Chapter 68 The Tunnels Are Truly a Relief?
The moment they vanished out of the tunnel door, I turned to the others.
“The Devbots? Are developer bots. Remember, in the game, the developer bots occasionally intervene and resurrect characters? Or in the MMO, they put a stop to some PvP fights in zones where fighting other players isn’t allowed? ”
“Right!” Reggie said. “That makes sense. Which means going through these tunnels should be easy enough.”
“Maybe, but probably not. If the game blew up, basically, they probably can’t intervene.
Especially if we’re the sacrificial lambs and the developers aren’t telling anyone that we were in here.
Or that we’re still alive. We have no idea what’s happening right now.
But let’s hope that everybody thinks they’re still around—apparently as gods—so they don’t cause any trouble. ” I turned to Thornhold. “You ready?”
He nodded. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” He frowned, though, and I knew he was mulling over something. But rather than ask right now, I wanted to get some distance under our feet.
“We’ve got four days to reach the other side,” I said. “So, let’s move.”
We headed down the passage, keeping watch over the occasional locator sign, free from the weather and—at least so far—any untoward events.
That night, we found a turnout that was unoccupied—several we passed had groups in them, who gave us suspicious looks, but there were no entanglements. I nodded as we passed by, but we didn’t stop to engage, nor did they follow us. So far, the tunnels had been the least problematic place we’d been.
As we settled down and spread out our sleeping bags—we didn’t need a tent in here, and in fact, I’d rather be able to see anybody walking by—I handed out bread and cheese and smoked meat that Magdala had sent with us.
We draped our blankets around our shoulders, given the tunnels were cold but not insufferable, and ate.
We had seen few people during the day’s journey, and the going had been easy except for a couple of places where rockfall had broken through the ceiling and half-filled the tunnel.
But it looked as though someone had carved a passage through the debris.
We stopped to carve away a little more, to leave the passage a touch more navigable.
“What do you think so far?” Thornhold asked.
“It’s easier going than anything so far, which makes me suspicious.
On the other hand, can something be easy and not a problem?
I keep thinking back to the game where there would be several adventures which went off like clockwork, without a hitch.
Maybe this is the break between the big bads, you know? ”
I wondered about the ease with which we were passing through the tunnel, but I also trusted Magdala and her children, and if they said the tunnels were the easiest route, and that they were a neutral zone, I had no reason to distrust them.
“I think we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Let’s accept this for what it is, while still keeping alert. Meaning, we take watches tonight, but I think we can assign one to a watch. Which means you two get more sleep,” Reggie said. “You and Brynn have done a lot of heavy lifting—”
“We’ve all done a lot of heavy lifting,” I said. “No, if we sit one to a watch, then we each keep watch for two hours. That gives us each eight hours of sleep, which we can use. We might as well take advantage of the peace.”
Thornhold nodded. “Yep, yep, yep. What she says. We need a couple of nights of easy sleep. Even at Magdala’s, we didn’t rest all that easily.
We still had to battle there. Speaking of which, I wonder how Rupert is doing.
” He frowned, staring at his bread. “I wish we could have done more. I like the lycanthroids.”
“I like them too,” Brynn said. She sighed.
“I know you’re all wondering about Aisling.
Magdala talked to Erenye here…and then I talked to Aisling.
He’s expected to take a lycanthroid for a wife.
It’s necessary to produce an heir who can be one with the pack.
And I can’t give him that. I miss my boyfriend, but I think a part of me has already accepted we’re not getting out of here. That this is it—this is our life. So…”
“So, you’re looking for how to make a new life here,” Thornhold said. “I understand. I don’t know if I’ve come to that same acceptance. Not yet. But I’m inching my way there. What about you three?” he asked.
Ray frowned. “I can’t even think about it right now. I left someone behind, like you, Brynn. And I can’t give up hope. I just can’t.” He stared at his food, then bit into the cheese, looking caught in thought.
Reggie shrugged. “I don’t know if you want the truth.
I always thought I wanted to live in a fantasy world.
I thought it would beat out the daily grind, but…
now I think about home and seeing my sister, and just…
going to grab a coffee on a Saturday afternoon, or driving to the park with my laptop.
I miss the simplicity that I once viewed as overly complex.
Turns out, overly complex means figuring out how to stay alive. Not going to work.”
They turned to me.
“What about you, Erenye?” Reggie asked.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Finally, I just said, “I think…I’m afraid we may be stuck here.
Do I want to go home? Yes. Can I manage to adapt if we don’t get that opportunity here?
Yes, I can. I’m taking things one day at a time and trying not to think about the future—or the past—too much.
Because there’s nothing we can do for now but go through the days and try to stay alive until… we know either way.”
As we finished our dinner, Brynn said, “At least we’re almost to the Summer Kingdom. If we can get this mess with Zaran over, then at least we can decide what to do without feeling funneled.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And if we can manage to conquer this quest, maybe I actually have a future to plan for. Because guys, if Zaran kills me in-game, I’m gone for good.”
And on that note, we decided to settle down and sleep. I took the first watch, but the night passed without incident, and by morning, we were all feeling a little more refreshed and hopeful.