The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame (27 page)

“Oh I almost forgot!” messaged Kate after almost ten minutes had passed. “We salvaged some goods before the ship went down… there’s almost twenty feet worth of that creature’s tentacle arms… do you want us to keep it?”

“Really?” I replied with genuine shock. “Yeah, bring it back… maybe those hooks might be worth something. Wait, how fast did the boat sink then, I thought you were swimming while talking to me?”

“I was swimming with a tentacle under my arm, we all were!” she said with a laugh. “Proof of victory, Annalie even carried two!”

Joining her in laughter, I couldn’t help but grin.

“Hey old man,” I said with a smile, as I waved at the barkeep that had always taken care of me here at the inn. “Know any recipes for squid?”

Chapter 99: Winning the Heart

(Friday, January 14th Game Day / Saturday, May 8th Real Day)

“Sigurd, I was wrong… and only now do I understand the meaning of your words.”

Turning to face Annalie, I could see that she was visibly upset as she began to initiate a conversation with me. Waiting for her to continue as I kept silent, the others on the boat appeared to look the other way in order to pretend as if they weren’t here.

“There is no one here that can match my skill with the shield and spear,” she said with a voice marked by depression and eyes that were filled with sorrow. “But despite my skill, I have been defeated in one-on-one mock combat by every senior warrior in your ranks. For all my confidence, you… and your warriors, have shown me the errors in my ways.”

Taking a deep breath, Annalie paused as she tried to regain her composure. Continuing to listen without wanting to interrupt, it seemed as if she was attempting to have a heart-to-heart conversation with me. This was unexpected, but welcomed.

“The gods have provided me with a cruel lesson in humility,” she muttered as she fought back tears. “For I am but a peasant with dreams of nobility.”

As she remained silent for some time, I decided it was now appropriate for me to respond. She had bared it all, for all of us to see and hear without shame or hesitation. She was certainly shamed, but she accepted it and admitted it. I could respect that.

“There’s nothing wrong with having a dream Annalie,” I began to explain kindly, with a soft voice that was easy on the ears. “To dream, is to live… it matters not
that
you dream but
why
. What is it that drives you and for what reason do you wish it? Tell me if you can, why do you dream of nobility?”

“Because I am powerless,” she answered with her voice cracking. “Because I had nothing and continue to have nothing. My family… we saved for that voyage, so that we could have a better life. Then the Gods took it away. They allowed the dream. It was fool of me to think a dream could become reality… that we could move and prosper. I believed in my power, my skill. That I could protect
them
! 

“Then the kraken showed and I was powerless to stop it… but I still believed deep down that I was strong. That it was only a monstrosity with powers beyond that of mere mortals that defeated me. I was still a strong warrior… I believed that. Until I came here and was shown the truth. I am truly a peasant, unfit to carry a shield and spear. I am not worthy to dream of grander things.”

Wanting to scratch my head, I resisted the urge as I thought over her words. She was certainly a troubled warrior and I knew that from the start but to think she struggled with the weight of responsibility. Another case of survivor’s guilt, similar to Selene’s yet different in its own right. I wasn’t sure how to respond. Well, I struggled with the weight of responsibility too… and I wanted to believe that we all did.

“I don’t believe the Gods are as invested in our lives as we like to think,” I said quietly after thinking my thoughts out. The Gods in this case were the developers but I still had my doubts that everything had been planned. The numbers were out there and eventually your number would be called.

It was unfortunate when it happened but that was how it worked in this game. Monsters were roaming around the world for the player’s experience, this was for our immersion. The NPCs were simply along for the bumpy ride.

“Though I cannot claim to understand the why or how of the world beyond, I can say that maybe our meeting was fate,” I said with a hint of seriousness. “Not designed to show you humility in the way to crush your dreams but in a way to open your heart, to the idea of forward progress.”

“And what is left besides my failures?” she asked with her head between her knees.

“You are left,” I said sternly. “You are your family’s blood and memory, and you are left to preserve it. One day we will all fade from this world and when we do, all that will remain of us will be the memories left behind with those still here.

“The question you must ask yourself then, is what kind of memory do you wish to leave? I have said this before and will say it again, to dream is to live. It’s all right to dream but one must take steps towards the fulfillment of those dreams. If one’s dream is possible, then one has the opportunity so long as they seek it.”

“I am but a lowly peasant, power is not within my grasp, it is not a possibility,” Annalie replied with her head now held between her hands. “My dreams are but that.”

“Then you’ve lost yourself and simply need to find the way,” I said with sympathy as the underlying ideas had hit home. I was empathetic to her plight, it was a theme I was familiar with. “You’re welcome to stay with us, until you find the way.”

Placing my hand on her shoulder, she didn’t react and stayed silent for the rest of the trip. We were headed back home now. The hunt for the kraken had come and passed, and my hopes that a successful hunt would turn her in the right direction seemed to have materialized. She was starting to see the light, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

“Thank you, for allowing me to assist in the hunt,” she said with puffy eyes.

“There is no need for thanks, instead praise yourself for taking the steps to move forward,” I replied sincerely. “Take pride in our accomplishments for they are all we have. The kraken was but a monster of the sea, a creature of the depths. We conquered that foe and now move on to face greater challenges. Prepare yourself for the future, Annalie.”

Relaxing and turning my head back out to face the ocean under the light of the moon, the calm waters brought comfort to us all as we took solace in the fact that another day had passed. Some people say the only easy day was yesterday… and that was something I believed in. Another in-game day had passed and another one would come, with greater challenges and greater rewards.

For now, my focus would have to return to the side of video editing.

There was plenty of footage to use and it would all come down to my creativity, my ability to weave a story in a way that could interest the masses. There was plenty of action and enough emotional content to sway anyone… and there was a world first. A rather quiet world first but it was still something that had yet to be accomplished until now.

If it had happened, then no one had publicized it.

And at the very least, there was time for me to work on it. The voyage from Bergenheim to Dragon’s Breach wouldn’t be a long one though. Despite the length remaining the same as all of the other trips that came before it, the duration seemed to be shorter after it had been repeated a handful of times.

Slightly more than half of the troops had been left behind in Bergenheim as well, so as not to overcrowd the small longship that was now filled with hundreds of hooks from the kraken’s tentacles that had been severed during the fight. Using the meat to feed the town, the only leftovers were the hooks and they were large and sharp enough to be turned into weapons. Daggers, spears, maybe even something else.

It wasn’t a rare item unfortunately but it was a rare resource. We would find some use for them… maybe even sell them as novelty items. A collector item for random people to enjoy. Someone would be interested at the right price.

Ah, there were also two goats joining us on the journey.

A gift from the town of Bergenheim for killing the kraken and freeing up the shipping and fishing lanes. It wasn’t a real quest but it had its rewards. One male and female goat to hand off to Kaia. The start of my animal kingdom had begun.

“I’ll be back before we arrive,” I said to Kate and Annalie as they were the closest to me. Annalie showed no reaction to the words but Katherine looked puzzled as she seemed to be thinking over something.

“Do you have business to attend to?” she asked.

“Yeah, preparations… I have work to do, to win the hearts and minds of the people,” I said with a chuckle. It was a little corny, though it was also the truth.

“I see, we will be here then,” she replied with a flat tone.

Logging out of the game and returning to the real world, my destination was the computer terminal a foot away from my head. Inside was the stored data and accessing it was as easy as a few touches on the monitor. Pulling all of the archived data from my first day in the North, when I spawned in the Northern Triangle on January 1st, all the way up until now, May the 8th, every minor and major moment would be compiled and used in this propaganda war. The only things to be excluded… would be the relics and pertinent information that might give away my secrets.

They pulled no punches when they launched their video, so I would do the same. A story would be told, one that would show the world a perspective they had yet to see. Audiences loved drama, hardship, and action. Throw in a little loss to help round things out and the picture was complete. I already had a storyline in mind… though it wouldn’t be a fun one. Not for me. Oh well, the things one must do to survive.

I wasn’t going to lose here.

Chapter 100: A Story in Minutes

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

After nearly eighteen hours of work, the video had finally been completed. An hour after that, it was uploaded to the web and linked on the forums. There were no submissions made to any of the streamers or to any of the content review shows that often aired as I had little interest in having direct involvement with them.

The three-hundred page thread was all the advertisement that I would need. What worried me though was the growing movement to remove me from the North. Players who had bought into FWB’s video or believed in their so called
cause
were uniting and waving their banners. There was talk of them mobilizing and forming a coalition to head north to destroy my settlement once and for all.

Serious talk at that.

I was a bully of the weak, a child-killer, and a terrorizer with nefarious plans to rule the world. According to them at least. The entire situation was looking bleak and if my video didn’t dissuade them, then a problem was likely on my hands.

As far as I could gather online, supporters of the movement had created a private thread that was linked to an individual’s game account, so only those serious in joining could access the thread. All members were researched and evaluated before being accepted, as they were well aware that any open discussion would reach my ears.

Little mice planning in the darkness.

That’s what they were.

My video was only around four minutes in duration, a short video that skipped through a lot of the minor plot details while staying focused on the big picture. Subtitles in every scene formed the narrative as a bright and cheerful piano track ran in the background. Scenes of my struggle, of building and laboring away to build what was rightfully mine, of hardship followed by pretend friendship and my offer of help to a stranger. Then there was a pause in the video, as the music changed to the pounding of drums, starting out as a faint noise then building steadily as the scenes progressed.

Betrayal, no, espionage followed by the raid and the burning of my settlement unprovoked, the death of the NPCs, and then my preparations and revenge. The story would continue on through my interrogations of players, with the narrative filling in the blank and then it would eventually culminate with the final raid, the scene with the child unedited as I showed compassion and let him leave.

The reactions of the guild members, indifferent to the crying of a child and my resulting anger… then the lightning strike that would finish them all.

Then the fight with the kraken.

That was my hook, though it was positioned at the end.

It was my story told from a third-person perspective as the multiple camera angles provided by the game’s recording function allowed for a more cinematic touch. Nothing would be in first-person except for the finale of the kraken fight. That scene ended with me diving into the water, entering the blackness of the depths and then stabbing the kraken in the eye.

A taste, a tease of the man behind the red eyes and fur.

If they were intrigued, the rest of the video followed seamlessly. Only time would tell how the public would react to it but I did believe in my story telling, it wasn’t half bad. There was some confidence there.

I still had a lot of questions though.

The who, why, and how of where the information came from. The information that said I was planning to attack those in the North. It could have been a complete fabrication by the guild leader but with no response coming from him, there was nothing leading me to believe in that theory. My gut told me that someone else was pulling the strings.

The real question was who.

Needing to clear my mind after hours of editing a video containing memories that I did not want to be reminded of, I decided to lead the troops in one of our daily runs. The scenes of Selene were the hardest to watch and surprisingly, even the scenes of Katherine. She had evolved in her behavior and attitude over time, progressed and developed to a point where she now asked questions that shouldn’t be asked.

She was scaring me.

Yeah, I really needed a run to help clear my mind.