The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame (29 page)

“Huh, you don’t say,” she mumbled with her intonation wildly varying.

“Whatever the case is, you’re both soaking wet and you won’t survive out here. Two miles north along the river will take you to the town,” he explained while adjusting his jaw from side to side and with a thumb pointed over his shoulder. “There’s a free inn there where you can find all of your basic amenities… I… need to clear my mind, I’m sorry there’s too much going on right now.”

Having finished his explanation, he shook his head slightly and with a sigh disappeared in a literal flash of bright lightning as the crack of thunder split the air around us. Crackling electricity, static perhaps, lingered where the man once stood not more than a half-second prior. Quickly turning my head to the left and then to the right, I circled around as I looked for where the man had disappeared to only to see that he had resumed his jog in the same direction as the large group from before.

Facing Em as she was watching his back fade into the distance, I placed a hand on her shoulder to check if she was okay.

“Em?” I quietly asked.

“Was he always such an asshole?” she asked, anger dissipating as a frown started to appear on her face. “Maybe you were right… I’m a bad judge of character.”

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “Is he bipolar or something?”

“Hah, you know… maybe,” she said with a pained laugh as she tossed her hands into the air. “Ugh! I don’t know if I should be mad or sad!”

“Can we do happy?” I said with a light smile and a tilt of my head.

“Ahhh! I don’t get it!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” I asked, confusion clearly displayed on my face at the sudden change in her demeanour. “You’ve no reason to be apologetic.”

“Ah but I do,” she said, slightly depressed as she dropped her shoulders. “I brought you all the way out here for nothing.”

“Not nothing… I quite liked our little adventure.”

“You’re only saying that.”

“Mm. You know I enjoy nature and being away from the big cities,” I replied. “Come, let’s sit by the bank and relax for a bit.”

“Ah, yeah… sure, why not.”

After ten minutes had passed, we had decided to visit the town as that was our original goal and even if the host had turned out to be an emotionally unstable arse, we wanted to see our journey to its rightful end. Getting up and walking along the river, it wasn’t long before the trees gave way to an open clearing that ended with wooden walls, towers, and buildings against the backdrop of a large mountain.

The town itself was rather spectacular in design as everything appeared to be hand carved and constructed out of the materials found readily nearby. This was by far the largest player settlement we had ever been to and the sheer number of NPCs roaming around the snow-covered streets was astounding.

“This is quite the town,” I mumbled to Em as we walked aimlessly through.

“It’s not even the same as the pictures…” she said as her face still showed some lingering pain. “You know, the last picture I saw was a month old, this isn’t the same.”

“Pardon the interruption my ladies,” said a rather vivacious and voluptuous female NPC as she approached us from the side. “You will find your accommodations in that large four-story building against the mountain wall, with meals provided on the first floor and to your left. If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to call. My name is Katherine, Priestess Katherine if you are in need.”

Bowing after she had introduced herself, she turned around and walked away as the other NPCs continued with their business, largely ignoring our presence. They were certainly eyeing us but they weren’t being rude about it.

“Wow, she was gorgeous,” said Emily with a stupefied expression.

“Mm. Is that so?” I asked as I didn’t understand the standards of beauty.

“I wonder,” she mumbled as if she were lost in thought. “Think she’s a Companion?”

“You mean like the one you had?” I questioned honestly.

“Yes, the one I let go.”

“Possibly? How would one know?”

“We would have to ask the player…” she said with some hesitation as she shook her head. “Never mind, let’s head to the inn and see if we can dry off. I’m hungry too.”

“Mm. I’ll join you in a minute, I want to explore the town some more.”

“Sure, one room or two?” she asked plainly.

“One is fine,” I said as I started to walk in the other direction.

The town was much larger than I thought and had been spread out in such a way that the streets were exceptionally wide and provided for plenty of room. In a way it was almost too spacious as the settlement was largely unoccupied at the moment, at least as far as I could see. With the sun beginning to set, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to believe that the majority of the residents had already retired.

Perhaps tomorrow would bring out a crowd.

* * *

Chapter 102: Confusion

(Thursday, January 20th Game Day / Monday, May 10th Real Day)

“Ah I’m an idiot,” I mumbled as I returned from my jog and hovered on the outside of the town. I had a sneaking suspicion that Emily was only a figurehead and spokesperson and held little to no control of the meetings. I wanted to question her neutrally about her involvement so that I could acquire a few more pieces to the puzzle.

Someone was responsible for the data leaks after all.

All of that went out the window though when I saw her in front of the town… the last time a female player appeared in this town, it was burnt down to the ground shortly after. After spending eighteen hours editing video of my experiences in the game, the emotions that had been stirred up still felt raw. A part of me deep down wanted to blame Emily for giving out that information, even if rationally she was unlikely to have done it maliciously.

The girl accompanying her must have been Valerie as well, as the accent gave her away but she was supposed to be blind. That girl followed my every move with her eyes as she tried to discern my intentions… she didn’t have the virtual eyes of a blind girl.

If that was a miracle of the game, I wouldn’t be surprised.

She was an unwitting bystander in all of this too and yet I bickered with her while struggling to contain my anger over Emily’s presence and involvement with the whole affair. Someone inside the meetings had been spreading information that I was targeting players in the North, someone leaked the data. But there was no motive, I couldn’t trace it back to anyone. I was without a clue and wanted one so badly.

“Ah man,” I whispered to myself. “I really shit the bed this time.”

Entering the town, I saw the female player that had accompanied Emily walking along one of the channels that ran throughout Dragon’s Breach and decided to go over with the intent of apologizing. At the very least, her appearance there meant that the two had decided to stay here which was a good thing as I wanted to clear the air.

Walking over to her, she stopped as she tilted her head slightly in my direction without turning around. As if she had heard my footsteps from such a distance. Turning to face me before I was within fifteen feet, my surprise was masked by the dim lighting of the moon.

“Hey,” I said softly, then waited for a reply that never came. After a few tense seconds had passed by in silence, I decided to go ahead and apologize. If that went well, I could at least ask a few questions to gather some information from their point of view.

“You’re Valerie, right?” I asked first as she crossed her arms and stared me down.

“That is my given name, yes,” she replied curtly.

“Ah, your voice is the same… though I didn’t recognize your appearance,” I said gingerly while trying to lighten the mood. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in this matter, it wasn’t my intention when I first saw the two of you.”

“I was unaware that my appearance differed,” she shot back while ignoring my apology, which was completely understandable.

“Hm it’s probably the same,” I said with some awkwardness as I realized that she was blind in real life and my comment was probably insensitive. Yeah… I was on a roll today. With a visible twitch of my mouth, I instantly regretted everything that was happening and happened in the past hour. “Sorry about the appearance comment, only met you once before and my memory isn’t quite what it used to be.”

“We’ve met twice, though you’re a forgettable guy, really,” she said with a monotonous voice, clearly dumping the insults on me as part of her revenge for my earlier treatment.

“Yeah?” I replied shortly, curious as to why she believed we had met twice before.

“I would like to point out, if you’ve somehow mistaken my talkativeness as friendliness, that you are no friend of mine,” she followed up with a serious tone that was hard to miss. If the tone was missed, then the words would clear up any remaining doubt.

“I don’t recall meeting you a second time but I’m probably forgetting something,” I said somewhat offhandedly as I tried to think of anything that could help.

“You seem to forget or mistake a lot of somethings,” she retorted.

“I’m not exactly in a forgiving position,” I tried to explain as she listened intently to my every word. “I’m facing serious issues here, resulting from the information Emily gave out at the meetings… I am sorry if I’ve offended you but my issue was never with you.”

“And by extension your issue is with me,” she countered. “If you have a problem with my friend then you have a problem with me. Offering us a place to stay for the night is not recompense for your prior actions. Being received after days of travel by such means
hmph
. If Emily was guilty, what would drive her to travel for days to visit this location?”

Shaking my head as the entire situation had long since spiraled beyond my control, I didn’t know what else to say. Whatever goodwill had been amassed in the past was since spoiled. The only thing left was to get the answers that I wanted and to wash hands of any involvement with them. My prior friendly acquaintanceship was no longer.

“May I ask you this,” I said with little hope remaining. “Do you attend the A&B meetings regularly?”

“I attend every meeting concerning the program,” she answered quickly. “Why does it matter if I attend, do you not attend the same meeting?”

“I am no longer a participant of said meetings,” I said calmly. “If you are a regular participant, do you recall discussions occurring within the confines of said meetings that often if not always, provided classified detail about this location? Information specifically, on what was happening in the North?”

Standing there silently, she was clearly mulling over my last question and comparing it with her own memory of the situation. If she had been there, then she undoubtedly had the answer to everything. She should know, how much information Emily provided.

“Perhaps… it was discussed on a few occasions,” she nearly whispered. “Were you not the man who spoke up about the benefits of the North of your own volition, debating the merits against that sardonic character that always plagues the discussions?”

“Yes, that was me,” I said reluctantly as I understood her point.

“Then what claim do you have, to lay the blame on Emily?”

“Was it ever mentioned that this territory was the only one this far north?”

“Perhaps,” she whispered.

“I do not claim to understand or know of your situation or of Emily’s but I do know my own,” I exclaimed, almost pleading with her to see my side of the story. “And I know that my situation has been one of constant fighting in large part due to the information of this very town being given freely to players all around the world. I have had a target painted on my back and I am the one who has to deal with those consequences.”

“And so you take your anger out on someone who only wished to help you,” she replied angrily. “A kind woman who was only doing what she was ordered to do, while managing to conceal what she could.”

“Help conceal?” I said, somewhat bewildered by the statement. “You mean to say that Emily was forced into sharing the information and skipped over details when she could, that she was knowingly trying to help me in her own way?”

“Is that not the meaning conveyed by the words previously spoken?” she replied sarcastically with a circular wave of her hands in the air.

“You know, I want to believe you, I really do.”

“What you believe is of no importance to me.”

Taking a step back to clear my clouded mind, if any of her words were true then my anger had been misguided and misplaced. I needed more time to process everything that had been said, and everything that had happened. My focus had been on figuring out who was the one behind everything… and… then it clicked.

“Wait… is Emily here?” I asked after a minute of silence had passed.

“You surely know the answer to that, what with this being your town,” she answered almost comically while maintaining her defensive stance. “I’m positive your NPCs would be glad to tell you everything.”

“No, I could simply check my menu if I wanted,” I let out with a sigh. “I’m asking you directly if Emily is able to be seen, if she or you believe it would be best to do otherwise, then I won’t intrude.”

“Mm. Is that right?”

“I understand, I won’t bother you any further,” I said while turning to walk away. “Thank you for giving up your time and I am sorry for the way I received you. It shouldn’t have happened the way it did.”

If she was telling the truth about what Emily had told her and Emily in turn was being honest about her dealings behind the scenes, then my distrust, dislike, and anger had been misguided. Someone else was responsible for the leaks and Emily did her part to stop what she could. I owed her an apology if all were true.

Still, I didn’t know who to believe.

Though, there wasn’t a hint of a lie or half-truth in Valerie’s words, she was either being completely honest or was an impeccable liar. I wanted to believe the former was the case. I wanted to believe, that I had been wrong. It was easier being the bad guy… it was easier if it was my fault. If it was my fault, my mistake, then I could deal with it. If she ended up being the one responsible… that path was harder, I would be consumed with anger. I would crave revenge.

I was tired of all that.

The hate can only consume you for so long before there’s nothing left to give. That point had been reached and the only thing left was the one who leaked the information. The last thread… wasn’t worth pursuing any longer. My crusade was over, it ended here.

Even though I had it all figured out.

The puzzle piece that was missing was in my memory the whole time. My debates within the meetings were always against one man in particular. Though there were only a small handful of debates it was always the same man in the opposing corner.

I called him Mr. Sardonic.

If he wasn’t the one that was behind everything, then it was all random and nothing was based on rationality, logic, or factual evidence at all. He was the only one with motive enough, albeit small motive, to want to cause me trouble. The kind of man that held grudges and enjoyed manipulating others to do his bidding, a vindictive man.

I had been played, it had to be him.

He was of such insignificance that he had all but evaded my recollections until Valerie pointed out our first encounter. He was the type of person that didn’t leave an impression except for his bad behavior… yet now, I was the one with the bad behavior.

“I’ve lost it,” I said to myself as I headed towards the cabin.

The situation had turned a corner and headed in a direction that didn’t interest me. I wanted to enjoy my game, not spend it all building, fighting, and worrying. Mr. Sardonic was the best bet when it came to who was responsible but I also blamed Emily for her involvement when according to her and Valerie, she had little to no say in the matter.

She tried to help, supposedly.

It wouldn’t do to accuse another person of something without irrefutable evidence, not when it took this much effort and time to pursue. Unless the man himself admitted to it, I wouldn’t follow down that path. Not now at least.

For now… I needed a break.