“Sage, wake up, I think you have a visitor.” Payton grumbled as she rolled over in bed. Something had pecked at her barefoot until she had woken up despite it being way too early to be awake.
That something was a peacock. Brightly colored and displaying its impressive tail while nibbling on her little toe. It was making the most awful racket too. But it had a scroll of parchment tied to its neck and birds carrying documents were always looking for Sage.
Sage slept curled up on her bed and the peacock couldn’t reach her without jumping on her bed completely and risking a serious kick from a startled woman.
“Sage, the bird wants you.” Payton spoke up as the peacock strutted to her sister’s bed. Sage sleepily raised her head and then cringed as the peacock crowed or shrieked or whatever it was peacocks do.
“What is that?” Sage sat up and blearily looked around the room. She didn’t seem to believe she was awake when she saw the colorful plumage.
“That’s a message for you. It’s got to be for you.” Payon tousled her hair and then reached for a hairbrush on her nightstand.
“The Capital uses pigeons, that’s a peacock.” Sage still didn’t believe she was awake.
“Yeah, well birds with messages are all for you. If a badger with a telegram shows up, I’ll handle it.” Payton brushed out her short hair and grit her teeth as she pulled through a knot.
Sage got out of bed, careful not to step on the peacock, and then followed it to the closed door to let the bird out.
“That is weird. It used the window to get in but couldn’t leave that way.” Sage moved to their one window and closed the shutter. It was too cold to leave it open at night now even with a fire going in the hut.
“What did the pretty chicken have to say?” Payton took her first drink of water for the day. She then began wiping her ax’s haft with a lightly oiled rag. The iron ax Sage had found in the manor was Payton’s most prized possession now.
“It’s a request to seek out the Titan of the Wind.” Sage stopped where she stood as she read the scroll.
“The what?” Payton asked.
“The Titan of the Wind. Apparently there’s a Titan of the Wind. Not just of Ice.” Sage started to slowly pace. The Titan of Ice was generally blamed for the ice wall and the icelings. Some of the NPC’s that had begun spreading out along the nearly safe roads brought stories of firelings and werelings. Beings tied to the Titan of Fire and Titan of the Wild respectively.
“An NPC used a peacock to send us on a quest to find the Titan of the Wind?” Payton asked.
“No, the Titan of the Wind requests we come to her. She’s even included a map.” Sage held up a second sheet of paper. Legitimate paper, not parchment or vellum that the Capital used.
“Zahir isn’t going to like that. The village is already short handed and he wants to make another raid on the manor next week. He thinks we might be able to call out the last bunch of icelings now that we have a few fighting Prime classes in the village.” Payton whistled at the thought.
“You don’t think he’ll let us go?” Sage asked with some worry.
“No. I said he wouldn’t like it. We don’t need his permission to leave, he’s just going to be mad about it.” Payton snorted and shook her head.
“You’re not going to have another fit, right?” Sage asked indelicately.
“You said ‘WE’ were going, right? As in together. I don’t worry myself into a panic attack when I’m with you. As long as you don’t pull your I’m-Not-A-Ninja act and sneak off by yourself, we’re fine.” Payton’s playful tone was gone.
“I am not made of glass. I spied on the largest corporation on earth, recruited individuals at the highest level of society, and I do not need you babysitting me!” It was the first time Sage had shouted in their hut. She had shouted at animals, in pain, and to let people know food was ready. But she had never shouted at Payton in their hut.
“I cannot be responsible for keeping you out of these panic attacks. I have work for the Prime Minister I need to do. We are not just feeding video game avatars, we’re practicing to colonize an untamed planet. I have to do my job and do it well.” Sage’s voice was just shy of full on shouting.
“Well forgive me for caring about you! Is it so horrible to not want my last family member to die!” Payton dropped her ax and shouted right back.
“It is if I can’t live my life without your approval. I get anxious for you too. You’ve had mine accidents, bar fights, that really weird boyfriend who ended up in prison. No one actually went to Earth Co prisons, but somehow he managed it!” Sage’s voice jumped to meet Payton’s.
“I can take care of myself. You….you….” That word stopped Payton as surely as an emergency brake.
“I what? I what? I have taken care of myself just as long as you. I need to get ready for this…whatever this is.” Sage waved the note in the air. “If you’re coming, meet me in the bell square before noon. If you’re not coming, fine.”
Payton fell back into her bed with tears in her eyes. Sage left without slamming the door, but Payton didn’t feel alone. The last thing she said rolled over and over in her mind. It rolled over any other thought and bumped into the sides of her mind when she thought she could ignore it.
She had always been the tough sister. Sage had been afraid of dogs and spiders. She wasn’t competitive enough for the high school soccer team. Sage couldn’t go two days without a shower and not complain about it. Payton was the tough one growing up and had been the one to fight bullies. When their aunt and uncle died at the end of junior year, Payton was the one who found the lawyer to emancipate them from the foster system and let them stay in their apartment through graduation. Payton had faced the landlord who had tried to take the apartment while they were still living in it.
Payton was the tough one. She was a miner. She used big machines to haul tons and shape society. Sage used a violin, a tiny little violin, and had to have the orchestra find her a place to live.
Payton lay on her bed for a while. She had no idea how long it was, but knew that thought took its time rolling around her mind. She couldn’t just let her sister leave the village on some journey for a Titan without her.
“Thank you for coming. This would have been a lot harder to do alone.” Sage said and it seemed like it took some effort to get the words out.
“Yeah, I know. How far are we going again?” Payton wiped her eyes and ignored the glare her response earned.
“An island, so we have to get to the coast and then sail this boat south.” Sage’s tight lips looked like they were struggling to keep her rage inside.
“Is there a settlement where we can get a boat?” Payton asked.
“The map just shows where there will be a boat.” Sage adjusted her leather coat. It was heavy with iron plates sewn between the layers to give her discrete protection. The capital had sent the blueprints and the smith had done a great job with it.
“Maybe I should try on some armor the smithy has been offering me.” Payton frowned at her feet. She didn’t want to look at Sage right now.
“Please tell me that Mike was lying.” Zahir ran up to the twins and spoke between gasps of air.
“Lying about what?” Payton asked. She was about to leave, but Zahir looked serious.
“That you two are planning some sort of camping trip? You’re going to be gone for a few days?” Zahir had his own pack and his short bow in hand.
“What does that matter to you?” Payton asked and Zahir kicked a rock.
“You two are some of the most powerful people in the settlement. You,” Zahir pointed at Payton. “Both mines are producing because of you and no one has faced as many icelings as you.”
“And you,” Zahir turned to Sage. “Are the only reliable spellcaster in the village. Our only consistent answer to the icelings now that they are attacking the village. And it could be months before we have another spellcaster.”
“Leslie is a sorcerer and she’s showing real potential.” Sage said. Behind Zahir, a cloud of green smoke rose over the village with a low boom.
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“That’s some great potential and probably a third hut we’re going to have to rebuild. Leslie is great. She is who I meant when I said it would be months. I cannot have you two abandon the village.” Zahir stomped his foot with finality and frowned at the cloud.
“If we die, we’ll just come right back.” Payton repeated the fact that had become a serious part of their lives.
“Oh, I’ll kill you to send you back here. You’ll kill me. Then we’ll have lunch together and laugh about it by dark.” Zahir shook a threatening finger at Payton. His hair fell in his face and an arrow jostled out of his hip quiver. “No. You two are going to the coast and you’ll find a nice village with a beach and sun and no icelings and you’ll forget all about us by the icewall. No, if you’re going then I’m going to drag you back here when you’re done.”
“Well, reel in the crazy a bit. I don’t know how you know about where we’re going, but we got a serious note requesting just the two of us.” Sage pointed her thumb at herself and her sister.
“That’s great. I’m still coming. You two don’t know the landscape or the mobs. This trip will take a third of the time if I come along. That’s a conservative estimate, it may be better.” Zahir adjusted his hair, tying it back, and tried to look confident.
“You can’t come to the end of it, we can’t take you in the boat.” Sage spoke firmly.
“We’re bringing him?” Payton demanded.
“He’s not wrong and he’s probably going to be useful.” Sage looked at Payton. “And I think having someone else to talk to is going to be good for both of us.”
“Great, I talk. I talk all the time, especially to girls.” Zahir cheered with a forced smile.
“That is a weird thing to say. Come on, I need armor, and then we’ll leave.” Payton’s eyebrows frowned at Zahir.
“Aren’t you supposed to not wear armor? Like as a barbarian? I’ve never played one, so I don’t actually know.” Zahir chatted while he followed Payton to the blacksmith. Mark was still missing and his apprentices were doing the best they could without his expertise and it showed. The shop was sloppy and two apprentices fought over who could use a pair of tongs. Orders took longer and some came back for repairs of serious flaws.
“Your armor was ready last week, have you picked which pair you’ll have?” The lead apprentice yanked the tongs away from the two fighting apprentices and tried to look like she had everything under control for Payton.
“Pair?” Zahir asked.
“As a barbarian, I’m only allowed to wear two pieces of armor. A hauberk counts as two and that’s what I need.” Payton watched the apprentice run off to get the chainmail shirt.
“That’s kind of cheating isn’t it?” Zahir asked.
“It’s called, not dying. And I’m a big fan. I still can’t have a helmet, armored pants whatever they’re called, or armored boots. The chainmail can’t even have sleeves. I stop getting experience with chainmail sleeves. Do you have any real armor?” Payton realized Zahir was not wearing metal. He had a short coat over his wool shirt and the most armor his pants had were the extra kneepads he had sewn on them.
“I can’t hide in metal armor. It’s weird. I have to find some better leather soon or I’ll get torn up really quickly.” Zahir sounded a little embarrassed. “That’s why I pick leather armor, it’s made out of hide.”
“Been waiting a while to use that one?” The apprentice spoke up as she returned with the armor.
The hauberk came in two pieces. The quilted under armor came down to Payton’s thighs and the lapels overlapped to cover her sternum with a double layer of quilted gambeson. The chainmail hauberk was hard to slide into for the first time, but once her arms escaped the shoulders it slid into place quickly. The green gambeson poked out of all the hauberk’s edges and made the whole kit much more comfortable to wear.
“Very nice, fits well. No holes, not that we’ve had an extra week to patch them. It’s a good set of mail.” The apprentice circled Payton critically. “No helmet, really?”
“I thought it would be heavier.” Payton looked at the notification that she had reached her armor limit and her battle sense would be reduced. “I shouldn’t risk it, I know it's a good idea but I just can’t.”
Sage was waiting for them at the gates. She played a few notes to tune her violin and then skipped into the road. Payton and Zahir had packs full of supplies, but she had the Yawning Space satchel that bounced on her hip like it was empty.
“So, where is it we’re going?” Zahir asked.
***
Zahir held his stomach and spread his feet for a more stable stance. The discomfort bent him slightly and he let out the biggest burp since they had entered the game.
“Uh, why would you do that?” Sage took a step away and grimaced at the display.
“I’m sorry, I get gassy when I’m stressed. I have no idea why they included that in my game avatar.” Zahir felt much better and stretched in the sunlight. The forest had ended two days ago and they had walked across a grassy flatland all that day.
“Yeah, they included all sorts of weird things.” Sage glanced at her sister from the corner of her eye.
“We haven’t seen anything yet today, that seems weird.” Payton changed the subject and scanned the horizon.
“The forests have lots of monsters, but the fields had herds and big predators. When they show up, it’s in a big way. We should try to find a road and if we find any weird plants, that’s pretty bad.” Zahir put an arrow to his bow and let his eyes rove too.
“There’s nothing here, we’re almost to the coast. We should just cut across this field and get there by dark.” Sage drank some water and tried to see the coast.
“The coast is a series of cliffs with very little access to the shore. We could wander for hours without making progress. If there is a settlement on the shore this time, it will have a road to it.” Zahir frowned and pointed to the west.
“How do you know so much? The game is supposed to change each time they cycle it.” Payton asked pointedly.
“She’s fine, you can tell her. It’s not even such a great secret.” Sage spoke up and followed Zahir’s finger to walk west.
“I was a streamer on Kaleidoscope. I’ve streamed thirteen cycles of Andalusian Dream.” Zahir admitted with a shrug. A second, smaller burp escaped him.
“How many cycles of Andalusian Dream were there before the Exile?” Payton asked.
“Fourteen.” Sage piped up helpfully.
“It wasn’t until cycle four that the game looked like this really.” Zahir clarified needlessly.
“Why was this a secret? The whole village knows you’ve played the game before.” Payton came out of the tall grass to a section that stopped her. A hole, a few meters across, sunk rather abruptly into the soil. The grass beyond the hole had been eaten down by something and revealed the area ahead was pocked with these holes. Dozens of them like a giant’s cleat had stomped down from the sky.
“There were a few streamers recruited by the Prime Minister to help get things off on the right foot. To advise or lead. Like here, we shouldn’t cross this area.” Zahir put out a hand to stop Sage from stumbling into the hole.
“Were you good?” Payton asked.
“At the game or streaming the game?” Zahir asked.
“Both?” Payton shifted her ax off her shoulder and backed away from the hole to go around the area.
“I was better at streaming, but I was pretty good at the game. Especially as a rogue. I guess that should be obvious.” Zahir backed up further from the hole and gave the holes a lot of respect as they circled.
“He is being modest, he was a top five streamer on Kaleidoscope.” Sage followed closer to Zahir than Payton.
“Would I recognize your screen name?”
“Gilgamile. Not the most humble name. But…shhh” Zahir stopped and crouched immediately. The wind shifted and the smell of rancid meat floated over the trio.
“What is that?” Payton gagged on the sudden stench.
“Shhhh! That’s the vergile’s bait.” Zahir slowly started backing away, tugging on Payton’s belt to make sure she was coming along. “I didn’t think a vergile had moved into these holes, there’s not a lot of carcasses yet. It must be pretty recent.”
“What is a vergile?” Sage asked in a whisper.
“A vergile is a giant centipede. It moves into dens of other large animals like those holes. They’ll eat anything that comes near the dens. It is a very sloppy eater and the grass near the holes generally gets good fertilizers from it. The grass grows better, it attracts more herbivores, and the vergile sloppy eats them. A vergile that stays in one place for long can get very big.”
Zahir’s speech stopped before he could go on about vergiles as it was interrupted by the sudden sound of gravel. The rough sound of a pile of gravel falling down a hill. It was clearly coming from the nearest hole and Zahir rushed to get away from that hole. The other two hurried to keep up with him. The hole shook enough that clumps of grass came free from the surface and fell inside.
Zahir kept running and looking back at the hole. The noise stopped after they had crossed a few dozen meters. Zahir slowed. He looked back with confusion and moved his mouth like he wanted to say something.
A large centipede shot out of another hole and arched in the air over Zahir. The sharp mandibles on the face opened wide as it crashed down on Zahir. The sharp, yellow legs caught the body as it fell to the ground. Zahir disappeared into the vergile’s mouth before Payton even realized the vergile was even attacking.
A large centipede shot out of another hole and arched in the air over Zahir. The sharp mandibles on the face opened wide as it crashed down on Zahir. The sharp, yellow legs caught the body as it fell to the ground. Zahir disappeared into the vergile’s mouth before Payton even realized the vergile was even attacking.
Sage skid to a stop and put her bow to the violin strings and began to play. Motes of black appeared in the air near her and shadows from the grass were drawn into the four points of darkness. The motes grew and shaped themselves into sharp, elongated diamonds and rushed at the vergile as it finished chewing Zahir. Two stabbed into the base of an antenna and two hit the top of the dark red head. The antenna was severed instantly and the other two gouged long scratches into the tough exoskeleton.
“I don’t think we can beat that.” Payton tried to pull her sister away from the holes, but Sage was already playing another song and a bright point of light appeared over the vergile. Its remaining antenna swiveled to point at Sage and the segmented body maneuvered to follow.
Payton gripped her ax as the bright spot suddenly turned into a lightning bolt that struck the vergile and stopped its legs from their fidgety tapping.
Before Payton could move between Sage and this monster, something grabbed her from behind and then the second vergile ate her. She had never been so angry while floating and waiting to respawn at the small village they had found a day before reaching the grasslands.
“Crap, it was the vergile?” Zahir was already in the bell plaza waiting for someone else to respawn.
“Two, it was two vergiles. They were huge.” Payton checked her pack out of habit more than necessity. She had never lost something in her pack or in her hands when she died, but she was nervous about there being a first time.
“Two, there must have been a lot of holes for enough territory for two.” Zahir nodded and looked over at Sage when she respawned near them.“This time, we find a road.”
