Asphodel - Sixth Age - Third Year – First Sun

Mary couldn’t process what she was seeing. While the journey through the cave had been long and arduous, it was for the most part, surprisingly boring. With every step she scanned the tunnel for threats. With every heartbeat, every breath, she wondered whether it would be her last, but there was nothing. For three hours she trekked forward, Hyper aware of her surroundings and what could lie waiting in the dark. She had used orb after orb of mana to lick every inch of the walls in fire, with hope of finding more text, but there was nothing. Then at last, she came to an opening, a massive cavern that had a large hole in the center of the ceiling. Dim light poured through causing a tube a illumination, with dust swirling and dancing in the air. On the floor below, bathed in light and surrounded by debris, lay a young man in worn clothes.

Mary stood at the entrance to the cavern, trying to find any possible threats within. Just like the tunnels behind her, there was nothing that she could see. Still, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t anything waiting for her. Opening her inventory, Mary navigated to an old scroll she acquired several years ago on a particularly difficult quest. She knew the day would come when its value would be beyond measure and finally that day was upon her. When the incantation on the scroll was read, any trap, ward, user or creature in the vicinity would be revealed for two hours. The text emphasized ‘ANY’. Mary did her research; there were only two other instances of similar scrolls found since Asphodel went online, and neither had been used. Given the rarity, she had to believe it would work.

Pulling the scroll from her inventory, Mary unrolled the brittle parchment and spoke the incantation. “E al moth. Ne for damo. Ne for Fero. Ne for dun.” A gust of wind swooped in from the opening in the ceiling. It swirled up the dust lingering in the air and floated toward Mary. The scroll’s text illuminated on the parchment. It was pale purple at first, but then burned white, blinding Mary in its light. The gust of wind broke through the parchment rendering it to sparkling purple dust that swept over Mary. Everything in the cave, the young man on the ground included, gained a faint purple hue around it. While Mary had never used this particular spell, the basic understanding of magic throughout Asphodel was very similar. She assumed that if anything was hiding in the dark recesses of the cave, it would stand out in some way.

Once again, there was nothing.

Taking a cautious step forward, Mary’s thumb flicked the safety on her rifle to fire. Taking another tense step, she clutched the rifle against her chest and tucked the butt of the stock in between her chest and shoulder. It’s placement felt perfectly comforting amongst the overwhelming uncertainty that clouded her every step. She slowly moved toward the man on the floor, eyes constantly searching the cave for any indication of danger. Her gaze jumped back to the man, who was lying on his side with his legs curled slightly toward his body. He lay twenty feet in front of her now, and she could see his side rise and fall every few seconds with each breath. The time it took for him to complete one cycle indicated that he was unconscious.

At ten feet, Mary raised the barrel of her rifle and placed her iron sights on the center of his head. She started to side step around him, slowly circling to the front in order to get a better view of his face. As it came into view, she could already tell that it was not an NPC. It was no ordinary user either, this one was different and hope began to build in her chest.

Mary started to lower the barrel of her rifle, but the man’s whole body jolted causing a cloud of dark gray dust to shoot into the air. Mary snapped the barrel of her rifle back to his head. Taking another step forward, Mary could see his eyes dancing wildly under his closed lids. Heart racing faster and faster, Mary took another step forward. The edge of the young man’s eyelids fluttered and then opened slowly.

His pupils constricted and Mary could see that his eyes were bloodshot as the light coming through the ceiling pierced his vision. For a moment he just lay there, lifelessly staring at Mary, who was ready to fire at the slightest provocation. He blinked once, allowing his lids to rest for several seconds before opening them again. Recognition gave way to thought, which in turn gave way to fear. The young man squinted as his mind quickly registered the power that Mary displayed through her weapon load out and armor. He blinked furiously and scrambled backward out of the light.

“Who are you?” Mary said authoritatively through her helmet. The voice modulator was purposefully set to sound aggressive and menacing. Theatricality could sometimes be the difference between getting information, or being attacked. “Who are you?” she said again, louder. Her voice a mutilated, digital rasp that echoed through the cave. “User name and level.”

The young man continued to kick at the sand, sliding his rear against the ground until he smashed his back into a wall. “I uh, I don’t…” he struggled to find the words. Mary glanced around the cave and couldn’t see anything that would indicate he was a threat. The scroll had surrounded him in the same dull purple border that everything else was coated in.

“Are you armed?” She asked, taking a few steps forward and out of the light.

His chest was heaving up and down as he breathed heavily. Eyes darting around different areas of the cave, his gaze finally rested back on Mary in her menacing armor. “Uh, no. I uh…I don’t think so.”

Mary stood there for a few seconds, assessing the situation before her. The man looked confused and frightened. While it was possible that the whole scenario could have been a ruse, Mary was convinced that everything was as it appeared. Taking a chance on faith, she dialed a specific pattern into the side of her helmet and it hissed before the front slid up and over her head. With a faint digital crackle, it disappeared into her inventory.

Mary lowered her rifle; an action that was met with relief from the man sitting on the ground. She rotated it under her arm, letting it hang off her back beneath the kukri sheaths near her shoulders. “So long as don’t try to hurt me, I won’t hurt you. Do you understand?”

He nodded cautiously.

“Good. What’s your name?”

The young man stared at the ground, his mind searching for an answer in the dark granules below. “I…Adam…I think.”

Mary nodded. “And do you know what level and class you are Adam?”

Adam nodded at the sand. “Uh, a level three Shifter.”

Mary’s skin went flush, and her blood warmed. Her heart quickened as questions and possibilities populated her mind. Was this it? Had she finally found a living Wrathic? There had to be some way that Adam made it into the cave, and save for the hole in the ceiling, the tunnel that Mary came in through seemed to be the only other opening. Mary took another step forward, slowly to ensure that she didn’t startle Adam. He was still focused on the sand in front of him, but his head cocked slightly at the sound of her footsteps. She could see his mind racing, his consciousness trying to catch up and put everything in its place. It wasn’t uncommon for Shifters to become disoriented after transforming back into their human form the first few times. Early transformations turned the users mind into a more animalistic, instinctual machine. It was rare that Shifters below a level twenty would have full, mental control over their animal form.

Mary turned to look at the hole in the ceiling. It was at least fifteen feet in diameter. Her gaze shifted to the floor illuminated below. Varying sizes of stone were scattered around the area that Adam had been laying in. The patterns in the sand and the way they were arranged suggested that Adam, tore through the ceiling, which certainly wasn’t a possibility in his current form. Mary walked back underneath the hole and surveyed the area above. It was hard to tell how far the rock stretched into the light, but it was enough to give Mary an idea of what happened. She couldn’t think of any creature that was powerful enough to inflict that much damage. She turned, and her gaze focused on Adam.

Walking back over to him she said, “Adam, I need you to tell me what happened. I need to know how you got here.”

Adam’s mind raced as he searched the sand for answers. After a few minutes he clasped his eyelids shut and his head jerked to one side. Eyes closed, he tried to recall the events that led him to the cave. Memories in Asphodel were like saved video files. Remembering details in the game was much easier than the game world, but due to latent that came with the Shifter class, Hidarian made everything hard for them. Recalling memories while in animal form was almost impossible in the early days, but could be developed with time. His body shuttered as his head jerked back and forth. “I can’t…I can’t see it.”

Mary knelt beside him and gently lay her hand on his shoulder. “Breathe Adam. Take your time, and breathe.”

Adam did as instructed. His chest raised and decreased quickly. After a few more breath’s, Mary squeezed his shoulder in support and his breathing slowed. “There was...darkness,” Mary could see his eyes well up under their lids. “Darkness and then,” tears started streaming down his cheeks. “No,” he whined in despair.

“Adam,” Mary said softly. “Adam stay with me, I need you to focus.”

Adam’s eye lids tightened as he moaned, “No, I don’t want to go back.” His head started to sway back and forth.

“Adam listen to me, I can help you. But I need to know what happened to you first.”

His head jolted forward and then flew back into the stone wall behind him with a dull thud. He repeated the process several times before Mary gripped either side of his face to stop him. Adam’s eye’s shot open, tear soaked and bloodshot he stared through her, focused on the painful memory that led him to her grasp.

“My skin…my whole body…my blood was boiling." His breathing started to increase again. “I saw…pain…I felt it.” His chest heaved up and down, faster and faster with each breath. “My bones snapped,” fear took over. Mary could see it in his eyes, it was painted all over his face.

“What else?” She asked insistently. “What else!” She couldn’t contain her excitement anymore. It was right in front of her, in her hands. The myths were real and within her grasp, she just needed him to say it.

“There was fire.” Adam started to whimper, his entire body quivering fear. “It consumed me, it burned me alive. I became,”

“Yes?” Mary pressed.

“No,”

“Tell me!”

“I became death,” and with that last phrase, Adam broke down, all his weight supported by Mary’s hands. She released his head and he slumped to the ground, sobbing into the dark sand below.

“It’s okay,” Mary said emotionless, almost robotic as she stood. Her mind was the complete opposite, a swirl of emotions and speculation on what she had to do. Without direct verification, Mary had found what she was looking for. All that remained was getting him to a safe place where she could see the transform.

“I’m going to help you,” She said flatly. “I’m going to take care of you.”