They walked to the edge of the lake. Van pushed his hand forward slowly, only to feel a pressure immediately repel his hand. It had felt cool to the touch, like steel.
“Something’s there,” Van said. “But I think it’s sealed up.”
Sang pushed both her hands forward hard, causing a loud grinding noise to emit from thin air. “Errrg,” she grunted as she continued to push. Van joined her and pressed his hands against the invisible wall, and began to push. After a moment, they heard a swoosh sound and they were both falling forward.
“Ah!” Van yelped in surprise as he fell inside of a large, steel room. The interior looked like some kind of spaceship. There were screens all over the walls and dozens of consoles with buttons sticking out of them. It looked somewhat like the interior of a ship from Star Trek.
“What is this place?” Sang asked as she stood and looked around.
“Some kind of ship,” Van replied. “Maybe it’s what the Draco people fly in?”
“Definitely a control tower,” Sang said, pointing to the main screen resting above all of the computer consoles. The screen had a display of the entire area of Bloodrock, and had many different areas outlined. There were words, too, but they were in some language that Van didn’t recognize.
“No one’s home, I guess,” Van said as he walked over to the consoles. They looked like regular computers, except for the fact that they had buttons with labels that were entirely different from the English language.
A swoosh sounded out from behind them and Van instinctively went to hide, only to realize that he was taller than most of the consoles around him.
“Whoa!” said a familiar voice. It belonged to Dolly.
“Dolly?” Sang practically shouted, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Better question is,” Bidane said as she walked into the ship,” what are you two up to?”
“Why is there a spaceship in a fantasy game?” Dolly asked.
“You two shouldn’t be here,” Van said as he rushed up to them. “This place is not safe.”
“Well, it didn’t stop you guys from sneaking off,” Bidane said. “See, I figured that, with Dolly’s help, we could figure out what you were up to because she’d be able to track you guys down. Now, I see why you’ve been all secretive. You’re accessing areas that players shouldn’t be allowed in. You two are definitely hacking!”
“Hacking?” Sang snapped. “Hacking? Are you dense? Look around you, Bidane. This isn’t hacking—we’re in some kind of monitoring station.”
“Man, this must be for some kind of upcoming event,” Dolly muttered.
“It’s not an event, it’s—” Van’s words were cut off by the sound of a laugh. His blood went cold as he turned around to see that the man in the T-shirt was emerging from a door on the right side of the ship. Van hadn’t seen the outline of a door before, but it had appeared to open when the stranger walked through.
“Well, it’s been a long time, Van,” said the stranger.
“Who are you?” Van asked.
“Don’t recognize me?” the man asked. The rest of the room had fallen silent, with everyone looking at him. Sang had her bow ready for action, but said nothing.
“No, I don’t,” Van said, stepping a few feet away.
“What a shame,” the man replied. “It’s me, Draumed. Remember?”
Memories came flashing back to Van. Draumed had been one of the original members of Van’s guild, and the first of their group to go pro. No one had seen him after he’d made the decision to leave the group and become a professional player.
“You look different from how I remember,” Van replied.
“Of course,” Draumed said with a grin. “This area is different from the rest of the game. I don’t particularly look like my character, but I would wager to say I’m a dead ringer for the real me.”
“Alright, what’s going on?” Bidane snapped. “I mean, what is this place?”
“Silence,” Draumed said. “I’m talking to Van.” He turned his attention back to Van and grinned again. “Now then, I suppose I should congratulate you for getting this far, but it’s time for you to hang up your hat. Draco’s been lenient with you two, but only because you haven’t been causing any real problems. Now… now you’re somewhere you shouldn’t be. I’ve been instructed to make sure that you two leave and don’t come back.”
Van’s eyes darted to the axe that was hanging off of Draumed’s belt. It was wicked and sharp. If they were in an area where real death was possible, that axe was bad news. His eyes moved over to Sang, who had walked up to his side and aimed her bow. The death system might go both ways, right? Perhaps this guy could be killed, too.
“Leave? You don’t want us dead?” Van asked.
“Her? Sure. But you? Nah, Draco would prefer you to be alive. You have your uses, for certain,” Draumed replied as he gently patted his axe.
“What uses?” Sang hissed. Van felt a spike of dread run through him. He hadn’t told her a word about the various proposals that Draco had brought his way.
“That’s for the two of us to know,” Draumed replied. He gripped the axe and pulled it free of its hilt, and threw it hard at Sang. Sang released her arrows right at Draumed, but the arrows went wide, missing him. Miss taunted the UI as it floated above Draumed’s head.
“Sang!” Van shouted as the axe crashed into her arm. The words 20 damage hovered above her. Van could see her health bar drop significantly after she took the blow. Why was her health bar so much lower than normal?
“Ahhhh!” she shrieked as she fell onto her back, clutching the bloody wound. “It really hurts!”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Dolly said as she brandished her daggers. “No one hurts my teammate and gets away with it!”
“Van, please instruct your rogue to stand down before she dies,” Draumed replied. “I really don’t want to have the blood of an innocent player on my hands.”
“Take it easy,” Van said, holding up his hands. He turned to look at Dolly and Bidane. Dolly was ready for a fight, but Bidane was still standing motionless with her hands folded. She seemed very confused, and content to just watch.
“Stand down,” Van said. “No reason for you to try and fight this guy.”
“But he just—”
“Enough,” Van interrupted. “You both need to get out of here before you end up in more trouble than you bargained for.”
“Oooh, sorry,” Draumed replied as he walked towards them both. Sang was still lying on the ground, clutching her arm. Van noticed her health was slowly draining. That wasn’t a good sign.
“The unfortunate problem,” Draumed continued, “is that my bosses would prefer that we keep these two lovely ladies occupied for the next few days.”
“They have nothing to do with this,” Van replied. “Let them go!”
“I have no idea why they’re wanted,” Draumed replied as he pulled out a knife from his pocket. It shined wickedly. “But I am going to obey. Now, Van. You can either die here with Sang, or you can leave.”
“I’m not going—” Van’s words were cut off as he realized that he was suddenly laying in his pod. “The hell?” he shouted as the pod door opened up.
“Sorry, champ,” Neil said as he looked down at Van. “But the time has run out.”
“Sang’s going to be killed!” Van shouted.
“I’m fine,” Sang grumbled as she climbed out of the pod. “Arm is sore as hell, though.”
“How did we get out?” Van asked as he looked at Sang. “I figured that were locked in.”