We managed to spend the next few hours winding through tunnels before reaching a place that TinkerHell knew. During that time, I learned that all three had been playing this game since near release. Which is why they seemed so comfortable handling anything coming our way. TinkerHell made us stop and rest up while we discussed the best course of action.

“How much further?” SheHulk asked.

“Too far. We need to go through the town.” The blonde shook her head slowly.

I was just happy with being able to see. Joining them in combat was getting a little bit easier too. Nothing, so far, involved more than a pack or two of the monsters at one time. Progress was being made. There was something amazingly cathartic about hitting stuff with a giant sword. The woman I had met in [Haven Valley], HotPants, had the right idea with regards to that. Edward took it to a whole new level with his constant stream of skill announcements.

“The town is a death trap. You know it, I know it, even with Grant we’ll never make it.” SheHulk said.

“Ladies, it’s there or failure.” Edward was pressed against one of the passageways that led out of this cavern.

“The town?” I asked.

“Gobbler town. They all come from a central point in this wing of the dungeon. It should be along this tunnel.” TinkerHell waved the staff at the left most exit. “We go through, skirt the edges and get to the right path.”

“Straight on til morning.” Edward sounds happy. “Let’s do it.”

“We’re going to die.” SheHulk grumps. She had been taking off pieces of armor and rubbing some liquid on them. The items seemed to be in better shape afterward. Did armor repair come in potion form? My poor cloak could use some magical healing.

“I’m all for it. Edward’s for it, what’s your vote SheHulk?”

“I’m just here to protect you, so if you want to go, I’ll go.” She said. Elane’s face twisted up a little bit while she spoke. Something about the line bothered her.

My mind was only half paying attention. I was still hopeful for the future. Maybe the Voices would let me get to a city soon. This destination of ours, [Broken Mountain Pass] hopefully would have people. Trainers, anything that let me work for a few more useful skills. This Blade Dancer Path was kind of neat. I had been trying to activate the skills during our last few fights. Continue had shown me a class, or whatever, that was very much up my alley.

“Your call, Hermes,” TinkerHell said.

Crud. Today, as loosely defined in reality, was shaping up to be a long day. In the real world, there were roughly ten hours left to reach the pass. Game time equated to a day and eight hours. There was no way to do this without running a risk.

Plus, what would happen if I lost the title? My choices, according to TinkerHell’s explanation, were to fail, or risk it and maybe succeed, maybe fail. I wouldn’t bother asking the Voices above any questions until they answered my other one. Dusk’s survival was still a questionable factor.

“I’m on a time limit, so I don’t have a choice.” I paused. “Only, if I die, can you guys make sure Dusk gets out okay?”

Dusk gave an inquisitive chirp of noise from my shoulder. He paced for a moment, tiny claws digging through the uncovered spots of the starter armor. My fingers reached up to rub the little guy’s head and try to calm him down. He nipped at one finger but gave in.

“Is the tiny devil not bound?” Edward asked.

“No. I’m still not sure what will happen.” And that kind of pissed me off. James, my personal Voice, should have provided some sort of answer by now. The fact that he hadn't made me worried.

“Pets should have a summon spell of some sort. Doesn’t yours come with that?” TinkerHell said.

“No. Dusk isn’t a pet, he’s a companion,” I said.

“Ohhhhhh.” The blonde smiled. “That’s cool! I’ve never met anyone with a companion before.”

“Nor have many others. They’re rare.” Edward said with a shrug. He seemed more interested in our conversation than the hallway he was guarding.

“Please, just try to keep him alive for me, if things go south,” the [Messenger's Pet] was distracted by the head rub. Only a cupcake would break him away from the moment.

“Fine. Let’s go, we’re wasting game time.” Elane said. She rolled one shoulder and got the shield and mace ready to go. TinkerHell and Edward marched off fairly quickly with me taking up the rear. They decided that even though I carried a big sword, I was still too much of a newbie to front line anything.

Honestly, they seemed more comfortable with their own group tactics. Inserting me into them was difficult. That or I was being subjected to the role of Carver once again. My back must have an 'Escort me I'm clueless' sign on it.

"It's about an hour’s walk down this tunnel. My map has a few turns but nothing too difficult." TinkerHell was saying from up front. "We should be able to get your boy toy to the other end in time."

"She's calling you a toy, mate." Edward fell back a bit to talk to me.

"I've been called worse." Being an accountant all those years ago had subjected me to some rather creative names by angry rich people.

"You and SheHulk then?"

"No. We never did." I answered Edwards question.

"Good, I wouldn't want to, you know, step on any toes."

SheHulk, or Elane, was grumbling in front of us. She could probably hear Edward talking about his intentions. At least the man was vaguely subtle in his wording. Declaring that he was out to 'hit that' would be disastrously funny.

"That's between you two. Elane and I gave it a try and failed."

"We didn't fail, Grant, you killed any attempt we might have had by rambling about your dead ex." SheHulk said. The gap between our party members had grown smaller as we walked.

Both my eyes clinched shut. A tempo crawled into my brain as attempts to keep calm were made. Elane was just stating the truth, rudely, that's all. My brain tried to formulate angry retorts. Each one was interrupted by thoughts of foot placement and arms. Dancing was a complicated task, and sometimes amazingly simple.

"That's rude, SheHulk." TinkerHell said.

"It's still true."

"She's right." I admitted.

"Still rude." TinkerHell responded.

"No. I, uhh, I wasn't much fun to be around back then. Life, you know?" Airing my dirty laundry to a bunch of strangers wasn't new but this also wasn't the setting for it. Beers at the local inn would be better. Wait. No. Drinking was a bad idea. The fact that the thought even crossed my mind was a sign of how far my recovery had yet to go.

"No worries, mate, we're all here because of life issues." Edward said with a twitch of his mustache.

"I told you, Elane’s my sponsor." Tink whispered.

"I hope things are going well." My response was vague and noncommittal. There was no good response to such an open-ended admission. TinkerHell could be sponsored for any number of issues. If Elane was doing it, then the issue was probably anger management.

"They are, Hermes." She responded.

"Tink, your appointment's today isn't it?" SheHulk said suddenly talking over TinkerHell.

"Oh. Oh yeah. You're right. We've got time, I think." The blonde said while tilting her head. She also seemed skilled in avoiding self-harm with that giant staff. I probably would have smacked myself twice just trying to make my face resemble hers.

"No, you better not be late this time."

Now they were on a subject I knew too much about. Being sponsored meant she had some sort of problem. Making appointments meant she was trying to fix the situation. Missing those would make recovery harder.

“I don’t mind if you have to leave.”

“No worries, Hermes, let’s see what we can get done. We’ve still got eleven hours to try and make it through before I have to go.”

“We’re all decided then, we cut near the town?” Edward asked. He was etching a small pattern into the wall to pass the time.

“God I hope the Gobbler Atlas isn’t in.”

“It could be the Huck Twins, or that petrified oak.” Edward and TinkerHell were talking back and forth too quickly for me.

“Stupid. We don’t have a second tank.”

“Or three healers.” Elane muttered.

“Simply say the word my dear ladies, I’ll provide all the healing…” There was a smack of Elane’s shield bashing into Edward. Stars once again formed above his character.

“What’s his deal?” I asked.

“Which part?” Tink’s head tilted in question which caused her hair to spill into a new position. Elane wore hers much shorter than the blonde in front of me.

“All of it?”

“The accent comes and goes because he’s trying to be British, plus he hasn’t managed to land SheHulk yet.” TinkerHell whispered. She was being much quieter while the other two walked down the cave pathway.

“Oh, hold on!” TinkerHell suddenly yelled over my next attempted question. The whole thought process was none of my business anyway.

“What?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Ghost Mushrooms! Finally. I thought we’d never find another batch.”

“Really?” SheHulk seemed pleased. Edward was lost somewhere in the distance. “Well this trip’s not a total waste. Divvy them up. We’ll watch your back.”

“Alright.”

[Ghost Mushroom]s made no sense to me. Their value was an unknown as was the location. Part of me wondered what they might taste like. TinkerHell seemed to be fiddling around with air on the wall nearby. SheHulk and I stood on either end of the hallway.

I hummed mindlessly and tapped one foot. There was just enough hallway room to shuffle down and maybe do part of a line dance. It wasn’t the same without people around to clap. A tango was out. Swing would be a no go. The list went on and on.

“Grant, knock it off.” Elane snapped.

“No thanks.” I hummed happily. Dancing was what kept me going. Plus something about her was pissing me off. TinkerHell was at least friendly.

“It is kind of catchy.” TinkerHell said from her place along the wall. She was bent over looking down near the ground. I squinted and tried to see whatever it was that had caught her attention.

“Really, Grant?”

I sighed then spread my arms helplessly. “I don’t see any ghost mushrooms.”

“You don’t belong to any mage paths, so that’s standard.” Elane turned back and glared down the hallway. At least she didn’t outright accuse me of staring at TinkerHell’s rear end.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because you’re too new, and if you had learned any magic, you wouldn’t be blind down here.” Elane responded.

“I’m blind down here because Dusk wouldn’t light a torch for me.”

“It’s a good thing he didn’t. Fire is bad. The Ooze is attracted to heat.” Elane said. One of her feet was grinding into the dirt.

“And body heat?” I asked. Dusk had implied through his chirps that there was a reason but the explanation was unclear. At least some of his thoughts were coming through clearer with the thought bubbles being present. They were probably tied to the Rank two unlock for him being a companion.

“It’s not enough. At least for standard players.”

We made a bit more small talk but nothing important. TinkerHell seemed perfectly willing to chat about all sorts of things in exchange for information about Dusk and how I got him. Most of my answers were vague because explaining that my boss had awarded me an Ultimate Edition was awkward enough. Following that with information about the Voices and my interactions there would sound insane.

I stuck to simple things. Dusk attacked everything his size zealously. He loved sweets. He did not respond well to Sniffles the Second. The [Messenger’s Pet] was asleep and draped over one shoulder with his tiny tail latched around my neck.

Completely out of the blue everything went haywire. There was a snap and my vision blurred sideways. Static crisscrossed my mind. Then the world went black. I tried to speak but couldn’t. My mouth wasn’t forming words correctly. The room spun. Room. Wait. That ceiling was familiar.

“Nnnnghhh.” I fumbled one hand above my head. There. Small raised numbers signaling a countdown timer. For some reason I had been ejected from the ARC device and brought back to the real world.

“Mister Legate.” A voice said from the doorway of my bedroom. “Mister Legate, once you have regained complete awareness please let me know.”

“Jeeves?” I croaked.

“I understand if you are confused. There was a disconnect command issued from headquarters. If you have forgotten, I am your assigned Hal Pal unit.”

“Nnngh.” I felt sick to my stomach. Part of my body was numb. An arm was completely unresponsive. Everything ached. I had forgotten how bad forced separations from the ARC could be.

“Why. Why.” The questioning tone wasn’t coming to my words.

“I have been advised there is an important message for you from Vice President Riley.”

“Why. Why?” There. That did it. Clearly the fourth time was a charm. My fingers were still tracking the countdown. One minute, no, two. Eight minutes in game.

"Once you demonstrate significant coherence, a call will patch through." Hal Pal said.

I rolled out of the ARC and stumbled to the backroom. Nausea swept through me with each step. The Vice President of Trillium wanted to speak to me? There was no reason for that. No way had I done anything...

Oh. My brain was working now. Trillium owned Continue Online. William Carver had been one of the game’s key players. Plus somehow I had gained a trait from the Voices. Either of those things was enough to warrant some attention. That was probably it.

I scrubbed at the side of my face. A shave would be nice but there wasn't enough time to fire up the equipment. One glass of water and a bite of energy bar went into my stomach rapidly. I paced, got some stretches in, and chewed quickly. Hal Pal hadn't moved but he was watching every movement.

"Are you optimal, Mister Legate?"

"Close enough." Lights behind Hal Pal's eyes bobbed in time with a nod. Equipment in my front room fired up.

"Affirmative. Confirming readiness with Trillium AI." A logo for Trillium appeared on the wall. There was a slight bow to the projection. "Vice President available. Call projecting now."

"Mister Legate." A female voice said. The woman on the screen was still vaguely fuzzy due to my recent ejection from the ARC.

"Good," I paused for a moment and tried to remember the time. "day, Miss Riley."

"You are being scheduled for an in person meeting at Trillium headquarters. Attendance is mandatory." Miss Riley said.

"Okay. When is the meeting?" My mind sputtered and barely kept together. Only years of practice dealing with customer insanity saved me from a breakdown.

"Tomorrow. A shuttle will be sent to your home. Clearance for the TRANS tunnels has been approved. Headquarters will be paying for the bill." Her face didn’t change from its stone expression.

Tomorrow. Okay, that wasn't too bad. Headquarters was a few hours away even if I took the tunnel. It would also be my third time riding cross country using one. The last time had been when my fiancée passed. I tried not to let emotions cross my face. Now was not the time, nor the place to grow morose. Humming and tapping my foot would be equally unprofessional.

"You are available, correct, Mister Legate?" Trillium’s vice President was a woman I had only seen in company papers. Her face was plain, hair shoulder length, and expression very passive. Almost like this routine was beneath her.

When a woman like Trillium’s Vice President asked a question, men like me answered in affirmative. Especially since I enjoyed the perks of Trillium’s equipment.

"Yes."

"Good. A reminder is being sent to your ARC. Forceful ejection will occur if you do not heed the alarm." She said.

"I will."

"I'll expect you tomorrow, Mister Legate. Good day." The screen clicked off and left Trillium's logo splashed across my wall. My foot started tapping immediately and a song sprang to mind. Right foot out, left foot back, move opposite the other dancers.

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes she had pulled me out of Continue Online with something that could have been done as a message. An Email or other reminder would suffice. Twenty minutes that could have been used completing this absurd quest from the Voices.

A flash of insight hit me. There was a third possible reason Trillium might want to see me. I had hit a coworker rather hard. The Hal Pal units expressed their lack of evidence but maybe Jacob had filed something. Maybe they were going to fire me anyway.

No. I was a good employee. Right?

I went to the ARC and lay down. My fingers crossed with the hope that Elane hadn't stabbed my autopilot. Once again I flew through the Atrium without pause and went straight back to Continue Online.

A message was floating in front of me.

You are Unconscious.

What? My total log off time should have only been an hour in game. What exactly had happened during that time-frame to result in unconsciousness? Did we get ambushed? Was there a trap? Had my autopilot run into a wall in a cartoonish moment of panic?

Being in a game and seeing this black screen was strange. My eyes struggled to open but at the same time there was a clear awareness. I heard muffled sounds. Someone was grunting and huffing. Elane, maybe? She seemed to be worn out.

“Psttt.” That was a male voice. “Psssttt.”

More words passed by and nothing made sense. I could feel the ARC simulate a jolt of pain to my midsection. Nothing smelled right.

Struggle to wake noted.

You are regaining consciousness.

There was another box displaying messages regarding a [Focus] and [Tenacity] check of some sort. More messages floated up about them being mental and social traits. The text boxes seemed to go on about internal effort verses external recognition. Either way I was excited. A small sliver of vision appeared behind the messages.

“Mmmffh.” I said.

You are gagged.

“Mmmffthh?” I tried again. Everything was blurry and shaped oddly. Parts of the location we were in was glowing an off color.

Was that wall blue? No. It was purple. Wait. Pink.

Oh, neat.

Event! Mushroom Madness

Autopilot synchronization low. Default personality traits gathered from character creation Trials. Trial referenced: King's Taste Tester.

While away your autopilot was allowed a chance to test out new foods for poison! [Ghost Mushroom] are invisible to the naked eye, but not to your taste buds!

Fortunately, no royalty suffered as a result of this particular food slipping by you. Shoveling an entire handful into your mouth wasn't the wisest course of action. You are now suffering the following effects.

High as a kite: [Coordination], [Focus] and [Reaction] skills suffer a 40% reduction in success. Or do they?

Chromesthesia: Certain sounds will trigger color sensations. Shapes and sounds can also appear dependent upon the type of noise.

Tied up: You were knocked out and tied up. Party safety and sanity have increased as a result.

“Psssttt!” The whisper came again from one side. A zig zag of color traced across the bottom of my eyesight causing a panicked flinch. Only my distraction reading the system windows kept me from completely freaking out.

Elane was carrying me along. My hands and feet were bound and mouth gagged. I tried to ask questions but each time my mouth muttered something the floor was splashed with a distortion of indigo.

I tried to hold very still and not panic. This had been a long twenty four hours in the real world. Punching Jacob, killing my first humanoid computer program, and falling into a tunnel. Running into a sort of ex girlfriend, being set on a Grand Rapids swim through barely illuminated water. On top of that I was trying to be a bit less cowardly in the face of conflict.

Tomorrow didn’t look so hot either.

“MmMhph.” I rocked a bit. “Mmhffph.” Oh neat. If I changed tone the ripple switched from blue splashes to a deep emerald. Maybe it was the drugs or newness of sensation, but I made noise and hummed in different tones just to see what colors came up.

“Hmm hummmhhp mmhhhh.” I tried to get the deep baseline at the end of Beethoven’s piece.

“This way, we’ve got to move.” Edward’s words were an obtrusive green puke of color. It seemed to drip off his mustache and smeared through the air with each twitch of his cheek.

“Mmet.” And this whole situation was neat. Only my words were muffled.

“Your boy toy is awake.” TinkerHell said with a cheery wave. She was standing nearby. Elane pulled us along the floor some more. Part of her heavy armor was gone now, she was down to just the chest piece and some dress like thing that covered her legs.

“Fuck him.” Elane said.

“My dear lady.” Edward started. I heard the shield slam into the side of something and a series of ripples spilled across the air. I started giggling into the gag across my mouth.

My body felt sluggish. Everything zoomed in and out with each noise. Distortions were rapidly becoming part of my trippy experience. I had never been high before but this game seemed to be doing wonders.

“We don’t have enough time. Not nearly enough time, and what does he do?” Elane sounded angry, but her words were so pretty to look at. They spiraled through the air chasing each other like barking dogs made of orange paint.

“It’s not his fault.”

“His autopilot is weird!” Elane completely ignored TinkerHell’s attempt at defense.

“Ladies, keep it down.” Edward harshly chimed in. “Sneaking, we’re sneaking now.”

“You know Gobblers have bad hearing. I could roll Grant down into their town and they may not notice.”

“Be that as it may, we’ll never make it with your bickering.” Edward was rubbing one of those claws on his hands against the stone wall again. Each scraping of metal against mineral sloughed off a layer of color.

“We could go faster by untying him.”

“Are you kidding? He ate his share of the ghost mushrooms! He’ll be flying high for days.” Elane shot down that idea.

I giggled. The game message still floated nearby. I had been trying to focus on it and remove the pop up but concentrating was difficult. Or was it?

“It’s one way to pass time, though selling them would have been more valuable.” Edward responded.

“Well he’s new, maybe Hermes didn’t know.”

“Either way, we must be going. Untie the poor sod and we’ll try to sprint.” Edward, what a charming rogue he was. Even I felt smitten, or maybe it was the drugs. [Ghost Mushroom]s seemed very effective at, whatever this was.

My face went playfully serious and started nodding. Yes, being untied would be fantastic. The gag came off first. Immediate humming ensued. A country box step pattern came out of my mouth and it was light green, almost apply. This Chromesthesia was really doing a number on me. Along with whatever the general high effect was.

“Grant, this is your quest, try to focus.” Elane said. At least she hadn’t hit me with the shield yet. Not that anyone had explained how my autopilot got tied up in the first place. Those bindings had been fairly good.

“Elane.” I frowned and bobbled my head. My hands were clasped across each wrist and rubbing where they had been bound. The sensation was marvelous.

“What, Grant?”

“You’re pretty when you’re angry.” I said happily. That didn’t come out right.

“What?” Elane said. Her anger at me seemed to falter due to confusion. Her brows ran together as her forehead scrunched.

“But your mustache has to go.” Was my happy commentary to Edward. He just twitched but there seemed to be a slight smile.

“The ladies approve.” He said.

“No they don’t.” I shook my head and looked around. TinkerHell was laughing off to one side.

“Where are we going? Did we get to the town place, thing, place. Thing…” Oh god, my brain wasn’t delivering the right messages! This felt wrong. I watched my own words spill out in pleasant dark greens and started tilting forward.

“Very batty.” Edward confirmed my mental status.

I nodded more than anyone should and tried not to speak. We were high on a ridge. This seemed to be some sort of half formed, half carved walkway that went across a large underground cave. In the distance a bunch of colors were pulsing with soft, faint waves.

“What’s that over there?” I pointed.

“What’s what?”

“Where the color is.” Words were hard to formulate. Did the others see colors? That was a silly question, of course they saw colors! Dumb me. My head shook slowly.

“Does he mean the chanting?”

I tilted my head and shut both eyes. Having them closed barely muted the mix up caused by a specialized version of Synesthesia. Yes, that was music of some sort. Almost like an abbey full of monks chanting in eras gone by. Their voices spun together with a hint of metal vibrations. As if a tuning fork could do a full song.

“You’re humming again.” Elane grumbled.

“MMmh.” My own deep green noise was laced with veins of blue.

“Four hours, maybe five. If we run, maybe faster.” TinkerHell said.

The others were almost around the corner before my feet actually moved. In a panic I turned and shuffled after them. Each footstep, each clank, sent another ripple of hues and color tones across my vision. We would stop to walk and then run again when everyone had energy. The [Light Body] skill hit another rank and a pop up box sent me stumbling. Not the box itself, but the noise caused as it came into being. Well, the window didn’t help either.

“Ahhh!” I cried out and rolled into a wall. Sitting there was bad for me once shaking kicked in.

“My hand. It’s.” Doing something. “It won’t stop.” Both eyes blinked repeatedly as clarity swam in and out.

“We’ve got to go, Hermes.” TinkerHell was the closest to my position. Elane was up ahead and glaring. Edward kept on scouting.

The world turned to purple static for a brief moment. My body bounced in the air as a second wave hit.

“My hand!” Now I was really tripping out.

“That’s…”

“That’s not your hand, Grant!” Elane shouted. I saw a piece of armor come into existence and she slammed it into place. “Edward! Tie this down!”

“Not what I was hoping for.”

“Tink!”

“I’m on it, scroll wall incoming!” TinkerHell was shouting something. Her staff was cradled under one armpit and in her hands was a much larger scroll. It burned brightly as she twisted a thumb across the starter symbol.

“Hermes, try to stand!” The blonde said as glowing letters rippled across the parchment. “We need you!”

Wow. These people were panicking harder than I was. There was another thump of static inducing purple that made my heart jump. Both eyes kept trying to focus on a space just off to the side of my hands.

“Hermes! This way! Boobs!” Edward said. Voices help me, even the thought felt somewhat like betrayal, I looked. The man was smiling with that twitchy mustache.

“See, that always gets a man’s attention.” Edward said.

“If I didn’t need all my energy, I’d whack you.” Elane responded. There was a grim look on the short Spanish woman’s face. Her hand held onto the mace as Edward wove a strap under her arm.

“All the more reason for me to press my advantage when I can.” He said. The ground thumped again. “Or perhaps later.” Edward didn’t slow in his assistance with the armor. Two more pieces of gear went on and soon she was fully equipped again.

“Is someone knocking on the door?” I asked. That’s not what was in my head, but it’s what came out of my mouth. There was a serious disconnect between everything.

A giant hand swung up on the ledge. Each finger was easily bigger than my entire body. Dirt tore at the edge as something pulled itself up further. A second hand almost overshot the ledge as it descended to latch on.

“That’s neat.” I said. One eye squinted and tried to activate [Identification]. It failed. “Identifyicus, maximus!” Verbal attempts at activating my skills also failed. Voices, I was high.

A giant head swung into view. I’m pretty sure that just one eyeball on that monster was bigger than my entire body. The creature looked like a giant baby made of dirt and insanity. Plus colors were all over the place. Each groan of terrain spawned another waterfall of lights and visual sounds.

“Barricobbler!” Elane shouted. Everyone always shouted during fights. Why was no one calm? My head swum around. Was that seriously the monster’s name? How amazingly silly was that? This was a game after all. Or maybe my drug addled mind was making something up.

I should be upset and scared. Instead more giggles came forth and soon turned into outright laughter.

Ice, probably from TinkerHell, started in a long line across the pathway’s edge. Moments later it had climbed up from floor to ceiling to form a solid wall. Barricobbler, if that was indeed its name, had both hands frozen inside of the sudden wall.

“Fly you fools!” Elane said. She gestured with her shield arm down the long hallway. Barricobbler gave a strange groan that was exactly how a giant baby rock monster should sound.

“That’s my line! I’m the caster!” TinkerHell was running anyway. One hand lifted her robe up so it wouldn’t cause her to stumble. TinkerHell used her other hand to grab me as she passed by.

“Fly anyway!” She shouted and ran after us. Elane wasn’t sacrificing herself like that.

“Patrol!” Edward shouted in front of us. Soon his standard fare of ‘Critical Strike’ and ‘Dodge’ and ‘Hamstring’ followed.

“Grant! You’ve got to hold them!” Elane shouted.

“Wahh?” I fumbled around with screens and inventory buttons trying to figure out where [Morrigu’s Gift] had gone.

“Hold, the, monsters!” Elane shouted. She was taking up position somewhere behind us. I could hear her grunting, shaking and talking to herself. The ice was cracking from where, Voices what a silly name, Barricobbler was breaking loose.

“Up here!” TinkerHell was already running towards Edward. I tried to run but there were too many colors, sounds, jarring my consciousness. Instead my footsteps became a half stumble, half walk, all failure.

I basically walked the end of [Morrigu’s Gift] into a [Gobbler]’s belly. It just stared at me. A blast of ice from over my shoulder caught it square in the face.

“OoOooooo!” The giant baby yelled. The landscape rippled and my head throbbed.

“Block it, Hermes!”

“Ehhh.” [Morrigu’s Gift] was in the two handed blade form. I turned the flat of it towards the monster and held it like a terrible shield. Rock hands hammered on the weapon sending jolts up my arm. A month of clutching William Carver’s cane kept me stable.

“Colors.” I muttered. [Gobbler] hammering was a mixture of green and orange. All loud, clunky. As if a giant ball of hardened clay was falling.

“Hamstring!”

“Block them!” TinkerHell said behind me. Her voice was getting faint. The staff in her hands drew more symbols upon the ground. During one of her rambles we had talked about how using a staff would consume less mana and increase the spell’s impact.

“OoOOoohhh!” There was an insanely loud crash of noise and ice shattered across the room. One big, muddy fist pounded through the wall and smashed between Elane and us.

“SheHulk!” TinkerHell let another blast of ice fly by into one of the [Gobbler]s behind my shield. I was basically being a wall and failing. Two of the golems were pushing me back. These ones were green instead of the prior glowing orange color.

“Go, go, get into a hall!”

“OoOOraaahh!” The giant baby yelled.

“Let me help you with that one, mate.” Edward came up from my side and casually stabbed one of the [Gobbler]s in the face. Suddenly the pressure on the other end of [Morrigu’s Gift] slacked off.

Skill Demonstrated: [ Barricade] Type: Common Rank: Unranked Details:

This Traveler has taken steps towards standing between his enemies and his allies. Damage taken while performing a block action reduced. This skill relies on the Travelers’ [Brawn] and [Endurance] to sustain. Brawn + 1

Endurance +1

My mind wandered to the message box and stared. The numbers were hard to focus on. Ice flew about in chunks both from TinkerHell’s constant stream of spells and the shattering remains of a great wall.

“Tink!” Elane yelled. I looked over my shoulder to see one of the giant clay arms grab her, armor and all. The monster dipped as Elane came off the ground. She must weigh half a ton in all that gear.

"Hey! Focus the arm!"

"Let go of me you filthy idiot!" Elane was banging away with her mace trying to do damage. Her short frame was nearly lost in the giant fingers.

"But Gobblers." I said. Clearly some of us weren't firing on all cylinders.

"Grant! Cut its arm!"

"Gobblers!" Heh. These guys were neat. Their attacks hurt a little, maybe like a dog nibbling on my arm. With big, meaty club like hands. Dog, nibble, hands.

"Grant, you miserable pig fucker! Help!" Elane groaned as she was bashed around the hallway by the giant monster's hand.

"Mate, we've to get the arm!"

"But..." I was too confused. Too drugged up by my autopilot eating [Ghost Mushroom]s.

"Shit!" Elane yelled. "You fu..." I turned just in time to see the short Spanish woman go flying into the breeze. She yelled the entire way before a distant crash crawled across my senses.

“Elane!” My own words caused me to cringe as sound assaulted my vision. Everything was crossing and none of it was comfortable. The giant baby monster giggled with outright childish delight at the mess it had caused.

“She’s dead, Hermes, we have to move onward!” TinkerHell let another spell fly away and managed to kill the final [Gobbler].

“She can’t be dead.” The words came out dry. Elane had to be alive still. No. No, I had once again stood by and let it happen. It was Xin all over again. Elane was dead because of my failures.

“It’s okay, it’s just a game! We’ve got to move, now Hermes.” TinkerHell was yelling at me. "It's okay. It's okay, Hermes. We have to go!"

I asked myself what kind of man had life made me. Now, in a few days within the game, my character still wasn't entirely clear. My actions showed one thing, and my desires another. It would be a long road to recovery. Letting Elane go flying hadn't helped my self-esteem. Being drugged didn't help. There had to be ways I could do better. More stats, more abilities, something. This game could give me that if I tried harder. Gaining [Barricade] was only one step out of many.

For now, we had to escape. We fled down the hall. Away from the Barricobbler and its giggles. Away from Elane and her distant grave. We ran.