World of Eternia: The Complete Collection (17 page)

The spell caster looks
at the spot where the Cyclops is standing, and sees that the ground
is mostly dirt and sand, rather than hard, solid rocks.
This
is the perfect location for a quicksand
, he realizes with
excitement. Before the Cyclops decides to move out of that spot,
Lucious hurriedly casts the Quicksand spell. Putting both palms on
the ground and closing his eyes, he recites the arcane words to
unleash the spell: “mogh-klvw-pijk-saji-zqeg-lewg-voxw.”

Switching over to his
magical sight, the mage focuses on the ground beneath the giant, and
seeks a nearby source of underground water to create the quicksand.
Using his virtual reality gloves, the player taps into the stream and
directs the flow of water upward, to saturate the sand under the
giant, and liquefy the sediment in a twenty foot diameter around the
Cyclops. If Lucious makes the area too small, the Cyclops could
easily leave the quicksand and reach solid ground.
I
think a twenty foot diameter is wide enough area to keep the giant
inside the quicksand,
he thinks confidently.

As the water continues
to saturate the ground underneath the Cyclops, the sediment starts to
lose the strength to support the giant's massive weight. The ground
begins to shift under the Cyclops' feet, causing him to sink into the
ground.

The Cyclops immediately
realizes the danger, and tries to move away from the dangerous spot
and search for solid ground. With each step he takes, the giant sinks
further into the rapidly developing quicksand. The monster continues
to move forward, heading towards the forest. Soon the Cyclops has
sunk almost entirely into the quicksand, and he is still too far away
from even the nearest branch in the forest to pull himself out. His
chin barely above the unsteady ground, the monster finally stops
moving in order to avoid sinking even deeper into the pit.

Lucious sees that his
enemy has been fully immobilized, and finally releases the quicksand
spell. The player makes a quick check of his mana bar, and sees that
he has blown 60% of his mana pool on the quicksand spell. The
exhausted spell caster sits on the ground, still at the end of the
forest, and waits to see if the Cyclops has any companions nearby.

After ten minutes of
waiting, the spell caster finally gets off the floor. He pats on his
robes to shake loose the leaves clinging onto his golden robe. He
flubs his purple cloak to knock off the leaves as well. Activating
his left earring, he slowly levitates toward the trapped Cyclops.

The Cyclops stares at
the adventurer with his single giant eye, unblinking and unflinching
as the puny human hovers closer to his head. The giant has realized
that resistance is futile, and awaits his final, ignoble death of the
hands of this tiny, puny creature.

Hovering five feet
away, Lucious stares back the cyclops. “It appears that killing you
is a criteria to move to the next stage of this campaign. I have
already defeated you, but allowed you to live. Still, nothing has
changed in this area, no portal, no appearance of a new monster,
nothing,” he shrugs. “So it is clear what I have to do now,” he
continues. “No hard feelings, okay?”

The spell caster points
the orb of his magical staff at one of the large boulders nearby. He
picks out the biggest one among a stack of a dozen or so. He mentally
activates the Telekinesis spell effect within his staff. With his
magical sight, Lucious sees a purple tendril of power wrap around his
chosen boulder, and he slowly pulls the chosen boulder towards his
position in front of the Cyclops.

The Cyclops cannot turn
his head, and sees the boulder that is slowly creeping towards him.
He does not utter a single sound as the large boulder is bashed
repeatedly against the back of his head. Finally, the giant loses
consciousness, and his face leans forward into the quicksand, slowly
suffocating to death.

Blood slowly pour out
of cuts and gashes from the Cyclops' head, and seeps into the
quicksand. The ground slowly turns pink and red as more fresh blood
is absorbed into the pit.

Rumble! The earth
starts to tremble as the dying giant's body is pulled entirely into
the ground, below the surface. The yellowy sediments start turning
crimson as the body is crushed by the earth. Suddenly, a giant earth
elemental explodes from the ground!

Lucious subconsciously
backs away in horror as the Cyclops' body is half dangling from the
powerful elemental's mouth. The mage keeps tilting his head up in
astonishment at the size of this creature.
It
is easily one hundred feet tall
, he notes with alarm.

The giant earth
creature opens its maw, revealing rows of razor sharp stones, and
devours the Cyclops in one gulp. Without warning, the elemental
lashes out with its left arm, and tries to grab the adventurer!

Lucious wills his body
to levitate towards the left, and the granite like hand slam onto the
ground beside him. He wills his body to move further left, to put
some distance between himself and the monster.

The earth elemental
races across the surface of the ground, and begins to shorten the
distance between itself and the human. It takes a swipe again with
its right hand and tries to grab the mage.

Lucious ducks, and
avoids the granite hand again.

Abruptly, the elemental
dives into the ground as if it is a pool of water.

The mage looks around
and can't find any trace of his pursuer.
Should
I cast a flight spell instead
, he ponders. Suddenly the
ground erupts from underneath him, and engulfs Lucious from all
sides! The mage alertly drops the levitation spell effect, and
mentally commands his staff to create a telekinetic bubble around
him.

Lucious holds out his
left land, and feels the bubble separating him apart from the earth.
I have to get out before my air
supply runs out,
he realizes. He feels his impromptu
cocoon being dragged downward into the earth.

Suddenly, a voice
speaks out from inside the elemental. “Lucious, my child. Do you
know who I am?” the female voice asks, with a tinge of amusement.

The mage blinks his
eyes, wondering just who could communicate with him right now through
an earth elemental. He immediately realizes that this ability is
beyond the providence of any normal player, and quickly narrows his
list of possible candidates. He speaks out his top choice.
“Greetings, Earth Mother.” She is a greater god of Eternia,
controlling the element of earth within this virtual world.

“How delightful you
are, my child!” the Earth Mother replies, delighted at the
immediate recognition of Her identity.

“How may I serve you,
Earth Mother?” Lucious asks humbly. He realizes that she wants
something from him, and decides to cut right to the chase.
Those
folks at EDE are really sick puppies! How the heck am I supposed to
fight a greater god of Eternia – by myself?

“And sharp too,”
the voice notes teasingly. “Very well, my child. I shall answer you
directly. I want you,” she answers bluntly.

“You want me?” he
asks in puzzlement. “I'm afraid I don't understand.” He shakes
his head.

“Hohoho,” the Earth
Mother chuckles. “I have need of you. As you know, the World of
Eternia is divided into the four elements of Earth, Fire, Air, and
Water. As a game within the game, each elemental faction undergoes
missions and quests that expand its control over this virtual world
at the expense of another faction. And you, my child, are among the
most powerful un-pledged mages remaining in this world. I wish for
you to join with me, and devote yourself to the Earth,” she
explains.

Oh
great! A solicitation to join the cause at the least convenient
moment
, the player thinks wryly. “I am flattered that
you think so highly of me, and decided to recruit me personally to
join the Earth clan,” he replies politely. “However, I strive for
independence, both as a player in World of Eternia and in my personal
life. I have equal respect for all four elements and I simply cannot
favor one element over another. Thus, I see myself as a 'naturalist,'
and have no desire to change my neutrality in this regard,” Lucious
answers.

“A naturalist? How
amusing, my child,” the Earth Mother answers. “In case you
haven't noticed, you are firmly in my grasp. If you don't submit to
me, my servant will simply hold you until you run of air, and your
character dies from asphyxiation. If any party member dies during
this campaign, the mission is over. Will you allow your mission to
fail, take your party down with you, and hang your head in shame? Or
will you kneel before me and continue onward to victory in my name?
Choose wisely, my child,” She delivers her ultimatum.

The player checks his
mana pool, and confirms that his reserve is 100% full. He has been
stalling for time to replenish his mana reserve, and now it is time
to bust loose and show Her his strength of will! Lucious closes his
avatar's eyes as he answers. “I am a player, first and most, with
the right to choose my own destiny. I choose to be a naturalist, and
force this elemental to release me.”

“Oh? How will you
make my servant release you from captivity?” the Earth Mother asks
incredulously.

“By wrestling control
from you,” the mage answers and releases his telekinetic bubble at
once. His hands now touching the raw earth, the player engages his
magical sight. He sees himself as a purple star in a pitch black sky,
and wills his light to expand outward to take over the sky.

In his real life ears,
Lucious hears the sound of dice rattling loudly inside a bowl. The
sound is an indication that the control over the giant earth
elemental has essentially shifted over to a game of chance, and
whether his Control Elemental spell will be able to overcome the
elemental’s magical resistance. This rattling sound is reassuring
to the player, as it is a sound that the spell caster has heard often
whenever he tries to Polymorph monsters into harmless creatures.
Please let me be lucky now; I’m
due!

In the player’s
visor, he sees the blackness pushes back, seeking to snuff out this
tiny star that represents the mage’s will.

The purple light holds
firm, regardless of how much pressure is exerted. Pushing back
against the resistance, the scene slowly changes from black to
purple. The push and pull continually changes the color of this small
pocket of virtual world, turning the environment into a rapidly
pulsating quasar. In one final burst of willpower, the purple light
flashes brilliantly, and totally wipes out the blackness. The purple
light pervades all senses for a moment, and then slowly diminishes to
a low, purple dim.

Lucious finally opens
his eyes, and wills his giant earth elemental to take him back to the
surface. The earthen ceiling slowly parts way, allowing brilliant
rays of light to shine into his earthen hole. The ground continues to
rise, until the naturalist finds himself standing in front of the
forest once more.

A golden ray of light
suddenly appears before Lucious, and starts to trace the outline of a
doorway in thin air. The golden light is moving in a slow, steady
clockwise direction. When the outline is completed, a sudden burst of
golden light forces the mage to turn aside. Once the blinding flash
is gone, Lucious sees a shimmering, golden portal hanging in the air
before him.

Tapping his magical
staff once on the floor, the naturalist boldly walks through the
magical portal.

As the rest of her
companions enter their respective doorways, Diana suddenly finds
herself alone in the so-called Room of Eternia. Looking around the
room, she sees that all the television screens have gone dark. The
only thing active in the room is the glowing, green colored doorway
before her, beckoning the adventurer to enter.

Why
am I hesitating
, she questions herself silently. As she
walks toward the doorway, her knees start to tremble.
Let's
sit down before I trip and make a fool out of myself before a live,
streaming audience
, she thinks as she sits down
cross-legged on the ground.

“Might as well take
out my solo equipment,” the priestess says aloud, trying to
demonstrate her calm. She removes her backpack, hidden from view by
her magical Cloak of Fire Resistance, and places the bag on the
ground before her. Sticking out of the pack's left side pocket is her
slingshot, a thick, elastic rubber band tied to a wooden fork with a
six inch handle. Inside the right side pocket, accessible from
outside, is a dozen stone ammunition for the slingshot.

Diana opens her pack
and sets aside the torches, several flasks of holy water, some
potions of cure poison especially marked with black stoppers, and a
long rope attached to a small, three prongs grappling hook. Digging
further into her pack, the priestess slowly unwinds the tightly
coiled black leather whip, and wraps the bull whip around her slender
waist. Reaching into the bottom of her backpack, she takes out a
bolas, with two equal weight metallic balls tethered to a short rope,
and sets it aside. She carefully puts back the rest of her
belongings, and straps the backpack to her back, under her cloak.

Diana stands up, takes
her bolas off the ground, and places the middle of the rope into the
left hook in the belt at her waist. “I guess I'm as ready as I'll
ever be,” she says aloud. Taking a deep breath, she walks through
the doorway, and hears the green door slam behind her back. Slam! The
noise makes her jump slightly, even though she expected it. The
devout priestess walks slowly in the dark passageway, putting her
faith in the gods of Eternia to lead her to safety.