Day Seven. Late Morning.

“You’re full of surprises, Michael,” Loken said, appearing behind me the moment Saya was gone. “I never thought to see you become a merchant.”

I chuckled. “I didn’t either.”

“Are you ready to talk?” Loken asked as we strode back into the cave.

I nodded. “What did you learn from your jaunt through the sector?”

Loken’s face took on an unwontedly serious cast. “Matters here are more... interesting than I expected. It’s strange to find two goblin tribes in a sector, much less three. Although, someone went to a lot of trouble to see one of them destroyed.”

He looked at me questioningly, but I remained silent. I hadn’t told Loken everything in my letter. And the less he knew of my abilities, the better.

With a smile, Loken went on, “Then there is the presence of the envoys. For three of them to be here, in an—”

I stopped short and stared at the Power. “Did you say three?”

He nodded.

“Who?” I demanded.

Loken arched one eyebrow at my tone but didn’t remark on it. “There’s the Tartan captain, Talon, for one. He’s a well-known figure in the realms, and while I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting him, he is reputed to be more diplomatic than his fellow legion captains. Tartar usually dispatches the good captain on missions when a more… deft touch is required than the heavy-handed hammer that he normally employs to resolve problems.”

I nodded thoughtfully, surprised that the simple-seeming captain I had met in the safe zone was a respected figure in the Game. “Go on.”

“Then there is, Amgira,” Loken said as he resumed walking.

I frowned.

At my look of confusion, Loken smiled. “She went by the name Mariga in this sector, I believe.”

“Ah,” I exclaimed.

“You’ve heard of her, I see,” Loken said. “Finding her here was truly a surprise.”

I was more impressed by Loken’s ability to uncover the druid’s identity so quickly. He hadn’t been gone that long. “What do you know about her?” I asked casually.

“She is an envoy of Arinna and one of the wiliest players about.”

There was no mistaking the admiration in the Power’s tone. Clearly, even Loken, a master of deceit himself, was impressed by Mariga’s—I suppose I should be calling her Amgira now—skill at deception.

“She left quite a mess on her way out, too,” Loken added.

“Oh?” I asked as we came to a stop before the silver bubble encasing Ishan.

“Oh, yes, she destroyed the Howler fort around the safe zone yesterday, leaving not even a single stone standing, and she did it while in her true form.” The Power smiled. “That’s how I knew it was her. The players in the village could talk about nothing else except the mysterious winged woman who had rained down fire from the sky.”

I blinked. Destroyed the Howler fort?

The news was both astonishing—and pleasing. With neither a fort nor a shield generator, the Dark was even less likely to claim the sector now.

No wonder Talon was upset.

The captain must have already known about the fort’s destruction when we had spoken, I realized, and suspected I had something to do with it.

“Who is the third envoy?” I asked absently, still preoccupied with Loken’s revelation.

“Stayne, of course.”

I stared at the Power. “Stayne is an envoy? How—”

I broke off. Of course, he is. I should have caught onto that fact much sooner.

Loken chuckled at my expression. “You didn’t know? Well, make sure you stay away from him. You’re nowhere ready to cross swords with someone like Stayne.”

I nodded. For the time being, I had no intention of going anywhere near the undead.

“But as I was saying,” Loken continued, “to find three envoys in any sector, much less one as out-of-the-way and small as this one, is nothing short of miraculous.” Loken gestured to the stasis bubble. “As for why they’re here, Ishita’s follower has already told us that.”

“The dungeon sectors that the Awakened Dead discovered,” I stated.

“Exactly,” Loken said, rubbing his palms together. “I can’t wait to explore them myself.”

“You still haven’t told me what is so valuable about them,” I pointed out.

Loken sighed theatrically. “Ah yes, I almost forgot about our deal. Well, let’s get it over with. Sit down and let me explain,” he ordered, seating himself on the floor.

Sinking down into a cross-legged stance opposite him, I waited for him to go on.

“What do you know about the nether, Michael?” Loken asked.

I scratched my chin while I thought. “I know that it houses the Game’s dungeons.” I paused. “And that it’s difficult to travel there. There is also no way to teleport into a dungeon sector the way one can into a Kingdom sector.”

“Both those things are true, but not the entire truth,” Loken agreed. “The aether and nether have existed as long as the Game has. Both are voids of nothingness with little pockets of land—that we call sectors—floating inside them. Despite these similarities, though, the aether and nether are very different from each other. The aether is a bright void, shiny, and easy to see through. Its sectors are easy to reach—” Loken’s voice turned dry—“assuming, of course, they aren’t shielded.”

I nodded, having understood this much already.

“The nether, on the other hand, is murky,” Loken continued. “Its sectors are hidden and impossible to get to without using the network of ley lines connecting them.”

“Ley lines?” I asked, vaguely recalling mention being made of them before.

“Ley lines are what allow the nether portals to exist. They are magical threads stretching through the void to form a bridge between sectors. Most scholars believe the leys were formed during the long-ago cataclysmic event that led to the Forever Kingdom’s dissolution into isolated pockets of land. Why they only originate from nether sectors, though, no one knows.”

“I see,” I said.

“If you recall, you traversed a ley twice already. Once to enter this valley, and before that, to reach the dungeon where we first met.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

“Do you see now why control of the ley lines and the sectors anchoring them—like this one—is crucial for any faction wanting to delve into the nether?”

“I do,” I replied. “But I still don’t understand why the nether is so important.”

“I’m getting to that,” Loken said primly. Lowering his head into his hands, the Power paused to gather his thoughts. “Do you know what the Game’s purpose is?” he asked finally.

I stared at Loken, perplexed by the strange detour in the conversation. “Uh… no.”

“Power,” Loken said. “At its heart, the Game is about gathering power. Do not forget that.” He smiled wryly. “It’s why we have named ourselves such. We ‘Powers’ fancy ourselves as being at the pinnacle of power in this world.” Loken looked away for a moment, his gaze going distant. “Although sometimes it does not feel that way…” he whispered so faintly I barely heard him.

Catching me leaning forward, the Power shook himself and refocused on me. “Where was I? Oh yes, power. The essence of the Game is about gathering power. Call it what you will: progression, evolution, leveling. They are all the same thing.”

Loken paused to meet my gaze again. “I can see you’re still wondering what this has to do with dungeons.”

I nodded.

“Simply put, there’s nowhere else in the Forever Kingdom that a player can gather power as quickly as he can in a dungeon. The Game has specially designed them for that purpose. Of course, not all dungeons are equal. Some are meant for low-leveled players, still early in their evolution. But others—like the network of dungeon sectors that the Awakened Dead seem to have discovered here—are meant for elite players. And they can conceivably elevate a player to godhood.”

I stared at him, “Godhood?”

Loken nodded gravely. “Of course, not every player can reach such heights, but it doesn’t stop most from trying.”

I frowned. “I still don’t understand. The dungeon that I passed through—that you yourself saw—was nothing remarkable. Why would—”

I stopped short as I saw Loken shaking his head.

“The dungeon you went through, Michael, was a reseeded one.”

“What does that mean?”

“The sector was already cleared by the Awakened Dead, then reconfigured for their own purposes—supposedly to train Erebus’ candidates. It is the wild sectors of the Endless Dungeons, the ones seeded by the Game itself, that are desired by those who aspire to become Powers in their own right.”

I bowed my head and fell silent while I pondered on that.

“It seems that the Dark was lucky twice over with their find in this sector,” Loken mused. “Not only did they find a ley line leading to a section of elite dungeons, but they also discovered a hereunto unknown connection to their own Dark-controlled nether sectors. That makes this valley doubly important.”

The Powers gaze drifted to the silver bubble. “Questioning Ishita’s sworn is bound to be interesting,” he murmured, almost to himself. After a moment, his gaze refocused on me. “Have I satisfied my end of the bargain? Do you understand the importance of dungeons now?”

“I do,” I said.

Loken rose to his feet and tossed me the amulet. “Then put this on the prisoner, and I can send you on your way too.”

The silver bubble about Ishan disappeared, and I kneeled beside the mage. His face was a picture of befuddlement. “What happened?”

Withdrawing the antidote from my potion belt, I held it out to Ishan. “Here. This is yours like I promised.”

Loken looked at me questioningly but did not interfere as the mage downed the contents of the wyvern antitoxin.

“You’re letting me go?” Ishan asked in surprise, his gaze darting from me to Loken.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” I murmured. Before the mage could protest, I slapped Loken’s amulet about him and pressed the emerald stud.

In a blink, the mage vanished.

You have fulfilled your Pact obligations to Loken.

The Power chuckled. “Well done. And as promised, here is your money.” Pulling out what looked like the very same keystone he’d shown me in the dungeon long ago, Loken laid his palm across its sigil-carved surface.

The Power Loken has deposited 1,000 gold into your Albion Bank account.

“Done,” the Power said, smiling in satisfaction. “Now, only to see to your own transportation.” He bowed elaborately. “Where to, good sir?” he asked mockingly.

Ignoring Loken’s antics, I answered, “The Nexus.”

Whatever he was expecting, it was not that. “The Nexus?” Loken asked in surprise. “Why do you want to go there?”

“I’m tired of rattling around at the edges of this world,” I lied smoothly. “I want to see what sits at the heart of the Game.” I paused. “Besides, I’m rich now, and it’s time I properly equipped myself.” I grinned. “Where better to do that than in the biggest market this world has?”

Loken tilted his head to the side and studied me the way one would a strange puzzle. “A bold, if somewhat reckless move,” he remarked finally. “Are you sure you want to go there?”

Was it just me, or did the Power seem reluctant? I nodded. “I am.”

“As you wish,” Loken said—somewhat curtly, I thought—and waved his arm.

A portal sprang open before me. I stepped towards it but paused just before entering. “Oh, there’s just one more thing.”

The Power looked at me questioningly.

“I’ve been meaning to ask: how did you find me so quickly? I expected you to take longer to reach the sector, much less my own location.”

Loken smiled. “I suppose I shouldn’t be telling you this, but if you’re going to Nexus, you’ll discover the truth soon enough on your own,” he said cryptically.

I waited patiently.

The Power held up the keystone. “When you touched this in the dungeon, you didn’t just consent to opening a bank account but also to the tracking spell I laid on you.”

I gaped at him. “You did what?” I asked in a half-strangled voice.

“Once the shield dropped, I knew your location instantly,” Loken finished with a cheerful grin, ignoring my look.

“Remove the spell,” I demanded.

Loken’s smile widened. “No. That wasn’t part of our deal now, was it?”

I stared at the Power for a drawn-out moment, then sighed. It was my own fault, really, for trusting the self-proclaimed trickster. I would just have to find a means of removing his spell myself. I spun about to face the portal again.

My work in the sector was done, and I had a lot to think about. Now it was time to look to my own future and perhaps, just perhaps, evolve into something greater.

“Farewell, Loken,” I called over my shoulder. Before he could respond, I stomped towards the portal and, without further ado, stepped through.

Transfer through portal commencing…

…

…

Leaving sector 12,560. Entering Nexus!

Loken has fulfilled his Pact obligations to you. Your Pact with Loken is closed!

You have fulfilled all your Pact obligations to the envoy, Amgira. The Power Arinna has deposited 1,000 gold into your Albion Bank account. Your Pact with Amgira is closed!

~~~

The End.

Here ends Book 2 of the Grand Game.

Michael’s adventures will continue in World Nexus.

Chapters start posting tomorrow!

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Happy reading!

Tom Elliot.