The fight felt much longer than it was. In less than a minute, all the flying things were either dead or had retreated. There was a long awkward pause, as the six of us sat in the road, surrounded by butchered corpses and covered in blood (well, blood and the greasy black sludge that the creatures used as blood). We were all gasping for breath. Arturo was sweating profusely, maybe because he was out of shape or perhaps because conjuring butterflies is a taxing thing. The older woman was nursing a bleeding arm and shouting in a foreign language. Dahlia had a serious bite behind her knee where one of those nasty hose-mouths had slipped in. She sat on the ground, crying and pressing on her wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Arturo removed his shirt and starting tearing it into strips to make bandage. The skinny guy, seeing this, removed his own shirt and attempted to help the older woman with her injury. She slapped him away and tied her arm herself, using her teeth to hold the bandage when needed.

“Do you guys speak French, or English?” I asked in French, when I had recovered enough. The woman perked up when I spoke.

“Yes, I have a little French. I learn when I was young. If you have English, use English. My son has good English.”

I assumed she was talking about the skinny guy, although now that his shirt was off I could see he was actually pretty toned and muscular.

“Hey, your mother says you speak English.” I said in English. He turned to me and smiled nervously.

“Yes, thankyou, I speak English. Uh, Hello, my name is Bui Le Duy.”

“Booey-lee-yooie?” I asked, hoping I was in the right ballpark.

“Yes, Bui Le Duy” he answered. “But just Duy is fine. What is your name?”

“Tabitha LaClerc.” I answered. “But you can call me Tabitha.”

“Ta Bee Ta. It is nice to meet you. This is my father, Bui Tan Kiet, and my mother, Le Phan An.”

“Hello.” said Bui Tan Kiet, smiling warmly. He was trying to wipe his saber against his pants, which were also splattered in monster blood.

“Where are you guys from, if I may ask?” I asked.

“Vietnam, obviously.” said Arturo, securing his makeshift bandage to Dahlia's leg. She seemed to have calmed down somewhat. “Couldn't you tell?”

“Hanoi.” confirmed Duy. “You?”

“Quebec.” I informed him.

“Can-ada?”

“Is there another one?”

He ignored that comment, which was probably for the best. “How long you play game?”

“This is our first day. You?”

“Same. We wake in, uh, under the earth, and have to fight with...uh...” he flapped his arms like wings and then used his fingers to imitate long fangs.

“Bats?” I asked

He squinted and glanced to the right. “Maybe?”

Since we had maybe a third of a common language between us, communication was slow and difficult, requiring quite a bit of hand signaling. We eventually worked out that their group had emerged into this world on the beach just a few hours earlier than we had. They had spotted the tower in the north, and like us, lacking any other clue as to where to go, they had defaulted to walking toward the nearest obvious landmark. Since both groups now had at least one wounded member, staying together for the time being made sense. I, for one, was quite pleased to have someone around who could manage some of the fighting.

I was getting tired of my brother and sister leaving me to make all the decisions that were critical to our survival. Dahlia was seeing trees and clouds and colors for the first time, so of course she treated this place as a sort of magical wonderland. Arturo is a dyed-in-the-wool-geek, so despite the dire warnings we had read in the Shrine's intro message, he was still treating this place as an awesome adventure game. I had hoped that dealing with actual monsters and actual gruesome injuries would convince them to take things a little more seriously, but the way they gushed over how cool the battle had been after they had recovered enough to do so extinguished my hopes. Even Dahlia, who had been screaming and bleeding through most of it, spoke enthusiastically about that awesome flipping thing that Kiet had done when he reached us.

Considering that we were out in the open and those creatures might attack at any time, I tried to get the group moving toward the tower again. The Bui family seemed receptive to this idea, after discussing it among themselves at great length and volume. Arturo was the one who fought me on it.

“For all we know, those vampire monkeys were just a regular-ass mob for this area. If this isn't a hub zone, it's probably a dungeon area. We should back off until we're a high enough level to survive around here. I'm still pretty wasted from that last fight. I say we leave here and camp in the woods tonight. Maybe one of those old shacks out there is still standing.”

“What happened to “we'll be in trouble soon if we have to sleep outdoors?”

“I did not factor giant swarms of vampire monkeys into my calculations.” he stuck out his tongue. “Sue me.”

“We're going to the tower.” I said firmly. Hey, if they're going to leave me to make all the decisions, they had to accept what I decided, right? “We can beat a retreat if we need to, but if I can climb to the top of that thing, I'll be able to see everything for miles around. It's our best chance of getting our bearings in this world.”

Dahlia spoke up. “Without any solid info, it's as good a plan as any.”

Arturo seemed to accept this, which absolutely galled me. For all our initial skepticism, Dahlia really was more persuasive and influential than she ever had been before. It was her, after all, who had stopped me from making a fatal mistake in that battle and shooting Duy, which probably would have killed him and the rest of us as well. I don't know why I would imagine that those abilities wouldn't manifest just as clearly as my archery skills or Arturo's illusions, but imagining my little sister as a leader was further than my imagination could take me.

After picking up as many arrows and knives as we could find, we finally headed out toward the tower. Arturo carried Dahlia at first (as there was no way she could walk on that leg) but he was still tired from the fight and kept having to stop and rest. Eventually Duy offered to carry her, which he could do with none of the strain that Arturo displayed. Dahlia seemed entirely too pleased by this turn of events.

I kept listening for the tell-tale buzz of monster wings, but we finally reached the broad plaza in front of the tower. Up close, it seemed so much bigger and more menacing than it had from a distance. The gigantic front gates hung open, as though to greet us.

“See? Told you! Babylonian-style ziggurat!” said Arturo. He might have mentioned something like that earlier. I tend to tune him out most of the time. “Except, of course, that wouldn't have an interior enclosure like this. It would just be a single stairway...” And that's why. If he wants me to listen to him, he should add something constructive instead of just spouting trivia.

Kiet and I took the lead when exploring the building. Sunlight entered the main room through a set of narrow slits in the back of the sanctuary. I noticed a weird pattern in the dust that coated the floor, thick in places, but with large round areas that seemed almost clean, as though this room had been used to store a bunch of furniture recently. There was a large brick area full of ashes at the back of the sanctuary, like a giant oven or furnace. A set of stairs led to the next level.

Now that we had made enough noise to alert any monsters that might have been in hiding, I was more or less convinced that nobody was home, so I gave the group the go ahead to settle in to the sanctuary. It wasn't the safest or most comfortable place to stay, but it beat the hell out of sleeping in the open.

The journey up the stairs was long and tiring after a day of hiking, leading in and out of the structure. I passed a doorway that seemed to have been busted open at some point. Outside, I found what looked like two metal statues of birds, both lying on the ground with large dents in them, as though someone had been pounding on them with a sledgehammer. I passed an area where dozens of ancient-looking scrolls were stored on shelves. The oddest feature I discovered had to be the statue on the last set of stairs. It seemed to have been built to look like it was in the process of walking up the stairs. It was so large that I had to step carefully to get past it on the narrow staircase. I couldn't imagine why anyone would put a statue where it was certain to be in the way.

The very top of the tower was a small shrine with an altar with two brasiers on either side. I couldn't tell what the altar was supposed to be dedicated to, but there was a spot on the wall behind it where some kind of carving seemed to have broken off, so perhaps that had been an image of whatever deity this temple had been dedicated to.

From the doorway of the shrine, I found I could see the the world stretching out in every direction. I hadn't been up so high since I had upgraded my vision, and I couldn't believe the distances that were now open to me. The woods we had been traveling through all day were part of a shockingly vast forest that surrounded the city on three sides. To the west, I saw the mountain range where the great river that ran through the city originated. It cut a wide, meandering canyon through a hilly country before it shot through the forest toward the city. To the east, I saw the unsteady ocean slamming against dozens of islands and reefs, and even more distant shores that could have been larger islands or even other lands. Climbing on top of the shrine's stone roof, I saw what looked like a tiny gray smudge. Only The thin tendrils of smoke that rose from it alerted me to the fact that it was a little town or fishing village, miles away up the coast. I felt so alive. This was a new world. That fact truly hit me for the first time. Here, all bets were off. All the unfairness and disappointment and crushing mundanity of the old world had been replaced by the expectation of new discovery, new possibilities I had never considered. Even though I was only twenty-four, I somehow felt young again.

The more practical side of me reasserted itself, as it always does when I'm having a good time. I had a brother and sister downstairs who were counting on me to keep them alive in a very unforgiving environment. I was not willing to chalk up the danger we had faced already as mere bad luck. If anything, we would have been killed if not for a string of happy coincidences. I was up here to gather critical intel, not to enjoy the view.

I surveyed the area directly around the tower. The city was mostly in ruins, but there were still plenty of structures that had survived intact. I spotted what looked like a wisp of dark smoke moving among the streets on the opposite side of the river. I realized that this was the same pattern as the buzzing monsters my brother insisted on referring to as “vampire monkeys”. Once I knew what to look for, I began seeing small swarms of the things circling around a large building that looked like a cathedral on the opposite side of the river, near the beach.

Satisfied that I had the lay of the land, I rested in the shrine, using the altar as a seat, which would probably get me burned as a heretic by whatever religious group built this place.

Welcome to the Citadel of Bloodlines

This shrine is dedicated to the concept of Family. It has the following characteristics:

All Disciples of Family may receive miracles at 50% Piety cost.

This Temple does not have any Priest to maintain it. It will default to Unclaimed in 29 days.

Shrine Services of the 1st Tier are currently available.

Services currently available from the Citadel of Bloodlines:

View Character Sheet (0 Piety)

System Query (3 Remaining)

Cleanse (19 Piety)

Heal Wounds (95 Piety)

Receive Boon of Bloodlines (71 Piety)

Receive Boon of Sanctuary (62 Piety)

Ah, right. I had totally forgotten that it wasn't just the Shrine of Initiation that could freeze time and allow us to access our character sheets. I didn't see any defined quantity of Piety that I currently had, so I had no way of determining whether the “Heal Wounds” option was affordable or not, just that it seemed to be the most expensive item on the menu.

A temple dedicated to Family. Something about that idea didn't sit well with me. For one thing, nothing in the temple gave me any clue as to what it could have been dedicated to. You would expect a temple to be full of images and symbols of whatever it was the temple was about. Maybe this family cult had some kind of taboo related to iconography. The notion of people going to a temple to connect with their families seemed...well, conservative for one thing. I opened my character sheet.

Tabitha LaClerc

Level 3 Human Wanderer

XP: 12/30

HP: 29/29

Stamina: 28/28

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 15- Hunter

Constitution: 14

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 12

Charisma: 9

Damn. Not even halfway to my next level. Granted, I wasn't really sure what I would spend my next couple of points on. Maybe Intelligence, so I wouldn't be so far behind Arturo, or Charisma, so people would fucking listen to me for once. I opened my “Assets” page.

Assets

Piety: 0

Karma: Unknown

Reputation: None

Wealth: Very Poor

Titles Earned: None

Relationships: 2

Knowledge: Very Limited

Languages: French (Eloquent), English (Familiar)

Not a scrap of Piety to my name, and not much of anything else either. I decided to use one of my remaining system to queries to ask how I could get some quick piety.

In order to accumulate Piety, you must first select a Deity or Concept to dedicate yourself to. You can do this at any time simply by choosing to, although there may be consequences for shifting your spiritual alignment too readily. Each Deity or Concept comes with a set of services you can perform in order to gain favor with that force, which is called Piety. You may also lose Piety by committing acts which that force does not approve of. Mysticism is the skill that governs your ability to use and understand your spiritual alignment. Once you have dedicated yourself, you will receive or lose Piety retroactively based on the services and sins you have performed in the game thus far.

It was about time this “Query” system managed to be helpful. So, the reason I had no Piety to spend here was that I hadn't selected an in-game religion. Obviously, the most most practical move at this point would be be to select Family as my “spiritual alignment”, since then I would have a discount on miracles at this particular temple. I had no way of figuring out how much Piety I would get out of it, but considering that I had saved two members of my family from certain death today, I would probably get something. I hated the idea of converting to a new religion, especially one whose rules were so vague, purely for in-game mechanical benefits.

I perused the list of “Boons” this temple could offer. The Boon of Sanctuary option was the one that most tempted me. As long as Dahlia remained in the building, it would protect her and accelerate her healing. For all my misgivings, that one seemed worth it. I decided to dedicate myself to the concept of Family.

You are now a Disciple of Family

For the noble deeds you have performed in the name of Family, you are awarded 215 Piety.

Nothing could have prepared me for the rush of images and feelings that sprang into being within me. For a moment, I could see my parents, grandparents, all my ancestors and the lines of love and responsibility that connected them. My responsibility to protect my younger siblings was sharpened and strengthened. My decision to convert was a sacrifice for the sake of a family member, and as such, my conversion was genuine, at least as far as this game was concerned. I had experienced the way the game could change my physical body and implant knowledge in my mind, but having emotions implanted into me was different. I felt violated somehow, in spite or perhaps because of how real theemotions felt.

I returned to the menu and purchased the Boon of Sanctaury, setting Dahlia as the recipient. I also selected “Heal Wounds” for myself. With the 50% discount, both options were quite affordable. I exited the interface.

When I completed the long trek back down the stairs, I found that someone had built a fire in the sanctuary, just inside the giant oven. I had to stop for a moment on the stairs to watch Arturo and Dahlia warming themselves alongside the Bui family. They didn't even know that this was the Temple of Bloodlines, but they were still practically worshiping at the altar of family. I sat down and relayed what I had learned. Naturally, everyone wanted to visit the top of the tower now that there was a possibility of leveling up. Duy offered to carry Dahlia up, which she happily accepted. I didn't ask them what, if anything, they had decided to dedicate themselves to in exchange for miracles. Even knowing that it was just a game, after experiencing a system-generated religious experience, it just felt too personal. After a lot of bustling up and down the stairs, everyone had been fully healed except for Dahlia and An. Once everyone had visited the top, we gathered in the sanctuary to discuss our situation. I started the discussion.

“There are still more of those things flitting around the city, and they could attack at any time. The fact that they attacked us as soon as we entered the area, combined with the fact that there are basically no animals in the area, tells me that they can find us and kill us, and will do it eventually. This temple is a defensive position, but we can't just sit here and assume they can't get in. I recommend we send out an attack party to clear everything out in a perimeter. Any questions?”

Arturo and Dahlia both raised their hand, as sarcastically as they could manage. The Buis just stared at me with quizzical expressions.

I sighed and spoke through my teeth. “Yes, Arturo?'

“This is a terrible plan.” said Arturo.

“That's not a question.” I replied.

“Nope, it's a statement of fact. First of all, the golden rule of all RPGs in Never Split the Party. If some of us go out there, we have two weaker groups instead of one strong one. We would also be abandoning a position of safety when we don't actually need to.”

I was prepared for him. “Good question. Since we have two party members who are injured, we can't retreat from combat here. Getting attacked here means an all or nothing fight, at a time chosen by the enemy. That means we don't know when an attack may occur. Do you really want to try to sleep knowing those things could attack at any time?”

“We can set a watch.” grumbled Arturo. He knew he had lost, and was just trying to be an ass at this point.

I turned to Dahlia, who still had her hand up. “And you?”

“I don't think anyone understands you besides us.” she said.

“Yes. Can you repeat?” added Duy.

It took a lot of discussion to get anywhere without a common language, but we eventually settled on a solid plan. Me, Duy, and Kiet would go knock out those remaining swarms, while Arturo stayed behind and used his illusions to protect Dahlia and An. Once the plan was agreed upon, our party of warriors set out. The image of an inconspicuous pile of rubble appeared to cover the doorway as we left.

Kiet took the lead, which I guessed shouldn't have surprised me. He was the oldest by a wide margin. It was just that his English was even worse than Duy's, and I was the one who had seen a bird's eye view of the city, which made communication a real chore.

Initially, Kiet led us on a short tour around the Temple of Bloodlines. However, once we were sure that no monsters were waiting for us in the immediate vicinity, Kiet looked uncertain as to where to go next. He spoke to Duy in Vietnamese, who then relayed to me.

“My father wants to know where we should go next.” he said.

I had to feel sorry for these two. Kiet obviously didn't want to take orders from someone half his age, especially in front of his son. I decided to assume the role of adviser. That way I could call the shots without hurting anyone's masculine pride.

“The monsters are concentrated on the other side of the river. If we move along the riverside, they'll probably spot us and make a move.”

It took a lot of gesturing and repeating to get Duy to absorb all this. By the time I was finished, Kiet had pretty much grasped the concept, making Duy's translation almost unnecessary.

As I expected, when we reached the riverbank we only had to wait a couple minutes for a swarm to attack us. It was a smaller group than the one that had attacked us earlier, but with Duy and Kiet ready to go it was an absolute slaughter. If I had to guess by their fighting styles, Duy was a high strength build, while Kiet went for a Dexterity-based approach, moving in and out of combat like a dancer and moving so quickly and gracefully that monsters couldn't focus on him long enough to get a hit in. I held them off on using arrows for the time being, and switched to hand-to-hand in the rare instances when an enemy got close to me. Within seconds, they were both merrily high-fiving each other and celebrating victory. Monster bodies were scattered on the ground around us, most of them beaten senseless by Duy's staff.

“I think we should find a way across this river. If that tiny group was all they could send, we should press our advantage and make sure they don't come near us again.” I told Duy. He relayed this to Kiet, who smiled and gave me a big thumb-up. Easy victory over this small group had boosted our confidence. We were ready for more.

We prowled up the river, shouting and making as much noise as possible, trying attract another swarm. I could see more of them moving among the ruins on the other side, but no matter how much noise we made, they were just too far away. It was becoming apparent that we would have to cross the river. The bridge was built from stone blocks, and had a gap of nearly ten feet near the middle. I was a little skeptical of this structure, but Kiet and Duy approached it with total confidence. When we reached the gap, Duy launched himself across the gap and cleared it by several feet. He didn't even seem to put much effort onto it. He extended his staff to Kiet, who jumped, caught the staff in mid-air, and was pulled to other side without difficulty. I felt strongly that I was being shown up, but the truth was that I couldn't possibly clear that distance without some help. When Duy reached for me with the staff, I jumped grabbed a hold, and was pulled in like a fish. My suspicions were confirmed: Duy was strong as a motherfucker.

We continued along the opposite side of the river, getting closer to the cathedral. The buildings in this area were a lot more run-down than the ones on the opposite side. The air smelled awful, like the water at the bottom of a dumpster. Even the weeds weren't growing here. Whatever was spawning those monsters, it was poisoning the surrounding area as well. Kiet and Duy had been totally silent since we crossed the river, and I couldn't blame them. Everything here felt off.

“Stop. We have incoming.” I said, readying my bow. I had heard something. It wasn't buzzing, which made it worse.

“What?” asked Duy, although, to their credit, he and Kiet readied their weapons as well. I might have laughed, if the situation had been less serious. They looked exactly like the poster of a kung-fu movie.

Something big was slithering through the houses one street over. I pointed, then made a motion to indicate a slithering creature. We waited in silence for it to make its move.

“Its move” was to suddenly burst through the rotting carcass of a house and launch itself at us like a charging bull. Kiet and I managed to jump out the way in time, buy Duy was launched backward into the river behind us.

This monster looked like a huge serpent or worm, with a huge circular mouth like the little flying ones. It was the same inky black color as them, but that was where the resemblance ended. Human-shaped arms, with five fingers each and everything, protruded from its hide on all sides, making it look like a bacteria. Just behind its huge mouth, where its eyes should have been, there was instead the figure of a man dressed as a priest. It spoke to us in a rasping voice as the mouth attempted to catch us. I couldn't understand what it said.

You have encountered a language you are unfamiliar with. You have 7 Learning points unspent. Do you wish to learn the language “Old Dezzermon”?

Yes No

Time ground to a halt as the words filled my vision. Even my breathing and the beating of my heart stopped dead. I wanted to use the time the system was giving me to do something useful, but I found I couldn't even move my eyes to look around. Well, at least I knew now how this game managed language. It implied that I could learn some number of “local” languages if I just heard someone, or in this case, some thing speaking to me. Wait, if me and my two companions both learned the same language...

The system asked me what level of skill I wanted to gain. with only 7 to spend, I decided that “Familiar” would be plenty.

“...the warmth of your blood. Surrender yourselves to the thirst. There can be no salvation.”

I felt like I had missed the bulk of a perfectly good villain monologue, but I was more interested in testing out my new ability. I had to keep moving to avoid the worm-thing's mouth. Those points I had spent to improve my Dexterity had definitely been worth it. I yelled to Kiet in Old Dezzermon:

“Hey! Did you get the language?” I yelled as I somersaulted out of the way of the monster's mouth.

“Yes! Hold on! I will try to distract the creature so you can get a clean shot!” he replied, also in Old Dezzermon. He began viciously attacking the monster's side with his saber, scattering those creepy arms across the pavement.

“Distraction?” said the creature. “What is pain to one who has drunk so deeply from the well of...”

“Shut up!” I shouted. For all his talking, the creature had turned it's head to look at Kiet, so I took the opportunity to squeeze off a shot. It landed (I could hardly miss at that range) but I missed the image of the priest. If the creature had a weak spot, that had to be it. I would need to be above the monster to get a good angle to hit it though.

The creature launched itself at Kiet. It was faster than its bulk suggested, but for Kiet, dodging it was child's play. He could reposition himself so quickly and easily that the mouth never came near him. I readied another arrow, hoping for an opening.

The flying creatures began to arrive. I killed several with arrows before they could join the fight, but they would overwhelm us quickly if I didn't do something. Kiet was doing a commendable job of slashing at the monster and avoiding its attacks, but the more attacks that were in play, the harder they were to dodge. If we got surrounded, we would be screwed. I watched the monster move, then scanned the sky for more incoming swarms. We had to shift tactics.

“Kiet! We have to move! That thing is too slow to keep up!”

“I can't leave without my boy!” he shouted as he clipped more arms off the monster. “He's still in the water!”

Between the big worm and the flying fuckers, I had almost forgotten about Duy. Given how strong he was, I guessed that he could mange himself in the water as long as he was alive and conscious. I ran to the edge of the embankment and searched for him. If my arrows weren't much help, might as well use my eyes. I spotted Duy a little distance down the river. The current was swift, and it had carried him nearly halfway to the sea before he had been able to recover. I didn't see his staff.

“He's downstream! He's alright!” I yelled to Kiet. Having a common language is the best. I tried to imagine how I could convey such a message quickly enough without one. It would have been impossible in the middle of combat.

Kiet smiled and looked very relieved. Stopping just long enough to plunge his sword into the monster's unprotected side a few times, he began running down the riverbank toward Duy. More flyers were en route, and if we wanted to pull this off, we needed to turn it around soon.

I punched a flier as its nasty hose-mouth approached my neck, feeling the satisfying pop of its severed spine. One bite in the right place is all it would take to finish any of us off. The worm couldn't crawl as fast as we could run, but it made a strong effort. Kiet and I ran down the street, trying not to trip over broken flagstones. The fliers were circling above us waiting for an opportunity to swoop down. I turned to see that the worm was now slithering flat against the street, leaving the freaky priest-image on top exposed.

“Kiet! Keep the fliers off me. I'm taking the shot!” I had to stop and concentrate, as I doubted I would get more than one try. With the monster fast approaching, sucker mouths coming in from above, and Kiet dancing around behind me to ward them off, I had plenty of distractions, but I was desperate. I waited as the monster came as near as it was going to before rising up to pounce, and released the arrow. I couldn't tell whether it had landed. The monster heaved itself into the air, released a snarl and string of Old Dezzermon curses, shuddered there for an instant like gelatin, then melted into a puddle of filth like a wicked witch.

Kiet was still slicing monsters out the air above me, but when I turned to seek congratulations on my shot, I realized how much the fight was taking out of him. He seemed to be struggling to get enough air, and though his movements were still incredibly agile, he was definitely slowing down. I hadn't really though about how tired he and Duy must be by now. I had invested in Constitution, which meant I could handle a lot of physical activity without tiring, but even I was getting exhausted now. And there were more flyers coming. The buzzing was so loud now that no one could possibly miss it.