A male dulcet voice carrying English words beckoned Jake back to consciousness. “Welcome, welcome! I wondered when you’d come to visit me.”

Jake peeled his eyes open. A tall, grinning man sat behind an old-style oak desk, dressed in a modern Earth military uniform. A general, perhaps? Maybe this was a crazy CIA experiment, after all.

Given what they had gotten up to over the years, that wasn’t reassuring. Or rather, it shouldn’t have been. Jake smiled. There wasn’t anything to be worried about. Not really. He was safe and secure here.

Jake leaned back in his own chair and frowned. The circumstances gave him no reason to be calm. Quite the opposite, in fact. Had they drugged him? That would be the least they could do after everything they’d put him through.

The military man smiled and gestured to the small room around them. “Did I get it right?”

Whatever the room was meant to be, “right” wasn’t the word to describe it. The walls were beautiful mahogany panels, unbroken by anything even resembling a door. Behind the man hung the stars and stripes, or close to it. The middle line of stars repeated itself. Forty-six stars. That had to be, what, from the early 1900s?

A red rotary dial phone sat upon the desk beside a slim white laptop. Maybe the general just liked old stuff. Enjoying antiques wouldn’t be all that crazy, not compared to a day job of kidnapping innocent students and experimenting on them.

Jake’s stomach clenched. There was no way they’d let him go. He knew too much. Maybe they could be convinced to run the experiment longer, to put him back in the simulation at least?

The man drummed his fingers impatiently on the desk. “Well? How did I do? I’m dying to know.” He chuckled, laughing at a joke only he got.

What did he mean? And why were there no doors? Jake threw his hands up in the air and shrugged. Even if he had totally lost it, he might as well play along. “Get what right?”

The man gestured flamboyantly around him. “The room.” His smile beamed. “I’m supposed to make you feel comfortable. Information about your kind’s a little patchy, but I think I did splendidly.”

What did he mean by “your kind”? Students? No. But if it was humans, then… was he still in whatever it was? Jake focused intently on the man. Identify might shed some light on the truth.

The man, if he was indeed a man, bellowed with laughter. “Your skills won’t work here, Hero.” He leaned forward. His grin transformed into a snarl. “Don’t you know who I am?”

The explosion. The searing pain. The joke the man had made. If Jake was lucky, he’d be wrong, but luck and he had always had an estranged relationship at best. “Death?”

The snarl vanished as quickly as it had appeared, giving way to a beaming smile. “The God of Death, in fact, at least for this world you find yourself in.”

Jerk perked up. God of Death or not, this was an opportunity too great to pass over. “You know about other worlds?”

“A little,” Death said with a knowing smile.

He had answers. That gave him leverage, and his smile said he knew it. He wouldn’t give them up easily. “And?”

“Tut, tut, tut. Come now, you know how this works. Information is a commodity. You want it, I have it—the question is, what can you give me for it?”

“I can tell you that flag’s out of date. There are fifty states now.”

The god shrugged. The stars on the flag rearranged themselves to the more recognizable fifty. “I’m not interested in the meaningless cloth of a backwater planet.”

It was time to cut to the chase. What would a god of death want? “You want me to kill things?”

“If only.” He sighed. “I miss the good old days, you know? Could barely go a moment without another Hero popping up, waiting to find out what delicious choice I’d put before them. When they didn’t duck out, of course.”

A way around the death penalty would be invaluable. “Duck out?”

“Ah, yes! It’s your first time, isn’t it? Your cherry, as they say on Earth? I never understood why. You don’t know the rules yet, do you?”

Jake shuffled forward to the edge of his seat. “Rules?”

“Every time you die, you get to meet with yours truly. Then, I offer you a choice—a loss of power, or a loss of self.”

Was he being vague on purpose, or was the choice really that arbitrary? “Can you give an example?”

“Of course, of course, my young boy. For instance, I might offer you a choice between indefinitely losing the light aspect, or losing your emotional empathy.”

Jake blinked. No one should hold that sort of power, least of all a god of death. “You mentioned people ducking out of it?”

“Ah, yes, I suppose I didn’t, didn’t I?” The god smirked and licked his lips. “The penalties stack until you log out for a full day. A real day, too.”

“I can’t log out.” It wasn’t for lack of trying. Log out, exit, quit—he’d tried everything he could think of, none of it had worked.

Death snickered. “No, you can’t, can you? Not until the System sends you back. A downside of being really here.”

System? Really here? Hints that he knew more, without giving anything too useful. How to compel him to answer? Jake’s chest fluttered. The god was proud. He might not offer information, but could he resist providing a correction? “So, if I could log out for 24 hours, that’d clear the penalties?”

“A real day, 12 engars, or 32 and a bit of your hours.” Death smirked. “Not that it matters; you can’t do it. Not until you complete that quest of yours. You should get right on it.”

“You sound rather invested in my quest.” It’s worth a shot. “How about you help me out with it?”

“What can I say? We both know you’ll die time and again before you complete it, if you ever do. I look forward to many, many more meetings with you.”

If almost all the Heroes were gone, Death probably didn’t get many visitors. That angle made sense, even if it wasn’t the whole story. What if Jake’s father…

A chill ran down Jake’s back. “You sound lonely. I bet no one else has visited you in the whole twenty-one years I’ve been alive.”

“Lonely? Me?” He laughed and whistled. Two scantily dressed ladies appeared, one either side of him. “I am a god. I see what you’re doing, and I won’t fall for it. But, tell you what—next time you’re here, I’ll give you some of the answers you seek.”

Jake snorted. At least that was something to look forward to. All he had to do was die and give up power or his soul. It was doubtful he’d get anything more from him this time. He might as well get it over with. “What’s the choice this time, then?”

“First time is on the house.” The god licked his lips and grinned. “See you again soon, no doubt.”

Death waved his hand dismissively. Everything swirled. It spun faster and faster. Colors bled together, darker and darker, until only a void remained.

***

Jake sputtered awake. Every muscle cried out in pain simultaneously. His eyes groggily responded to the call to open, revealing the Forest’s thick canopy.

Jeremy leaned over. Even his dour frown was a welcome relief. “He’s alive.”

Did the silvery orb have to be so bright?

Another face. Cara’s, scowling. “I leave you alone for half a day, and you blow yourself up?” She crossed her arms and sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?”

Waking up on his back after blacking out was becoming a bad habit. Everything ached, but otherwise, he was fine. He wasn’t even burned. “I’m okay.”

Jeremy pulled him to his feet. “Couldn’t help yourself.” Not really a question, more a statement of reality.

Could they blame him? There wasn’t any judgment in Jeremy’s words, at least not any more than usual. The twenty-foot blast radius was more than enough reminder of his mistake.

“I messed up. Sorry.”

“It happens,” Jeremy said. “It’s what this area is for. Glad you’re back.”

Cara bounced from side to side. “Did you see anything? What was it like?”

“Weird.” Jake paused. Precious little of it made sense. “I met with the God of Death, or someone who claimed to be that. We talked. He said this one was free, but next time there’ll be a cost.”

Both Cara’s and Jeremy’s eyes glazed over.

Jake sighed. He should have known. “What did I just say?”

Cara tilted her head the way she so often did when thinking hard. Her lips pursed and she frowned. “Something about a cost next time? It’s fuzzy in my mind, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He’d get his answers one day. If it was through Death, then hopefully not too soon. “I think I’m done practicing for the night.”

“You are,” Jeremy said. “Get some sleep. Both of you.”

***

How many times had Jake’s father died? What had he given up? Was he so crippled by deaths that he could never complete his quests? Was that why he needed rescuing?

The need to sleep only made it all the more elusive. There were many questions, and so few answers. The real world that Death had referred to wasn’t Earth. Was Earth a simulation? Or just a less advanced planet?

The Divine Empire had to have more answers. Dying over and over couldn’t be the only way to find out the truth. The only way to find…

No. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it. If he came to it. There was no sense in worrying about what he couldn’t affect. All he could do was follow the evidence. But first, sleep.

Jake rolled onto his side. A small silvery orb illuminated the far side of the room. Cara sat cross-legged, working on her wood carving that more and more closely resembled Nibbles.

A single mistake and he’d died. Cara wouldn’t be so lucky. “It’s not too late to back out. You don’t have to come with me.”

Cara looked up, an impish smile upon her lips. “I do.” She put her tools down and lay her hands in her lap, where they began idly fidgeting. “Even if I didn’t, I would. A chance to see what’s out there, beyond the Forest.” She pulled her knees together and hugged her arms around them. “Look at me. Quest to save the world, and I’m thinking how interesting it’s going to be.”

Jake chuckled. Here he was in a brand-new world, casting magic, and all he could think about was how awful it all was. “It’s good you can do that.” He sighed. “I wish I could.”

“What, be so preoccupied with distractions you leave your learner behind? You get things done, Jake. I screw things up.”

“You’re speaking to the guy who blew himself up tonight.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. “That’s true. Less blowing up in future, okay?”

“I make no promises.” If he’d let it go sooner, would he have survived? “The quest will be dangerous. I might come back, but you won’t.”

“I’d rather live one lifetime than exist for a thousand.”

Jake paused. How much of his life had he spent living, and how much focused on the future? “That doesn’t sound like a wood elven saying.”

Cara laughed and crossed her legs again. “Orcish, actually. Now, sleep. I’ll wake you soon enough.”

***

“All ready?” Jeremy asked, while staring pointedly at Cara.

She nodded, bouncing on her tiptoes with far more energy than the situation called for. “Ready!”

“Food? Water? Arrows? Climbing gear?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re sounding like Jake now.”

Jake clapped her on the back. “And how many things did I need to remind you about?”

She glared and stuck out her tongue. “Tattletale!”

Jeremy muttered something unintelligible under his breath. “I have that gear I promised you, Jake. You too, Cara, unless you’re going to reject it again.”

“I make my own gear,” she said, her chest puffed out. “I can maintain it more easily, and it’s all mine.”

Jake knew better than to step into that one. Personally, he’d take whatever worked best. “Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”

Jeremy laid out various pieces of equipment. The suit of light leather armor was similar to his own. Beside that lay a straight-limbed bow, a curved short sword, and two pairs of leather boots. “At the very least Cara, take the boots. Trust me.”

“I won’t wear them, but fine. If it’ll make you happy, I’ll cart them around with me.”

Jake held up the leather armor. It was clearly high quality, with 480 armor and 96 deflection. “It’s lighter than the one I had before, but has a higher armor value.”

“My backup gear. Optimized for casters.”

The bow was straight and taller than other Ranger bows. Presumably, with his greater height and lesser strength, it didn’t need to be recurved. It had an impressive 357 damage, 446 penetration, and a strength requirement of exactly 9. “A custom bow?”

Jeremy nodded. “I called in a favor to get it done fast. The falchion is not custom. Good damage, poor penetration. Stick to magic against anything with medium armor or above.”

The falchion was surprisingly light, no more than a few pounds. Despite having a wide profile, the blade was about half an inch thick most of the way along, curving and narrowing at the top to a pointed tip.

A crossguard protected the hilt. It swung nicely, with a balance point just below a quarter of a way up the blade. It didn’t feel as high quality, and the numbers backed that up. 386 damage, 193 penetration. Definitely not a weapon to use against an armored opponent. “Noted.”

Jeremy tossed a pair of boots to Cara. “Gear up and move out.”

***

They traveled three abreast, not bothering with Stealth. “No point,” Jeremy had said. They moved faster without it, and anything that could take Jeremy down would spot Jake a mile away.

A quarter of an hour after leaving the village, Jeremy adjusted course east.

Jake wondered for a moment if he’d read the maps wrong. “Isn’t the Divine Empire north?”

No response from Jeremy. Cara looked equally confused. Whatever he was up to, this wasn’t an accident. Jeremy wouldn’t make a mistake like that.

“We’re heading east,” Jake said. “Where are we going?”

Cara’s face lit up. “The ruins! I’ve always wanted to explore them.”

That sounded familiar. Had he read about it in a book? “What stopped you?”

“Stupid rules. We have a saying, ‘Don’t prod the past, it might prod back.’ I even promised not to touch anything! Still wouldn’t let me go.”

Jeremy picked up the pace. “Not a word to anyone. Normal times, it’s a smart rule. Right now, we need everything we can get.”

The uptick in speed forced Jake into a jog, alternating between burning stamina and regenerating it. Jeremy wasn’t the kind of person to do this on the off chance there’d be something useful there. What did he think was down there? “How old are the ruins?”

“At least ten thousand years,” Jeremy said. “Legend says it was home to wood elven casters, destroyed and sealed in a war. There might be something you can use.”

Ancient magic. Many of the texts on magic had lamented the scarcity of magical aspects. After the Age of Heroes, knowledge had been hoarded, becoming a closer and closer guarded secret. The result was that a lot of magical aspects were now either lost or available only to those in the right inner circles.

Jake’s chest tingled. If this was where casters used to gather, who knew what was sealed away under there? And yet, in ten thousand years, no one had dared to open it? “It’s still sealed, and you can’t open it.”

Silence met the accusation.

Cara shook her head, the idea impossible for her to accept. “Jeremy wouldn’t go poking some old ruin. He’s too straight for that. Even if he weren’t, no way we’d be able to open it if he can’t.”

“Unless it’s sealed in particular against wood elves.” That’s what Jake would have done if he’d wanted to keep the wood elves down. Win the fight, then stop them from getting back up.

“That’s ridiculous. Tell him, Jeremy.”

Jeremy grinned, a sparkle in his eye. “What you never learned about breaking rules, Cara, is to not tell people you’re doing it.”