《Call of Carrethen》Book 2: Chapter 3. Ruins
Advertisement
Kodiak stood motionless, his eyes fixed on me. I could see his mind working, trying to figure out whether I was telling the truth or not. Thunder clapped overhead, and I felt the first drops of rain start to fall from the sky. It rarely rained in Carrethen, but it seemed as though here, in the Dark World, nature had been amped up into overdrive.
“You killed him?” Kodiak finally asked, his voice filled with skepticism.
“Yes!” I snapped, getting to my feet. “I know, I know. A girl killed The Ripper? Impossible right? I must be lying—”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all!” Kodiak replied defensively. “There’s plenty of good gamer-girls out there. I’m friends with a few, okay? I just—I don’t understand how that could be. If you killed The Ripper…how are we here?”
“Because this is not Carrethen,” I replied. “Not really.”
“Then what is it?” Kodiak asked.
“A backup. Created by Wintermute, an artificial intelligence program from the original game engine.”
“Wintermute?” Kodiak replied. “Like…from Neuromancer?”
I nodded, impressed. “That’s right. You a sci-fi fan too?”
“I mean, I’m a gamer, right?”
A small smile crept across my lips, but I was still too amped up to let my guard down, and I needed answers.
“All right,” I said, trying to get my thoughts together. “So, you call this place The Dark World?”
“That’s right,” he nodded. “And you can see why.”
He gestured to the sky and the world around us. It was like a distorted mirror had been held up to the world of Carrethen, and everything I was looking at was a shattered reflection of what had been.
“It must have corrupted somehow when Wintermute backed it up,” I thought. Then, an idea sprang into my mind and I leapt to my feet. “Wintermute?!” I called out. Surely he—was that the best way to refer to an A.I.?—surely he would have left a method of communication between us.
Advertisement
I looked at the sky and screamed. “Wintermute!?”
Kodiak looked up with me, but no response came. A streak of lightning cut through the clouds above us, splitting into fingers like the roots of a tree, cascading out for a few seconds before bursting out of existence with a clap of thunder. I felt Kodiak looking at me.
“Nothing?” He asked. I shook my head slowly.
“Nothing.”
“Explain to me how all this works,” he told me. “Because I’m lost.”
“I killed The Ripper,” I told him, thinking back to that fateful day up North. Jack was by my side then. I knew he was here, somewhere, trapped in the Dark World, but my heart still ached when I pictured his lifeless body back there, lying in the snow. “I was given admin powers and freed everyone that was still stuck in the world before I went home. I recovered and all that, and then Wintermute contacted me on my computer.”
“An artificial intelligence,” Kodiak remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I was as surprised as you,I replied. “He—it? Told me that he’d backed up Call of Carrethen at a certain point and started transferring players there when they died. But he had no way of returning them to the real world. He needed me for some reason.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t explain how,” I admitted. “He rooted my Wellspring device and I dived back in. I spawned up there by the cliff where you found me, got jumped and just ran for it.”
“Wow,” Kodiak replied, taking a seat on a tree stump in front of me. I could see him mulling over what I’d just told him.
“How long have you been here, Kodiak?” I asked him, inspecting him.
Kodiak—level 80.
“A few weeks,” he replied with a chuckle. “Got squashed by a Stone Golem.”
Advertisement
“Up by the Iron Mountains?” I asked him. He looked up and nodded.
“Yeah, how’d you guess that?”
“You were with Bleed,” I said, my eyes narrowing, remembering the horde that had chased us when we were on our way to the Crimson Catacombs.
“Not by choice,” he replied quickly, his voice stony and cold. I could see the anger there, like I’d touched on an old wound. “You remember their motto, don’t you?”
“Join or die,” I muttered.
“Join or die,” he repeated angrily. “They came into Cragrock with at least fifty men. I was with a small guild back then. We didn’t have a chance. One of us tried to fight and…”
“I understand,” I told him. “Human nature can be a terrible thing. I guess The Ripper showed us that.”
“That it can,” Kodiak nodded. “But then again, here you are. You came back to help your friends. That’s admirable.”
“Thank you,” I replied. If this was real life, I would have been blushing.
“Also a little bit stupid,” he chuckled. “But we’ll ignore that for now.”
I smiled and looked around us to see if I could pick out any landmarks I could use to figure out where we were. But there was nothing.
“So, where are we?” I asked. A single Bindstone floated between us, but I saw no buildings or NPCs like there normally would be around a stone in the middle of nowhere. “And where are the NPCs? This stone’s just…by itself?”
“Yeah, NPCs in the Dark World are a little wonky, to say the least,” Kodiak replied.
“Wonky?”
“Sometimes, they’re just not where they’re supposed to be. Other times, they’re there but they’re not responsive. And on rare occasions, they’re hostile.”
“Hostile NPCs!?” I couldn’t believe it. NPCs in Call of Carrethen were vulnerable to attack of course, and would fight back if provoked, but were never allowed to openly attack players. Another bug in Wintermute’s backup world.
“Yup,” Kodiak nodded. “They’re also not respawning when you kill them.”
“So, this place?” I asked him, looking around. Aside from the Bindstone, there was really nothing of note, and I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be bound out here in the middle of nowhere.
“Back in the original Carrethen, there was a traveling merchant here with a tent,” he explained. “Someone either killed him, or he ran off, or just didn’t spawn at all.”
“Are we North of Stoneburg somewhere?”
“Northwest,” he nodded.
“We should probably head there now,” I said. “I have absolutely no gear on me.”
“I don’t know about that,” Kodiak replied hesitantly. “The last time I was there; it was a ghost town.”
“Any NPCs?”
Kodiak shook his head. “I think there was one mage selling scrolls and low level wands, but that was about it.”
“Damn it!” Kodiak had pulled me out of the frying pan, but we were still dangerously close to the fire. Without any gear, I was a sitting duck. “Well, we have to try something. Let’s go.”
“All right, boss,” Kodiak said with a grin. “Don’t worry, m’lady. I’ll protect you!”
“Okay, stop that before I throw up.”
Advertisement
- In Serial14 Chapters
Fate Online
Fate, the world's first true virtual MMO. Where realism and fantasy meet. And where fates are shaped and legends are born.Hurricane is a famous game studio, but it has been years since they last released a new game. Amidst dwindling sales and news articles discussing its fate, Hurricane holds a press conference in the main auditorium at G3, the world's largest gaming convention for the first time in years. Here they announce that after almost a decade of silence, their new game is finally ready to be revealed. Eric Kingsley is no hero, but he is a gamer, and a pretty good one at that. Jumping into the world of Fate, all he wants to do is level up as quickly as he can. However, Fate is no ordinary game, and neither are the stakes he's playing for... Notice: This story is live on Amazon under the title Nasvencia.
8 435 - In Serial15 Chapters
Zarif's Story
Please note this is a 18+ so it will have descriptions and scenarios that only a grown up would tolerate and be capable of handling without feeling repulsed. Zarif, a demi-human slave of orcs and goblins is brutally murdered when he does not accomplish the impossible - awakens to find himself resting within the arms of an elderly woman with tears in her eyes. ____________________________________________________________________________ As I like to be a little creative in the way I write, there might be a few mistakes per chapter - so be sure to notify me in the comments if you think something seems wrong. You might be confused as you read on since I switch about constantly, but please continue reading and maybe leave a comment on why you did not like what you read and decided to drop the story.
8 88 - In Serial25 Chapters
The LEGO Ninjago Movie [Lloyd x Female Ninja! Reader]
[Name], Lloyd, Jay, Kai, Nya, Cole and Zane are all a group of friends trying to narrow their way through highschool. It doesn't help that Lloyd's having a hard time with his daddy issues.Lloyd's father is none other than, Lord Garmadon, himself. This Evil Overlord takes it upon himself to try and take over Ninjago, he does this EVERY SINGLE DAY. But alas, these certain fellow Ninjas of the city prevent him from doing so. And, they all known as;The Secret Ninja Force and Mysterio.[I don't own The LEGO Ninjago Movie or any of the characters] [Third Person POV]
8 69 - In Serial16 Chapters
Broken (Peeta Mellark Fanfiction)
Peeta Mellark has survived the Hunger Games, he escaped the Quarter Quell, then he was rescued from the torturous hands of the Capitol. His memory has been tampered with, so everything he sees could be either real or fake. Instead of a smooth recovery, he is thrown right into war. What would become of him in the end? Broken. (Taking place a little over halfway through the Mockingjay book and after the movie Mockingjay Part 1) This is a somewhat sequel to the other story I wrote called Hijacked, but I think you could read this without reading the other one. This story and these characters are owned by Suzanne Collins, not me (obvi)
8 106 - In Serial56 Chapters
Lost Fantasy-Life After Reincarnation (Arc 1)
"I am not the hero."That is the conclusion that Loganel Ainzloft came up. He was originally a young man who woke up one day in a fantasy world in the body of a child. However, as time went by, he slowly lost his memories of his previous life and slowly became Loganel Ainzloft. However, one day, as another boy is teleported to this world to defeat the Demon King, Loganel began to remember."I should've been the hero..."#72 in Fantasy 02/14/18
8 175 - In Serial22 Chapters
rosekook au.
Alternative universes where Park Chaeyoung and Jeon Jungkook always find each their way back together.
8 174