CA Chapter Twenty-six (Patreon)

Thirty-one minutes and seventeen seconds later, Alpha stared at the wooden door that led to the final chamber. Myles, of course, had gotten to his door in less than ten minutes, which left Alpha as the ‘last man standing’. As she placed a hand on the cool metal handle, she paused and looked down at Toggle. The gnome’s skills had been invaluable in getting her there so quickly, but now he was looking lost and a little forlorn.

Releasing the handle, she crouched down beside him, looking him in the eye. He blinked, and his hands rose to tug at the brim of his dented and frayed felt hat nervously. “Mistress?”

Carefully, she lifted Orah from around her neck and placed the snake around his narrow shoulders instead. The serpent’s tongue flickered and she cocked her head questioningly, but she settled into place easily enough. “Toggle,” Alpha said, “you’ve been the best gnome I could possibly ask for. Without you, there’s no way we would have made it through this maze, so we would have had to either go back, or we would have died here.” She smirked. “Vexxx would have died for sure.”

The big blue eyes watching her blinked, and a timid smile crossed Toggle’s face.

She went on. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we do this. Hopefully, we’ll all get zapped to the next level, but there’s always a chance that it won’t work that way. If anything happens - if we’re separated, or if I die - just stay here, okay? I’ll get back to you, but it may take a day or two. Take care of Orah and Amy.”

Alpha stood, looking at Amy. She thought there was a little more understanding in the woman’s eyes lately, but she remained stubbornly silent and unresponsive whenever anyone tried to talk to her. “Amy, stay with Toggle. Don’t follow me in there.”

Amy’s eyes flickered left, then right, but whether that meant something or if she was just looking around at the tunnel, Alpha didn’t know. Sighing, she turned back to the door and grasped the handle again.

“Mistress?” Toggle’s squeaky little voice asked.

She stopped, the door half open, and looked back.

“I won’t let you down,” the gnome said, his receding little chin as firm as it could get, and his brows drawn down over his eyes. He almost managed to look fierce, and she smiled.

“I know,” she said, and stepped inside.

Even though she’d thought she was prepared, the suddenness of the hand rising from the floor made her let out a choked gasp. That meant she released part of the breath she’d taken to keep the fist from being too tight, and as she was thrust toward the ceiling, she wondered if she’d die from having her head cracked open like an egg, or from asphyxiation. Then she remembered that, technically, she didn’t have to breathe anymore, and her wild mental arithmetic skewed toward becoming gooey mash.

But, like the others, the rocky hand that held her stopped just short of squashing her into paste, and when she looked up, she saw a short lever embedded in the ceiling. It was so small it was almost more of a switch, but either way, it was within easy reach, so she lifted her hand toward it. ::I’m here. Is everyone ready?:: she asked over party chat.

A chorus of agreement came to her ears, and she nodded. ::On three then-::

::Wait,:: Vexxx put in nervously, ::on three, right? Not, like, right after three?::

Alpha rolled her eyes. ::That’s what ‘on’ three means, Vexxx. Yes, flip your lever when I say three, not before, and not after.::

::Okay,:: the boy muttered. ::Go ahead, then.::

::One,:: Alpha said. ::Two.:: Her finger tensed, not quite applying pressure. ::Three.:: On three, she flipped the switch, and the fist crushed her.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

Gasping, she sat straight up, eyes flashing wide as she stared around. To her right, she saw Vexxx and Tess sitting on the ground, looking just as shocked and horrified as she felt. Beside them, Myles grinned a little as he watched their reactions. Looking to her left, Alpha saw Toggle and Amy, both still standing just as she’d left them. The gnome’s mouth hung open in an O of surprise, but Amy’s face was as imperturbable as ever.

Hastily, Vexxx patted himself down, checking to be sure he was intact, and then he pumped a fist as he realized that he wasn’t, in fact, dead. “Yaaaaasss!” he howled, then did a little dance. Turning, he looked at Alpha and held out a hand. “Book!” he demanded.

Momentarily, she debated pretending she’d lost it, but his mother was due to confiscate his gaming gear any minute, so she just pulled the grimoire from her inventory and placed it in his hand. Next, he spun to face Myles, and said, “Tent?” His tone was less demanding this time, but still held more than a hint of panic.

Without pausing to reply, Myles pulled out a tent and deployed it. As it appeared, Alpha’s shoulders slumped in relief, and a glance at Tess’ face showed that the dwarf, too, realized that if the tent was working, that meant there were no monsters within twenty yards. There was usually a safe area at the beginning of a new floor in a dungeon, but that wasn’t always true, and it wasn’t unheard of for a party to be dropped into the middle of a group of monsters.

The moment the tent snapped into being, the lightning mage dove for the entrance and vanished inside without another word.

Tess puffed out a relieved breath. “I was starting to think he wasn’t going to make it. It’d suck to get this far and then get sent to your last save point because you logged out in the dungeon.”

Alpha and Myles both nodded, and the AI shook his head. “During the betas, people kept randomly logging out in the dungeons, and then they’d complain when they came back to find out their Zombies got eaten. We tried a bunch of different solutions, but no one was ever happy. Bridget finally made it a hard rule that logging out without using a tent or other device to create a safety zone first sent the player to respawn automatically, and for some reason everybody shut up after that.”

“And that’s why we can’t have nice things,” Alpha muttered, looking around more closely now that she was sure they were safe and everyone was together and intact. They were in a large, open clearing, with a wooded area to one side, and a stream on the other side. The grass was tall, but nowhere near as high and deadly as the sawgrass on the fairy level. In fact, this looked lush and inviting, and when Alpha had placed a hand in it to help her get to her feet, the smooth blades felt cool and soft beneath her fingers.

“This looks like a good place to set up camp,” she said. “Not that we have a lot of choice, at this point, thanks to the boy wonder.”

Tess nodded. She was taking in their surroundings, too, and her blue eyes looked tired. “I agree. I should get to bed, too, but,” she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m just not ready yet. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so even if I go, I’ll be up for at least another hour.”

Alpha caught a mournful note in her friend’s voice and turned to face her with narrowed eyes. “What’s up?” she asked.

The dwarf shrugged again, awkwardly, but her gaze flickered toward Myles.

Glancing back and forth between the two women, Myles brushed his hands together and said loudly, “I’m going to go gather some wood for a fire. I feel like having s’mores and hotdogs tonight.” Without waiting for them to reply, he strode off toward the stand of trees.

Alpha snorted, shook her head, and turned back to Tess. “Now, out with it. What’s going on?”

Wrinkling her nose, Tess said, “Do you promise not to laugh?”

“No,” Alpha replied. “Start talking.”

Laughing reluctantly, Tess sat down on a fallen log nearby, and took off her horned helmet, running a hand over her sweaty blonde hair. “Okay, okay. Do you remember when you used that glamour skill in Vargo? The one that makes you look like the viewer’s ideal type?”

Alpha sat on a flattish rock not far from Tess’ log. “You mean when the commander of the military outpost looked worried that I’d start some kind of minor rebellion if I took my hood off? Vaguely,” she said, dryly.

“Right,” Tess grinned. “When I looked at you, I saw… someone I know. I mean, kind of know. He’s really my brother’s friend, but he doesn’t have any family close by, so he usually joins ours for Thanksgiving, and I see him at Kevin’s birthday and stuff.”

“Okay,” Alpha said, raising a brow. “And?”

“And after Vargo… I asked Kev for his number.” Tess’ cheeks were bright pink now, and Alpha couldn’t remember ever seeing her look so flustered. Usually, Tess was enthusiastic and confident, both in game and in real life.

“And?” Alpha urged again.

Sighing, Tess hid her face in her hands. Her voice was muffled when she said, “And I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t call him out of the blue. I mean, I’m his friend’s little sister. He’d probably tell me he hadn’t ever thought of me that way, and then things would get awkward.”

Alpha groaned, leaning forward to clasp her arms around her knees. “I’m sorry, Tess. I don’t know. I’d just let it go, or maybe wait until the next time you see him and talk to him in person. If he seems interested, ask him, and if not-” She shrugged.

Tess grimaced. “I know that’s what I should do. If I’m really worried about it, I should just wait. I mean, we’ve barely even talked about anything except Kevin, and he’s a terrible conversation topic.” She laughed, but continued, “I’m going to keep thinking about it. Thanks, though.”

As if on cue, a sound came from behind Tess, and both women turned to look. Myles was staggering toward them, practically lost behind an enormous pile of sticks and small logs. His voice sounded pitiful as he said, “A little help, here?”

Instantly, Tess leaped to her feet, with Alpha close behind. Tess pulled a small mountain of kindling into her arms, dropping a small shower of twigs and dry leaves, and Alpha took half of what was left. Myles grinned as his face appeared from behind the woody mound he still held. “Where should we build the fire?”

Alpha shook her head. “You were serious about that? Do they even have s’mores in Veritas?”

“They do now,” he said, grinning even more broadly. He plunked his armload of wood onto the ground in a haphazard pile, not far from where Tess and Alpha had been sitting. “That looks like a perfect place for a campfire.”

Tess dropped her sticks on top of the ones Myles had already dumped, and said, “Hotdogs and s’mores sound perfect.” In spite of the fact that she hadn’t managed to come to any conclusion, she looked more cheerful, and Alpha hoped that just talking it out had helped.

Adding her own sticks back into the mound, Alpha thought it looked more like they were building a bonfire rather than a campfire, but she just said, “How do we light it?”

A ball of flame appeared above Tess’ hand. “I only have one real spell, but it happens to be perfect for lighting campfires. Step back!”

Alpha and Myles both took a long step away from the jumble of wood, and Tess lobbed her fireball into it. Instantly, the dry wood ignited with a whoosh, and Alpha took another step back from what was, indeed, a plus-sized campfire. Meanwhile, Myles started pulling hotdogs, buns, graham crackers, marshmallows, and what looked like slabs of chocolate from his inventory. Once he had everything out and arranged to his satisfaction, he slid a hotdog onto the end of a very long, sharp blade and stuck it into the leaping flames.

“Now,” he said gleefully, “who knows some campfire songs?”

Tess brightened even further. “Oh! I do! I was in scouts, so I know tons of songs!”

Alpha felt tension draw her shoulders in as two pairs of bright eyes turned toward her. “No. I don’t.” She felt something brush her leg and, looking down, she met Toggle’s watery blue gaze. She’d almost forgotten about the little gnome, since he’d been so quiet while she and Tess had been talking, but now he gazed up at her hopefully.

“I know some, Mistress,” he offered eagerly. “Gnomes are great musicians. I’ll teach them to you!”

She flinched, and turned a glare on Myles. He’d done this on purpose, and he was going to pay.