“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah, I promise. Now, you have no idea if you can trust me, but think about the alternative. If you don’t help us out, and six days pass… well, I hope you’re handy with a shovel.”
“Fine, fine. Six days. No more mysterious stuff,” Kenneth said. He let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Sang. I owe you one.”
“Yeah…” Sang murmured as she looked at the empty pod. “You owe me your life.”
Chapter Nine
Van opened his eyes, smelling the smoke of the game world. It was crisp and stinging, burning his nostrils as if it were the real thing. He glanced over to see that Sang and Kenwar were also connected into the game. He stretched his arms out and yawned.
“Alright, gang,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to get done over the next few days. The rest of the team is already in the game—they’re over at Tower Banesfield. There’s going to be a major push from the Kyrissian forces toward the tower. We’re going to have to prepare fortifications and hold against it.”
“Sounds good to me,” Kenwar said. “My crossbows are getting antsy for a real fight.”
“Van, a word?” Sang asked as she motioned for him to come closer.
“Yes, of course,” Van said as he walked up to her. “What’s up?”
“Not too much,” Sang said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. It was an odd gesture and he didn’t quite understand what she meant by it. “I just wanted to tell you that, uh, you’re doing well at this whole thing, and I’m appreciative of how hard you’re working. I understand that it’s difficult to be a leader and that the various pressures and assorted challenges are weighing heavily on you, but don’t worry. You’ll do exceptionally well, and I commend you for it.”
Van wasn’t quite sure what she’d just said. He cocked his head. “Sang, I’m sorry, you just kind of rambled at me. What are you talking about? Is everything okay?”
Sang tried to suppress her frown, but Van knew her well enough at this point to know he had annoyed her. “I’m trying to encourage you, Van,” she snapped. “I literally just told you you’re doing a good job.”
“You said a ton of words in a rapid onset of sentences,” Van replied. “That’s not a great way to say ‘good job’ at all.”
“Fine, then you tell me how to say it,” she said, folding her arms.
“Fine. It’s easy. Try this: ‘Van, you are… a rugged and handsome man—’”
“Alright, I’m walking this way. Take your damn encouragement for what it is,” Sang said as she briskly walked away. Van chuckled to himself as he followed after her. He wasn’t quite sure why she was being so kind to him, but he didn’t mind it. Things had been getting more tense over the last few days, and the chance to goof off and get on her nerves had been welcome.
They made their way to Tower Banesfield. The tower itself was nothing special; it was just a large stone tower with a pointed top that made it look somewhat like a wizard tower from a fable about Merlin. At the base of the tower were several thousand players and several hundred thousand NPCs.
“That is an army!” Sang said, pointing at the group. “How are there that many people in this game?”
“It’s a popular game,” Kenwar said.
Van abruptly turned to look at him. Kenwar was normally silent during the course of the game. The only time he ever talked was when helping make tactical decisions or when he’d tried to convince Van to join Draco’s side. Never had the man spoken so casually before.
“Come on, I see the team,” Van said. He pointed to a large collection of his friends who were hanging out at the edge of the camp. They were all waving to Van. The entire party was there.
“There you are!” Sahara said as she rushed up to hug Van. “Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry! My computer overheated at the worst possible time. Bidane said you all almost died because of my incompetency—I’m really sorry!”
“Oh, hey, it’s not like it was something that you could control,” Van replied as he pried the girl off of him. She was far too handsy for his liking. He wondered if she had a crush on him. The way that she was always just a few feet away from him and constantly talking up to him made him curious. It wasn’t like he didn’t like the idea of having a girlfriend, but... what with all of the talk about the end of the world and facing his own potential death, he didn’t really have the time to think about it.
“Good news,” Bidane said. “We’ve just gotten word that the entire freaking Kyrissian army is on its way. We’re looking at a force of about 30,000 players.”
“Crap, that is a lot!” Van gasped. “Just players?”
“Well, their NPCs are going to be triple that number, so yeah… it’s gonna suck,” Kylian said as he walked up to them.
“What’s the good word from our commander?” Sang asked. She grimaced for a moment and adjusted her backpack’s strap.
“Well, he hasn’t logged in yet,” Kylian replied. “So, we’re hoping that—” His words were interrupted by the sound of leather ripping open.
Jet came tumbling out of Sang’s now torn bag and fell to the ground. The dragon rolled around and hopped up. He had grown significantly larger than Van remembered, and now broken out of Sang’s bag. Beforehand, Sang and Van had made an agreement to keep the dragon hidden, as a way to detract from potential thieves and protect them from curious players who wanted to know how they’d obtained a dragon at such a low level. Now it seemed that Jet was getting far too big to keep hidden.
“Ah, crap,” Sang said as she scrambled to pick up the items that had spilled all over the ground. “That’s what I get for feeding you beef jerky every few hours.”
The group laughed at that. Everyone was laughing, in fact, with the exception of Kenwar. Van noticed that the man’s eyes had narrowed upon seeing the dragon. He shifted uncomfortably as he watched the manhunter’s eyes intently gaze at the beast.
Jet slowly turned its head and looked right at Van. “Bad!” it hissed.
“Yeah, I know, it’s bad that you’re out of your bag,” Van said. “But we’re going to have to let you wander alongside us now.” He groaned as he tried to think of some kind of plausible lie to tell every curious player they would encounter.
“Oh man, we’re going to be flying on him soon enough!” Dolly said as she giggled and bent over to pet the dragon. It snapped at her with its jaws.
“Behave, Jet,” Sang said.
“What a marvelous creature,” Kenwar said. “I must know how you guys acquired it.”
“Why don’t you shut the hell up!” Sang barked. The yell startled Kenwar, who raised his hands up immediately.
“Sorry, I was just curious.”
Van glanced at Sang, who knowingly nodded at him. Sang stormed up to Kenwar and whispered a few words into his ear. Van could see the man’s face grow pale. He nodded vigorously a few times and backed away from the dragon.
“Alright, let’s get moving,” Capello said as he rushed up to the group. “Our glorious leader just logged in. He’s going to be making a speech.” He pointed to the tower, where they could see Captain Edwardson standing atop one of the balconies.
Everyone rushed to get to a good spot where they could hear their leader. As Van scrambled with the others, a private message popped up for him:
Van, please come to my location at once. – Captain Edwardson.
This was an odd missive. What did the captain want with him? With a shrug, Van made his way through the throngs of players and up to the tower.
“Please enter!” the guard said, opening the door for Van immediately. Van moved up dozens of stairs, unable to hear any of the speech from the captain. He grumbled a little as he walked. He’d wanted to hear the famous man speak.