N
Notepad
Guest
Black Wall - Chatper 1: Into the Furnace
By Sean "Sefro" Roney
kwbishop@hotmail.com
Being four chapters behind on history homework, in addition to the dire need to study for a chemistry test, was reason enough for Randes Kemp to play his favorite game to pass the evening. It wasn't like he'd ever catch up on his work anyway. Any distraction to that realization was more than welcome in Randes' view.
No longer was he Randes, an overweight high school student who barely eked out a C-average. On the servers of the Arcana Wars game, he lived out the life of Telmeran, third in command of the Foxwind Clan. There was so much to do in the game, from fighting elves for treasure, to exploring haunted forests, all the way to challenging features like escorting caravans through the beast-infested praeries. No time to study up on who was president back in the thirties, as the afterschool hours were to be all about living as a stealthy warrior in a fantasy world.
In a random seat in a random gaming cafe in a random mall in California, Randes escaped being just another slacker kid. His body fell limp when the data upload began. His mind was within the virtual world in seconds. The smells of carpet, plastic and rubber vanished from around him and his virtual eyes opened to his leather-covered fists in his face.
Telmeran awoke inside the clan's barracks at the local inn. Fifteen of the bunks were empty. He looked around to see that only himself and two other people were laying in their bunks. The sleeping two were the Australian members of the clan, who's character data laid in wait for their players to join in. Everything was secure in this save point, but the action and fun Telmeran craved was outside.
Three silver helms and one sword sat in the arms rack that normally held enough metallic objects to outfit a small army. Telmeran took his helm and magical sword from their places. Nothing else was left. No spare battle tabbards or leather cloaks. Not so much as one minor magical ring in the jewelry tray next to the arms rack.
"Damn that lag!" The growl came from behind, the distinctively female voice of the second in command of the Foxwinds.
"Cassaire, um, your left hand? Your hair?" Telmeran was at once surprised by the appearance of his commander. She had lost her hand a month ago, fighting off a clan of player killers, but now it was back. Her usual long blonde hair was replaced with cropped raven-black hair.
The young woman responded, "New character. I just died." She rubbed her chest, recalling something that was physically gone but lingered in her mind. "I never imagined having my chest incinerated would hurt so much." She jerked her eyes back up to Telmeran. "Bev's my new name, vengeful sister to Cassaire. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Lord Telmeran."
"Bev?" Telmeran raised an eyebrow before accepting his new promotion. "I welcome you to the Foxwind Clan. My you rise quickly through the ranks as your sister did."
"Lord, thank you." Bev bowed with some reluctance. When she rose, her expression had changed from shock and humility to a mixture of wonder and anger. "Looks like Golden Horizons is doing a promotional tour in the southwest. They're having all the malls in Albuquerquie and Dallas charge a dollar an hour today. Tomorrow is Santa Fe and Houston. Wednesday is supposed to be Phoenix and Tuscon. They've also got demo trucks letting people play for a free hour if they don't already have accounts."
"So you're jealous? Since you live in New Jersey?"
"No!" Bev looked to Telmeran with a scowl. "I'm mad because there's a flood of players today. The servers are at triple the standard capacity. It's newbie city, and everything's lagged." She sat down on her bunk, head lowered with disgust. "And in this rush to get new players in the game, Golden's decided to have these newbies declare war on us." She almost sobbed. "This city's in ruins. Everything's gone, Randes. Every last thing."
"That's how you died, eh? Wow." Inside, Telmeran knew Bev was somewhat angry that she missed discount play. Though, losing a character that took six months to make was undoubtedly the main reason for her fury.
"Yeah," Bev huffed, her anger just short of causing smoke to bellow from her nostrils. "I was trying to protect Clan Jade while they rushed to the inn. They wanted to sign off and wait 'til this whole war tournament promo was over. I was caught defending their rear from demons. They were wiped out by a group of newbies riding obsidian wyverns."
"That's a little unfair!" Telmeran's eyes were widened as far as they could go.
"A little!? I've been playing for six months and can't even buy a unicorn! Those cheap newbs get free freaking dragons!" Cassaire's familiar jealous ranting finally made its way out of Bev's mouth.
Telmeran was almost able to feel comfortable around her. "Well then, shall we get in character?"
Begrudgingly, Bev answered, "Fine. I've only got a half hour left before I have to go home."
Telmeran nodded. "Bev, I hear a battle is underway outside town. Please accompany me to the front lines so we can assist our comrades."
"You really take this character stuff too far, Randes. I don't feel like doing too much roleplaying today. Let's just head toward the old well. Or, where it used to be. The wall isn't there anymore, and a few dozen yards out of town in that direction is the clan. They were fending off a swarm of newbies who chose to play as demons when I left them."
"Demons and wyverns. Sounds like quite a fight. Here, take my sword. I can fight without it, and there's no other weapon in the room, so you need it more than me right now."
"Understood, Lord."
Outside the clan room was the inn's lobby, a place as pristine as the clan room due to it being an extension of the save point. Blood stains marked the floor along with ash trails, but otherwise the place was in top shape.
A group of over three dozen players were holding a mock rally in this room. Five lead members of the Scheilon Clan bolstered the courage of the newer characters around them. The faces of many were familiar out of the fact that their previous characters had just died.
"Ah, good Foxwinds, I see one of you has also fallen to this scourge!" The greeting was done in a thrundrous voice from the leader of Scheilon, a stalwart little man named Thedin. "We were just about to make a charge to help the surviving peoples of our city. Will you join us?"
Telmeran delayed for a moment, waiting out of habbit for Cassaire to speak. He quickly remembered his place and answered, "Yes, Thedin. Let it be remembered that Telmeran and Bev of Foxwind helped Scheilon on this crucial day of war! I have received word that beyond the wall in the direction of the old well may hold more members of my clan."
"Then it is there we go first," announced Thedin. "Then a charge to the former city gate to regroup with the rest of Scheilon. Honor be with us!" Thedin continued into a short speech that consisted of nothing more than inspirational battlecries, interrupted by the cheering of the group. Then, he turned to the door of the inn. "Let us charge into battle and reclaim our glorious city!"
The interior of the lobby's door had carvings of spring crops and happy farmers under a bright sun. When opened, the door revealed its other side to be merely a charred hunk of wood.
The whole city of Port Ines was gone, the virtual home to hundreds of players replaced by smoldering ruins in the shadow of black plumes overhead. Tiny dragons poked in and out of the smoke, bearing chittering lunatics on their backs who ordered the death of any moving being on the ground. Only the structure of the inn stood amidst the death and chaos. A black box in the middle of flattened darkness.
The war party was now outside the bounds of the safe zone. Their death was fast approaching, and would have gone unseen against the blackened sky if not for an explosion streching to the black clouds. Thedin was able to catch a glimpse of the incoming black wings against the orange mushroom.
"Incoming wyvern!" shouted Thedin. He motioned his free hand in a series of gestures before him. Half the party scrambled for cover among the rubble. Others prepared weapons in a futile attempt to take a stand.
"Down!" ordered Telmeran, grabbing Bev's head and shoving her downward in the same moment. Upon the ashes of the ground he hastily scrawled a series of runes with his fingers. Upon his mental command, the runes glowed white and a hemisphere of soft light engulfed the two.
The thundering boom on an inferno sounded outside the opaque barrier, drowning out feeble screams. Then a large draconic roar echoed overhead, followed at last by the beating of powerful wings moving into the distance.
"Are we to stay here, hiding, Lord?" asked Bev, clearly uncomfortable with having to lay face-down under the barrier while allies fought outside.
"I know your sister would've lept into the air to fight that beast, but remember: She's dead. We can't win this battle by dying." Telmeran knew he should have bit his tongue at the remark, but it already left his lips.
"Understood, Lord Telmeran." Bev's response was out of the ordinary, as Cassaire was always prone to anger over power comparisons. "I just wish we could do some fighting rather than hiding under protection spells. How long will this barrier last, anyway?"
"It'll last as long as it has to. However, I agree with you. We should be--" Telmeran swept the barrier away with his mind while talking to be overcome by the sight beyond. All of the allies from the Scheilon party were gone. Where Thedin had stood preparing a spell, there was a melted pile of metal. Pieces of armor and weapons had been fused together into a disgusting mass. Other metallic spots all around the two Foxwinds told of a similar fate for everyone else.
Randes took in the sight, afraid for the first time in the eight months he'd played the game. There was now a true a fear in his mind of dying in this virtual world. It was more frightening than anything he'd been scared of in the real world. He knew he could always just make another character as Cassaire had, but he had a mortal fear of actually having to feel his character die in the total simulation nature of the game. Fourty people had just been wiped out in an instant around him. His fear almost made him turn around to the inn and escape from the game back into real life. If not for his clanmate, he would have laid there thinking about doing just that.
Bev rose from her prone position, looking angrily at the metal spots. "Okay, the whole chest thing doesn't seem so bad now." She rubbed her chest where a demon's spell had caught her previous character. She helped her dazed commander to his feet and into a dash across the charred landscape. Their movement was spotted by a wyvern-rider who quickly ordered his mount to attack.
A dozen more wyverns joined the attack as the two sprinters passed a pit in the ground and came within a fifty yards of the former city wall. Nowhere near their prey, the growing horde of wyverns began blowing fire towards the ground.
Screams could be heard inside some of the blazes, but from numerous unaffected hiding spots in the ruins came a volley of enchanted arrows. Green bolts of energy fell upwards like an upside-down rain, their own storm trying to outdo the infernos from the airborne beasts.
Through bellowing huffs, Bev managed, "I'll still say archers are cheap. Always will." She lept over the rubble of the former city wall, landing before Telmeran on the grassy plains beyond. Telmeran had been delayed by a glitch. He knew he had darted and jumped before Bev, but after completing the jump, he was suddenly returned to dashing for the wall behind Bev. Then, when Telmeran crossed the wall again, it was Bev who was put on rewind and sent back to her sprint up to the wall. She was glad to complete her second jump and find the results stuck with her. Finally out of the city, the two ignored the effects of lag they had both experienced.
If Port Ines had been a vision of the apocalypse, the former grazing fields outside were a vision of hell. Bodies littered the place, many dead, and a horrifying multitude of dying. Trenches had been dug throughout what had been cattle pastures only a day prior. It seemed nearly every inch of ground was ablaze with flames that danced hundreds of feet into the air. Gray humanoids with horns danced among the destruction, seeking their prey with glee. The hysterical laughs of the monsters accompanied the screams of people who were pulled up from their trench hiding spots.
"This is the worst thing that can happen in this game," Bev muttered. "What was Golden thinking?"
The two were forced into further running run by a trio of monsters who rushed from the flames towards the Foxwinds. Telmeran could only stare in horror. He had lost all interest in the game, and just wanted out. He almost wanted to eject from the game immediately, but his need to run from constant danger was overcoming his ability to stand still for the required time to boot oneself from the game. Fortunately, Bev was quick enough with her sword to dispatch the threat.
For a moment, Telmeran wondered how the his sword, a magical fire sword, could kill monsters who danced within magical pillars of flame on the battlefield. His thought was answered by a glance of Bev still fighting off the claws of the monsters. Though she had stopped to stand, Telmeran himself was still running, trying to figure out the proper spells to cast for the situation. None were composed of one or two runes, and with an incoming horde of dozens more demons, he would only have time to write one rune.
"Run! Back to the city!" Telmeran led the way toward Port Ines. Feeling he owed an explanation for his order, he said, "We'll meet with the archers and figure out a way to find our clan."
Bev did not respond. The Foxwinds weren't going to be able to reach the old city wall, as two dozen more of the monsters had lept from the trenches to cut off the path. Telmeran was forced to change his route to run along the edge of the wall's higher ruins rather than towards the lower spot where he and Bev could jump over. He caught a glimpse behind him, and couldn't see Bev anywhere.
"Bev?" he called out, hearing nothing. Another interception pack of demons forced him to run back to the purgatory of the pastures. The throng of chittering demons behind him had to have numbered in the eighties by his estimation. Curiously, his second change of direction caused Telmeran to run towards Bev, who was still fighting a trio of demons.
"Bev!" Telmeran dodged the attack of the demons and caught a grip on his comrade's shoulder. His attempt caused both himself and Bev to tumble into a trench. He recovered to his feet to find Bev already up and fighting her three attackers. The eighty other demons rushed toward himself, causing him to sprint through the trench without stopping for Bev. He figured if she really wanted to go down fighting, then he wouldn't get in her way.
The trench led nowhere in particular, just over the bodies of fallen characters, and strangely enough, past demons perched on the ledges of the trench who watched the parade behind Telmeran but didn't join in themselves. The run continued for another half mile until the sudden impact surged throughout Telmeran's entire being.
A great expanse of nothing spread as far as Telmeran could see before him. It extended infinitely forward from the point where he could see no more. It was as if the world had a flat edge to it, and he was standing on the brink of that edge. He raised his hands to the empty black barrier and could push them no further than his own feet had stuck out below him. He hovered there, unable to move farther. With no time to prepare a spell before the demons reached him, he spun around to face his death.
Randes had never actually seen a character death in Arcana Wars before. He knew that since the game was fully interactive, characterer death was actually felt by the player. The pain was real in the game, a sick side of its popularity. He winced as he accepted that it was his time to know that pain.
He winced as the first set of claws neared his body.
By Sean "Sefro" Roney
kwbishop@hotmail.com
Being four chapters behind on history homework, in addition to the dire need to study for a chemistry test, was reason enough for Randes Kemp to play his favorite game to pass the evening. It wasn't like he'd ever catch up on his work anyway. Any distraction to that realization was more than welcome in Randes' view.
No longer was he Randes, an overweight high school student who barely eked out a C-average. On the servers of the Arcana Wars game, he lived out the life of Telmeran, third in command of the Foxwind Clan. There was so much to do in the game, from fighting elves for treasure, to exploring haunted forests, all the way to challenging features like escorting caravans through the beast-infested praeries. No time to study up on who was president back in the thirties, as the afterschool hours were to be all about living as a stealthy warrior in a fantasy world.
In a random seat in a random gaming cafe in a random mall in California, Randes escaped being just another slacker kid. His body fell limp when the data upload began. His mind was within the virtual world in seconds. The smells of carpet, plastic and rubber vanished from around him and his virtual eyes opened to his leather-covered fists in his face.
Telmeran awoke inside the clan's barracks at the local inn. Fifteen of the bunks were empty. He looked around to see that only himself and two other people were laying in their bunks. The sleeping two were the Australian members of the clan, who's character data laid in wait for their players to join in. Everything was secure in this save point, but the action and fun Telmeran craved was outside.
Three silver helms and one sword sat in the arms rack that normally held enough metallic objects to outfit a small army. Telmeran took his helm and magical sword from their places. Nothing else was left. No spare battle tabbards or leather cloaks. Not so much as one minor magical ring in the jewelry tray next to the arms rack.
"Damn that lag!" The growl came from behind, the distinctively female voice of the second in command of the Foxwinds.
"Cassaire, um, your left hand? Your hair?" Telmeran was at once surprised by the appearance of his commander. She had lost her hand a month ago, fighting off a clan of player killers, but now it was back. Her usual long blonde hair was replaced with cropped raven-black hair.
The young woman responded, "New character. I just died." She rubbed her chest, recalling something that was physically gone but lingered in her mind. "I never imagined having my chest incinerated would hurt so much." She jerked her eyes back up to Telmeran. "Bev's my new name, vengeful sister to Cassaire. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Lord Telmeran."
"Bev?" Telmeran raised an eyebrow before accepting his new promotion. "I welcome you to the Foxwind Clan. My you rise quickly through the ranks as your sister did."
"Lord, thank you." Bev bowed with some reluctance. When she rose, her expression had changed from shock and humility to a mixture of wonder and anger. "Looks like Golden Horizons is doing a promotional tour in the southwest. They're having all the malls in Albuquerquie and Dallas charge a dollar an hour today. Tomorrow is Santa Fe and Houston. Wednesday is supposed to be Phoenix and Tuscon. They've also got demo trucks letting people play for a free hour if they don't already have accounts."
"So you're jealous? Since you live in New Jersey?"
"No!" Bev looked to Telmeran with a scowl. "I'm mad because there's a flood of players today. The servers are at triple the standard capacity. It's newbie city, and everything's lagged." She sat down on her bunk, head lowered with disgust. "And in this rush to get new players in the game, Golden's decided to have these newbies declare war on us." She almost sobbed. "This city's in ruins. Everything's gone, Randes. Every last thing."
"That's how you died, eh? Wow." Inside, Telmeran knew Bev was somewhat angry that she missed discount play. Though, losing a character that took six months to make was undoubtedly the main reason for her fury.
"Yeah," Bev huffed, her anger just short of causing smoke to bellow from her nostrils. "I was trying to protect Clan Jade while they rushed to the inn. They wanted to sign off and wait 'til this whole war tournament promo was over. I was caught defending their rear from demons. They were wiped out by a group of newbies riding obsidian wyverns."
"That's a little unfair!" Telmeran's eyes were widened as far as they could go.
"A little!? I've been playing for six months and can't even buy a unicorn! Those cheap newbs get free freaking dragons!" Cassaire's familiar jealous ranting finally made its way out of Bev's mouth.
Telmeran was almost able to feel comfortable around her. "Well then, shall we get in character?"
Begrudgingly, Bev answered, "Fine. I've only got a half hour left before I have to go home."
Telmeran nodded. "Bev, I hear a battle is underway outside town. Please accompany me to the front lines so we can assist our comrades."
"You really take this character stuff too far, Randes. I don't feel like doing too much roleplaying today. Let's just head toward the old well. Or, where it used to be. The wall isn't there anymore, and a few dozen yards out of town in that direction is the clan. They were fending off a swarm of newbies who chose to play as demons when I left them."
"Demons and wyverns. Sounds like quite a fight. Here, take my sword. I can fight without it, and there's no other weapon in the room, so you need it more than me right now."
"Understood, Lord."
Outside the clan room was the inn's lobby, a place as pristine as the clan room due to it being an extension of the save point. Blood stains marked the floor along with ash trails, but otherwise the place was in top shape.
A group of over three dozen players were holding a mock rally in this room. Five lead members of the Scheilon Clan bolstered the courage of the newer characters around them. The faces of many were familiar out of the fact that their previous characters had just died.
"Ah, good Foxwinds, I see one of you has also fallen to this scourge!" The greeting was done in a thrundrous voice from the leader of Scheilon, a stalwart little man named Thedin. "We were just about to make a charge to help the surviving peoples of our city. Will you join us?"
Telmeran delayed for a moment, waiting out of habbit for Cassaire to speak. He quickly remembered his place and answered, "Yes, Thedin. Let it be remembered that Telmeran and Bev of Foxwind helped Scheilon on this crucial day of war! I have received word that beyond the wall in the direction of the old well may hold more members of my clan."
"Then it is there we go first," announced Thedin. "Then a charge to the former city gate to regroup with the rest of Scheilon. Honor be with us!" Thedin continued into a short speech that consisted of nothing more than inspirational battlecries, interrupted by the cheering of the group. Then, he turned to the door of the inn. "Let us charge into battle and reclaim our glorious city!"
The interior of the lobby's door had carvings of spring crops and happy farmers under a bright sun. When opened, the door revealed its other side to be merely a charred hunk of wood.
The whole city of Port Ines was gone, the virtual home to hundreds of players replaced by smoldering ruins in the shadow of black plumes overhead. Tiny dragons poked in and out of the smoke, bearing chittering lunatics on their backs who ordered the death of any moving being on the ground. Only the structure of the inn stood amidst the death and chaos. A black box in the middle of flattened darkness.
The war party was now outside the bounds of the safe zone. Their death was fast approaching, and would have gone unseen against the blackened sky if not for an explosion streching to the black clouds. Thedin was able to catch a glimpse of the incoming black wings against the orange mushroom.
"Incoming wyvern!" shouted Thedin. He motioned his free hand in a series of gestures before him. Half the party scrambled for cover among the rubble. Others prepared weapons in a futile attempt to take a stand.
"Down!" ordered Telmeran, grabbing Bev's head and shoving her downward in the same moment. Upon the ashes of the ground he hastily scrawled a series of runes with his fingers. Upon his mental command, the runes glowed white and a hemisphere of soft light engulfed the two.
The thundering boom on an inferno sounded outside the opaque barrier, drowning out feeble screams. Then a large draconic roar echoed overhead, followed at last by the beating of powerful wings moving into the distance.
"Are we to stay here, hiding, Lord?" asked Bev, clearly uncomfortable with having to lay face-down under the barrier while allies fought outside.
"I know your sister would've lept into the air to fight that beast, but remember: She's dead. We can't win this battle by dying." Telmeran knew he should have bit his tongue at the remark, but it already left his lips.
"Understood, Lord Telmeran." Bev's response was out of the ordinary, as Cassaire was always prone to anger over power comparisons. "I just wish we could do some fighting rather than hiding under protection spells. How long will this barrier last, anyway?"
"It'll last as long as it has to. However, I agree with you. We should be--" Telmeran swept the barrier away with his mind while talking to be overcome by the sight beyond. All of the allies from the Scheilon party were gone. Where Thedin had stood preparing a spell, there was a melted pile of metal. Pieces of armor and weapons had been fused together into a disgusting mass. Other metallic spots all around the two Foxwinds told of a similar fate for everyone else.
Randes took in the sight, afraid for the first time in the eight months he'd played the game. There was now a true a fear in his mind of dying in this virtual world. It was more frightening than anything he'd been scared of in the real world. He knew he could always just make another character as Cassaire had, but he had a mortal fear of actually having to feel his character die in the total simulation nature of the game. Fourty people had just been wiped out in an instant around him. His fear almost made him turn around to the inn and escape from the game back into real life. If not for his clanmate, he would have laid there thinking about doing just that.
Bev rose from her prone position, looking angrily at the metal spots. "Okay, the whole chest thing doesn't seem so bad now." She rubbed her chest where a demon's spell had caught her previous character. She helped her dazed commander to his feet and into a dash across the charred landscape. Their movement was spotted by a wyvern-rider who quickly ordered his mount to attack.
A dozen more wyverns joined the attack as the two sprinters passed a pit in the ground and came within a fifty yards of the former city wall. Nowhere near their prey, the growing horde of wyverns began blowing fire towards the ground.
Screams could be heard inside some of the blazes, but from numerous unaffected hiding spots in the ruins came a volley of enchanted arrows. Green bolts of energy fell upwards like an upside-down rain, their own storm trying to outdo the infernos from the airborne beasts.
Through bellowing huffs, Bev managed, "I'll still say archers are cheap. Always will." She lept over the rubble of the former city wall, landing before Telmeran on the grassy plains beyond. Telmeran had been delayed by a glitch. He knew he had darted and jumped before Bev, but after completing the jump, he was suddenly returned to dashing for the wall behind Bev. Then, when Telmeran crossed the wall again, it was Bev who was put on rewind and sent back to her sprint up to the wall. She was glad to complete her second jump and find the results stuck with her. Finally out of the city, the two ignored the effects of lag they had both experienced.
If Port Ines had been a vision of the apocalypse, the former grazing fields outside were a vision of hell. Bodies littered the place, many dead, and a horrifying multitude of dying. Trenches had been dug throughout what had been cattle pastures only a day prior. It seemed nearly every inch of ground was ablaze with flames that danced hundreds of feet into the air. Gray humanoids with horns danced among the destruction, seeking their prey with glee. The hysterical laughs of the monsters accompanied the screams of people who were pulled up from their trench hiding spots.
"This is the worst thing that can happen in this game," Bev muttered. "What was Golden thinking?"
The two were forced into further running run by a trio of monsters who rushed from the flames towards the Foxwinds. Telmeran could only stare in horror. He had lost all interest in the game, and just wanted out. He almost wanted to eject from the game immediately, but his need to run from constant danger was overcoming his ability to stand still for the required time to boot oneself from the game. Fortunately, Bev was quick enough with her sword to dispatch the threat.
For a moment, Telmeran wondered how the his sword, a magical fire sword, could kill monsters who danced within magical pillars of flame on the battlefield. His thought was answered by a glance of Bev still fighting off the claws of the monsters. Though she had stopped to stand, Telmeran himself was still running, trying to figure out the proper spells to cast for the situation. None were composed of one or two runes, and with an incoming horde of dozens more demons, he would only have time to write one rune.
"Run! Back to the city!" Telmeran led the way toward Port Ines. Feeling he owed an explanation for his order, he said, "We'll meet with the archers and figure out a way to find our clan."
Bev did not respond. The Foxwinds weren't going to be able to reach the old city wall, as two dozen more of the monsters had lept from the trenches to cut off the path. Telmeran was forced to change his route to run along the edge of the wall's higher ruins rather than towards the lower spot where he and Bev could jump over. He caught a glimpse behind him, and couldn't see Bev anywhere.
"Bev?" he called out, hearing nothing. Another interception pack of demons forced him to run back to the purgatory of the pastures. The throng of chittering demons behind him had to have numbered in the eighties by his estimation. Curiously, his second change of direction caused Telmeran to run towards Bev, who was still fighting a trio of demons.
"Bev!" Telmeran dodged the attack of the demons and caught a grip on his comrade's shoulder. His attempt caused both himself and Bev to tumble into a trench. He recovered to his feet to find Bev already up and fighting her three attackers. The eighty other demons rushed toward himself, causing him to sprint through the trench without stopping for Bev. He figured if she really wanted to go down fighting, then he wouldn't get in her way.
The trench led nowhere in particular, just over the bodies of fallen characters, and strangely enough, past demons perched on the ledges of the trench who watched the parade behind Telmeran but didn't join in themselves. The run continued for another half mile until the sudden impact surged throughout Telmeran's entire being.
A great expanse of nothing spread as far as Telmeran could see before him. It extended infinitely forward from the point where he could see no more. It was as if the world had a flat edge to it, and he was standing on the brink of that edge. He raised his hands to the empty black barrier and could push them no further than his own feet had stuck out below him. He hovered there, unable to move farther. With no time to prepare a spell before the demons reached him, he spun around to face his death.
Randes had never actually seen a character death in Arcana Wars before. He knew that since the game was fully interactive, characterer death was actually felt by the player. The pain was real in the game, a sick side of its popularity. He winced as he accepted that it was his time to know that pain.
He winced as the first set of claws neared his body.