10 Minute Tales, Part 2

Sep 6 - Inescapable

The hammering of his keyboard barely went noticed. He had gotten further in the game than anyone else had. His guides had run out - one had even signed off with "Gods be with you." All he had now was his own weapon, the strength of his armour and his own silent prayers. His target, an elemental bird of fire the size of a house, was wounded but all the angrier for it. Its blood spattered on the rocks beneath, fiery lines that crisscrossed the charred stone. It squawked at his character defiantly, but he quickly hammered his keys across the keyboard and bolstered his character's fortitude. It proved to be enough to counter the intimidation check, so the character charged in again. The bird screeched again and charged at the avatar. He saw a prompt appear on the screen and pressed the button before he could even read what it was.

It took him the entire duration of the cutscene to realise that it had read Execute.

The character roared, seemingly of its own might, and jumped up. The bird moved to eat the avatar, but it was able to evade the attack. Now at the exposed neck, the avatar clung to the hilt of his weapon and swung with all his might. Steel met feathers, then flesh, then bone as the blade sung its way through the beast. It died before it was decapitated, more boiling blood spewing out of the neck and burning his character to a shred of its health... but it had survived.

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He threw his arms up in triumph, yelling in his victory. Both player and character stayed still for a while until he summoned the energy to move his character to the foe's carcass and loot the body. The rewards were as he expected; a powerful sword, a ring with a glowing ruby... and a single feather. He looked the feather over. "Feather of the Embers." it read. The description was simply "Use: Awaken." He looted it all, equipping what worked with his character, and looked the feather over again. It looked like it was from the beast's tail, a long, vibrant plume that danced with the colours of fire. It sat in his bag innocently, the icon glowing slightly. What did it do? Awaken didn't explain a lot, after all. He frowned, hesitating for a while, but eventually... he clicked it.

The heat in his room suddenly became intolerable, and a mysterious weight crushed down on his body. He found himself standing, and looked around in astonishment. It looked like the nest he had just made his character stand triumphant in, but it looked so much... detailed. Realistic, almost.

"What the hell's going on?" he asked, glancing at the lava nervously. To his surprise - and relief - he didn't feel as much heat as he would expect. He suddenly realised and looked at his hand. He was wearing a gauntlet, but not just a gauntlet - this one had a shining ruby in the centre of the palm, an illusionary fire dancing within it.

"Oh, you've arrived." a new voice greeted. He turned in shock, the clanking of his armour echoing through the dry air. The woman was dressed as the guide character, a woman with a simple blonde hairstyle and a long white dress. "I suppose you want some answers."

"Wh-what the- please." he started to object, but quickly caught himself. She nodded and started to cast a powerful spell, a circle of magic appearing in front of her gesturing hands.

"Stay where you are." she commanded, pale energies flowing into the circle. It reminded him of home. His new home.