Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter day!

This next sequence still feels a little rough to me. One of the challenges of this book is that there are now quite a few characters – each with their own motivations and issues. In these early chapters, I need to do some legwork to reintroduce or remind the reader about where each character's head is at without overwhelming the reader or dragging down the pacing. So, you'll see that I've broken up the character introductions across multiple chapters and try to limit the number of characters "onscreen" at a given time.

For example, Cady would be rather upset after the end of Timeless since she attempted to hijack the data from Eliza, but failed. Her role at Cerillion also puts her in an awkward position in terms of revealing her identity in game. Obviously, Finn would also be upset about Eliza losing the data since he hoped to resurrect Rachael. Eliza would likely be reluctant to reenter the game after the break-in – for fear of confronting Finn with her failure.

Meanwhile, Jason actually has the most information since he hired Smiles to steal the data from Eliza, but he would need to be careful about revealing how much he knows. He wouldn't want Cady, Finn, or Eliza to know - not yet, anyway. The reason for that will become clear in the following chapters, but, generally speaking, he needs to keep that data for himself in order to ensure they continue working together.

As you can see, maintaining continuity between this story and previous books has been a challenge – especially now that we're at 14 books! So, if you see anything that stands out or seems inconsistent please, please, please say something.

With that out of the way, enjoy!

Chapter 4 - Relic

Pax Control Center

Jason

There was just one problem with Jason’s plan.  Cady.

After traveling back in time, after dealing with her cryptic nonsense, after seeing how she’d enslaved her own clones – trapping them in a lopsided contract that kept them imprisoned in a pocket prison outside time and space – it was clear she had a few… control issues.

And nowhere was that more evident than Cady’s new “office.”

The one located in the very center of Pax.  In a castle that would have delighted any five year old girl, its many, many spires stretching up toward those massive glowing chunks of crystal in the cavern’s ceiling.  Arguably even too many.  Also, an overabundance of waterfalls fueled by water that just… appeared.  From somewhere.  And the perpetual mist they created covered everything, Alfred’s insistence on realism leading to an inevitable result.  Mold.  Slippery, slick, slimy mold that covered every single set of stairs.

In short, the castle was a horribly designed death trap.

Which felt intentional.  Who needed guards to keep out any pesky residents or travelers when a fall down four flights of stairs was more efficient?  And anyone trying to visit Cady herself was forced to brave them all.  To hike their way to the tippy-top of all of those stairs until they arrived at the throne room.  Which, of course, Cady had chosen as her office.

It was a palatial affair.  Even with a massive conference table placed in the dead center, it still felt almost empty.  Not that Cady spent much time at the table.  Not when she had created a rainbow-hued console in front of her “throne.”  Displays cascaded through the air around her and showed a hundred different views of Pax from every angle and direction.  Like a giant fantasy security terminal manned by the game world’s biggest control freak.

In the wake of the Reckoning, Cady had withdrawn to this office.  Tucking herself away behind wards and waterfalls and away from the prying eyes of the travelers.  She had a secret to keep, after all.  No one knew who the earth avatar was – at least, not yet.  Only her employer, George Lane.  If it got out that yet another avatar was affiliated with the company… well, the PR nightmare would be even too much for Cady to handle.

It was a necessary evil.  Also, a control freak’s worst nightmare.

She, uh… well, she wasn’t taking it well.

“Where the hell have you been?” Cady demanded in a huff, hands on her hips and glaring.

Jason opened his mouth to answer but she didn’t give him a chance. 

“Do you know how much work we have to do?  We’ve had 69 new PVP flags since you went AWOL, someone blew up another shop in the northern section of the outer ring, and that furry shifter friend of yours must have lost his mind.  Have you seen the destruction he’s causing to my city?  Do you have any idea how much Time I’ve wasted repairing buildings and resurrecting the residents manning them?  We should have gone with my plan – kill off all of the travelers every fifteen minutes.  Don’t give them enough time to get up to shit.  And if the residents do it, they won’t even get flagged.  I built in that loophole on purpose.  Poison or water preferably to avoid more collateral damage…

Cady was talking impossibly fast, hands whizzing across her terminal in a blur as she worked three different sets of glowing buttons.  Her body was suffused by a bright green glow as she channeled Fast Forward and her foot tapped the floor in a frenetic rhythm.

Ever since the break-in at Cerillion Entertainment, Cady had grown increasingly irritable. Using her abundance of free time and the time compression to scour both the game world and the real one for any information on the break-in, reviewing every single record she could find from that night.  All to figure out what had happened to the data Eliza had stolen.

Jason got the sense she didn’t lose often.

A flash of emerald and Cady was suddenly standing in front of him.

“Are you even listening to me?” she demanded, stabbing a finger at his chest.

He just mimed at his head.  “Nope, the ears are fake.  You want to start over?”

His reward was the way her mouth puckered like she’d sucked on something sour.

It wasn’t mature – he knew that – but she just brought it out of him.  Also, everyone else.

Before she could blow up, he raised a hand.  “Kidding, kidding.  To answer your question, I was working.  I actually found the group that was destroying our shops and stealing our items.”

“I’m aware,” Cady replied with a huff, waving at her screens.  “I’ve already begun the repairs on that section.  Did you at least learn anything useful this time?”

“Why does this place have so many damn stairs?” Frank interjected before Jason could answer, breathing hard as he entered the throne room.  Or, technically, panting.  He was still in Werewolf Form, his body two feet taller and covered in thick black fur.  Fur that was utterly soaked in blood.  It looked like he’d had some fun too…

His ears twitched, those feral red eyes focusing on Jason.  “Wait, did I hear you say you caught the Suicide Shoplifters?  Who was it?”

“That’s what you’re focused on right now?” Cady insisted.  “Also, you’re dripping blood all over my floor,” she muttered as Frank left bloody, wet paw prints along the stone.

They just ignored her.  “A group of soccer moms that had turned their children into little terrorists,” Jason reported with a grin.  “The kids would blow themselves up and then the moms would teleport them back with the tether.”

Frank just stared for a long moment.  Even Cady went quiet—

Ahh, no, she was still just glaring at Frank dripping blood on her floor.

A fact that wasn’t lost on shifter.  Even without Cady’s time magic powers, Jason knew what was coming next.  It was probably the way Frank met Cady’s eyes and smirked.

“Don’t you fucking dare—” Cady began.

Too late.  Frank shook out his fur.  Hard.  He coated most of the nearby conference table in blood, leaving Cady sputtering and cussing and her hands clenching into claws of her own.

Unfortunately, her torment wasn’t over.  Because Cady’s cussing was interrupted by the tap, tap, splash of boot heels on stone.  Riley strode down that gory red carpet – not a trace of dirt or blood marring the leather armor that hugged her body.

And why would it?  After all, Riley didn’t need to get her hands dirty.  Not when she could snipe her targets from the many, many, many terraces dotting the castle.

Although, personally, Jason thought that might just be an excuse for her to keep an eye on Cady.  She, uh… hadn’t taken it well when he explained how he’d gone off on a multi-day trip into AO’s past with another woman that had resulted in a full-fledged assault on the Crystal Reach and hundreds of casualties.  That was usually their thing.

It also been a while since they’d had a “date night.”

Riley hadn’t quite forgiven him, his eyes following the sway of her hips as she strode toward the conference table and took a seat with lithe grace.

A fact that wasn’t lost on her.  She shot Jason a sly smile.

Cady let out a sigh.  “I don’t know what’s worse, Jason fucking off whenever he wants, the dog-boy shedding and bleeding all over my office, or the teen hormones coming off you two.  Why did I even let you two sidekicks enter my castle?”

Ahh, and now Riley looked irritated.  Frank just shot Jason a look as though to ask, “what do we do?”  Jason just shook his head.  The universal code for, “we stay the fuck out of it.”

“Says the woman who refuses to leave this castle?” Riley shot back.  “The one who sits here playing princess while we’ve been out there keeping Pax safe?  You know, doing the real work?”

It was Cady’s turn to grimace.  “If it weren’t for me, this city wouldn’t even exist.  Do you know how long I’ve been working on this?  How much time and toil and hardship I’ve endured?”

“You know what?  You’re right,” Riley replied too sweetly, crosshairs forming in her eyes.  “You have been working hard.  Why not take a break then?  I’m sure we could handle things in-game.  Especially since you’ve been neglecting your personal life.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cady demanded.

Riley’s gaze skimmed Cady up and down.  “You just seem so tense.  Pent up…” 

She tapped her lips theatrically as she trailed off and then brightened.  “Oh, actually, maybe Jason could bail you out again.  This time, maybe he could help you resurrect your sex life.”

Emerald energy flared around Cady as she glared back.

It didn’t help that Frank let out a snort of amusement.

Although, when the earth avatar’s gaze snapped back to him, he sobered up fast.

“Uh, right, this is supposed to be an official meeting, isn’t it?” the shifter added quickly, his fur fading back into smooth skin.  “Maybe we should all try to be professional.”

He was having trouble keeping a straight face, which sort of undermined his point.

“You’re right.  I shouldn’t let children ruffle me,” Cady sneered at Riley, the archer’s mana pulsing ominously.  “Let’s just clean this up…” she continued, snapping her fingers.

Emerald energy surged through the room, the blood drying up, flaking, and then fading into a fine dust under the effects of her [Fast Forward].  Wings sprang from Frank’s back, a single flap sending that dust tumbling out the door before the newfound limbs receded.

“See?  Easy clean up,” Frank said as he took a seat, kicking his feet up on the table.

“Which still involved wasting more of my Time,” Cady snapped back.  With another pulse of emerald energy, she was suddenly sitting at the head of the table, far away from Frank and Riley.  Like Jason had been saying… they were all getting along great.

“If this is an official meeting, where is everyone?” Cady demanded, looking around at the nearly empty chamber.  A good question – a fantastic one actually.

Because they were missing all four of the other avatars.

“I messaged everyone,” Jason began slowly.  “Maybe they couldn’t—”

A flash of amber energy interrupted him as the Gambler suddenly appeared in a seat at the table.  He was sporting a fine suit, the wool pressed and smooth, the sleeves topped off with glimmering golden cufflinks.  Which matched the heavy chain around his neck, the rings on his fingers, and the pocket watch hanging from his pocket.  He was practically dripping wealth. He also didn’t acknowledge the group, instead focused on counting piles of glowing yellow coins.

Even if Jason hadn’t already met him back in the Half-Mile-Club, he would still recognize the heavy pressure of his mana – the way an artificial breeze had begun to blow through the room.  He could only be one of this world’s gods.

“Why are you here?  Where is Smiles?” Jason asked – the others looking on cautiously.

“Who is this?” Riley asked, her hand reaching toward a dagger.

“The Gambler.  The god of air,” Cady answered as though it were obvious.

The Gambler finally glanced up, sniffing.  “That name has always seemed a bit on the nose.  As for your other question, the others are busy making me money.  I can’t have my best gladiators handling the paperwork, now can I?  They’ve appointed me as their manager and representative in the meantime.”  A wave and a glowing contract appeared in the air beside him.

This was new.  The gods weren’t usually this direct.

“That wasn’t our deal,” Cady ground out.  “Your avatar is supposed to be helping us.”

The Gambler cocked his head, feigning innocence.  “What avatar?  I’m a one man show.”

Jason grimaced.  Smiles had mentioned something about the god of air keeping things “unofficial.”  It seemed this was what he meant.  [Death and Taxes] had been keeping a low profile lately, spending most of their time in the Mile High Club.  Not that Jason was too upset about that – not since Smiles could potentially link him to the break-in at Cerillion…

“Loopholes aside, Cady’s point stands – you still owe us,” Jason insisted.  “You won the bet with the other gods by backing the Fates.  Enough to refurbish your Mile High Club and return it to its former sparkling, grisly glory.  We even let you park your club overtop Pax and used two gate pieces to connect them with the new waypoint system.”

“Says the undead asshole that blew up my Half-Mile Club,” the Gambler shot back, his eyes back on those gleaming piles.  “Seems to me we’re even.”

“No, says the undead asshole that has supplied you with an endless number of travelers for your death games and made you all those coins you’re counting,” Cady retorted.

Jason had mixed feelings about her word choice, but she was right that the travelers bet heavily on the games.  And, of course, the god of air took a cut of both their coin and their mana.

“Which still benefits you,” the Gambler retorted.  “Who do you think has been babysitting the other gods?  Or were you naïve enough to think is simple that would stop them from meddling?  If they’re busy watching your kind kill each other, they aren’t trying to find a loophole in our deal.”

The earth avatar grimaced at that.  Even Jason hesitated.

It was true that the bet Fates made with the other gods ensured they wouldn’t help the Originals, but it wasn’t ironclad.  And the Gambler was right, they had been more… discreet lately.

“So, the real question is what have you done for me lately?” the god shot back, those glowing yellow coins clink, clink, clinking as he continued to count.

“Is he always like this?” Riley murmured to Jason.

He wasn’t sure, but he was guessing the answer was yes.  Jason never thought he’d miss the Old Man’s cryptic advice…

However, everyone had a motive.  While the dark god hungered for a mountain of corpses, there was clearly only one way to appeal to the Gambler – his own “love language.”  Money.

“What if I said there was a way to multiply your earnings?” Jason asked.

The Gambler’s hand froze, his eyes rising to Jason, a pleased smile curling his lips.  “I’d say you have my attention.  What exactly do you have in mind?”

“We’re just waiting for the other avatars to get here,” Jason offered.

The god of air scoffed, looking suddenly pained.  “Will they even show up?  That water girl?  The haughty angel?  The madman working endlessly in his lab?  As much as I hate to say it, maybe Cady is right and we’re wasting time.”

He wasn’t wrong – not exactly.

The break-in at Cerillion hadn’t just changed Cady.  Finn had also been more reclusive than normal.  Of course, he’d helped usher in the residents from Sandscrit and rebuilt the city – his efreet instrumental in reinforcing the towering walls that protected the residents from the travelers.  He’d also constructed specialized biomes to help house the efreet and merfolk.  An artificial desert now lingering within the inner sections of the city as well as an underwater town.

Then there was the new crafting hall and training facilities.  Improving the city’s crystal mining operation.  Oh, and the new refinery and nuerogem network.  His help had been instrumental in securing and stabilizing the city, its resident population, and its economy.

Which was the problem.  Finn was only focused on his projects.  And once he’d finished, he’d promptly disappeared into his new laboratory. Jason had sent him dozens of messages – all of them going unanswered.  Needless to say, he hadn’t taken Eliza’s failure well.

And as for Alex and Eliza?  They’d been offline for days.

Which was why it was such a surprise when a multi-colored rift tore open the air, and the avatar of water stepped out demurely.  Only to find herself the object of everyone’s attention, her eyes darting from person to person before landing on Jason, meeting his gaze for a brief moment.  His Perception skill flared, picking out her tension in glowing blue relief.  Elevated heart rate and respiration.  The way her fingers twisted together anxiously.

“I um, got your message.  I’m… sorry for taking time off,” Eliza murmured.

Cady looked like she was about to go off on the girl, but Jason stepped in smoothly.  “It’s no problem.  We could all use a break.  We just appreciate you coming, Eliza.”

The water mage looked up at him and Jason noted the relief in her gaze.

Unlike the others, he knew exactly why she’d fled from the game.  He even felt a small pang of guilt at setting her up – at having <Death and Taxes> steal the data she’d borrowed from Cerillion.  The same data Cady had tried to pocket for herself to protect her sister – the Fates – and that Finn had hoped would allow him to “save” Rachael.

However, the feeling didn’t last long.  Just like with Karen and her guildmates, Jason had only done what was necessary.  As he said, everyone had their own motives.  The trick to working with others was to identify what they wanted.  Supply and demand – a language the Gambler knew all too well.  And, in this case, the supply was knowledge.

A critical resource – in this world or any other.

Unfortunately, Eliza had borne the brunt of the fall-out after the break-in.  Specifically, Cady’s suspicion and Finn’s disappointment.  It was no wonder that she’d stayed offline.  Had fled from their inevitable questions.   Frankly, Jason was surprised she’d come back so easily.  That she didn’t buckle under Cady’s frustrated, suspicious gaze.

It seemed the break-in had changed Eliza as well… perhaps for the better.

“Where have you been?” Cady demanded, unable to restrain herself any longer.

Eliza met the earth avatar’s eyes.  “My parents took my VR headset.  They grounded me,” she answered curtly, a trace of anger in her gaze.

A lie.  Her real parents didn’t know about the break-in – Smiles and his group had impersonated them when Eliza was caught.  However, Cady didn’t know that.  Which is why she reluctantly accepted the girl’s explanation with a skeptical huff.

“Oh, Eliza the rebel!” Frank offered with a grin – oblivious to the subtext of the conversation.  “You must have gotten up to something crazy.  Did you visit a park?  Maybe a public garden?  Oh, I’ve got it!  You snuck out to a nursery to buy more plants!”

His teasing earned him a small smile from the water mage, her tension easing.

Jason could always count on Frank to lower the temperature.

“Can we get back to business?” the Gambler grumbled.  “This mysterious new venture that Jason mentioned?  Although, I have my suspicions, of course.”  His eyes gleamed, glowing faint amber.  “Are you finally in a position to use your new… assets?”

“What is he talking about?” Frank asked, cocking his head.  Eliza also seemed lost.

Cady just looked nervous, Riley excited, and Alfred… intrigued.  The dark feline watched from the shadows, its eyes fixed on Jason with unwavering focus.

Not surprising.  Again, knowledge was power.  Which is why Jason had kept this information close to the chest.  The existence of the relics – their potential power.  Karen had been on the right track.  Jason suspected they were incredibly powerful.  A game changer.  Literally.

There was only one small downside…

“Ahh, so Cady and I might have made one other stop during our last adventure,” Jason explained slowly, pulling an item from his bag and setting it on the table.

It was a small obisidan urn.  Innocuous.   Normal even.

Well, except for the fact that it radiated a malignant dark energy.  Its mere presence was enough for Jason’s own mana to respond, burning through his body in a frigid rush of power.  An item so powerful that the Originals had hidden it away in a floating vault – behind hundreds of walls and wards and an army of Nephilim.  One so important that they’d tasked the soul of a real woman with its defense.  Finn’s wife Rachael.  The so-called “Caretaker”.

There was just one small problem…

Relic of the Dark

At first glance, a simple urn.  However, it harbors a dark secret.  One that might reveal origins of this world.

Quality:  S

Effects currently locked.