Eternal Voyager and the Lonely Tower

Adventures in the Metaverse 7

In a far distant part of the universe there is a game called Epic. All the players of the game get to live inside it, until their avatars are killed or they choose to leave. Epic is a fantasy role playing game and one of its most dedicated practitioners is Eternal Voyager, whose level 13 gnome Rogue was the highest level character in the game.

After three day’s march towards Loch Gelu, Eternal Voyager was seriously regretting his choice of companion. For some adventures, you simply couldn’t get around the need to have a ‘tank’: a big damage-absorbing warrior who can go on, and on, and on, without stopping, battle after battle. What Eternal had forgotten about Silver Candida was that although at level 12 Fighter, her avatar was probably the most powerful tank in the whole of Epic, Silver also had an attitude to match her prowess. For days now, she had gone on and on and on all right, with instruction after instruction, quite as though she had discovered the tower, not him.

         Then too, Eternal Voyager couldn’t help but be a little jealous of her gear. Only four avatars had completed the Coruscating Breastplate quest and there it was ahead of him, scintillating through the colours of the rainbow, declaring to all who saw it that its owner was a mighty force to be reckoned with.

Right now, Silver was ploughing ahead up a snowy hill while EV slogged along as fast as he could behind her. His gnome avatar was at home in the dark alleys of a city, not the wide-open skies of a northern wilderness. Worse, there were no shadows here to speak of, just greyness. Grey clouds, grey snow, grey pines. Meaning he couldn’t use his mastery over shadows to skip across the landscape. Instead, head down, he had to concentrate on walking, trying his best to land his footfalls on the flattened snow of his companion’s trail.

         ‘Keep up, EV, keep up. Step where I have trodden the snow down for you. Otherwise, it will be over your knees.’

         He didn’t bother to reply.

         Their plan – Silver’s plan – was to push on until the sun was below the line of trees to their left and then make camp. But it was no good. His trousers were soaked through, cold and heavy; his pack lay on his back like a slab of marble and every breath, necessarily a deep one, brought a sharp pain of cold air into his body. That was the problem with playing Epic, it was a full immersive experience: you just couldn’t alter the local environment for your personal comfort.

         ‘Stop a moment Silver, I need a break.’

         Given that she was still taking determined strides through the snow, it seemed as though Silver hadn’t heard him. But then she halted. ‘The plan is …’

         ‘Stuff the plan. I’m exhausted. And frozen.’

         Silver took a few steps back towards him, adjusting the straps of her cloak. For several metres around her the snow reflected the multi-coloured glow of her magic breastplate.

         ‘I’m not taking your backpack you know. I told you at the outset, just bring what you can carry yourself.’

         ‘I know, I do know. You’ve said it twenty times. That’s not what I’m asking for. It’s just that I was expecting shadows. Last time there were shadows… I need a break. Something to eat maybe.’

         ‘All right.’ In one motion, Silver squatted on her powerful haunches while swinging a leather bag around to rummage in it. After a moment, she produced a scarlet salami and began to cut slices from the top of it, popping them into her mouth, one after another. One tasty, salty, slice after another. She paused, looking at him.

         ‘What?’

         ‘Nothing.’ With a sigh, EV dug deep into his own backpack. First of all, he extracted his folded groundsheet, which he opened up enough to sit on. Then, after something of a struggle with the jumble of gear inside the bag, his fingers identified the raised patterns of the edge of his magical plate. In planning for the expedition it had seemed like a great idea to bring his Plate of Sustenance, rather than real rations.

A swipe with the hand and the plate was full. Bread as always. And not even warm, fresh bread. Lumpy, heavy bread.

‘Trade you,’ EV said hopefully, ‘half the bread for some of that salami.’

‘I’m good.’

Checking his reflection in the plate, EV gave Silver what he considered his most baleful glare. It was like trying to intimidate a brick.

         ‘Ready?’ After carefully wrapping it, Silver was putting her salami away.

         ‘Ready? I haven’t had a bite to eat.’

         ‘Eat while you walk.’

         ‘This is supposed to be a break.’

         ‘If you stay still for too long here, you’ll find it hard get up at all.’

         ‘Great steaming piles of dung!’ But it was true, EV’s legs felt numb and at least walking would bring some life into them. Scattering the uneaten bread across the snow, he shoved the plate deep into his backpack and then pushed the groundsheet in on top. ‘Come on then.’

         Trudging through the greyness once more, EV couldn’t help feeling sorry for himself, with a misery that grew especially intense when he thought of his friends back outside of the game, enjoying their parties and hot dinners. Still, if, as he suspected, the tower proved to be a key location for advancing the infamous Gloria Sortis quest then this would all be worthwhile. Comforted, and warmed even, by the thought of returning home to universal acclaim, not to mention with rare loot and possibly an Epic-record-setting fourteenth level rogue, Eternal Voyager, gnome grandmaster Rogue, pressed on.

         Later, with their tents up and with a lively fire drying his trousers, EV felt more cheerful and even found he was paying attention to what Silver was saying: something about her plans for when this expedition was over.

         ‘I know what you’re thinking. Why bother with the weeks of grinding necessary for a Dragonslayer, when I’ve got four weapons with better damage-to-time ratios?’

         ‘Dragonslayer, the pike right?’

         ‘Well, a glaive-guisarm, but yeah. So, the point is the resistances on the Dragonslayer will get me – on average - three extra minutes against elder blue, red and white dragons. For black and green dragons, obviously my Longsword of the Ages is better.’

         ‘Obviously.’

         ‘With a Dragonslayer I only need to group with two seventh-level damage-classes, with decent gear of course, and we could take an elder dragon. Actually, if I was grouped with you, the two of us would win most of the time. I was running simulations. The key is that I survive nine minutes, not six. And if we had a reasonably competent group healer class with us – though, admittedly, they are as rare as a honest innkeeper - it’s almost without risk.’

         ‘Erm Silver?’

         ‘Yeah?’

         ‘Can we talk about something else, other than Epic gear?’

         The barbarian frowned. ‘Like what?’

         ‘Well, philosophy, say.’

         ‘Sure, I have a philosophy.’

         ‘Great.’ EV looked at Silver, taking in the solemn blue eyes that looked back at him through long braids of blonde hair. For the first time since they began their long trek, he found himself interested the next utterance that would come from her mouth.

         ‘If it moves … hit it. And if it doesn’t move …’

         He sighed. ‘Hit it until it moves. I know. All tanks think that’s a clever line. But seriously. What makes you happy? Really now.’

         Silver didn’t answer at once, but drank some of the beer from her magic horn. ‘That’s a good question. Let me think about it.’

         So he did. Above, slender clouds caught the silver moonlight, stars visible between them.

         ‘I’d have to say, in all honesty, nothing beats being in a team of top Epic players and crushing the enemy.’

         ‘Like at the battle of Wizard’s Ford?’

         ‘Meh. No. I was stuck behind a wall most of that day, up on the south hill. I mean, say, a group of six taking down a boss or something.’

         ‘I see. And are you happy then, because you’ve achieved something difficult? Or because you anticipate respect and admiration from your peers?’

         ‘A bit of both. That and the pure thrill of it. It’s like, only in those moments does all the grinding and questing become worthwhile. It’s pay-off time. Know what I mean?’

         ‘Yeah,’ said EV, ‘I do. But that still begs the question a bit.’

         ‘Huh?’

         ‘You’re happy that the questing has paid off. But why invest so much of your time doing questing in the first place?’

         ‘Oh I see. Well, you’re right. I guess I try to be the best in this game because that’s who I am. Gaming is what I’m best at. You don’t become the best tank in Epic just as a means to an end. You gotta love the getting there.’

         This, it seemed to EV, was a reasonable answer and matched his own understanding of Silver’s nature. It crossed his mind to probe her to see what her character was like outside the context of being a barbarian warrior in Epic. Did she go to parties? Play sports? Like rock music? His suspicion was that all the time Silver was outside of Epic, she was planning for her next adventure in the game. But rather than test that theory and push her to identify a deeper meaning to her existence, he preferred to sleep. His legs were warm at last, though they ached with the day’s effort.

         ‘Your turn for first shift, right?’

         ‘Aye.’ Silver gave him a nod and EV crawled into his tent.

         Two days later, having reached the frozen waters of Loch Gelu, they got their first view of the tower. It stood tall and dark; rising above a cluster of pines on what would have been an island had the lake not been solid ice.

         ‘Big. Even from here, I can see it’s big.’ Silver shook her head and then broke into a smile that might have been charming on a less thuggish face. ‘Well done EV. You’re right, this is something special.’

         ‘Yeah, and up close, it’s massive. Twenty stories maybe.’

         ‘Let’s see.’ The barbarian squatted down, her head now level with Eternal’s. A quick grope in one of her bags – how did she keep everything from becoming jumbled up? – and she produced a small, heavily varnished box. Inside it, resting on red velvet, were two lenses.

         ‘Eyes of the Eagle?’ guessed EV, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

         ‘Right.’ Cupping a lens in each hand, Silver pressed her palms to her eyes and held them there for a while. When she dropped her hands, EV’s heart leapt. It was unnerving to be stared at by such intense black circles. And the amber irises radiated a frowning concentration. Silver blinked.

         ‘Oh, neat. You get nictating membranes with those!’

         ‘Yeah. Keeps them from weeping while you focus.’ Silver turned her head and studied the distant tower for a long time.

         For his part, EV studied his companion, feeling something like admiration. He’d told her already that he had walked – sauntered really – up to the tower. That a pack of wolves had come rushing out of the main doors, barking and howling and that Eternal had found it necessary to flee. And his main idea in recruiting her had been that they would walk up to the tower again and that she would kill the wolves. But it seemed that uber tanks did not simply present themselves to the enemy and hack their way through whatever attacked. She had method, patience, strategy even. She had gone up in his estimation.

         ‘Well?’ he asked at last.

         Silver shook her head. ‘Other than the doors, it’s featureless from top to bottom.’

         ‘So, what’s the plan?’

         She tipped her head forward and clutched at her eyes, shaking the lenses out. ‘Let’s walk up to the tower and hack a way through when the wolves come at us.’

         ‘Oh … That’s the plan, so.’

Disconsolate once more, EV followed as Silver marched steadily down a featureless, snow-covered slope to the edge of the lake.

Ahead of them, the tower filled a greater and greater part of the sky. It really was massive, more so than he remembered. After several great leaps, landing heavily on the frozen water, Silver seemed to have satisfied herself that the ground was solid enough and she glanced across at EV.

         ‘Come on then.’

         There was a cold wind blowing over the loch and EV shivered in his cape. But it wasn’t the wind that made him feel exposed. It was the looming presence of the tower.

         ‘Silver?’

         ‘Hmm?’

         ‘Don’t you think something is watching us?’

         ‘Something, or someone, for sure.’

         Without breaking stride, two weapons appeared in her hands, a slender longsword in her right and a crooked machete in her left. She noticed his curiosity.

         ‘I’m assuming the wolves will be a bit tougher than the usual type. So this is my second fastest set-up.’

         ‘What’s the off-hand weapon?’

         ‘Jesilon. It’s the reward for the “flowers over Newhaven” quest. It’s forty-percent slower than my plus-three Dagger of Sharpness, but over double the damage. See?’

         ‘Not exactly. I see that it looks ugly, dangerous.’

         ‘If one hit will kill our mobs, then the dagger is better, otherwise, I use Jelison. It’s damage-to-time ratio is one point seven, the dagger’s is one point three.’

         Now they were walking between individual pines. Ahead, large, crude looking wooden doors were set in the bleak, granite walls of the tower. EV was heartened by the fact that the pale sky was just bright enough to create faint shadows. Ever since he had shot up to level thirteen in the space a few minutes, by killing the General of Bow and the General of Sword, his gnome avatar had gained complete mastery of the stuff of shadow. There was enough of its mysterious presence around him now that he knew he could cover himself if need be and disappear. Even better than gaining invisibility from shadows was the fact that he could step onto a shadow and step off any other shadow connected to it. It was like having unlimited teleports, very handy for a rogue with backstab bonuses.

         ‘Not far now,’ EV warned his companion. This was very close to the point at which the wolves had come rushing out. And on that day, there had been no shadows to assist him.

         ‘Wait here, hide.’ Silver strode on determinedly, while EV gathered a cloak of shadows and stood still inside of it.

         All his attention was on the great doors and with every step that Silver took, EV anticipated them swinging open and the mass of howling ferocious wolves surging out to battle. Instead, Silver suddenly started behaving in a most peculiar fashion. She had dropped her weapons and had swung her great kite shield around to hide behind it as though streams of molten fire were raging down upon her. But beyond her, all was still. And quiet.

         ‘A little help here!’ Silver cried, with real distress. ‘I can’t hold out for long.’ A moment later she screamed with pain and dropped the shield, before staggering back towards the lake. While she pounded her way across the ice, EV waited, looking for whatever had attacked Silver to reveal itself. And he waited some more. Waiting was clearly wise, but it was also quite dull. At last, he slipped in absolute silence across to the scene of the fight. Odd. No footsteps, other than those of Silver.

         Eternal picked up her discarded weapons – several months’ worth of questing there, not to be abandoned lightly – and looked at the huge shield. Then he looked at the long trail of snow and ice that led to the rather sorry-looking barbarian warrior. She had stopped running and seemed to be drinking something, a potion? Letting out a faint sigh, EV ran a cord through the straps of the shield and retreated some distance before hauling the shield towards him. It was slow work, but eventually Silver’s most valuable piece of gear came loose from a clump of snow and pine needles to slide onto the ice. Now he could drag it easily back to its owner.

         ‘EV, you brought me all this way to get me killed, you villain.’

         ‘I was expecting a grateful tone, not an accusatory one.’ He chucked the swords onto the shield with a clang. ‘I got your gear back at least.’

         ‘I didn’t sign on for a lich. Not just any lich, that was like, demi-god level. Wolves you said. Kill the wolves, get you inside, you’d steal the loot. That’s what you said. That’s what I’m here for. Not some prince sorcerer of the underworld with pulsating missiles of immense destructive power.’

         ‘Lich huh?’

         ‘What do you mean with that tone of voice?’ Silver frowned a heavy frown.

         ‘What’s the most dangerous encounter for a tank? Hoards of tooth and claw mobs, or one top sorcerer?’

         ‘The sorcerer. Obviously.’

         ‘Same question for a rogue.’

         ‘Depends.’

         ‘Well anyway, to cut to the point. The door is guarded by illusions that are responsive to our classes. We invented an encounter that we couldn’t beat. I came up with wolves. You saw a lich.’

         ‘But look at the damage to my armour.’

         ‘What damage?’

         Silver felt around her body and frowned.

         ‘The door never opened,’ said EV, ‘you were fighting a ghost. There’s no marks on the snow. I didn’t see or hear anything other than you, jumping around like a grasshopper.’

         ‘Damnation. You’re right and I’ve just wasted a Potion of Intense Healing.’

         ‘Come on then.’

         For once, EV took the lead and he felt a certain complacency in doing so. In the entire time he’d been in her company, Silver had acted as though she was the sole source of knowledge about Epic: it had annoyed him ­– hopefully he had not let it show – that not once had she consulted him on any decision. Well, for the moment she was quiet. Perhaps a little dismayed at her unnecessary panic.

         As they came within ten metres of the huge wooden doors, EV halted. ‘Can you hear the howling of wolves?’

         ‘No,’ Silver grunted. ‘I can smell the rot of an undead though, can’t you?’

         ‘No.’ EV sniffed the air deeply with his sensitive Gnomish nose: ice, snow, stone, wolf. Nothing undead. ‘Just wolves.’

         Howling, a pack of wolves appeared at the corner of the tower and raced towards him, ready to tear him apart with their slavering fangs.

         ‘Here’s that lich again and she’s casting!’ Silver’s voice had gone up an octave.

         ‘Not real,’ EV said, glad to hear that his voice came out with a composure unaffected by his constricting stomach and beating heart. Not real. Not real. Not real.

         The savage wolves were upon him. With crashing blows of sharp-clawed paw and swift snapping jaw, EV should have been torn apart like a soft toy. Yet for all the fearsome noise, the stench of the animals’ fur and even a certain amount of buffeting from the air, he did not feel their attacks.

         ‘The lich queen still blasting you to pieces?’ He even managed a grin and a certain nonchalant swagger as he looked back at Silver.

         ‘Err, yes, Fireball just went off.’ She, however, was still in the midst of mental turmoil, evidently half believing the illusion to judge from her raised shield and the sweaty, pale look of her face.

         ‘Lovely, might warm you up a bit.’ EV chuckled. ‘I’m going to see if there’s a lock on the door.’

         Shadow-stepping, EV touched the massive wooden doors and instantly, his wolves disappeared. The silence was welcome. No more slavering, howling monsters. A faint wind in the distant pines was all he could hear.

         ‘Oh, that’s better.’ Silver stomped up to him, looking cheerful. Although she was a mighty human, around two metres tall, she was less than half the height of these doors. ‘Can you get us in?’

         EV’s pick locks skill was rank 13 due to his level and even though he hadn’t put the hours in (usually, Rogues went to practice locks and did some grinding to max their skill, but there was no practice lock beyond rank 9), the bar displaying his competency within that rank was over 50% full. Easily the most accomplished opener of locks within the game, EV could have strolled through the most well-defended of merchant premises at Newhaven and opened all their safes and vaults without having to break step. But he did need there to be a lock.

         ‘No.’ He ran a fingertip up the tight seam made where the two doors met together. ‘I think it is barred from the other side.’

         ‘Stand back then.’

         ‘You don’t think …’ EV was going to suggest they search their gear for items that might allow them to get inside without making too much of a noise but Silver was already running at the doors.

         His step was a large one, aided by the shadows in the door frame and he was a good five metres clear when Silver’s shoulder hit the line of the doors. They groaned, a sprinkling of snow fell from the tower, as the entire building had just rocked slightly, and a distinct Silver-sized dent had appeared in the wood.

         With a grunt of satisfaction, Silver drew back and charged the doors again. Thump. Creak. On the third attempt, a loud cracking sound rang out as something snapped. The seal of the doors was no longer tight: a gap like the triangle of a tent entrance had appeared. Peeking inside, EV saw a large hall filled with tall, classical statues, which was well lit by Continual Light.

         ‘Statues, huh?’ Silver was leaning over him. ‘Gonna swap to my maul. I suggest you carry a blunt weapon in case they animate.’

         Unlike Silver, EV did not have a magical scabbard, capable of holding several weapons. He carried his two swords – a matched pair called Thunder and Lightning – and that was pretty much it apart from two throwing daggers across his chest.

         ‘After you.’

         Squeezing herself through the gap with gritted teeth, Silver staggered through into the hall and immediately the statues did come alive. It was a rather good effect, thought EV, thirty pale humans all looking across at you at the same time. Then they were marching towards Silver, drawing pale stone swords.

         ‘Huzzah!’ Without waiting for them to gather around her, Silver charged, smashing apart the head of the nearest statue with her maul and crushing the flanks of the next with the follow through. Plenty of shadows meant EV could step to whatever part of the room he wished. To start with, he picked the most remote statue at the back of the room, stepped out behind it and stabbed hard. Even with sharp, rather than blunt weapons, a backstab by a grandmaster Rogue was a fearsome strike and his weapons sank deep, a wide crack spreading to cause the figure to crack apart at the waist. No doubt this success resulted in a tiny increment towards level fourteen in his character stats but now wasn’t the time to check: all his attention was on the battle. Five of the nearest statues had turned around at the sound of their companion splitting into two.

         While he could disappear from their attention by stepping into the shadows, EV reckoned he could help Silver more by drawing them away from the action for a while, so with a skip and a provocative wave of his sword, EV waved at them.

         ‘EV, what are you doing?’ A shout echoed around the hall.

         ‘Taking these ones for a run.’

         ‘Well don’t. Get them back here.’

         Really? EV shrugged to himself and stepped into shadow. Immediately, the statues halted. Having scrutinized the area and seen nothing, they turned and ran back to where a huge crush of statues pressed in on Silver.

         All at once they surged around the warrior even more tightly than seemed possible, as though fish drawn into a shrinking net, then SMACK! Splinters of stone flew through sprays of dust. SMACK! EV stepped behind a pillar to avoid being cut by the jagged shards. After several further, mighty explosions and then a few quieter but still impressive sounding crunches, the room went quiet.

         Peeking around the corner, EV saw Silver looking a little ghostly in a covering of white dust. She also looked very satisfied at the debris around her.

         ‘You can come out.’

         So he did. ‘What just happened?’

         ‘Area of Effect taunt, so they got in each other’s way, and then Sweeping Blow, my AE blunt weapon attack.’

         ‘Very effective.’ For some reason, EV found himself reluctant to compliment his partner. Naturally, he was pleased to have overcome these enemies relatively easily. And yet there was something in the smugness of Sliver’s expression that annoyed him.

         ‘No loot. Let’s go.’ And without further discussion Silver was bounding up a wide staircase at the far end of the room.

         ‘Would you like me to…’ He was going to add, check for traps? but Silver dodged a poisoned spear that came clattering down the stairs, having shot from the wall. Then she deflected scythe with her shield and leapt over a false step that opened beneath her.

         ‘Are you coming?’ the warrior asked from high overhead.

         A step into shadow, a sense of roiling, unstable paths, and then a step out beside a door. Silver was coming up behind him, panting slightly. ‘Ah, there you are,’ she said. ‘Can you open that?’

         The heavy wooden door had a fine polish and bronze fittings, including a lock that was firmly closed and, EV noted as he opened it, a poison needle trap.

         ‘Certainly.’ He pushed the door wide. One large room, a swimming pool, with a door on the far side. Torchlight reflected on the green water in which a shadowy creature was swimming. It was a manta ray and was as large as Silver.

         His companion pushed him aside and grunted. Then she started walking around the side of the pool.

         ‘Wait Silver, there’s something wrong.’

         ‘What?’ she replied impatiently, but she had stopped.

         ‘I can feel the shadows but I can’t step through them beyond the half way point. There’s some kind of barrier.’

         ‘Right – o.’ Silver resumed her march until at the exact half-way point she stopped. ‘Aha.’ Her hands were pressing against an invisible wall that prevented her from continuing on the narrow walkway beside the pool. ‘Oh.’ The walkway was moving, withdrawing into the walls of the room. Quickly, EV stepped back, wedging a dagger into the door in case it was set to swing shut and push him into the water. For Silver, there was no avoiding the fall into the pool. She did have time, however, to take a glug from a potion.

         As soon as Silver hit the bottom, the manta ray rushed at her, with dramatic flashes of blue lightning racing around the pool, filling the air with the smell of ozone and making EV’s hair stand up. Just as he was wondering if he should jump in to help Silver, all went quiet. The manta ray floated to the top of the water in a cloud of black blood.

         From the far side of the room, came Silver’s call.

         ‘Come on EV, jump in. The barrier doesn’t extend through the water.’

         Regretting the penalty to his stealth that would come from dripping water and making puddles, EV hadn’t any better ideas, so he dived through the murky water and swam across. It was cold too. By the time he reached the far end of the room, Silver had kicked open the door and was battling a minotaur. She really didn’t like to hang around.

         The big, bullish monster was holding a two-handed axe and dealing out blows that looked very dangerous. None of them were getting past Silver’s guard, however, and her own ripostes had wounded the minotaur in several places. Quickly shadow stepping behind the monster, EV launched a backstab and couldn’t help giving a triumphant little cheer when it collapsed.

         Silver didn’t even pause to compliment him. ‘Loot up. I’m going up those stairs.’

         ‘Would you like me to…’ He was going to add, check for traps? But Silver had triggered a rolling boulder, which she’d shoulder-charged to the side, and was already out of sight. Oh well.

         On the body of the minotaur was a bag of coins and gems and a scrunched-up note.

         Guardians wanted. High pay but must be prepared for months of solitary duty.

         Odd.

         ‘EV, a hand here!’ The voice of his companion stirred him and leaving behind the valuable axe with some reluctance (it was too heavy), EV stepped into shadows. And out of them behind Silver.

         They were in another huge room filling the interior space of the tower. Silver was battering away at two iron golems and was taking a few hits herself. But the main problem was a sphere of darkness in the far corner, out of which a rain of Magic Missiles suddenly poured down on Silver in bright shimmering colours that left a glowing afterimage on EV’s vision.

         ‘Gonna toss you over the golems. Kill the caster.’

         ‘Wait… I can shadow…’

         He was in the air, flung up to the roof. Twisting like a cat to get his feet down, EV banged into the ground, hearing himself gasp. It took a moment to get his breath back and in that moment, he felt himself drawn to a swirling colourful pattern on the nearby wall. It wanted his attention; it was a secret that if he just studied it a moment longer would give him extraordinary insights into the hidden workings of the universe. It was a lie.

         Shaking off the pull of the spell, EV ran towards the centre of the black sphere. It was pitch black in there and even his gnomish nightvision didn’t penetrate far. Still, there was a man chanting spells, so without hesitation EV ran toward the voice, sword outstretched.

         ‘Ouch! You are an annoying little gnome!’

         EV’s first attack hadn’t done more than prick the caster with the point of his sword, but the voice and the sense of a person near to him allowed EV to follow up with a much harder hit from his dagger.

         ‘Ouff. Get off me!’ There were punches and kicks coming in on EV’s head and shoulders, but no more magic. And when EV managed to get a foot behind the man and heave him over, the darkness fell away.

         On the ground, struggling to right himself, was a human sorcerer with a flared black shirt, wide topped boots, shiny silk cloak and even a silver medallion over a bare chest. EV paused to admire the man.

         ‘What?’

         ‘Nice style.’

         ‘My thanks. Might I draw on your approval to persuade you to let me go?’

         ‘Sure. But what’s with this tower? Tell me it has something to do with the Gloria Sortis quest.’

         The sorcerer shrugged and ran a hand over his bald head. ‘Unfortunately, much as I’d like to earn your approval, I don’t know. I just answered an advertisement.’

         ‘Guardians wanted?’

         ‘Correct.’

         From behind EV came several loud clangs and he pretended to be about to turn to look at Silver’s fight with the golems, though in fact his full concentration was on the sorcerer. Just as well. Believing EV to be distracted the conniving trickster had immediately grabbed for a pouch. Before his opponent could complete a throwing action, EV had flung a dagger through the raised wrist and sent the man’s arm backwards. He rushed in with his sword and the fight was no contest. Without spells or even his own dagger the sorcerer had nothing. Once the man was dead and his avatar had despawned from the game, EV hurried back to Silver, who was battering great dents into the remaining iron golem.

         ‘Silver?’

         ‘Uh?’

         ‘Would you mind not just rushing into danger? Can we go a bit more carefully?’

         ‘What danger?’ And with that, she crushed the golem’s head. ‘We haven’t met anything you might call dangerous yet.’

         ‘Well, you know, I just feel a bit rushed. A bit off balance.’

         ‘I see. Did you loot that magic user?’

         With a sigh, EV turned back to the items floating in the space where the sorcerer had been. There was a pouch at least, the one the sorcerer had been about to throw. Dust of Sneezing. Nasty stuff. EV tied it to his belt. The sorcerer also had a Wand of Magic Missiles, which as a grandmaster Rogue EV could use.

         ‘Nothing for a warrior. Wand and pouch of dust for me.’

         Silver just grunted. ‘Did you bring many healing potions?’

         She was looking a bit battered; iron golems were tough. No way could EV had stood toe-to-toe with them.

         ‘I’ll trade you a Potion of Intense Healing for half your salami.’

         Silver walked closer and leaned over EV. ‘We’re a team, buddy. And you brought magic bread. I brought salami. That was your choice. Now hand over the potion.’

         EV folded his arms, though truth be told, he did feel a bit ashamed.

         There was a long silence.

         ‘Fine.’ All of a sudden, Silver squatted down and brought her pack around, then she rummaged out her salami and cut off a generous slice.

         ‘Here.’ Suddenly feeling sheepish, EV handed over two potions of Healing and two more of Intense Healing. ‘That’s the lot.’

         With grunt, Silver drank back one of the Intense Healing potions and sprang up. ‘Right then, let’s do this!’ Off she went to the stairs that had been previously masked by the sorcerer’s sphere of darkness. Behind her, taking a guilty but intensely pleasurable bite from the salami, EV slipped along through the shadows.

***

         Four hours later, EV and Silver were resting after a battle against a two-headed giant. With all the healing potions gone, Silver was reliant on her natural abilities and a Ring of Recovery, which was a fine item, definitely one that EV would have relished, since it removed poisons as well as gave a small health regeneration. But it was slow to work. The two of them were sat side-by-side facing a glowing portal. It was a swirling purple mist, framed by an oval-shaped, stone entrance, tall enough to admit the giant.

         ‘Do you think we are at the top?’ asked EV. ‘Is this it? The final room?’

         ‘I’m not sure.’ Silver’s face had a ruddy hue from the glow of the portal, it made her look flushed and out of breath.

         ‘Well, I’ll be glad if it is. A tower grind isn’t really my thing.’ And, he thought to himself, it had been a lot more of a grind with a partner like Silver. No humour. No culture. Hardly any conversation at all in fact.

         ‘The mirror maze was a good fight. The iron golems too. But you know we are at our limit, right? If there’s a super-tough boss next, we could fail and have to come again with a proper group: healer; crowd control; couple more DPS.’ Silver shook her head thoughtfully.

         ‘Let’s hope not.’ Frankly, it would hardly be worth it. Yes, there was probably some decent magical reward at the top. And yes, if this advanced one of the more famous quests there would be a lot of public acclaim (and EV had to admit to a weakness when it came to being a gamer celebrity). But against that was the prospect of several days in the company of Silver while travelling to this remote spot. One more lecture about the best formation and gear for tackling three trolls and ogre captain would be unbearable. He’d rather stab himself in the eye and respawn at home, taking the experience loss.

         ‘Silver?’ Bored by the wait for his partner to heal up, Eternal Voyager thought he would try to get a conversation going about something other than the game of Epic.

‘Yes?’

‘What’s your favourite book?’

‘On Weapons by Willing Joke.’

‘Ahh. A fine book… Would you like to know my favourite book?’

‘No.’

After several minutes, EV stopped sulking and tried again. ‘Silver?’

‘Yes?’

‘What’s your favourite music?’

‘The March of the Cursed Army by Rascal Delight.’

‘Ahh. Yes. Very inspiring… Would you like to know my favourite music?’

‘No.’

…

It was about an hour before Silver stood up and faced the portal, tightening the straps on her right arm. ‘Full health. Let’s go see what this boss is like.’

‘Right so.’

Just one step behind Silver, EV entered the purple mist and came out… in a very similar huge room, except that the swirling portal on the opposite side to them was a deep blue and between them and the portal was an army of skeletons who snapped to attention. Some were archers, some were swordsmen but most were spearmen (or women, it was hard to get a count of their ribs). And there were at least a hundred of them.

‘Not the sort of encounter that suits us,’ muttered Silver, ‘can you shadow step to that portal?’

‘No. These are unnatural, magical shadows.’

With a rustling, clacking sound the skeletons began to close in and the first arrow came flying over to embed itself in Silver’s shield.

‘Stay tight. Let’s go; no point staying here for their target practice.’

With that Silver strode forward, shield high, a one-handed mace in her right fist. The grinning skulls of their enemies seemed to welcome them. With a surge the skeletons crowded around and EV found himself taking damage from spear jabs.

‘These are tough. Level eight at least,’ said Silver.

While EV had his back to his partner and couldn’t watch her fight, he could feel the moment when she took a step forward. Such moments did not come very often.

‘Getting anywhere?’ he asked her. ‘My health is dropping.’

‘We’re going to die here. Well, at least I am. Can you hide? Sneak around. Try to get there. I’ll distract them as long as I can.’

‘Maybe. Can you do anything to make the room light up and create natural shadows for me?’

By way of reply, Silver dropped her mace and drew a glass bottle which she hurled across the room. It shattered with a flash and the oil it contained started to burn with a blue light. She threw another and another.

‘I’m doomed.’ Silver glanced back at EV. ‘But maybe I can distract them enough, if they aren’t smart. Now go!’ She hissed this last with a fierce urgency.

‘I… maybe we should die together, side-by-side?’

‘Stay on mission, EV, find out what’s up there. Even if it’s a boss you can’t beat, we need the intel for next time.’

‘What about your body and gear?’

‘I’ll take the loss in respawning it. What with all I’ve gained so far today, it won’t be much. Now go! While the fire is burning.’

Stepping into the flimsy, pale, flicking shadows was a real challenge and anyone with a skill less than that of EV would have found it impossible. In other words, every other player. Even for him, it was like being on a tightrope in a blustery sky. Constant, small adjustments were needed to stay invisible in the flickering half-light and all around him were suspicious skeleton warriors, whose skulls turned back and forth, hollow eyed.

From the knot of figures around Silver was a roaring sound. It was his comrade, trying to distract every soldier in the room and create some leeway for EV. It was a song! She was shouting out some kind of Viking chant and smashing away against her opponents.

‘Our swords and spears are cracked and worn.

‘Go down, with blood and anger, go down.

‘It’s death for all who are human born.

‘Go down, with blood and anger, go down.

‘All ye who live for war.

‘Go down, with blood and anger, go down.’

It suddenly occurred to EV that he no longer disliked Silver. In fact, he felt a surge of affection for her. Doomed to a painful death and serious level loss, she was doing what she was best at, fighting. Fighting to give EV a chance of reaching the portal. For all her faults, Silver was a true comrade with a commitment to their goal that was unwavering.

Then she was dead and the room strangely silent. A few last blue flames burned their way out of existence. EV was visible again, but that was fine, he was within tumbling distance of the portal and despite two desperate blows from spear points he was there. And through.

For once in the journey through the tower, the room was modest in size. It was indeed the top of the tower, with stunning views through tall, rectangular windows of pale mountain tops, lit by a full moon, Sylvania. The other wasn’t up yet. The stars were bright and tightly packed in complex patterns, like designs of sequins sewn on black velvet. Several lamps burned on shelves that were filled with books and drawings. An unkempt bed filled the far side of the room and near him was a couch on which a man had fallen asleep, book open. It was EV’s old friend Hammer.

‘Hammer!’ EV shook the man by his shoulder and with a rapid blinking of his eyes, Hammer sat up.

‘Eternal Voyager! What are you doing here?’

‘I was about to ask you that. Did you kill the boss?’

Hammer smiled. ‘I am the boss.’

‘Wait? This is your tower?’

‘It is.’

‘There’s no quest? No treasure?’

Now Hammer chuckled. ‘I do hope I didn’t raise your hopes… or inconvenience you. I have employed some powerful guards.’

‘Ah. Oh. I’m afraid Silver and I have killed most of them.’

‘Silver? Silver Candida the warrior? Do you know her?’

‘Not really, but she agreed to explore this tower with me.’

‘Oh well.’ Hammer sank back into the couch. ‘I should be a better host, given the trouble you’ve gone to. Would you like some food and drink?’

‘Yes please.’

Standing up, with an unusual frailty to his motion, Hammer found a glass and set it up on the table. He gestured to EV to take a seat beside him and conjured up a bowl whose contents were hot enough to cause steam to rise from it.

‘What are you doing here Hammer? Is there some rare item nearby you need for your research? Or some special conjunction of magical lay lines?’

From beneath his dark eyebrows Hammer gave EV an appraising look. ‘No, no. Nothing like that. It’s just that sometimes I get melancholy and have no interest in other people or parties or games. Then I find that long walks in the most remote mountains of Epic are the only activity that I really care for. That, and perhaps reading.’

‘I understand,’ said EV. And he did. ‘But it must get lonely.’

‘That’s the point.’

For a while they sat in silence, EV enjoying the vegetable soup that he found in the bowl and looking at a hint of red that was showing in the night sky.

‘What’s that? Dawn?’

‘Aurora Borealis.’

‘Oh, I see. I didn’t know we got that in Epic.’

‘EV,’ Hammer lay back into his couch. ‘Would you say that I’m a misanthrope?’

‘What? Finding the most remote and unattainable spot of the most restricted sim to spend your time in?’

Hammer chuckled. Then his dark face became serious. ‘Misanthrope. It means you don’t like other people. Well, I’m not you know. I actually quite like people. I like the fact you are here. I’d forgotten…’

‘Then why?’

‘It’s easier. It’s just easier.’

After a final mouthful of soup, EV stood up and went to look at the view of snow-topped mountains that, as far as he knew, had been explored by any player. ‘I’d never met Silver before this adventure. I don’t know that I’d expected but I didn’t expect her to be so boring. She’s a monomaniac about Epic. She knows all the stats of all the weapons and monsters and that’s all she wants to talk about.

‘It got so bad, I figured that if my avatar got destroyed and I dropped half a level, that would be better than carrying on in her company.’

From behind him, Hammer chuckled.

‘Then at the very end, the last room full of high-level skeletons, I saw something else. Silver knew she was going to die and she sang this warrior song. It was partly to make noise to cover my sneaking to the portal. But it was also very defiant, very… admirable.

‘She’s my friend now. And when are at a party or something back home, I know she’s only going to talk about the reach of the Glaive of Protest versus the speed of a Spear of Dismounting or something equally dull. But I also know that I’ll feel affectionate towards her. In my mind I’ll still see her going down fighting. Getting me every possible opportunity to reach the portal. And at the same time chanting her warrior song.’

         ‘I see,’ said Hammer. ‘You become friends with people despite their flaws.’

         ‘Everyone is annoying to some degree and admirable to another. It’s just that with some people it’s hard to appreciate their good qualities. Not until you see them in an extreme moment.’ With a sigh that misted up the glass on the window, EV turned around. ‘I don’t suppose you have a quick way out of here? I don’t fancy that slog through the snow again.’

         ‘I’ve a magic carpet.’

         ‘Oh. Oh indeed!’ EV suddenly felt cheerful and he began to imagine being home again, outside of Epic and how pleasant that would feel. ‘I don’t suppose you could drop me off somewhere civilized where I can log out?’

         ‘Better than that, I think I’ll come back with you. Isn’t Angel throwing a party soon?’

         ‘She is indeed. She’ll be glad to see you.’

         ‘No need to gild the lily EV; I’ve decided to leave here, don’t worry. You don’t have to persuade me to stop being a recluse.’

         Refraining from launching into an explanation of Angel’s many positive qualities, ones that meant she would sincerely welcome Hammer to her party, EV watched as Hammer walked briskly around the room, picking books for his backpack.

         It wasn’t long before they were on the roof and in EV’s case, shivering with the cold again. Still, magic carpets were fast and smooth and there was something to be said for the austere beauty of the moonlit landscape.

         After about an hour’s flight, they were well clear of Loch Gelu and EV took a last look at the lonely tower. For all the disappointment that it was not a zone for rare items and quest advancement, he didn’t regret having gone there. Without this adventure he would never have become friends with Silver.