The Excisionists: Book 1 Page 17

  Edan dropped his arms to his sides as he took in the sight. “Whoa…”

  A booming raspy voice emanated from the creature. “I am the Vitality Copula, keeper of the undead. Who dares to disturb my realm?”

  Opal turned and ran.

  Zuri called out to her. “Opal, get back here!”

  She never stopped running or even turned back to look at us.

  I exhaled loudly. “Guess we’ll have to do this without her.”

  We all lifted our weapons and started firing as we approached the boss with his pet dragon. Knives, spears, light bombs, laser blasts, bullets, and sonic disrupter blasts rained down on the beasts. Black flames shot back at us and the spirits of the undead rushed toward us. One by one they took us out. Wes was the closest and fell the quickest. Amber and Crispin didn’t last much longer. That left me and Zuri alone dodging skeletonized weapons, freezing black flames, and earthquakes caused by crashes of the Vitality Copula’s staff. I felt the piercing stab of a sword slice through my torso and looked down to see it sticking through my sternum. Seconds later I was back at the mountain.

  I sucked in breath after breath as I recovered from the blow. “AAAAAH, this sucks!”

  I slammed my fist on the ground and then started running toward the fog to help Zuri. I could see the others rushing back to her side and then seconds later, she was respawning behind me. We kept rushing back to the monster and his dragon and then respawned as we fell. Dozens of sword blows crashed through my skull, cut off my head, and sliced through my torso. The others all met the same fate along with solidifying into a black ice statue when the edges of the flames licked at their flesh. The health bars of the two formidable beasts didn’t budge an inch despite countless weapon attacks and direct hits. I was growing tired of the pain I was feeling with each failed attempt and finally decided to quit this quest. This final death would be my last for a while. I sat down on the mountain top awaiting the arrival of my peers.

  Amber was the first to make it back. She looked at me sitting on the ground and put her hands on her hips. With an earnest voice she tried to coax me back to the battlefield. “What are you doing? Get up and let’s go.”

  I shook my head. “No. We obviously can’t do this with the people we have. We’re missing something that we need to defeat this boss.”

  She turned her head to the side and spoke over her shoulder. “I know he’s right, but that doesn’t make me want to give up!”

  “Are you hearing voices or something?”

  Her eyes fell to the ground. “It’s complicated.”

  I didn’t feel much like listening to some crazy chick, so I changed the subject. “Let’s get the others that left us and then go back to the boss.”

  She nodded and crossed her arms. Moments later, Zuri showed up gasping for air with her hands clutching her chest.

  “You okay?”

  She dropped to her knees. “Uh...yeah. Man, why did they have to make us feel pain if we’re in a game? Don’t they realize that it makes us not want to fight bosses and stuff?”

  I nodded. “That’s why we’re staying here. You can see that they aren’t taking any damage from our hits.”

  “Yeah, I saw that. It makes me mad we spent all that time doing nothing. We’ll have to figure out what they’re vulnerable to.”

  Crispin and Edan showed up at the same time. I waved at them. “Hey, welcome back.”

  Edan looked around at the group. “Are we done trying to fight this thing?”

  I nodded. “Yep. We can’t do it, so we have to find the others and see if we can figure it out.”

  Crispin flopped to the ground. “Awesome! I’m taking a break for a minute. This is terrible. I can’t believe we have to feel it.”

  We all nodded in agreement, but I made an observation. “This one hurts more than the rest of them have. It’s like they’re trying to see how much pain we can stand and they’re making the levels hurt more with each one that’s passed off.”

  Zuri tried to be analytical about the situation. “Maybe it’s an experiment on pain threshold versus reward and punishment motivators.”

  Amber started laughing loudly and then sat down next to the rest of us. “Yeah.”

  Zuri was confused by her behavior. “What’s so funny about what I said?”

  I offered a suggestion. “Ignore it. She’s schizo or something.”

  A look of concern softened her face when she looked at Amber. “That must be hard.”

  Amber seemed defiant and looked away. “It’s fine. Forget it.”

  I sneered at her. “It’s kind of hard to forget it when you keep talking to yourself.”

  She clenched her jaw but didn’t say anything.

  Zuri pushed me. “Why are you always such a jerk?” She turned her attention to Amber who was leaning against Crispin trying to ignore everyone. “You don’t have to listen to him. He’s insecure about himself and he’s taking it out on you.”

  I protested her assessment. “I’m insecure?” I snorted. “Not likely.”

  She leaned in toward me. “You’re one of those little bullies that can’t stand themselves so they tear down others instead of facing what they really are.”

  I rolled my eyes and clenched my fists. “Playing psychologist now are we? I bet you’re an ugly little nerd that got picked on every day in school–”

  “Shut up.” Crispin cut me off and stood up between us. “Let’s go Amber. Anyone else want to gather the troops and try it again?”

  Zuri glared at me. “I’d love to.”

  Edan stood up and left with them. I just sat there and waited for them to return. I knew they’d have to come back here either to get me or they’d show up at the very least when they respawned. I laid back on the ground and stared up at the heavens. This planet’s sky was still dark but had now been brightened from the beam of light streaming from the volcano and the shimmering reflective rivers of water. I started thinking about Jinx’s behavior and the extreme sensitivity of everyone when we entered the atmosphere of Taska. It was as if they were being manipulated by something outside themselves. Even I had felt more easily provoked by every little thing and had almost punched Zuri before Crispin stepped in. I wished I could kill the other players and do whatever I wanted without any constraints. I hated them all right now for some unknown reason. Anger bubbled up inside with no apparent focus. I was angry just to be angry. What was is about this planet that made us all so different?

  I rolled to my side and watched the water flow from the volcano for a while to try to calm down. The sound of running water made me relax and I closed my eyes to listen to it. I remembered sitting at the edge of the pool with my feet close to the water some time ago in my distant past. I was almost ready to get in when someone came from behind and shoved me into the water. I began to choke and struggle to get to the surface and then someone lifted me up and out of the water. That was when I met my best friend Jude. He was twice my size and always had my back from that day on. I missed his friendship and wanted to go back to those few good times in my life.

  I opened my eyes and stared at the gurgling stream. I wondered if the water coming from the volcano had any significance in the game, or if was a reminder we’d passed off one of the main objectives. I stood up and neared the water’s edge. When I looked down into it, I couldn’t see my reflection. I knelt down and stuck my hand into it. The sensation I got was indescribable and I had the urge to drink some. I formed a cup with my hands and lifted the liquid to my lips. When it flowed into my mouth, I could feel my cells changing. Deep inside, something repaired itself and I felt right with the world. When I opened my eyes, my entire being was glowing. I descended the mountain and waited at the bottom for my friends to arrive. When they did, they were shocked at my transformation.

  Jinx had returned and was again at the head of the group. “What did you do?”

  “I drank some water. It feels amazing, you should all drink some too.”

  Amber glowered at me. “Li
ke I’d trust you?”

  Jinx ignored the comment and was the first to reach the river’s edge. She knelt down and took a drink. Her body began to glow just as mine did and the remainder of the group followed suit. Amber was the last to do so and had to be coaxed into doing it by Crispin who she seemed to trust without question. We all were connected somehow in a way we hadn’t been before. We walked silently to the fog and lifted our bracelets in unison. This time when the Vitality Copula emerged we were ready. The alien weapons shot massive holes through the beasts and obliterated the undead. The tortured souls didn’t respawn, but the Copula and its fire breathing lizard still stood before us. The holes knit together, and the fog reached out toward us.

  Suddenly I had an idea. “Jinx pull out the hourglass!”

  She dodged freezing charcoal flames and then pulled the golden object from her robe. “Now what?”

  “Flip it over.”

  She turned the hourglass and the crimson sand started to flow. Time slowed down and the red stone on the Copula’s belt rippled.

  “Now!”

  We all fired at the beasts blasting them to shreds. Their health bars dropped with each and every hit. They screamed out and fought back in slow motion. I ran up to the dragon and forced a sword through its ribcage before it even knew I was standing next to it. The light went out in the dragon’s eyes and it dropped to the ground and then vaporized. The Copula dropped to his knees and I used the same sword to cut off his massive head. It tumbled slowly to the ground and the beast evaporated into nothingness. Jinx turned the hourglass back over and we all cheered. The common rewards sprinkled the ground and the fog lifted revealing a dark cavern framed by long ivory bones. We collected the items and then entered the darkness. Our collective incandescence lighted the cavern and we walked down the stairs to another room containing a pool of pitch. Next to the pool was a shapely silver pitcher.

  Jinx finally had her wits about her and returned to her regular role in the game. “Opal, go get some water from the river.”

  She grabbed the pitcher, trotted off back up the stairs, and returned quickly with the overflowing silver pitcher. She poured it into the pool and it immediately became clear. At the bottom of the pool was something shiny. Crispin dove in and retrieved the object. It was a silver mirror with a scrolling black frame. Instead of reflecting our avatars, we saw something dark standing inside the mirror. It was a shifting shadow and I couldn’t quite make out its features. Whatever it was it filled my chest with dread.

  Jinx fingered the thick scrollwork. “This mirror can only reflect the images of the dead. They are drawn to it and the demon in the mirror pulls them inside. Once they are on the other side of the mirror, they are then bound to protect those who possess this mirror. This is the final piece I need to unleash the full army of the undead.”

  I was excited to return to my home planet and started up the stairs. “Back to Stroya. I’ll lead the way. Oh, and by the way, you can’t kill the ghosts so don’t let them touch you or you’ll die.”

  Phineas opened a manifold so we didn’t have to waste time walking back to the ship. The background music resumed when we entered the ship, and even though everyone seemed to notice it, no one made a comment about it. The lithium crystals made the ship fly faster but I soon realized that we’d have to get another ship better suited for long distance travel. We discussed the possibility of getting a larger ship on our way back to Stroya and planned to head to Tuman after we were finished collecting the army of ghosts.

  When we arrived on Stroya it became apparent that Taska’s environment was what was causing all the strange behavior. We exited the ship and found our way into the palace. It was still uninhabited despite the throng of people outside still enjoying their return from death. I wondered if they would ever return to the castle and fix it up, or if the ghosts were what was keeping everyone out. I pulled up the map I’d used to trace my movements during my last visit here. We could clearly see the path we needed to take but for some reason Jinx decided to lead.

  “Follow me. I’ll catch them in the mirror. The rest of you keep an eye out for any that sneak up either from behind or from the sides. We only have one mirror and I don’t want to waste a lot of time here.”

  I snickered at her. “You scared or something?”

  She flipped around and glared at me. “How dare you. I’m not intimidated by you in the slightest and if you keep up your petty bullying, I’ll stick you in the mirror.”

  “OOOOH. I’m shaking in my boots.”

  Suddenly, a long spear pierced me from behind along with several knives and a few laser blasts. “AAAAH!”

  When I respawned, I was outside the moat. I was angry that they’d all band together to force me to restart. Although, I did notice that there was very little pain with this attack which struck me as strange. I ran to the edge of the moat, but then stopped just before I jumped in. My dark thoughts from Tuman returned and I reflected on them. What if I leave them to do the work alone? What if I swim into the cistern below the Emerald Room and get there before they do. I could blow them to bits and make them restart where I ended up without telling them the way to get there. Or, maybe I could capture the ghost army myself after I take possession of the mirror. Do I really need the team I am with, or should I find someone else to partner with? Although, on the other hand, I haven’t seen any other players, so I’ll have to steal the ship to get back to other planets. Do I really want to pass off some of those quests again?

  Before I could make a decision, a manifold opened up next to me. I guess I didn’t have a choice on what to do anymore. I hung my head and then walked into the tunnel which brought me directly to the Emerald Room. The group was standing around waiting for me to arrive.

  I looked at all of them. “I thought you didn’t want me around because I’m such a bully.”

  Jinx narrowed her indigo eyes at me. “Apparently, we need a Stroyan to make this work. None of the ghosts would get close to the mirror, so we had Phineas take us directly here first.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “You need me to do something for you. Hmmm, how convenient. What if I don’t want to help you out?”

  Mica answered which caught me off guard. “Just do it. None of us think your really a bad guy, you just need some good friends to make you act better.”

  Iolite added her thoughts. “We haven’t given you a fair shake I think. When we all get out of this, I’d like to be friends.”

  Opal came up to me and put her hands on my shoulders. She was covered in strings of crystals of every color. “I’d like to be friends too. Do you think you’d be willing to meet us outside the game?”

  I looked around at them all. “Why are you all being so nice? What’s your endgame?”

  Opal hugged me. “Don’t be so suspicious of everyone, we just want to help.”

  “Help with what? I don’t need any of you. In fact, I might just stay in the game forever ambushing other parties, taking all the loot, and hiding the power objects just to screw with people. Might be fun.”

  Opal whispered into my ear. “I know your real name Zed.”

  I pushed her back and stared at her with wide open eyes. “Who are you? No one calls me that!”

  She pointed to me. “You thought you’d get away with it all, didn’t you? Thought you’d slip into another world, change your name, and then take the surgery they promised you so you’d never have to pay for your crimes.”

  “How…?”

  I backed away into the doorway and then was hit from behind. Everything went black and I found myself on the ground staring up at the rest of the group outside the castle once again. I hopped up and pushed away from them.

  Opal was behind me and placed an arm on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  I spun around and glared at her. “What?”

  Her eyes were full of concern. “Something happened when you were attacked by a ghost in the castle and it took nearly five minutes before you woke up.”

 
Even Jinx seemed rattled by the occurrence. “Yeah, that was weird. Are you alright?”

  I looked about the group, all of which were staring at me with apprehension like I’d never seen before. Maybe it hadn’t happened the way I remembered it. “I’m fine. Um, just for my benefit, what’s the last thing you remember me saying?”

  Iolite took a step closer. “You said you were going to pull up the map and get us to the Emerald Room and then that was it. Why?”

  I shook my head. At least my secret was safe. “Uh, just trying to get my bearings back.” I turned to Phineas. “Why don’t you get us to the Emerald Room and then we can go backwards through the castle and out of the exit?”