Wings

The cool night air slapped me in the face as we stepped outside the Green Horn, greeted by the pale, watchful eye of the moon. Yeah, that’s right, this place had a name. I drank myself to the point of forgetting it, but I still remembered Gina’s comment saying that this inn also had a great tavern. And if I wasn’t already sober, the temperature drop may have done it. 

“Tyro Town’s secret better not be how cold it gets at night,” I said. “I already knew that after staying the night back in there. Absolutely no insulation in those wooden walls, I tell you.”

Coral shot me a look. “Well ain’t you a comedian. Anybody with more than two brain cells knows that already. The biggest secret here is the wildlife.”

I glanced at Half-sword Dave, who gave me an equally confused look back. I assumed the woodsman would know a thing or two about wildlife in this area. Then again, maybe he wasn’t from here. Or it was just that well-kept a secret.

“What wildlife?” Half-sword Dave asked. “The woods here are barren except for the goblin tribes.”

“I meant the wildlife within the city walls,” Coral said.

“Oh. Rats?” I asked.

“No.”

“Raccoons then,” Half-sword Dave said.

“No! It’s the humans here. Or should I say…”A pointy grin spread across her face. “…the Players here.”

I blinked. Players? That couldn’t be.

“Gina said that I hadn’t met any Players before Half-sword Dave,” I said.

Coral waved her hand. “Just another one of her lies.”

“Hey!” I frowned. “You aren’t wrong, but come on. She’s still my friend.”

“My apologies Daisuke, but you can see my point. She was actually the one who clued me into what was goin’ on.”

Our feet crunched against packed dirt as we strode around the town. The moon hung low in the sky, freshly risen and illuminating our ambulating. The Green Horn was the only building with its lights on; everyone else was dead asleep.

“Believe me when I say that Hinata’s rise to power was not peaceful. Heck, him keepin’ his power isn’t peaceful. Along the way and up to this day, he’s had to silence a whole lotta people. Those that stood against him were usually Players who recognized the malicious intent behind Hinata’s royal coup.” She wasn’t looking at me. Her head was turned so that I couldn’t see her eyes. But I could imagine her own guilt in letting it come to pass. “So King Hinata had them executed. Thing is, he never read the game manual.”

We stopped just before the guild hall. In the dark, it looked like an ancient mausoleum.
“He doesn’t know that Players respawn,” Coral said.

“Isn’t that the first thing to assume with video games?” I asked. “That you have multiple lives and can just respawn? I knew next to nothing about video games and even I knew that.”

“Gina told me about stories that transplants like yourself had,” Half-sword Dave said. “In these stories, people would be given a second chance in some fantasy world. He probably figured he was living in a scenario like that. It was a mix of his own hubris in believing he knew how this world worked, prior experience with those stories, and his own desperate desire to keep living his lavish life.”

Coral nodded. “So all the Players that were executed would respawn. Some of them had advanced spells that let them respawn someplace else. But most everybody was able to respawn here, in the starting area, with their inventories intact.”

“That’s no fair,” I said with a huff.

“That’s life, kid,” Half-sword Dave said. “Some of us are high enough level to do that. Sorry.”

“Point is,” Coral said, “those who were just executed would want to lay low. They were in no rush to go back to the royal dungeons. So instead of progressin’ further on as usual…”

“They would just stay here.” My eyes widened. “And since he’s such a high level, he doesn’t have any reason to go back to the starter area.”

I took another scan of Tyro Town. It still had geometrically boring buildings, with very little to do. But now I saw that this place as thrumming with potential, with people who can and would do the right thing. So many high level former revolutionaries, right under my nose.

We were at the center of the town, at the guild hall. So all I had to do was shout to get my message heard.

“Hey everybody! This is a big ask, but I need you to listen! We’re going to be rallying against the tyrant ruling our land, King Hinata Oninomiya! Remember your rebellious roots, and join us. We need your help. I don’t know many of you. Actually, I don’t know most of you. And yet, I feel now that we’re closer than ever befo—”

From one of the darkened windows, a tomato flew at my face. It was only thanks to my baseball training that I caught it in one hand. Yet it stung as if it had hit my face.

“Shut the fuck up!” someone yelled back. “We’re trying to sleep!”

And then, silence. That guy probably got back in bed. What a freak, keeping a tomato by his nightstand.

I turned back to Coral and Half-sword Dave. 

“Well… shit,” I said.

They grimaced. As cynical as they were, even they had some hope. But these people had long since given up their revolutionary dreams. They too had run away from reality, from facing the hard truth of what needed to be done and settled for what they wanted.

I threw the tomato over my shoulder and sat on the ground, head between my knees. 

“This is hopeless,” I said. “I knew all along. Even if we do save Gina and even if that does help us kill the Demon King and even if that does help us save Chouji, you all are going to die!”

Coral raised an eyebrow at me. “Pardon?”

“Once the Demon King is dead, that’s game over. The end. Curtains.” I gestured to the town and all that existed beyond its wooden walls. “This world won’t exist anymore.”

Half-sword Dave burst out laughing. It was a hearty, gut laugh, so rich and low that I thought he was doing it as a joke. But Coral and I stared at him with dawning horror. He was laughing for real. And it was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard.

“Don’t be a moron,” he said with shining eyes. “Questia existed before ‘Questing Heroes’ or whatever. It’ll exist afterwards.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Earth existed long before humans were put on it. It’ll exist after humans are gone. Same here. Even with the Demon King gone, we’ll get another ‘endgame quest.’ Game over doesn’t mean the game is over.”

I believed Hinata because he spoke the words with such certainty that it felt like it couldn’t possibly be false. But now I had good word from his former colleagues that he didn’t know shit about the way the world works, and was simply talking out of his ass. And now I’m hearing that there could be a chance again. Hope didn’t bloom in my heart, but it did begin germinating.

“Excuse me?” a voice asked.

The three of us turned back. My jaw dropped.

It was Sheila, Ford, and Basil. I assumed that they were NPCs, but considering how friendly they were with Gina, it makes sense that they would be players too. They stood stalwart and ready for action, light smiles on their faces.

“Forgive our tardiness,” Basil said. “It took us a minute to organize and make our way over here.”

“We heard your call.” This time it was Ford speaking. “And you’re right. We should stop being such lazy, worthless bums who are too passive in their own lives to be called human beings.”

“I never said any of that, but I appreciate your can-do attitude!” I said with a smile. I looked at Coral and Half-sword Dave in the hopes that they would also be happy to have back up.

They were shocked. Coral had her jaw hanging open like a basking shark. Half-sword Dave’s eyebrows nearly met his hairline.

He whistled. “Gina wasn’t kidding. I never thought I’d see Sheila the Shield or Ford the Sword ever again.”

The two guards in question blushed. “I haven’t heard that nickname in ages!” Sheila said.

“Count my lucky stars,” Coral said in an awed whisper. “I never thought I’d see Basil the Magician alive and well.”

The old man got a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I’m glad someone here knows they’re history.”

The smile on my own face grew wider. Three normal people would have been enough. But three legends? We were set.

“So what’s the plan?” Basil asked.

Like magic, the smile vanished off of my face. Yet that seemed to be the reaction Basil was expecting.

“If we’re going to attack the castle,” he said, “we’re going to need a ride.”

He whistled a melody, bright and clear. The song permeated through the cold night air, traveling for miles. Not five seconds later, three giant fucking eagles landed next to the guild hall.

We stood there in stunned silence, admiring the majestic beasts before us. Even Half-sword Dave was impressed. The birds of prey had a wingspan that could stretch from home base to second plate. Their brown feathers and golden beaks were hidden by cover of night, but still gave off a sense of dignity. They gazed at us with deep, inquisitive eyes.

Basil approached with arms wide, speaking in a tongue none of us could recognize. With a smile, he held out his hand, and one of the eagles bent down to meet it with his own beak.

“Have you always had access to these eagles?” I asked.

“Why, of course,” Basil said.

“These really could’ve helped me out in the beginning, you know.”

“There’s actually multiple lore reasons as to why that could not happen. For instance—”

“Don’t care!” Half-sword Dave yelled. “Time ain’t on our side, and we need to kick Hinata’s ass now!”
We distributed ourselves, two to an eagle. Sheila and Ford got on an eagle, followed by Coral and Half-sword Dave, then Basil and myself.

Basil spoke another word, and in an instant we were in the air. If the townspeople hated me for being loud earlier, they definitely hated me now. But in fairness, I wasn’t the only person screaming. So was everyone else with the exception of Basil. 

And so we soared on new wings. I was never that timely of a person, but Gina is someone I would be on time for.