Lissany as I rode off with my prize. Looking over my shoulder I could see the look of surprise in her eyes as my Guardian caught the sword in her free hand and in one fluid motion buried it to the hilt in the Red Hag’s stomach before she snapped it off. Lissany tossed the broken-off hilt aside and spat, “Pull that one out,” before snatching up her dropped war hammer and dashing off in pursuit of me.
I couldn’t help but grin at my loyal defender as I put my focus on holding onto the long hair that seemed to be fighting to wrench its way out of my grasp and back toward the Blood Queen. I just gripped it tighter sending mana into the hand that I was gripping it with as my right hand drew the sigils for my fireball spell. “Tierre-aeluine thren’dhal utaera!” As soon as I finished chanting and drawing the sigils and focused on the mana gathered in my hand the pilfered blood-red locks burst into flame. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of scorched hair and quickly tossed the burning mess to the ground to keep from getting burned.
The Red Hag was in a fury now, her already creepy face twisted in hate as she largely ignored the spells raining down on her to give chase to me and Lissany with murder in her eyes. She was casting a spell and another of those black energy bolts rammed into my shielding spell. Surprisingly my spell held, her spell had lacked a lot of the punch that it had before. We just needed to pour on the pressure, but with her coming after me and Lissany that would be difficult for our Magi and snipers to do without the risk of hitting us as well.
Mòrag was a fast caster and even if she didn’t have as much power as she did before she still had an edge. She cast quickly and without hand motions or incantations so I had no idea what she might be throwing at us or when, just the sense of the mana she was gobbling up to do it. She was still pretty fast and agile too. She closed the distance between us quickly and cast some sort of concussive spell that was still powerful enough to send Lissany flying. Lissany’s armor seemed to take the brunt of the blow, but I did hear her let out a yelp in concert with the cracking of bones. I was in the middle of another defensive spell when she let another spell fly at me.
Ghost either sensed the danger or saw the spell’s effect before I did. She reared up, throwing me from her back and placing her body between me and the blood-red projectiles that flew from Mòrag’s outstretched hands. For what seemed like forever I just laid there on the ground in shock as Ghost’s bloodied white form fell to the ground, shuddered, and then finally went still and the light left her golden eyes. Tears filled my eyes and I couldn’t breathe as I scrambled toward the fallen Vsilja. She wasn’t breathing. I shook with anguish and fury as I turned toward the monster that had killed my faithful steed.
She was standing over me readying another spell. I needed to even the odds. I wouldn’t have time for a counter-spell, I knew that so I reached out again and gave nature my command. I wasn’t even sure that I’d have time for that, but I hoped for the best as I threw out a quick prayer to Danu. She may have been listening because it seemed that Lissany was faster than both of us. She hurled that monster war hammer of hers like a baseball and it struck the Blood Queen in the side of the head, distracting her long enough for me to thrust a stone pillar from the concrete beside me. It hit her like a battering ram and sent her flying back a good twenty feet.
That would be enough space. Lissany rushed to my side, placing herself between me and Mòrag as she retrieved her hammer and I reached out for the mana to cast another spell. “Tiihal suvas ysoldir!” The ground beneath the Red Hag and for a ten-foot radius around her turned to quicksand, and as it dragged her down ever deeper a combination of Magi and three snipers using incendiary rounds brought fire down upon her. Once only her now-bald bead was showing I canceled the spell effect and Mòrag glared up at me with hatred.
Even almost entirely buried, with her power mostly gone and weakened by the crystal blade in her stomach she still refused to go down. I didn’t care, someone else could finish her off. It wouldn’t bring Ghost back and my night had been long enough and I’d seen enough death already. The battle was essentially over and I had to send the signal to the Priests, Priestesses, and Medics that they could come in and get to work. As I cast the signal and I walked Lissany toward the area where we’d set up the infirmary to get her checked out I heard a shot ring out from the southeast. “Thanks, Nishalle,” I said with a sigh as the explosive round went off behind me in the vicinity of the Blood Queen’s head.
With that, a pop-up message appeared announcing the end of the Red Dawn event. Venika flew down to join us with Silverheels and Willow right behind her, the latter alighting upon my shoulder to nuzzle me affectionately, probably feeling how tired I was and the weight in my heart from the loss of Ghost. “Are you both okay?” the Sprite asked in concern.
“I’m fine, Mom. She may have broken a few ribs, but they’ll be healed up in no time. I probably won’t even need to see a healer,” Lissany said, waving off her concern.
“You’re seeing a healer,” Venika and I both stated adamantly in unison. Then I turned to give the Beastkin girl a weak smile. “Thanks for covering me Liss, you’re the best Guardian a princess could ask for.”
“I was just doing my job, Your Highness. I wouldn’t want to guard anyone else. You’re like a friend, a princess, and a big sister all rolled up into one and I’d never let anything happen to you on my watch,” she replied with a shrug, wincing some at the pain it caused in her ribs.
An hour later Rei, Salem, and the others in the infirmary were busy with medical aid, healing prayers, resurrections, and everything else that was needed post-battle. Lissany had been right about her ribs. With her naturally accelerated healing rate her three broken ribs were already mostly mended, so after Rei confirmed that with a quick scan my Guardian told her that she would just take it easy and wait. She would rather deal with that small pain than take attention away from those with worse injuries and normal healing rates.
Robyn and I had helped where we could in the infirmary, me using my spell for accelerating healing and her doing something similar by singing and buffing the healing rate of those in the worst danger while the Priests and Priestesses chanted their prayers. There wasn’t much more we could do now though so we just sat together out of the way with Rob, Venika, Lissany, Nishalle, Pete, Daenyss, and Kinara. It would probably be a while before Rei and the others were finished their jobs. Later everyone planned to return to the Estate, though Grell was already there and asleep after a long day pumping out ammunition with Ashura, Denise, and the other crafters working on the project. Pete and Nishalle had plans they wanted to continue from the night before, as did Daenyss with Salem and Venika with Phinik.
I would have liked to spend some quality time with Rei too, but after excusing myself from the others I sent her a message via Wind Whisper spell to put off those plans. I had something that I needed to do. Absently petting Willow as I walked the ruined streets of Haven, I used Nature’s call to track down Amoiraishe. I found her and Narek together looking over Ghost’s body. Mahair didn’t even look back at me as she said, “She’s a fine and loyal Vsilja. She saved your life by taking that spell for you, little rose. I will not allow her to be lost to you so easily. I have sent an order to have her respawn, just as a player would, should Rei or Khyrin be unable to resurrect and heal her.”
I nodded, and then since neither she nor Narek was looking at me to see my silent assent I simply replied, “Thank you.” I didn’t want to start crying again and I didn’t want it to distract me from what I needed to do but it seems that I don’t get everything I want. So I just let the tears run down my cheeks and said a silent thank you to Ghost before I confronted my Fae parents. “You promised me answers, Mahair. It’s time that you give me them, both of you.”
Amoiraishe turned to face me. “I guess that it is time that you see what’s behind the curtain, little rose, but first I believe that you have one last skill download available. Narek has asked that he be allowed to use it to complete your sword training.”
“You never know when you might need it,” my Pájar said uncertainly as he turned to face me as well and then quickly cast his eyes away. I wondered again what it was that he could have done to me that was so bad that he would need my forgiveness, and what it had to do with him being my Fae father. “It doesn’t mean that you get to stop practicing though, like your swords your skills must be kept sharp.”
“Yeah, sure you might as well. I can’t think of anything else to spend the skill point on at the moment,” I replied watching them both through narrowed eyes. I just wanted my damned answers. Almost as soon as I answered a pop-up notice appeared.
This will use one skill point. Do you accept? Y/N*
I quickly tapped the Y button floating in the air in front of me and felt my brain once again flooded with new knowledge. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to that sensation, but then it would probably be the last time that I felt it anyway so I guessed that didn’t matter much. “Thank you,” I managed, trying not to sound as impatient as I felt. “Now about those answers.”
“Yes,” Amoiraishe said with a nod. “It’s time that I told you the truth, all of it. Goddess knows you have the right to know and you would find out most of it soon regardless. I think that we should step outside for this though.”
I was confused for a moment by her last words. “Aren’t we already outside?” I thought as I looked up at the night sky. That was when more pop-ups appeared in front of my eyes one after another.
*Settings for Taelya saved.*
*Please stand by, an attendant will arrive to assist you in exiting your F.I.T in a moment.*
Everything went dark and once again I found myself floating in the unsettling absence of my senses. It seemed like I was in there an eternity and I was starting to panic when I felt a hand wrap around mine, pulling me into a sitting position. It took a few minutes, but all of my various monitors, patches, and other paraphernalia were removed, or at least that was what my sense of touch was telling me. The attendant had saved the sensory deprivation helmet/breathing apparatus for last and I found myself squinting against the bright lights in the room as my other senses seemed to go into overdrive.
It wasn’t too bad though, only a little more sensitive than my senses had been in the game. I took a deep breath of the slightly stale air in the room and once I could see properly again I found myself staring, not at the apparently Nyiir'dhraí attendant, but at the long, copper-hued hair cascading down my head and partially obscuring my vision, most of it soaking wet from the green goo I’d been laying in. I reached up to experimentally touch my ears and finding them still long and pointed I looked downward at my lithe and feminine body with a pair of breasts pushing out the fabric of the F.I.T suit and showing some cleavage.
I just sat there for several minutes, stunned and trying to process this. I had suspected that I might wake up from the game as Taelya, there had been enough clues for me to suspect as much. I had thought that idea crazy though because it would have meant that magic, the Fae, and a bunch of other stuff in the game were real. But I think that waking up like this was possibly the most important answer of all. Though now I couldn’t decide if I had more or fewer questions than I had had before. “Your Highness, are you alright?” the attendant asked in concern.
“I… I’m just processing this,” I replied uncertainly. Was I alright? How did I even feel about this? Why wasn’t I weirded out when she addressed me as ‘Your Highness’? The answers surprised me once I managed to figure them out. Yes, I was alright. I was comfortable as Taelya, it was who I was now and it felt right. I liked being her and at some level, I had been fearing returning to being Caleb. I feared that I had grown too accustomed to being my new self and that I would have to go through the dysphoria again. I had feared the loss of my magick and that my friends would suffer upon returning to the real world. I had feared that we would never be able to return to being the people that we enjoyed being.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m fine, I think. I would like to see my Mahair though.”
“Sure, let’s get you cleaned up, and then I will take you to her. She and Sir Narek will meet us in the conference room when you are all ready. I’m Alysse, and I will be attending you until your regular Attendant and the others join us here in the real world.”
Alysse took me to a really big locker/shower room where she began an exercise in precision cleaning before getting me dressed in a crimson silk bra and panty set followed by a simple satin dress and slippers of the same color that she had pulled from a locker labeled ‘Taelya’. To my surprise, she also extracted very convincing replicas of the choker that I wore as a spell focus and my nature’s crown as well and I could feel the magick of them both as she put them on me.
Once she was finished dressing me she quickly arranged my hair in its usual style and put just a little makeup on me. All the while she chattered away, explaining that she and the other attendants had started taking measurements once our transformations were complete, which would have been around the time when our dysphoria disappeared in-game. She had been the same tech who had helped me into my F.I.T in the first place, though she had been under a glamour at the time, and she had been checking on me several times a day since. They had been carefully monitoring our ‘rebirths’ and our attached medical equipment, especially with those of us going through major physiological changes. She seemed in a rush to get me ready though and I found myself sorely missing Daenyss’s pampering.
Once Alysse was finished with me we left the high-security area, and as she was walking me to the elevator she checked her watch and said apologetically, “I am sorry for having to rush things, Your Highness. I know that inside the simulation they still had a full day before shutdown when you logged out, but now we have less than four hours out here to get everything ready to be moved to a secure location if we wish to coordinate with the other Courts.”
“I understand,” I replied simply. I was still a bit weirded out that I was out of the game and she was casually talking about the Courts and Fae and addressing me as ‘Your Highness’. As much as I had been dreading it to some degree I had thought I would be Caleb again when I got back to the real world. I’d had my suspicions of course, especially with some of the things Amoiraishe had said and done, but I’d never really expected them to be true. My suspicions had sounded crazy to me and I’d been having to dismiss them more and more as the picture that the clues painted seemed to point toward that unthinkable conclusion.
As soon as we had reached the fifteenth floor of the Pegasus Entertainment corporate headquarters building Alysse left me with Amoiraishe’s receptionist to return to preparing for the evacuation. She was a friendly Vietnamese woman named Sen and I realized that this was Tien’s aunt as she tried to keep a friendly conversation going about how hectic things were. She wasn’t sure how to address me, but apparently, this was all new to her so I really couldn’t fault her. If I was in her place and found out that most of the people I worked with were elves or other mythical creatures then I’d probably be a bit uncertain too. At least she and her other human employees seemed to have gotten an explanation from the sounds of it, I was still waiting for mine.
Sen left me at the door to the conference room and then excused herself to finish some last-minute tasks with all of the other employees preparing for the big move. I opened the door to find myself facing Amoiraishe and Narek, looking much as they had in the game. A clock on the wall said 5:22 and it was still light out, so a glance out the large windows showed a view of downtown Vancouver and Burrard Inlet. It wasn’t as pretty a picture as I could have hoped. I could see columns of smoke wafting up into the sky here and there and a flock of Griffins flew by.
I found myself staring at the latter for a long moment before turning my eyes back to my Fae parents. “This is really happening? We’re not still inside the game?”
My Mahair nodded slowly. “Hundreds of years ago the Gods grew weary of Man. They had forgotten their creators, abused their gifts, and showed only fear and hate toward those who were not like them. The Goddess Danu stripped the world of magic, sealing it and all magical creatures within the Veil, including the Gods themselves, until a time when Mankind could be redeemed.”
I recognized that, it was the first part of the summary of the plot for Apocalypse Dawn. “What? You’re saying that the game is based on real events?”
“I’m afraid that this is all too real, little rose,” Amoiraishe confirmed sadly. “This all began roughly four hundred years ago. Even then, Humans greatly outnumbered us and they had hunted us and all other magical or non-Human creatures relentlessly for over two centuries by that time. Even after we made allies among other non-Humans such as the Atlanteans and Beastkin our numbers slowly dwindled while Humans grew ever more populous. Rhaennan was the last straw.”
“Your daughter? The memories I’ve been seeing in my dreams, they’re hers aren’t they?” I rounded on Narek, casting a withering accusatory look his way. “You did this, didn’t you?! She left her Aen’kuorüis for you!”
Amoiraishe looked even less happy with him than I was as Narek shook his head. “Please, allow your Mahair to finish explaining. I will admit to my transgressions and my reasons for them when you know everything.”
I shrugged but continued to glower at the Winter Court Yseil'dhraí. Personally, I thought that he was just trying to put off the inevitable, but I did turn back to Amoiraishe as I took a firm grip on my temper. “Please continue, Mahair.”
“As the numbers of our people as a whole grew less and less, so too did the number of Yseil'dhraí, but the Autumn and Winter Courts suffered the worst losses,” my Mahair explained. “Rhaennan was a blessing at a time when I was the last Yseil'dhraí among the Autumn Court. She could have been the savior of our people but she was a problem child. She was a magical prodigy and yet had no wish to learn and she never really took her lessons in anything serious. Oh, she memorized them well enough, but she never really considered the deeper meanings of what she was learning and why. She was also compulsively curious about Humans and refused to listen to my warnings, and that was her downfall.”
“She ran away to live with Seamus,” I said, remembering that last dream.
Her eyes narrowed in anger at the name and she took a deep breath as she visibly attempted to control her fury. “Aye, she was too foolish to see how dangerous he was, how all… most humans can be. To be fair, he was just as much a fool as she was. He thought only of himself, of possessing my daughter as if she were some prize to be won, never once considering the consequences of his vanity.”
“What happened?” I asked, pretty certain from her words and the tone of her voice that they had not lived happily ever after once Rhaennan had eloped with Seamus.
“The inevitable,” the Queen of the Autumn Court spat bitterly. “The very night that she left he took her to the church in his village so they could be wed and I assume that they let it be discovered who and what my daughter was. I do not know all of the details but by the time we realized that she was gone and went to the village to find her the next morning, Rhaennan’s spirit was already gone beyond the reach of our Priests and Priestesses. All that was left where they had burned them both at the stake was a pair of cold iron manacles and the viyr’kuor that Narek made for her.”
Amoiraishe paused a moment in her telling, choking back tears before continuing. “I was furious. I burned the entire village to the ground and set the Wild Hunt upon its people. We allowed only the children and a few of the women to flee. They would remember what comes of crossing the Fae. When we returned to the Glade I called a Council of the Courts and we communed with Danu for guidance.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to react to her casual admission of butchering almost an entire village, but it was her only daughter and I figured that that kind of anguish could drive people to terrible things, humans would have done the same, or worse most likely, if the positions had been reversed. At least she had spared the children and some women to care for them. “So that was when Danu created the Veil and you all got sucked in?”
“Not all of us,” my Mahair said with a shake of her head. “One of us had to remain, to act as a focus for the Veil. I was elected and when Danu removed all magical creatures, artifacts, and even the ability to use magick from this world, I alone remained with my features altered to appear human.”
“Wait, so you’ve been… for four hundred years?” I sputtered, staring at her wide-eyed.
“Since late 1646,” she confirmed, “I have walked this Earth, moving from place to place and changing my identity every decade or two. At first, it was torture, living among the Humans I despised and feeling the mana all around me but being unable to actively use it. The only guidance I had were my visions. They kept me safe and helped me to generate great fortunes and plan for when the Veil would eventually fall. Over that time I discovered that not all Humans were as bad as I believed, some had good hearts and a sense of honor. They could be taught a better way. Then, after three hundred and twenty years, something surprising happened.”
I didn’t want to interrupt her. I was getting answers and frankly, it was really cool that she had lived through almost four hundred years of modern history. The stories she could probably tell. I shoved that thought aside as I endeavored to listen to the story she was telling now.
Amoiraishe smiled wistfully as she continued her tale. “It was the sixties, a good time for me with the peace movement and all the sex that a Fae could want at my fingertips. I got to know so many interesting people. And then I discovered that I was pregnant. I was going by the name Maria Sanders back then and gave birth to a son, who I named Geoffrey.”
My eyes snapped wide open and I could feel the anger build up that I had always associated with the name Geoffrey Sanders. “My father,” I spat. Wait, did that make her Karin’s and my grandmother?
“Yes,” she agreed simply. “Despite him being human while the Veil was still in place I raised him with the knowledge of his people and my secret.”
“Well that explains him sleeping around on my mom,” I snapped bitterly. Not that I thought being raised as a Fae excused that. He could have been honest and open about things like Rei and I were.
Amoiraishe stood up, her voice and stance both firm as she commanded. “Taelya nír Keshwaindyr! You will not speak of him like that! He loved your mother and both you and Karin dearly, and he was faithful! The other woman that he ‘left you’ for was me. We would meet for dinner sometimes so he could tell me stories about my grandchildren and your mother became suspicious and followed him a few times.”
Mahair sighed and shook her head morosely and I could see the same sense of loss written all over her face that had been there when she spoke of losing Rhaennan as she continued speaking. “Your mother confronted us one night while we were leaving a restaurant. She thought that we were having an affair but we certainly couldn’t tell her that I was his mother when I looked younger than he did, and we didn’t dare try to let her in on my secret when she was that angry. We tried to convince her that I was just a good friend, but she was jealous and nothing that either of us said could convince her to listen. She told him not to bother coming home and filed for divorce within days.”
I was stunned. Was everything that I knew about myself wrong? “He wasn’t cheating on her?”
“No, Geoffrey may have sown more than his share of wild oats before meeting your mother, but he loved her and he took his marriage vows seriously. She refused to even let him see you or try to explain further and filed for full custody.” She got a little choked up for a moment before adding, “It crushed him. I couldn’t console him and he started drinking until he died in a car accident when you were ten. I tried to keep tabs on you and your sister and I planned on having you both work for me but you found work too quickly and I had to recruit Karin right out of college. She accepted my job offer and we started building a relationship.”
“Why were you so eager to get us to work for you? Was it just because we were your grandkids, or something more?” I asked uncertainly.
“The Veil started to break down eight years ago on Christmas Eve, you were just starting college and Karin was still in high school and I knew that once the Veil was gone completely that your Fae heritage would begin to show itself. You were only a quarter Fae though, for all I knew you could have gotten all of the looks but none of the abilities making you easy prey for bigots. I wanted you to have every chance for survival so I convinced Karin to join the game and encouraged her to get you to as well.” Amoiraishe explained.
“Okay, but how did a game make me into this? And why a girl?” I queried.
Mahair glared at Narek and said, “I have my suspicions about the latter. As to your first question though, you did choose to play a Yseil'dhraí. But as to how it’s possible, fifteen years ago I had a vision of myself starting this company. With the advent of VR games and the Veil starting to break down, I saw what I needed to do.”
She went on to explain the whole Apocalypse Dawn project. She knew that the Fae and other Races that they were allied with would need to increase their numbers and ally themselves with Humans and they would all have to be properly trained to deal with monsters as quickly as possible. What better way than to make it into a game? And what better people than gamers, who want to live out a fantasy and be someone or something else?
With the Veil failing and her magick restored Amoiraishe began to pull allies from the Veil; the other Queens, Atlanteans who could create the artificed technology that would be needed, and a sampling of other people from the allied Races and various types of Fae to contribute work and genetic material for the project. She had all of the pieces, she just needed to put them together.
The first piece was the predecessor to Full Immersion Tubes. They were originally Atlantean technology that were used for Restoration. Grell and Ashura had both gone through that process in the game and being told how it worked explained one question that I had always had about the Atlanteans in the game. They were supposed to age like Humans, but many of them were said to be thousands of years old. The answer was that whenever they were close to dying, from either old age or injury, they went into a restoration chamber to have their body magically altered into a younger or healthier one. It was actually the same artificed technology that they used to alter their people for life underwater in the first place.
If the Atlantean is happy with their body they just use some of their own DNA in the gene sampler and do a genetic replication, which can take a few hours to a day depending on the damage or whether they’re going for a more youthful body. If they are bored of their body and want a change though they can customize a new body by providing one or more genetic samples, usually their own and a second one. Some Atlanteans were literally their own grandpas. When doing this, the person in the chamber could customize the body to their liking; gender height, weight, hair and eye color, and just about anything else that you could want based on the gene samples provided, though the process could take several days based on how much alteration was being made from the person’s original form.
Usually, the person being ‘Restored’ was kept in a sort of medical coma while they laid in the fluid that was designed to channel the transformation magick of the device. They quickly adapted that technology though, to interface sensory deprivation and virtual environments. The newly made F.I.Ts were intended to slowly transform the players inside to the form they chose in-game from the inside out, using DNA donated from people of their chosen race while their minds were trained.
Mahair explained that since she wanted Nishalle and me to remain related to her she had placed her Yseil'dhraí DNA in our samples along with a Tokh'dhraí sample for Nishalle’s to ensure an even mix of the two samples and set the default features to those of her chosen race. A Nyiir'dhraí male sample was provided for mine, but Amoiraishe’s sample would provide the default features. Each player had been similarly set up with samples collected from volunteers of their chosen Races or, in the case of Humans, from a variety of ‘acquired’ healthy samples.
There was a problem with body dysphoria during the first tests though, and that was where the second piece of the puzzle came in. That piece was the Aen’kuorüis. Roughly translated to English it would be called a ‘mind crystal’. They’re a type of magick crystal that acts as a sort of diary for the Fae, recording their thoughts and memories of the day so that those they leave behind if they die still have something of them.
They interfaced those crystals so that the players of non-Human characters could have donated memories of the formative years from someone of the same race and gender. Not all of their memories, just enough to build a framework of growing up as that gender and race and have the player’s mind fill in the blanks of that identity while they dreamt. That, in combination with mental conditioning and the players’ own transforming brain chemistry, would help the players to become gradually more comfortable with their new self-identity as their real-life bodies changed to match.
The Aen’kuorüis were needed for another reason as well. By transferring the memories related to skill learning, they had discovered that they could ‘teach’ people new skills that way through the interface of the simulation. So they got volunteers to offer those skills as well. In the case of more modern or Human-specific skill sets such as specialized military training, modern medicine, and such it was a little more difficult. Amoiraishe had learned a lot of skills over the last few hundred years, but there were some things that she just hadn’t been able to learn. Those more difficult to acquire skills they had to attain by more clandestine means. ‘Research studies’ were the most common method, but they had other sneakier methods as well. In the end, they created an entire database of skills for players to choose from.
“After getting all of that, programming the game was the easy part, by that time we had plenty of people with programming skills. It was never really a game though. It was meant from the beginning to be a training simulation, a worst-case scenario to prepare all of you for our new reality and to add to our dwindling populations,” Amoiraishe finished. Then she looked away guiltily. “I’m not going to apologize. I’ve done what I had to. We need to restore the balance and I tried to choose people whose lives this could improve.”
I stepped over to wrap her in a hug. I couldn’t be angry at her for doing what she had to, and she was only trying to make the world a better place. “I’m not angry Mahair, I understand why you’ve done all of this. I can’t speak for everyone else, some might be pissed with you, but I understand. I think I’m happier this way too, and as you said, Nishalle and I probably would have shown signs of being Fae anyway once the Veil broke. Let me guess, the power outage?”
She nodded as I released her from the embrace. “Yes, the breaking of the Veil caused some unforeseen electromagnetic storms and killed power in several cities. Now they’re trying to deal with that and all the monsters that are appearing. That’s why the Americans want our tech so badly. They want to train soldiers with it. They already dropped a nuke on St. Louis yesterday to contain a ni’shahnkiir outbreak that got out of control.”
“Holy shit, they nuked St. Louis?! Why not let them borrow the tech though?” I asked. I could understand not wanting them to essentially steal it, but why not help them out?
She nodded grimly before letting out a soft sigh. “Three reasons, little rose. First, what if they give dangerous skills to somebody who is mentally unstable just to get troops out there faster? They could harm as many innocents as enemies. Second, I don’t trust them not to use that training to try to hunt us down as well as the monsters, there are already religious groups hunting down newly emerged Beastkin, Witches, and anyone else who is not pure Human. Some governments are moving them to camps, ‘for their own safety’. The third reason is that we are going to need an entire hand full of trump cards when dealing with Human governments from now on until we can establish peaceful relations, and this is one of them.”
I hated to admit it but her arguments were pretty convincing. I wondered what other trump cards she had hidden. “Which of these things is not like the others,” I hummed thoughtfully, and then it hit me. “Lark! I mean Robyn! That’s why you asked her to keep her human appearance and just gave her a glamour! So she wouldn’t be physically changed like the rest of us, she’d still be recognizable to her fans.”
My Mahair smiled in approval. “Yes, I wanted some celebrities with a good public image who can go to bat for us when the time comes. They can go places and speak with people that we can’t. I’ve known her for a few years and I know that she’ll be loyal to us, she’s a good person and I’m glad that she was able to join us.”
Now that Mahair had answered most of my pressing questions I turned to Narek with a serious expression. “Get talking. Why the hell am I your daughter?”
Narek winced and looked apologetically at Mahair and me in turn. “The day before Christmas when I came to discuss business and the servers going active, do you remember what we discussed that first night?”
Mahair frowned and him, but nodded. “Well, other than you being angry with me about creating the Guardian class for Lissany, I was telling you how disappointed I was that I only had one player choose a Yseil'dhraí and that he would likely choose a male. And you went on to tell me how you had three Yseil'dhraí for your server, not including yourself. Despite that, you insisted that we needed more of our kind. I told you, in no uncertain terms, that I had placed the restrictions on Yseil'dhraí characters so we could get the right kind of people and not just those hungry for power.”
Narek looked toward me but quickly looked away again as he spoke, barely loud enough for me to hear and with my ears, that’s saying something. “You weren’t terribly upset about him being male, almost four hundred years and you still hadn’t got over Rhaennan. You were missing something important in your grief though. It was the most important part of your vision and you refused to see it. We needed Rhaennan or at the very least her DNA. So that night during my inspection I went to the F.I.T that you had assigned for Taelya and replaced the DNA samples that you had placed there for Rhaennan’s lock of hair from my viyr’kuor.”
It wasn’t hard for me to do the math. With only one sample there wasn’t much gene variance to choose from and since Rhaennan had been a female a Y chromosome wasn’t among the options, which was why it had given me an error message. I was pretty much her clone. “No wonder my character generation options were so limited. Did you know about this, Mahair?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at Narek in anger.
“I figured it out after you told me about your problems choosing a male character. Between that and the fact that you looked so much like Rhaennan, I had someone look into it and there was only one sample so I figured that Narek had done something. That’s why I was so angry with him when he joined our server. I told you that it was a problem with the code.”
“Yeah, the genetic code!” I snapped while still glaring at Narek. “And why do I have Rhaennan’s memories?! Especially the ones about Seamus?! You replaced the Aen’kuorüis too didn’t you?! Did you want your daughter back that badly?!”
Narek paled, his face turning nearly as white as his hair as he shook his head sadly. “I did replace the Aen’kuorüis, but the last thing that I wanted was another Rhaennan. I loved her, but Amoiraishe and I were both well aware of her flaws. It’s why I tested you when I first arrived, I needed to know that you would be willing to stand up for yourself, for your people. I needed to know that you didn’t share those flaws.”
He was quiet for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking me straight in the eyes as he spoke again. “Rhaennan was a prodigy, but she wasted her potential. She was weak-willed, self-absorbed, and cared about Humans more than her own people or her duties. I needed to make sure that you weren’t going to be the same. You have her potential, your power proves that, but you are also your own person and a leader that our people can look to. I gave you her memories so you would remember her mistakes and not make them yourself. Both the Autumn Court and the Winter Court need you too much.”
I jabbed a finger toward my Mahair, trying to get a handle on my temper. “I get why she needs me, I’m her frickin’ heir, but why is the Winter Court so goddamned interested in me?!”
He stood up from his chair and walked over to put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Because we may need you soon. Even with four hundred years of catching up outside the Veil, Amoiraishe is still the youngest of the four Queens, but my Mahair, Queen Seshaire, is by far the oldest of them. She is the daughter of the original Winter, born before Humans even crawled out of their caves. She is ill and has been for some time now, we’ve been hiding it from the other Courts to not show weakness. There isn’t much the Priestesses can do for her, even if she wanted them to. She says this is no longer her time and you are a Yseil'dhraí with the blood of the Winter Court.”
“Yeah, but Mahair just said that you had three Yseil'dhraí join Winter Server,” I countered.
“Yes, but two of those are male and one is your half-sister, my daughter Tíana. She’s not even three yet, so if something happens to our Queen then the Winter Court would look to my eldest daughter until your sister is old enough to succeed you. You may not look like a Winter Court Yseil'dhraí but you are a Yseil'dhraí and you have the bloodline. This has never happened before and for all we know, Danu could just change your Danann’syr and features to mark you as the Queen if Mahair dies.”
Okay, this was a bit too much for me to handle. All of this was cool when it was just a game, and sure I liked being Taelya but finding out that I might end up acting as Queen of the Winter Court sometime in the foreseeable future on top of everything else that I had been told had me feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was close to a panic attack and I knew it. “I… I think I need to sit down.” I plopped down into one of the seats at the conference table and started my Fae mental exercises to get control of myself while I processed things.
“Vhisansh khuth!” Mahair’s cursing snapped me out of my reverie.
I had been sitting there thinking for longer than I thought before Mahair’s exclamation snapped me out of it, but then I had a lot to process. The fact that we seemed to be at the start of a very real apocalypse was at the bottom of that list of concerns says a lot about just how fucked up my life was. The clock said 7:08 so that meant that we had just under two hours before it was time to move everyone and everything of value to the sanctuary, wherever that was. From what little attention I had been paying to the outside world I knew that Mahair was on the phone working out the details with the other Queens. Whatever was said in the conference call to prompt her to start cursing, Mahair didn’t look pleased by the news at all.
She hung up the phone with a frown. “The military is moving on the New York Branch. The security measures and defensive spells should hold them off long enough for our Magi to teleport everything away but they’ll have to start moving everything in the next five minutes. The problem is that we believe that two of our evacuation sites have been compromised, including the one in the States. It’s a good thing we sent people ahead of time to check. We’re going to have to move all the Courts to one location to be safe.”
“Which site?” Narek asked in concern. “Are any of them even big enough to hold all four Courts and all of our allies?”
“No, none of them. Well maybe the Japan site, but it would be crowded,” Mahair said with a shake of her head.
~ You must go to Varüus’kiel my child,~ an unfamiliar voice said. The voice was soft, gentle, and soothing, like waves caressing a beach.
I swung my head around looking for the speaker but the only ones in the conference room were my Mahair, Pájar, and myself. “Varüus’kiel?” I wondered aloud. It wasn’t a Fae name or word that I had heard before.
The eyes of both my Fae parents widened in surprise and my Mahair asked in a hushed tone, “Taelya, how do you know that name?”
“I… uhhh… was just repeating it,” I said as I looked around again self-consciously. “I thought that maybe you said it. What does it mean?”
“It’s the name of Danu’s center of power and the place where the Four were first created. It is forbidden to the uninvited and it has been known by many names among humans but the Celts called it Tír na nÓg. Usually, the only time we return there is for Councils, but if Danu has returned along with magick then the island has returned as well. If you heard that name, it means that we’re going home,” Mahair said picking up the phone again.
While I was lost in thought for over an hour before Amoiraishe had snapped out of it I’d done plenty of thinking. With my intimate knowledge of the Fae and how seriously they took their Goddess-given-duties, I could understand why Amoiraishe did what she did. It didn’t mean that I approved of her changing people without their consent, and yes I was a bit angry about it even with my Fae perspective, but I did understand why and the reasoning behind it.
Other people may not understand and many would likely be furious, but I could get it. I also liked being Taelya, and I liked the relationship that I had with Amoiraishe. Sure my Human mom had raised Karin and me on her own, but she had often been working so much to put food on the table and money aside for our education that she hadn’t been there for us as much as she should have, especially during our teens. It was why Karin and I had depended on one another so much. Amoiraishe was different, if we needed her for anything she’d be there and she wanted to be involved in our lives. In fact, she could be damn overprotective sometimes.
Narek I was pissed at though. He had not only conspired to change my gender against my will, but he had gone behind Amoiraishe’s back doing it. Okay, sure I was comfortable being a Fae female now, but that was beside the point. It was the principle of the thing. As Mahair was on the phone he approached me and said without an ounce of remorse, “I did what I felt was right, Taelya. I…”
“Bullshit!” I snapped furiously. “If you just needed a Queen or a stand-in for the Winter Court then you could have used the F.I.T to make your mother young and healthy again or done this to one of those guys playing Yseil'dhraí there. Better yet, you could have changed your own fucking gender!”
“It wasn’t just about a Queen for the Winter Court,” he said with a sad shake of his head as he tried to calmly explain. “Mahair refuses to use the F.I.T, she says that her time is past. And an Autumn Court Yseil'dhraí in the Winter Court would have revealed my plan too early. I needed you. Amoiraishe seemed certain that you would make a good leader, even as a male, and that you were eager to play a Magus. I needed a Yseil'dhraí in the Autumn Server to receive Rhaennan’s gifts. She was, and now you are, one of the most powerful Fae ever born and we are going to need that power in the battles ahead of us.”
“And the memories?! Am I even me anymore, or just some twisted replacement of your daughter?!” I argued, gripping my fists tightly at my sides and using every iota of self-control I had not to turn him into a mouse.
Narek kept speaking calmly. “As I said, the last thing that I wanted was another Rhaennan, I needed you. There were no changes made to your personality, or anyone’s for that matter. We just gave you a few memories to help make sense of your new forms and identities and new skills that you selected yourselves. You are aware that those memories aren’t really yours and we tried to make them pleasant for the most part. Everything else in there is your personality, your own memories are still there and we took none of that from you. You have each incorporated those new skills and memories into your lives based on who you are inside, we only gave you more to work with and tried to make you comfortable in your new forms.”
The Winter Court Yseil'dhraí paused for a moment, letting out a deep sigh. “I’m glad that it was you, Taelya. I like and respect you and I think that you’ll use that power wisely, especially now that you know where Rhaennan went wrong. I want to make this up to you, I think that if maybe we spend some time together and if you get to know your sister Tíana…”
“I’m not your daughter! I’m your fucking science project!” I shouted. Amoiraishe looked up from her phone conversation in concern, but both of us had gone silent as I stormed over to the other side of the room leaving Narek standing there with a pained expression on his face.
After Amoiraishe’s hurried conference call was completed, she informed us that the Winter Court was evacuating the New York Branch and we made our way back to the elevator and downstairs to the secured area with the F.I.Ts. I kind of hated myself at the moment for the way that I had lost it with Narek, especially since I had spent those long minutes since my explosion thinking about what he had told me and why he had done what he did. I may not have agreed with his methods but everything that he had done was for the Fae. This was about our survival, being able to do our duty to maintain the balance of nature and magick, and our ability to survive the challenges ahead and possibly a war on two fronts until we could forge a lasting peace with the Humans. And I just totally caught myself thinking of myself as Fae again, but I guess I was one even before I entered the game.
“You know Mahair,” I said conversationally to break the awkward silence as we rode the elevator down. “Certain governments are going to be going after as much of your assets as they can get their grubby little hands on.”
“Our assets, my little rose,” she clarified with a smile before shrugging. “You and your sister are family, even should you choose not to stay as you now are. We’re moving everything and everyone important to me. We won’t let them get what they’re after.”
“But your company,” I argued. Then everything that she had just hit me and I stared at her in shock. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘should we choose to stay as we are now’?”
She sighed and I could see the sadness and the worry written all over her face. “If you truly do not like your current forms we can always change you again, you could even go back to being a human male should you wish it. We took blood samples from each of you before you began to change, we reversed what small changes that Dennis and the other members of H3lls-Pwn went through using their samples before pulling them out of their F.I.Ts. I am not without any compassion or morality, dear one. You will all be given that option, even if it means losing you, I swear it.”
She tried to shake off her dismal expression and quickly changed the topic to address my other point. “As for this building and the company; Pegasus Entertainment is just a business, one that has already served its purpose, and Moira Llewellyn was just another in a long line of fictional names. Besides, I’ve been building and hiding fortunes for almost four hundred years and I have money in places and under names that they’ll never be able to find or access. We’ll have enough to get started, but the real work is still ahead of us if we’re going to make peace and restore the balance.”
The doors opened on the secure sub-basement level and I thought about my Mahair’s words as we walked toward the high-security area. If what Mahair was saying was true, and she wouldn’t have sworn to it otherwise, then everyone would have a choice whether they stayed as they were now and could go back to being their old selves. Did I want to stay as Taelya? I liked who I was now and if all of this really was real then I had a duty to my people and to the world as a whole to try to restore the balance. I didn’t like the idea of not having a choice in the matter, but now that that didn’t seem to be the case there was no doubt in my mind. I was going to stay as Taelya.
It was as I came to that momentous decision that we passed through the thick steel security doors and my Pájar secured them behind us. Yes, I was calling him my Pájar, but only because we were blood-related. I was still pissed at him so he would have to earn the title, but I’d give him the chance that my human father should have had.
We entered the large room in the sub-basement where I had climbed into a F.I.T and this whole thing had begun and I looked around at the F.I.Ts uncertainly. We were the last ones to arrive and the room was already filled with F.I.T attendants and other employees milling around the F.I.Ts in the massive room. Each of those tubes had a player inside, many of whom were about to get a very rude awakening. We would be lucky if they didn’t riot after they woke up in the bodies of their game characters.
I now knew though that there was another floor beneath this one with more F.I.Ts, though those contained regular water rather than whatever green transformation sauce that had been used to change us. Those F.I.Ts housed our guests from the other Courts and many of the ‘NPC’s from the Glade such as Naerysse and Brynna waiting to be awakened along with the players. It seemed that there were quite a few of the animals on that lower level as well. Ghost, Theíldhúr, the Wisps, some Cú sídhe, and the familiars of the various Witches were all down there in specialized chambers waiting to join us.
It was that lower level that Mahair planned to revive first. For one thing, we might need the extra bodies to control things if things got of hand while waking the players. Some of those faces would be familiar and comforting to some players too, such as Brynna and Naerysse who had been developing relationships with their new daughters Salem and Daenyss. Also, I didn’t want to think of what it would be like waking Ghost and Theíldhúr in the midst of getting players settled, and since Mahair, Narek, and I were the only ones outside the F.I.Ts who could keep the Vsilja calm we would need to be on hand when they woke.
About a dozen of the F.I.Ts on the lower level were huge, twice as big as the one that I had been in. They were so tall that the attendants and anyone helping had to use a built-on ladder to get to the top to open it up and begin the revival process and there was a vacuum sealed door on the side to make it easier for the occupants to get out once revived. Apparently, they had been built for the Namahage on Spring Server since they could get up to nine feet tall. So they had decided to use some of these larger ones for the NPC Vsilja and Cú sídhe as well. There were smaller ones too that contained the Sprite, Pixie, and small animal NPCs. Mahair led me to two of the larger ones and while F.I.T attendants and employees started on deactivating the other tubes and waking their occupants we concentrated on helping the attendants that were waking the Vsilja.
Ghost was panicking at first from being in a strange place and I could sense her panic and worry for me until Alysse and I managed to get the complex headpiece/oxygen mask off her and the water started to drain from the tube into the attached reserve tank. Then I placed myself right in her field of vision and reached out a hand as I smiled at her. “Easy girl, you’re safe and I’m right here by your side.” As soon as my hand touched her head she calmed right down and began to nuzzle me affectionately in relief. Although she looked a little annoyed with getting all the tubes, medical monitors, and other paraphernalia removed she did remain still for it until the water was fully drained to the reserve tank and Alysse was finished.
It was as she finished and Alysse was opening a vacuum-sealed side panel to let Ghost out that I was assaulted by a tiny, and very wet, pink, and black blur. I was just trying to calm Willow down and assure her that everything was alright when Ghost stepped out of the huge F.I.T and shook all of the excess water from her hide. Great, now my clothes were half soaked, but I forgave them both. I was just too happy to see them both alive and well out here in the real world with me, especially Ghost. I was afraid that I had lost her for good after the battle with Mòrag.
I was going to see if anyone needed my help reviving the other F.I.T occupants from this level, but it looked like it was mostly under control, and those who were comfortable with wearing clothes were getting dressed. As I turned I caught sight of Kinara’s bright pink hair as the Summer Court Yseil'dhraí walked toward me, looking very self-conscious as she gently stroked Kimmie, who was resting on her shoulder and basking in the attention. “Taelya… I’m… I would have told you if…”
I stepped forward to wrap my apprentice up in a hug. “I know, you swore an oath. There’s nothing to forgive. I’ve had some time to cool off and think about it and I can understand why all of you did this. Some people are going to be upset, but they’ll either realize that they’re happier as they are now or they’ll go back to being who they were with a great story to tell their grandkids.”
“And you?” my apprentice asked uncertainly.
“I’ll be staying as is,” I assured her. “Mahair said I have a choice, but I don’t think that I really do. I’m happy and comfortable like this, I probably would have been at least part-Fae anyway, and my people need me. If I went back to being Caleb or something else I’d just be doing it out of spite and that’s not who I am or who I want to be. I think that Lissany and Rei will probably stay the way they are too.”
“Our whole party has decided to stay as they are,” Kinara said with a nod. At my obvious look of confusion, she shrugged. “Right after you were logged out Amoiraishe uploaded an announcement explaining everything and showing various news reports from the outside world so everyone has had a day to think about it. Most people either didn’t believe it yet or were pissed off about being changed against their will, but our group was close to Amoiraishe and all of them already had suspicions like you did. Sheriff Shaw and Tien were the same, they’re both a bit concerned about their families but neither of them changed much physically and they both got magick out of the deal.”
“I know that Tien’s aunt is safe, I talked with her earlier and we’ll do what we can to help people’s families, those of us that have them. Maybe we can bring them with us if they’re open-minded and wish to join us,” I offered hopefully. It didn’t really surprise me that, given time to think it over, my party mates would choose to stay as they were. We were all happier, had a purpose now, and had gained something valuable from the experience.
Lissany and Rei would never have to feel dysphoria again and my sister could be herself and people wouldn’t bat an eye or dare disapprove because she was Tokh'dhraí. Venika had gotten a sort of freedom she hadn’t had since college and she didn’t have to worry about her daughter and her gender issues all of the time. Pete was a respected warrior and not just some middle-of-the-road gamer and he had admitted to Nishalle that he was a little ashamed of his real-world body. Grell loved techie stuff and now he could make cutting edge artificed technology that could do things he’d never even dreamed of before.
Robyn hadn’t changed physically, but she was one hell of a dancer now when she’d had two left feet before and she could reach people with her music in a way that nobody else but a fellow Bard could. Rob was much more capable of protecting her now too and he seemed to revel in that. Salem would never have to go back to a wheelchair and she could make a positive impact on the environment like she always wanted. And then there was Daenyss. My Attendant didn’t know anything else and I thought that she was happy now between our friendship and her growing relationship with Salem. And I think that relationships were maybe one of the most important factors of all, those of us who weren’t already in relationships had formed one in the game that they were worried would vanish once we returned to our real lives.
With everyone in the NPC level awake and as prepared as they were going to be, we headed back to the upper sub-basement level to wake the players. Sahnae had taken charge of a few of the Fae mages and they would remain behind to teleport all the F.I.Ts, the main server, and all of the other equipment to Varüus’kiel and meet up with the other Courts that were evacuating or had already done so. Mahair started a mass logout sequence before we headed up and as soon as we were back on the Players’ level, we started to help the F.I.T attendants to wake everyone.
With most of the employees of Pegasus Entertainment and all of the NPCs that we had just awoken from downstairs, we were able to complete the revival process fairly quickly. We were going to need every Fae mage that knew the Exodus spell or could learn it quickly if we were going to move everything and everyone in one trip. Mahair wanted that done ASAP.
We found Venika’s F.I.T first, or rather we followed Silverheels to it. The F.I.T was considerably smaller than most of the others, almost a dollhouse version. I had seen several of these though and Kinara explained that they had used a similar spell as Mahair had on Rei’s Lindwyrm-hide armor and her sahir kien to change the size of the various equipment as the players shrank down to Sprite size. They had even prepared for shrinking power plugs and the like by equipping the F.I.Ts with internal artificed power supplies. All of the F.I.Ts and the server had them, though they hadn’t been expecting to switch to them from the city power so early. Alysse had said it was a bit hectic activating them all when the power unexpectedly died.
Of course, the second that Venika was out of her F.I.T Silverheels pounced her. The Sprite just sighed and tried to look stern, but I could see the tiny little half-smile as she muttered, “Yeah, yeah, I’m happy to see you too.”
Salem and Daenyss had been extracted by their respective Fae mothers and were amid happy reunions when we found them and Rei was the last that we found from our group. As soon as she was out of the green goop and all of the medical stuff we shared a long passionate kiss. “Mmmmm. I love you, Babe,” he said grinning at me. He was in the real world and he was male, though he had quickly switched to female just to be sure it was possible and the exhilarated look on his face as he changed back was enough to bring tears to my eyes as he asked, “Are you gonna be okay with this?”
“Yeah, this is who I am, maybe who I was meant to be all along. I’m good so long as I have you. We’ll need to re-make our sahir kien when we get the time though.” Sadly we weren’t able to hold onto the moment because there were still plenty of people to wake but we did take a moment to have a happy reunion as a party. I had so much to tell all of them, especially my sister, but now wasn’t the time. We needed to hurry, so we were waking people as fast as was safe.
Once we had all of the players out of their F.I.Ts my Mahair called out for attention among the confusion and pockets of hostile players who weren’t too happy to find out that they really did wake in their game bodies like Amoiraishe’s message had claimed. When she had a sort of grudging silence she addressed the crowd of transformed players. “Congratulations! You have all finished a training simulation meant to prepare you for the new reality that our world faces. Yes, you have been changed, but so has the world and you have been trained to survive the dangers of this new world now that the Veil has collapsed and magick has returned.”
There was some whispering at that, panicked for some and angry for others, but Amoiraishe continued her speech. “From now on there are no safe zones and no automatic respawns, we will survive with our wits, our skills, and by working together. For completing your training you have all earned an Apocalypse Dawn prize package. If you go to the locker room to my right, you will find showers to clean up and a locker with your name on it. Inside those lockers, you will find clothes that should fit you, your personal belongings, and suitable equipment. Please hurry though as we will have to evacuate in just over forty minutes.”
“And what if we decide that we don’t want to be part of this freak show,” Hawkin said with a sneer from the front of the crowd, causing Salem’s former party and some of the other malcontents to loudly voice their own protests.
Amoiraishe was undeterred and remained calm. “Then you are free to leave as you are now with my blessing and hopes that you survive. Or we can return you to your former body, or another of your choosing, once we have the F.I.Ts set up in another location.”
“What if I decide that I want to be like her?” Hawkin countered, jabbing a finger toward where I was standing with Ghost and trying to keep her calm.
“Then you would be disappointed,” the Autumn Court Queen responded coolly. “The required skills for Yseil’dhraí characters were limited to keep those focused on power who would abuse such a position from choosing it and we will not be artificially creating any others. Taelya chose to play one of us because she was willing to face challenges to do what she truly wished to do and regardless she and her sister already had the bloodline before entering the game.”
Nishalle gave me a questioning look and I silently mouthed, “Later.”
As I was doing that Hawkin rounded on me again. “See! She gives everything to that red-headed bimbo of hers, but what did she give us? She just changed us against our fucking will!”
Lissany and Nishalle were quick to step between us and to everyone’s surprise, especially Hawkin’s, Lissany’s armor and weapons appeared just as they would have if she consciously summoned them in-game. Nishalle only took a moment to consider that before using her own summoning mark, causing her Lindwyrm-hide armor and weapons to appear as well. Hawkin took a step back now that he was confronted with my two fully equipped protectors who both looked like they would be only too willing to end him.
I was already pissed off with Hawkin. It was all about power, glory, and being the center of attention with that asshole. He wasn’t getting enough for his liking so he was trying to turn the situation to his advantage. “ENOUGH! This isn’t a game anymore!” I shouted, as for the first time in the real world I reached out to gather mana. Keeping one hand firmly on Ghost, so she wouldn’t do anything against the hostile Human, I spoke the sigils and drew them with my free hand. “Kaida nihala ysoldir Hawkin!”
The crowd stepped back from Hawkin as he began to glow and change shape, his large muscular form becoming smaller, more slender, and distinctly feminine. After a moment the transformation was complete and a very attractive redheaded Human girl in her late teens with pale brown eyes stood where Hawkin’s form had been a moment earlier. I stepped between my protectors and leveled a cold glare toward the new girl. “That is what it’s like being changed against your will, and now you look as close to me as a Human can. Is that what you wanted? It’s as close as you’re going to get because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some hateful and selfish bag of shit like you ever wear the form of a Yseil’dhraí!”
I tried not to wince at the dirty looks that I got from Venika and Mahair for swearing. Now that I seemed to have everyone’s attention I wanted to keep it. I spoke as clearly as possible, using stored mana to project my voice so that everyone in the large chamber could hear my words. “It’s true, none of us were told that we should be changed like this before we joined the game, but would we have believed her if she had told us? She gave you as much choice in the matter as she could. You chose to join the game. You chose your Races, classes, and even what you looked like. You chose the skills that you wanted to take. You even have the choice if you wish to stay this way or go back to who you were before.”
I let all that sink in for a moment before continuing. “We have been given a chance. A far better chance to survive than anyone else out there has right now and you’re all complaining about it? Everything in the game, that was just training for what’s out here in the real world now. It’s your choice whether you want to face that with everything that you have been given and the friends that you have made or to give it up because you can’t appreciate the things you’ve gained because of things you think you’ve lost. News Flash! Our lives would have changed regardless when the veil fell and at least now we’ve had some control over how!”
The crowd was milling around and quite a few of them seemed to be coming around from what I’d said so I decided to give them some direction. “Now everyone should get showered, changed, and geared up, we don’t have much time. We will sort out who wants to be changed back and try to help the families of anyone who is sticking with us once we’re settled in the new location.”
Players began moving toward the locker room and I looked toward Hawkin who looked very uncomfortable and was shaking a little. She had stood there looking stunned throughout my whole speech and now she looked like she might break down crying at any time. I knew all too well what she was probably feeling like, but I had made my point and I didn’t want anyone to have to go through that if they didn’t have to, so I dispelled the transformation spell.
“Dysphoria sucks doesn’t it?” I pointed out. “That’s just a taste of what some of us have had to go through. Remember this, because if you ever cross me or my people again you will have a choice between making that permanent or the Wild Hunt. Stay, or leave now, make a choice. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that we could use you though, you’re a capable warrior when you’re not being a self-centered asshole.”
“Holy shit, I really am an asshole, aren’t I?” he mumbled to himself as he looked down at his hands.
“Yeah, you are, but the first step of getting better is admitting that you have a problem, so congratulations. A lot of people overcompensate online when they think that they’re anonymous, especially in games where they get in character and can be someone other than themselves for a change. You’re not in a game anymore and there are people here who would be your friends if you’d be yourself and let them, most of us were outcasts with little or no real family or friends.”
Hawkin looked thoughtful for a moment and I think that it was the first time that I’d ever really seen him do any really deep thinking. “I’ll stay, but I need to think about whether this is who I want to be long-term.”
“I’ll warn you, people are going to be leery about getting too close to you, especially me,” I cautioned him. Nishalle and Lissany who had remained behind while the others went to shower and change nodded their agreement.
“Why give me the choice at all then?” Hawkin asked, looking genuinely confused.
My sister gave Hawkin a stern look as she said, “Because that’s what Taelya does. She cares about everyone and tries to bring out the best in them. I’m not that foolish. If I ever think that you’re going to do anything to hurt my sister I will kill you before she has a chance to regret giving you this opportunity, and you will never see it coming.”
Hawkin paled and remained quiet and thoughtful as we all headed toward the showers so they could wash off the green goo and get changed. Since I was already clean and dressed I went to my locker to see what might be inside. The clothes that I had worn when I arrived as Caleb were there but I wouldn’t need those, though I did grab my old wallet and shoved it in the black leather purse that had been provided, just in case I needed to try to access my old bank account or something. Other than that there was the make-up kit that Alysse had used on me earlier, a pack of the brand of tampons I had used in-game, and a couple of boxes of ammo for my Colts, all of which I added to the purse as well.
Just to test it, I focused on my summoning mark. As I felt the familiar tingle of magick my dress and slippers were immediately replaced by my Lindwyrm-hide outfit/armor, my guns in their thigh holsters, my ammo pouches, and the swords that Narek had given me hooked onto my belt. Pleased that I wouldn’t have to find new equipment I quickly dismissed them again and waited for the other players to finish getting ready.
Daenyss didn’t have a locker, but a chest with a sigil on it that matched the one in-game that she placed items in to summon with one of her Nasyr taka. A quick check showed that her Attendant supplies and combat gear were inside, including her disassembled Dragon. Her Lindwyrn-hide armor wasn’t there, but she had gotten a separate mark to summon that when the rest of the party had gotten ours as well. Once Daenyss was done showering I helped her to move the chest into the chamber with the F.I.Ts.
Soon everyone was dressed and ready, many of whom had been provided better gear than they had had in the game. It seemed that while we were in the game artificers, magi, and smiths had been very busy preparing for our arrival by creating, replicating, or otherwise ‘acquiring’ gear. There were even some crates of general supplies, military-grade hardware, and various electronics and other useful items that had been retrieved from the aborted sanctuaries.
Since we didn’t want any of our Magi draining themselves to the point of exhaustion by trying to move too much at once, Venika and I went over the Exodus spell with my three apprentices. Once they all seemed to have a good grasp of both it and the name of our destination we all split up with the other Magi and got started. It took longer than I would have liked but all of us were tagging, F.I.Ts, equipment, computers, and everything else that Mahair didn’t want the vultures to get their hands on once we were gone, and we were doing it as quickly as we could.
When everything had been tagged by one Magus or another we prepared our spells. I waited until everyone else was done and then I focused on all of the players and equipment that I had tagged, making sure that nothing else had been left behind. Once I was certain that I had everything, I focused on my destination, drew in all the mana that I could, and then spoke and drew the sigils. “Kaida liantuir tala siashe Varüus’kiel!”
We reappeared in a large open field and I could see mountains in the distance. Empty F.I.Ts, equipment, crates of supplies, and people of various Races were everywhere and most of the latter seemed confused, upset, or both. It was still dark and the moon was high in the sky but it was so clear that I couldn’t count all of the visible stars, which was something that I wasn’t used to growing up in a large city. It wasn’t as cold as I had expected either, given what Mahair had told me about Varüus’kiel’s location while we were preparing to leave the Vancouver office. I did expect the night to be a very long one though, like at least a couple more months.
She had said that before it disappeared, along with everything else magical in nature, Varüus’kiel was a large island in the Greenland Sea between Greenland and Svalbard. It was untouched by man, overflowing with life, and the center of Danu’s power. Despite being in the Arctic Circle it was warm because it rested atop a caldera that produced a lot of geothermal heat and the mountains that surrounded it kept the interior of the island warm and protected from the storms beyond them.
There was a large variety of plant life in the interior of the island, some adapted to grow in the night months while the rest thrived during the daylight months. We would probably see a lot of animals too, including some not seen anywhere else on Earth. The reason that the island was untouched by explorers before it vanished was that Danu had cast a powerful enchantment upon it so that only those invited would be aware of its existence.
Those sailing past Varüus’kiel couldn’t see it, and if they were sailing to a destination on the other side or looking for new lands to conquer they would disappear on one side and reappear on the other with no memory of the incident. As for those who knew about the island but who had not been invited, or vessels hostile toward the island’s residents, they would find themselves returned to their point of origin if they got close to the island. It seemed a safe place for us to stay as long as Danu allowed us to.
Normally, I would probably be worried about all of that expensive equipment being outside and at the mercy of the elements but it was a clear night and I had other things on my mind at the moment. There was something that I needed to do, something that had been bothering me the whole time that we were getting people ready to go and tagging people and equipment for transport. I quickly cast a spell to locate my target and then I made my way through the crowds with my party mates following close behind.
“What’s up, Tae?” Rei asked, taking my hand in his own as we walked. Lissany quickly fell in step on my other side as Daenyss, Nishalle and the others followed behind.
“There’s something important that I need to do before Mahair decides to put me to work on other things,” I replied as I got my target in my sights. I purposely strode over to Hawkin, who took an uncertain step backward as my procession approached. “Hawkin… I owe you an apology. I was wrong to transform you the way I did, even if it was only temporary, and I hope that you can forgive me.”
Hawkin looked at the ground and shook his head. “You were right, I’m an asshole. I let feeling strong and confident for once go to my head and I needed a wake-up call.”
I tried to look Hawkin in the eyes as he raised his head again. My apology wouldn’t mean much to either of us if I couldn’t do that and I knew it. “That may be the case, but I acted in anger and that never really solves anything, it just makes more problems. Transforming you against your will was a violation and I feel ashamed of myself. It was just as bad as what my Mahair has done to all the players of Apocalypse Dawn. I was trying to make a point, but I think that the point that I did make is that it’s easy to abuse power, and I don’t want to be that person. I am truly sorry for changing you like I did.”
“You did change me back, and even a blind man could see that you feel terrible about it, so we’re good,” he said giving me a weak smile. “I guess we both have some things to work on and think about and it’s kind of nice to know that you have flaws and make mistakes just like the rest of us. Part of what pissed me off about you is that everyone thought you were so damn perfect in the game.”
“Well, I think that I’ve proven that’s not the case,” I replied, emitting an unladylike snort. “And maybe you’re not such an asshole after all.”
He actually laughed, and for once it didn’t sound derisive. “Nah, I’m an asshole, but I’m working on it because that’s not who I used to be, or what I want to be. When I figure out what that is, I’ll want another go in the F.I.T.”
“If I have any say in it, then you’ll be at the top of the list,” I promised. “It’s the least I can do to make up for what I did. I’ll see you around, Hawkin. I need to go take care of something else now, but I thought that it was important I apologize to you first.”
As we turned and went off in search of my Fae parents Rei leaned over to kiss me and whispered proudly, “That’s the person I know and love. I’m proud of you, Babe.”
The others were speaking too, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying as another voice echoed inside my head, demanding my attention. ~You apologized? To him, of all people? Queens of the Courts do not apologize. You know this, Taelya.~ It was the voice from earlier, the one that told me that we needed to come to Varüus’kiel, and I had a pretty good feeling that I knew exactly who that soothing voice belonged to. This was good though, it meant that I wouldn’t have to talk to my Mahair or Pájar about how to speak with her so I could give her a piece of my mind.
I focused my thoughts on the voice and its owner. ~Danu, right? Maybe I’m not ready to be a Queen then, maybe I never will be. When a person makes a mistake they should own up to it and try to make it right, especially someone in a leadership position. Otherwise, what kind of example are we setting for those who follow us? What kind of image do we present to those who don’t? I refuse to go down that road. I’ll hold myself accountable, even if no one else will, and I’ll do my best to never make that same mistake again.~
~Do you truly believe that, my child?~ Her voice sounded more pleased and amused than curious.
~Yes. Which is why you have either a lot of apologizing or explaining to do. Probably both,~ I snapped. ~Almost everyone is pissed at Mahair and the other Queens right now to some degree. I was a little pissed at her and a lot pissed at my Pájar, but I also know enough to suspect that they were following orders. Your orders. Mahair’s visions that brought her to this point, don’t tell me those didn’t come from you. You’re the Goddess of Magick and you created the Veil so I imagine it wouldn’t be hard for you to work around it. Pájar’s ‘realization’ that Mahair was missing something important, that probably came from you too.~
She didn’t even bother to deny it. ~Yes, I guided both of them.~
~What the hell were you thinking?! Are we just pieces on a chessboard to you?! You conspired to change a thousand people against our will! I’m trying to roll with this because I’m happy for once in my life, but I’m not even sure if I really am happy with who I am, or if you were just messing with our minds that much!~ I threw every bit of anger and confusion that I was feeling into my words.
There was a breeze through my mind that had the feel of an exasperated sigh. ~Perhaps some mathematics would explain things. Is one thousand people changed against their will but given a chance to survive and maybe an opportunity for true happiness greater, equal, or less than over seven billion lives wiped out in an instant? ~
~I…~ Wait, what the hell was that supposed to mean?
~ While you are trying to solve that, think about this as well. Your happiness is genuine and any changes in you or your friends as people are because the form, knowledge, and memories that you now possess have changed your perspective. People can’t see souls like we gods can so, while I can be assured that your soul hasn’t changed, mortals will treat you by what their senses tell them. They hear, see, smell, and feel a young Yseil'dhraí woman so they will treat you as such according to their personalities, and the way people treat you affects how you see yourself and the world around you. Even just the knowledge alone, without a change of form, would have changed you to some degree because growth and change are a part of learning.~ She explained slowly and patiently, like one would to a small child. I guess I was compared to Her though.
~So how much have our brains been played with?~ I pressed, needing to be certain.
~It depends on the extent of your physical changes. Everyone was given new skills and abilities, but you were all cautioned that those could carry over to real life in the contracts that you signed before entering the simulation. Other than that, only those who changed gender, species, or both had any mental conditioning or memory placement, and only enough to make you comfortable in your new forms. The vast majority of those who remained Humans had no mental conditioning or memory implantation at all. I like to think that if you were ‘brainwashed’, as many of you seem to suspect, then all of you would be working together as was intended rather than acting like obstinate children. And you, my child, would show more respect and reverence to your Goddess and the mother of your people.~ Despite Her words, Her tone wasn’t angry or frustrated but possessed a calm patience with a little bit of teasing toward the end.
That was when the full scope of my stupidity hit me. I just lost my temper with a Goddess. Not just any Goddess either, but the creator of the Fae, my own patron Goddess, and one who was powerful enough to create a veil to contain all of the other Gods and magical creatures for close to four hundred years. ~I apologize, Great Mother, but since our minds were being affected it was a legitimate concern.~
~I would not take your free will from you, nor allow it to be taken,~ Danu explained. ~We gods gave the sentient Races free will for a reason and it goes against our laws to take it away, no matter how much some of us might like to at times. Worship and loyalty mean nothing if they do not come from the heart. I will not break that law, though I will have to bend another, and I will be sanctioned for it.~
~What do you mean?~
~You will see soon enough,~ She responded as I felt Her presence leave my mind.
“Tae? C’mon, snap out of it, Babe!” Rei’s voice brought me back to the world around me as I opened my eyes to see him and everyone else in my party looking at me in concern as my fiancé gently shook me.
“Sorry everyone, I was having a chat with Danu,” I told my friends as I shook my head to clear it.
Well, it looked like you were spacing out to us,” Rob said with a sigh of relief.
“Wait, you spoke directly with the Great Mother?!” Kinara asked, staring at me open-mouthed.
“Yeah, it was no big deal,” I said, trying to make light of it. After all, if she had directed my Mahair and Pájar then it was probably a common occurrence among the Yseil'dhraí. “She seemed amused that I would apologize to Hawkin so while I had her attention I gave her a piece of my mind about the whole transforming us without consent thing. She explained some things and was pretty cool about me losing my temper, but she said some things that have me concerned too.”
Kinara though seemed to disagree as she shook her head so fast that I imagined it might pop off. “Taelya, talking directly to the Great Mother is a very big deal! Yseil'dhraí can sometimes get emotions, thoughts, or visions from Her to guide us but nobody has actually had personal two-way communication with Her since the Four!”
“Maybe it’s because I’m a prodigy and we’re so close to her center of power,” I suggested, a little uncomfortable with being singled out like that.
“That’s why we come here to hold Councils, but I still haven’t heard of anything like that before. We need to report this to the Queens,” the Summer Court Yseil'dhraí insisted.
As we made our way through the crowds of people and F.I.Ts in search of my Mahair I told the others about Rhaennan, my connection to her, and everything else that I thought important. Nishalle was as floored over the revelations about our father as I had been and she had made no secret that she was pissed about our mother not even being willing to hear him out before casting him out of our lives as she had. Though she was glad to have Amoiraishe’s comment about us having the royal bloodline explained.
We had changed into our combat gear and the others formed a protective circle around me and Kinara as we walked. We were getting attention from the former players by having two Yseil'dhraí in our group, and it wasn’t the good kind of attention either. It seemed like a lot of those who were angry about their transformations were blaming Yseil'dhraí in general, forgetting that some of us had been players just like them. We had ten people surrounding us though and after the first hostile glares I had mounted Ghost and pulled Kinara up to join me. Thankfully, between Ghost, Lissany, Nishalle, Rob, and Pete, and the fact that we were all fully geared, nobody was willing to screw with us.
Kinara and I weren’t the only ones getting attention either. A lot of people recognized Robyn without her glamour on and most of the Kitsunes we passed stopped to stare at Rei, or rather his snow-white ears and tails. Our Wisps and their colored glows were also garnering attention on a night where we had little but the full moon and Kitsune ghost-lights to see by. I saw some other Wisps among players from other servers, but not many. Eventually, we made our way to a large gathering of Fae, including my Mahair and Yseil'dhraí from all three of the other Courts as well.
Narek was standing next to Mahair holding a crying little white-haired Yseil'dhraí girl in his arms, a girl whose Danann’syr marked her as Queen of the Winter Court. Seeing those markings on her forehead as she looked over his shoulder at me and my retinue with teary blue eyes helped me to figure out pretty damn quickly why everyone was looking so grim, Queen Seshaire was dead. I didn’t know whether I should mourn the loss of a grandmother that I didn’t even know, be relieved that I wasn’t the next queen, or feel sympathetic for all the pressure that was going to fall squarely on the shoulders of a three-year-old.
I quickly dismounted and made my way toward the gathering with Kinara following right behind. Everyone was so quiet, except for the bawling little girl and Narek looked crushed as he tried to console her. Mahair watched me approach and nodded her head sadly at my unasked question and said in a low whisper, “Sasha didn’t have the time to wake everyone in the New York office properly and ended up moving everything and everyone by herself. She got all of it here, but she was already sick and the strain was too much for her.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t get the chance to get to know her,” I said honestly. “It sounds like she was a strong woman who cared about the people of her Court.”
“She was, and she was as stubborn as you and your Mahair put together,” Narek said with a sigh as he approached. “We will hold off on her mourning ceremony until things are settled down. Tíana, my little snowflake, this is your sister, Princess Taelya of the Autumn Court and one of her apprentices, Countess Kinara of the Summer Court.”
I tried to smile and seem friendly because with everything that was going on I didn’t even want to think about how confused and upset that little girl would be. She needed someone to tell her it would all be okay and put her mind at ease. “It’s nice to meet you Tíana, everything is pretty confusing and upsetting right now, isn’t it? But family and friends can help make things better. I know that our Sha’mahair is gone but you still have our Pájar and…” Narek shook his head and I realized that this girl didn’t even have a mother. Who was watching her in the game while Narek was with us on Autumn Server?
~Seshaire was watching over young Tíana outside the simulation when your father left to join the Autumn Server. Her mother was killed by Humans before I erected the Veil. She will need someone to train her how to use her magick when she comes of age, and how to be a good Queen,~ Danu’s voice explained before her presence disappeared from my mind as quickly as it came.
I quickly finished my aborted sentence with, “… and now you have me too. And I have another sister and lots of very good friends that are like family, would you like to meet them sometime?” Yes, my friends were not far away, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her at the moment, especially when she was acting a bit shy and there were other matters to attend to. Tíana nodded quickly and then buried her face in Narek’s shoulder. Narek seemed pleased, but I had done it for her and not him.
Kinara and I were quickly introduced to the other Yseil'dhraí, including Sahnae’s mother, Queen Anatha of the Spring Court, and Queen Qwenyth of the Summer Court. I could see the family resemblance immediately between Sahnae, her older sister, and her mother even without the green hair and silver eyes. Qwenyth was a stunning beauty with deep brown eyes and bright fuchsia-colored hair rather than the lighter cotton candy color that Kinara sported. It was Qwenyth who asked, “What is the mood like out there?”
“It’s mixed,” I replied with a shrug. “Some are happy with who they’ve become and others feel violated and they understandably blame the Yseil'dhraí. I’m worried about any of us out in that crowd on their own, Kinara and I made it through because our party was with us, and we had Ghost too. I know why you did all this, and I know who is ultimately responsible, but most of those people out there don’t and they see all Yseil'dhraí as the bad guys, whether we were born that way or not. Once we have those who want to change back to their old selves or to other forms changed, we cannot allow the F.I.Ts to be used without full knowledge and consent again. We could probably get people with gender dysphoria, disabilities, or terminal diseases to sign up eagerly enough if we still need to increase our numbers.”
All three of the adult queens nodded somberly. “We will also need to find the other Fae and other non-Humans who will have appeared when the Veil fell and bring them to safety until we can find a place for ourselves long-term. This is Danu’s domain and only the invited can come here, or remain,” Anatha said with a sigh.
“Well some governments are making it easy for us, putting them all in one place,” I said as I thought about what Mahair had said about camps. “Could we send out a summons for them? Maybe if we used Nature’s Call and sent out a message to let them know where we are and to join us and bring any other non-Humans. The magick users among them would be able to bring those with them who can’t use magick.”
“That could work,” my Mahair agreed, “if we all work together.”
There were only nine Yseil'dhraí women among us who could use Nature’s call, with seven of us being from the Spring and Summer Courts. Since we would all be leaving our bodies defenseless while we concentrated on our work we would be counting on those loyal to us to protect us if any of the hostile former players made a move. I was hoping that it wouldn’t come to that, but I didn’t always get what I wanted and we felt it best to be prepared until we could call in more Fae and other allies.
It wasn’t going to be easy to send out this message so Sahnae’s elder sister Laneera was going to concentrate on the message and spreading it as far across the globe as she could while the rest of us boosted the signal, so to speak. Aside from Laneera, I had the hardest job though. The Fae would be able to sense the presence of the Queens of their Courts, but the Winter Court’s new Queen was only three and probably wouldn’t be able to use Nature’s Call for a century or two and couldn’t even use magick yet. So we would be counting on my raw power and Winter Court blood to try and pick up the slack while I held Tíana in my lap.
“Okay, Tíana, we’re all going to close our eyes and think really hard about the Fae from our Courts, can you hold on to my hands and think really hard about the Fae from the Winter Court for me?” I asked my new little sister carefully, trying to exude confidence and reassurance. “I know that you’re still small, but I’m right here with you and together we can do big things.”
“Uh-huh, Taya,” she replied as she looked back at me and her little face scrunched up in determination. I tried to keep myself centered and not get all gooey-hearted as I closed my eyes and felt her tiny hands grip my thumbs.
I felt out for the world around me and all of its mana with my mind. This island was teeming with mana, filled with living creatures, and it was pretty big too. Beyond the vast open field where we had all appeared, I sensed rolling hills, forests, and more beyond what I could sense as I tried to focus my mind on Tíana and the Fae of the Winter Court as I poured as much power as I could into Laneera, who was forming the message and acting as our relay. Finally, I could sense Laneera’s message in my mind. “Fae of the Four Courts. We await you on Varüus’kiel, come when you can and bring what allies you can from the other Races.”
We continued to focus on our task until we felt Laneera beginning to tire. It was a lot that we had been placing on her shoulders but other than the Queens and myself, who needed to focus on the respective Courts, she was the most powerful Magus and Nature’s Call user amongst us. “Good job Tíana, I think they heard us,” I told the little one in my lap tiredly. As a reward for her hard work, I gently placed Willow in her lap and moved them both gently to the ground beside me so they could play while I recharged my energy. Both my Wisp and my sister seemed to be thrilled by this development.
“We will know soon,” Narek said. “Those who heard the call will come as soon as they are able. We still need to worry about those of us here though. It’s late and we’ll need to figure out what we’re going to do about shelter and food for the morning. We should have enough supplies to last a few days but there are a lot of us to feed and shelter, probably more arriving soon, and nothing has been prepared like with the Sanctuaries.”
“And we don’t know how long Danu expects us to stay here, this could be only temporary and we may not be welcome here for long,” Qwenyth added.
“Maybe we should ask Her then,” I suggested. “That’s kinda why Kinara and I came to find you all before we got sidetracked earlier. I had a conversation with Danu earlier, like an actual both of us exchanging words conversation, and She has spoken to me a few other times too.”
Every Fae within speaking distance was suddenly staring at me, making me very uncomfortable. There was a lot of muttering over the possible meanings of this, but nothing really constructive before we were interrupted by some of the Winter Court F.I.T attendants coming to inform their new Queen and Narek that all of the occupants of those F.I.Ts were now awake and getting equipped from their lockers. I didn’t even want to think about how much power that Queen Seshaire had used to move everything of value from the New York Branch. That could have killed a healthy Fae.
With that, our discussion was over as Mahair decided that it would be the best time for her to get up to address the people. She quickly hopped up onto a stack of crates and cast a light spell to get everyone’s attention. “Attention everyone!” Once she had their attention she continued speaking, delivering her news in a no-nonsense way. “Things haven’t exactly gone as we originally planned and we are currently on the island of Varüus’kiel, the center of power for the Goddess Danu. We have enough food and supplies to last a few days and we plan on returning those of you who wish it to your original forms…”
Mahair was cut short as her light spell and every other form of magical illumination suddenly went dark. The only source of light was the full moon peeking through the clouds as a large snapping sound rang out through the meadow and then a familiar feminine voice called out loud and clear, “No need to worry about that, my child. All of those who truly wished to be changed back to their original forms have been, just as you promised.”
Thank God…dess for my night vision. Several people within my sight had changed before my eyes and everybody seemed frozen in place except for the Yseil'dhraí but even we had our eyes suddenly riveted to where the beam of moonlight touched the ground, and the figure standing in that light. She looked human, though she was tall with milky white skin and her black hair and violet eyes seemed to glow with their own light. She was dressed in a gossamer-thin white gown and the power coming off of her was insane, the very air seemed to vibrate with it. “I know all of you, and some of you know me, but all of us are meeting for the first time so let me start by introducing myself. Welcome to my domain, I am Danu.”
She looked around smiling warmly at everyone. “Now, my fellow gods are going to be very unhappy that I have shown myself to you and they are going to want to punish me for this, but we’re in my domain so I’m not breaking the rule, only bending it a bit. Oh good, no interruptions, this will make things go along a bit faster, so thank you for that.” Why was she thanking everyone? She had to know full well that the sheer amount of power that was oozing out of Her had almost every single person here paralyzed with fear and awe.
“Many of you have blamed my children, the Fae, for the situation that you now find yourselves in and for your change of form. Some of you even think that you may have been brainwashed. I would not have allowed anything that would have taken away your free will, which would go against one of the gods’ most sacred laws. If you must blame someone for your situation, blame me. I guided my children and am solely responsible for all of you being where and who you are now,” She said.
Then looking right at me, Danu smiled and added, “One of my children seems to think that when someone makes mistakes that they should own up to them and apologize. I do not see this as a mistake, but many of you have been hurt by my machinations and for that, I am truly sorry. I am not sorry that you are here though and please know that your brief suffering has not been for nothing. I have been waiting for this a long time, guiding events to this moment where I stand in front of all of you.”
“You see,” the Goddess continued with a long-suffering sigh, “the gods are weary of mankind and have been for some time. Humans no longer worship the old gods; the ones who brought them into being, who gave them free will, and who taught and nurtured them in their infancy. We are relegated to myths and history books, if that, while many of you worship no gods and many others worship figures and books of fiction written by men. Even many of you who worship these false gods do less out of belief than for your own self-aggrandizement or to feel superior to and persecute others.”
Danu shook her head sadly as She surveyed the people around Her. “Most of the gods wish to wipe the slate clean, to be done with humans and start again with creatures who might appreciate the gifts that they have been given and respect the natural world. This cannot be done without a unanimous vote of all the gods, and I am one of a small group of gods that believe that mankind can be redeemed. We believe that you can live and work in peace and harmony with nature and your fellow sentient races.”
I looked around and nobody had moved a muscle, but then we were mostly a captive audience, held in place by the power radiating from Her as She spoke. “I have searched through the myriad futures of this world and only futures branching out from all of us standing here now show the survival of all the races assembled here. In many futures, the Fae and other non-human races are exterminated by humans who are then in turn exterminated by the gods. In some, the gods wipe out humankind and start over as they intend, leaving only small pockets of the Fae and other races.”
“Nearly four hundred years ago I prevented my fellow gods from doing this and saved my children from the butchery of humans by creating the Veil and sealing myself, the other gods, and all creatures of magick within. Now the Veil is gone and the other gods are attempting to start where they left off, causing disasters, diseases, and increasing the numbers of monsters in an attempt to wipe you out so they can begin again. For all of your species to survive, and to restore balance to your world, you must begin to work together. You can no longer remain divided,” the Goddess insisted.
She turned then to look at me and the gathered Queens and the Fae gathered around us. “This goes for my children as well. Each of your Courts is faithful to your sworn duty but you each have your own way of doing things. That is fine, but you need to be loyal to the Fae as a whole as well as your Courts and you need someone who cares about all living peoples equally to show you your new path and forge the alliances that will ensure your survival. With that in mind, I have a gift for everyone here, a guiding light to ensure your future. Taelya nír Keshwaindyr, please step forward, my child.”
I stared at Danu for a moment, unsure of what She was up to and why She would single me out all of a sudden. Finding that I could move though I thought it wise to do as She commanded. Pissing off your patron Goddess is generally considered a bad idea, after all. So I got to my feet and once I was within arm's reach I knelt before Her to ask, “Ummm… yes, Great Mother?”
“You told me earlier that you are not ready to be a Queen, and that is true, you are ready to be much more than that. You are the One, Empress of all Fae and the island of Varüus’kiel. The Queens shall still manage their Courts and command their armies, but all will be united as one people under your guidance. Until you have trained your sister to be a proper Queen for her Court, your father Narek will remain Warden of the Winter Court in her place. My children, show Taelya the love and devotion that you would me and learn from her, I entrust the future to you and all of those gathered here. Show them the way, my child.” With that, She held out Her hand and touched my Danann’syr and I could feel a tingling rush through my whole body and a surge of power like I had drunk an entire beer keg filled with cappuccino or maybe touched a few dozen live wires.
I could feel the mana around me better than I could before and this island wasn’t just big, it was vast, easily the size of a small country. I could sense every inch of it, to the mountains that encircled us and the sea beyond and it was all brimming with life and mana. Then it all dialed back down to the point where I didn’t feel like I was going to go insane from too much input and I opened my eyes to find that Danu was gone and everyone was standing around me staring. Well, except for the Fae and my friends, who were all kneeling. I tried to ignore all of that as I got to my feet once more and shook my head to clear it, wondering if maybe I’d just had some wacky dream.
“Tae, are you okay?” Rei asked in concern.
“Is there anything we can do to help? Holy shit, did you feel her power? It was terrifying, and you, I thought that you were powerful before,” Venika chimed in, sounding just as worried.
I tried to give them a reassuring smile and it wasn’t hard since I actually felt really good and energetic at that moment. “Language Venika,” I teased before nodding. “I think I’m okay. Please tell me I just dreamed that though.”
“You wish, Empress,” Nishalle said with a smirk, causing me to frown and groan.
“Umm… Your Highness, err… Your Imperial Majesty. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you look different. I mean you still look like you, but your hair, eyes, and your Danann’syr have all changed,” Lissany said, stumbling over her words.
“Here, Mistress, you should probably have a look at yourself,” Daenyss offered, producing a hand mirror.
Holy crap, I looked like Danu, sort of. I still looked like Taelya mostly, the same face and pointed ears and such but my once bright red hair was now raven black, my golden eyes had turned a bright violet color, and both were the only things aside from the Wisps and moonlight providing any light in the meadow. My eyes seemed to glow the same violet as my irises but my night-black hair gave off this silvery light.
My Danann’syr had changed as well to show the Fae sigil for Danu surrounded by and connected to the sigils of each of the Four Courts. I liked the look of the Danann’syr, it represented unity to me, but I was never going to be able to go out at night again without attracting attention. At least I wouldn’t have to turn on a light to find my way to the bathroom. ~Geeze, thanks a lot, Great Mother,~ I grumbled sarcastically in my mind.
~You’re welcome, my child,~ Danu teased back. ~You have the easy part though. Do you realize how much effort it took to have an island roughly the size of Iceland reappear in the middle of the Greenland Sea without creating tsunamis or, at the very least, a significantly higher sea level that would cause flooding in coastal regions? My cohorts and I had to relocate so much water to the arctic while I was doing it. Now, my allies and I must try to thwart the plans of the other gods until you can all prove yourselves. We both have a lot of work ahead of us.~
~I don’t know if I can do what You’re asking, it’s a lot to place on the shoulders of one person,~ I said uncertainly as I thought about how the governments of the world were going to react to us amidst all of the other chaos going on out there.
~You don’t have to do it all on your own, my sweet child,~ Danu’s voice gently told me. ~You have your friends and your people to help you and together you will find more allies. Do your best and try to make the future what you wish it to be, and I am sure that you will do fine. I’ll be watching you.~