Pieces of Sonder

“Are you sure this is safe?”

Freya apprehensively inspected the swirling black oval. Lady Merlin said he could open a portal for Indrek to travel. However, it looked more like a deadly whirlpool than a gateway. Blue, black, and grey spirals sank into the center of the portal. 

The wizard shrugged, “I have no idea. As I said, this is a new skill.”

“Well, we don’t have any time to waste, right?” Indrek said. He stared into the churning portal, “I just have to walk into it?”

“Yes, it should take you to just outside the dungeon- if I set it up right.”

Freya glared at Lady Merlin, but he ignored it. She didn’t like any of this, but there was no other way. As an NPC, Indrek couldn’t fast-travel. But he was the only one who might have a chance of convincing Kamdale to stop attacking players. They couldn’t waste time finding out if this was safe. The confrontation might already be over. 

Indrek took a deep breath, straightened himself, then walked in. Dark rings reached out towards the demoniclast as he entered. The portal slowly swallowed him. Freya wondered how this appeared to Indrek. The game manipulated NPC’s perception of game-related things, so perhaps it didn’t look as scary. 

“We should fast-travel to the dungeon,” Infamous Biscuit said.

Nodding, Freya entered in the destination with shaky fingers. I better see Indrek there. What if he never emerges from that thing, and we just sent him off to his death?!

[Fast travel to Old West Ways Dungeon engaged]

The momentary black void that filled her senses seemed longer than usual as Freya impatiently waited. But before she had time to tap her foot, land reappeared. Her surroundings almost looked the same as before: never-ending rolling golden grassland.

“Kamdale, stop this!” 

Freya turned. Her heart leapt. A dozen people stood poised with weapons at the ready. Indrek was one of the few not armed, but his shout had drawn the attention of everyone.

“Good! You guys are here!” Nightscythe said, clapping his hands together.

Nightscythe stood in between Botan and a player with a glowing staff. Further away from them, the three player demoniclasts surrounded a player with gleaming red armor. Above the demoniclast’s heads were aggro signs. The armored player must have used an aggro skill. Freya recognized the armored player. She briefly met him during the demoniclast trials. He was the guild leader who lost one of his members to the demoniclasts.

[Red Star Lightning]

[Lvl 23 Warrior]

His heavy armor didn’t have a scratch. Despite the drawn weapons, no one appeared injured or dead yet. It looked like they arrived just in the nick of time.

“Indrek, you’re working with them?!” Kamdale spat, looking at Freya and the others that just fast-traveled with narrowed eyes.

Red Star Lightning raised an eyebrow, “Lady Merlin, what’s going on? Who are these people?”

“He’s the one we originally got the alert about,” Lady Merlin said, pointing to Indrek. “These other players seem to believe there’s been a misunderstanding between our guild and the demoniclasts.”

“Kamdale, they’re not demons,” Indrek said. “We have to learn to work together with them. I believe you now about what happened in the past, but that was an accident. We have to resolve this peacefully.”

Both Kamdale and Red Star Lightning looked at Indrek with incredulous shock. 

“Ha, now you believe me. But if you really know everything, you should see what a great opportunity this is. The demoniclast could grow so much more powerful.”

Indrek glared sharply at Kamdale, “It’s not worth it. That thing is not a reward from the gods. It can’t be if it’s at the cost of someone’s life.”

Freya watched the player demoniclasts scowl back at Indrek. Daveth and Meng said nothing during the exchange, but they seemed to share Kamdale’s thoughts. Freya chewed the inside of her cheek, the allure of Player Cards is too much.

“They’re not real people Indrek!” Kamdale exclaimed, raising his arms in exasperation. 

This is going nowhere, Freya grumbled in her mind. At least the player demoniclasts were far outnumbered. Red Star Lightning now had six members of his guild alongside him. They weren’t low-level players either. The lowest was level 18, which matched Daveth. Infamous Biscuit, Nightscythe, and Freya would jump in as well if a fight broke out. No matter his views, Kamdale had to know he was outmatched. 

Then, a low rumbling started.

The ground shook lightly under Freya’s feet. Confused, she exchanged a glance with Infamous Biscuit. The faraway thundering slowly intensified. 

“What is that sound?” Nightscythe questioned.

Everyone scanned the prairie. The shaking was undeniable now. Freya widened her stance to keep from falling over. 

“Red! Your aggro! Cancel your aggro!” one of Red Star Lightning’s guild members suddenly shouted.

As Red Star Lightning waved his hand, a large brown shape burst out from behind him. More followed in a stream behind it. The players scattered. Freya jumped out of the way of the stampede of hooves.

Two gleaming black horns adorned each creature’s head. The first ones charged past everyone, but the later demons slowed down as they emerged.

[Brio Bison]

[Lvl 16] [900/900]

 “Fuck, they can aggro out of a dungeon?” Lady Merlin questioned, picking himself up from the ground.

Clang!

A metallic sound rang out. The demon’s ears all pricked towards the noise. Kamdale had his sword locked against Red Star Lightning’s shield. 

“Damn!” Freya exclaimed, “Why is this descending into chaos?”