To Kill Gods or Die Trying

Cecelia Ringo

"I've gotta say, this place is amazing," Margot admits as we walk through the Wildlands outside the walls of the Capital.

People in taverns have been telling wonderful tales of their explorations beyond the walls, taking a break from job-roles and fighting. Today is my day off, but I'm at work—off-stream—so I can just relax with Marg and Nav who came on today. So far, we've wandered the Desertland biome and now we wander through the Monsterland Forest biome.

"Damn right. I don't know how in the hell RealVision did all this, but I never want it to go away," I agree.

"Yeah, the phrase virtual reality is an understatement every time I log in," Margot adds.

"Well, that's why you gotta take the virtual part out and it becomes... real," Pranav suggests with a sneer.

"Was that a stab at another one of your terrible jokes?" Margot groans.

"I really don't know, but you're sharp enough to," he replies. Margot groans.

"Shh! Shh!" I hush. We stop moving. The blue-leafed and yellow- flowered bushes along the purple bark trail rustle.

I mentally open up my inventory and select my sword, holding it at the ready. No time to equip armor as we wait in suspense...

Here in the Wildlands, the animals range from peaceful little fire birdies, undead hounds whom may or may not attack you, and saber tooth ice tigers who want to rip your throat out.

I grit my teeth readily for a fight. It wouldn't be the first time we got jumped by accidentally aggro-ing an animal.

Out comes an adorable, four-eyed-dog-tiger-striped-rabbit-like- creature-thingy that takes a look at us before scurrying away.

"Awww that was so cute," Pranav coos. "You sound like a little kid," Margot jeers.

"Not gonna lie, I'm a child at heart," he replies.

"And we can assume Margot is a rock at heart," I add. Pranav and I chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Margot snaps. "Well..." Pranav begins. Margot cocks a brow.

"Forget about it Margot, let's just relax and breathe this fresh air," I suggest, saving Pranav from Margot's monotonous—but still frightening—wrath.

"Have you guys noticed that we've been hiking upwards all this time?" Margot asks.

I laugh. Pranav laughs. She rolls her eyes with a slight grin. "I just realized—wondered why I was so tired."

"Yeah, I guess when you have red pine trees and blue bushes and luminous flowers and mystical creatures all around, you lose sense of what you're even doing," I admit.

"Look at this beautiful butterfly," Pranav coos. A butterfly with luminous, colorful patterns on its wings lands on his extended finger.

We continue up the trail, examining the landscape. The place smells really earthy and the air is so fresh. It hurts my brain to think of how RealVision pulled this off. This is all so surreal, yet... real.

As we increase in elevation, fewer trees and bushes come across the trail, and the trail itself begins to turn to grass. The forest becomes less dense and the trail ends at a plateau-like grassy clearing.

"Whoa!" Pranav exclaims.

I gasp in awe. Margot stares impressed. At the top of the hill, one thousand feet above sea level, we gaze upon the Capital—the whole thing—it's moat maze, the piers, the ocean horizon, the clouds, the big blue sky, the brightness of the sun, the walls, the biomes of the Wildlands, the 250 foot tree in the center of the city, all the little shops and streets, the villages surrounding the Capital, and all the people moving around like tiny ants—the whole thing.