Chapter 24

Resurrection

 

 

Shea removed her headgear and unbuckled the harness, but she did not step out of the rig. She sat in the quiet darkness of the bay, fuming. On the one hand, she was glad Darshana would be restored. On the other, she was upset the suicidal exit would mar her perfect profile, its stain forever visible on the stat card her customers used when deciding whether to go with her or another guide. The legendary Darshana had slipped a rung down on the top player ladder. No doubt about it.

Trinity meowed and leapt into her lap. Shea removed her gloves and stroked the cat’s fur as she considered her losses since she’d met the dwarf. She’d refunded an entire party’s money, burned through all her health spells, used her most expensive and powerful lightning spell—the Finger of Jove—and a concealment spell. That one wasn’t cheap either. All the magic would have to be replaced. That would set her back quite a bit. Then, there was her reputation. She’d abandoned players she’d contracted to protect, killed one of them, and aborted a session to flee from a battle. She’d done all this while helping the dwarf cheat.

The cat emitted a loud meow.

“Right,” she said. “I forgot about the loss of the party that started it all.” She scratched behind the cat’s ears, causing her to purr loudly. Could she really blame that on the dwarf, though? Ultimately, yes. The Gray Warrior attacking one of her expeditions that happened to have this bullshit-càiniǎo dwarf as a member who would show up later with a million-dollar bounty she could find no posting for was too much of a coincidence. Shea was certain she was being played, and she didn’t like it. She took Trinity in her arms and went to her laptop.

The dwarf, identifying himself as Bobby, had sent a message with the subject line, “Talk?”

She cursed under her breath and deleted it. Another message caught her attention. It was from the Ranger Guild. The subject shouted READ IMMEDIATELY in bold red letters. Shea considered deleting it too. She was in no mood for spam. The guild, as they called themselves, was nothing more than a few socially inclined players who sent out a newsletter and moderated technique and strategy podcasts. It had been over a year since she’d paid any attention to them.

She waffled for an instant but found the commanding subject line impossible to ignore. The message contained an invitation to a ranger meeting at midnight. Shea had never received anything like it before. The message instructed her to port to a little-known gate where the meeting organizer promised, We will discuss a matter urgent to your character’s survival. Shea had a feeling she knew what, or more accurately, who they would discuss.

“What do you think Trin? Does Darshana go?”

The cat said nothing.

“Probably a waste of time, and if I am going to make it by midnight, I’ll have to risk resurrecting her while that monster may still be hunting in the Wolfwood.”

The cat purred and pushed her head under Shea’s chin.

“Yeah. You’re right. I might learn more about what this Bobby Penn and Em are up to.”

Meow.

“Okay. We’re going.”

Shea left the cat in the kitchen with a bowl of tuna and climbed back into the rig. A moment later, she was standing in the Sun Lobby staring at Darshana’s empty case. She sighed and tapped on the case’s touch screen. A message prompt asked her if she wanted to restore, and she punched the yes button.

Darshana woke, sitting with her back to the same boulder she and Falin had hidden behind when she’d died. She scrambled to her feet and brought her crossbow up.

The sun had set while she was out. The heavy clouds were gone, and a full moon was rising above the giant trees. In its silver light, she saw she was alone. A wolf howled in the distance, but none answered its call. Darshana checked the ground for the dwarf’s body and found only a fresh mound of dirt indicating he’d made it out—not that she particularly cared. The moonlight glinted on an object near her feet. She bent down and found the wizard’s spell she’d discarded during the attack. She returned it to her pouch and made her way back to the Wolfsburg Gate, glad to be alive again but still pissed off.