Chapter 1

Riley stared beyond the windshield at the protesters. Stopped, he listened to the clicking of his blinker as it matched the heaving of their makeshift signs. The disgruntled mob's muffled yells grew louder as the light changed, and he pulled his car towards them.

"No-no-no. Please don't." Riley thought to himself as he neared the group. Accidentally, he made eye contact with one greasy-looking protester who jumped out into the road in front of him.

"Mother fucker." He continued to think to himself as he slammed on the brakes, sending his head lurching forward against the taut seatbelt. Frustrated, he looked at the man.

"Move." Riley mouthed as he motioned with his hand.

"Planet over profit!" The protestor yelled, holding up his sign as other green-shirts crossed the road behind him.

"Move, please." Riley mouthed again as the car behind him honked.

"The horn blows! Does the driver?" He yelled into the back seat. Rolling down the window, Riley leaned his head out. "Hey, you're blocking traffic."

"Our world is burning!" The protester yelled in reply.

"Okay...but you're blocking the road."

"We need to end fossil fuels."

"I need to get lunch."

"Planet over profit!" He yelled out again.

"Okay..." Riley mumbled to himself as he rolled the window back up and rested his head on the seat.

The protesters' parade eventually made it to the other side of the road, where their discourse continued. And, in an attempt to beat the light and the mob, Riley sped down the street. But he failed to get to the next intersection before the bulbs shifted from yellow to red.

"No, that's—" He mumbled as the same group of protesters crossed once more, where they were again blocking traffic.

"Oh, come on! They don't even have the walk sign." He belted out, watching them crossing the street with their signs held high. "Where's a cop when you need one?"

After waiting for two light cycles for the protesters to cross, Riley raced to the nearby strip mall, parking his car as close to the entrance as possible.

Turning the car off, he looked up at the line emerging from the door of his favourite burger chain. Slipping his phone out, he glanced at the time and knew he wouldn't want to wait. At that point, Riley also saw a text from Abel asking where he was eating for lunch.

"I was—" He spoke as his fingers clicked over the screen. "Thinking BQ, but the line is fucked. Send."

Riley looked back up, noticing the large orange banners reading "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" that hung above the Crow's Nest.

fzzt fzzt. Riley's phone buzzed. Pulling it up to his face, he saw a selfie of Abel from inside Broiler Queen.

"Get me a number two." He muttered as he typed.

Putting the phone down, he looked again at the Crow's Nest and remembered going in as a child.

fzzt fzzt. Riley picked up the phone once more to see a poop emoji and the words, "Sure, bud."

"Ha. Ha. Meet at Crow's Nest." Riley texted before sliding the phone back into his pocket as he hopped out of the car.

Locking his dirty car until the horn honked aggressively, Riley began walking towards the store. He quickly stepped through the door and was met with the familiar stale smell of the old books and the electric door chime that sent his mind back to the nineties.

"Hello?" The weak voice of Betty Crow piped up from behind the stack of books concealing the cashier.

"Hi, Betty."

"Is that—?" An older woman poked out from behind the books, her thick glasses complementing the wiry salt and pepper hair and face that revealed a weak smile.

"It is...Riley Woodward." She began to slowly make her way out from behind the counter and walk over to him.

"It is," He laughed slightly and approached. After hugging Betty, he stepped back and examined her. "How are you doing, Betty?"

"Oh, I'm okay. But after losing Dale—well, I just don't have it in me to keep running the nest."

Riley nodded and looked around the store. He remembered running between the stacks of books when he was young. Betty's husband, Dale, had always been kind to him, allowing him to take a candy from the jar even if he didn't buy a book.

"The funeral was beautiful." He replied, looking back at Betty.

She nodded as her smile shifted into thoughtfully pursed lips. Raising a finger, she began to wander away.

"I found something that made me think of you the other day...now where is it?" She called out as she shuffled out of view.

Riley stayed in the front of the shop, curiously examining his surroundings as though it was his first time once again. He eyed the towers of books, some nearly stretching to the roof. A thin ledge jutted out where a toy train once travelled around the track, lining the ceiling near the tops of the stacks. It had been a long time since the train had run, but it still remained, frozen in dust and webs above the distant office door.

Approaching one of the nearest stacks, Riley inspected the various trashy romance novels that made up the tower and giggled. He picked one up and examined the muscular man on the cover and the damsel fainting in his arms.

"Lame." Riley scoffed and placed the book back on top of the stack.

"Ah here," Betty called out to him.

As Riley turned to face her, his arm caught two stacks of novels and sent them cascading to the ground.

"Oh...shit, oh—I'm so sorry, Betty." Riley started picking up the books.

"What, oh, it's okay. I've had to deal with my fair share of worse."

Taking three books at a time, he eventually restacked the first monument to smut. Bending back down to continue, he discovered a single book, unlike the others, that had been buried beneath the pile of lechery. Twice the size in either direction, the tome was leatherbound and appeared old.

"What's this book?" Riley asked as he pulled it up to investigate.

The exterior was worn leather, with a large tree masterfully etched into the cover. A strap bound it together, concealing the contents of the papyrus pages.

"I can't say I've seen it before. Probably one of those hipster authors sneaking in their unedited fanfiction in an attempt to get twerts."

Riley gently laughed at the response, finding himself transfixed with the book he held.

"But, anyway, I wanted to give you this." She handed over a thin booklet about space, catching his attention once more. "I remember when you would come here for your reading fairs. You always wanted to be off exploring somewhere out of this world."

"Oh wow," He laughed as he put down the leather tome and stared at the book of futuristic space stations and fantasies of solar expansion. "This is a blast from the past."

The door chimed once more as Abel entered the shop.

"Riley, I've got your deuce." He said, holding up the food and drinks. "Hey, Betty."

"Good day, dear," Betty replied as she slowly walked to her cash register. "Riley, you take that science book."

"Let me pay you for it, Betty," Riley replied as he looked at the booklet and walked to the storefront. He fiddled with his wallet as he placed the pages on the counter. "Ten?"

"No, no," Betty insisted as she pulled a plastic bag out, slowly opening it and stuffing the thin book within. "You take it, I insist. A-and, please say hello to your mother for me."

Taking the bag, Riley nodded with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Betty. And I will!"

Abel pulled the door open for Riley, motioning him through.

"Good, sir," Riley said and followed his friend out.

"You know, I still don't think she recognizes me," Abel remarked quietly as the door closed behind him. He paused for a moment before turning his head around and smiling as he continued. "You ready for the release?"

"I mean, I wasn't on the hype train for this one. But I'm always willing to miss work for a new class."

Riley clicked unlock on his keys as they approached the car. Opening the back door, he tossed the bag onto the stained cloth seats as Abel walked around.

"You want to try out that new race, right?" Riley asked as he slammed the door and opened the front. "What were they?—leaf losers?"

"Arbornauts." Abel corrected, sitting in the car and situating himself. "They have natural armour, giving them extra boosts to their toughness at level one."

"Someone did homework." Riley teased as he buckled himself in and started the car. "Nerd."

"You know I min-max." Abel chirped back. "And Druid class for you?"

"I need to add it to the collection, so yeah..." Riley replied as he exited the parking lot. Abel sat quietly for a few minutes before he tapped the glass, pointing towards the protestors.

"Next thing you know, you'll be one of those." Abel teased.

"No, fuckin' way." Riley shot back. "I enjoy meat too much to be a soy-boy."

The two laughed to themselves a bit longer. The friends continued to chat about the anticipated video game release, making the trip home faster than usual. Eventually making it to the apartment complex, Riley pulled his car into the rectangular parking lot and stopped at one of the last spots.

"Park farther away much?" Abel poked fun as he exited the car.

"Ha. Ha." Riley replied sarcastically, opening the back of the car and grabbing the plastic bag.

Tugging it forward, it swung heavily towards his legs, impacting his knee. Looking down, he noticed that there was a second book in the bag. Reaching in, he withdrew the thick leather tome that he had discovered in the bookshop.

"Huh." Riley released a confused exhale, thinking back to Betty and the bookstore.

"What's up?" Abel inquired, stepping around, food and drink in hand. "I wanna eat and hop on."

"Nothing," Riley replied as he began to walk with Abel towards the exterior door. "Betty just threw this book in, too, I guess. Didn't notice it before."

"There's the real reason that woman is going out of business."

After a quick climb up to the second level, Riley and Abel exited into the long hall bathed in yellow light. The smell of three different meals wafted in the air and created a nauseating aroma that mixed with the musty smell of the cheap carpets.

Entering the apartment quickly, Riley and Abel made their way past the worn couch and dented coffee table towards the balcony. As he passed, Riley tossed the two books onto the sofa, where they softly bounced into their resting place.

Opening the glass door to the balcony, Riley let Abel exit first as he excitedly kicked off his shoes. While it wasn't much, he enjoyed being barefoot on the patio, where the warmth of the concrete relaxed aching feet. And even though the balcony wasn't large, it was still big enough for him and Abel to sit at the small ChargeCo table.

Before eating, the pair added their special herbs into the mix. They inhaled the rich flavours, taking turns passing the rolled leaf to each other before relaxing back down into their seats surrounded by pungent clouds of smoke. As the haze cleared, they were finally ready to eat and set to their processed meals.

"Twiggy Azaleas," Abel said halfway through his burger.

"I'm sorry, what?" Riley coughed a shocked laugh. Covering his mouth, he quickly finished his current bite of food.

"A name for my Arbornaut."

"That's great. What about Butternut Bumblebush?" Riley joined in as he laughed at his addition.

"Pinus Humongous."

They both laughed loudly, their voices echoing into the parking lot below and off the brick apartment complex that made up their horizon. The laughter died down, and they continued to eat with light conversation. As they finished their food, Abel lifted himself from the seat and stood at the ledge.

"See you online?" He asked, reaching up and grabbing hold of the railing at the top of the balcony.

"Yeah, wait," Riley raised a hand. "Use the door!"

"I locked myself out this morning. Love youuuu..."

Abel continued to draw out the word as he climbed his way over the railing and into the adjoining balcony, out of view. Riley remained, laughing to himself as he gathered his trash into the bag and left it outside on the table.

Quickly returning inside, Riley set up in front of the computer screen in his bedroom. Cracking his fingers and neck first, he then turned on the monitor and clicked the pale green login icon for League Wars. Luckily, he left the tab open in the morning, meaning the game had already finished loading the sizeable update. The screen flashed to black before loading the two dozen characters Riley had previously created.

"And create new." He mumbled to himself as he clicked the small plus. "Alright, race. Human. Class. Druid. Background—skip. And play."

The screen flashed black once more before letters strung into sentences, and the introduction began.

"The Druids have walked our world since the Dawn of Nature." The game narrated as artistic images of nature wove into a beautiful mosaic across the screen. "Eternal Stewards—"

"Okay, skip," Riley said impatiently, skipping through the cut scene. Finally, the screen opened up at the edge of a pond, with a forest rising against the far shore. In the distance, he could see Mekos, the game world's silvery moon, appearing over the horizon, illuminating the new character. The tattered clothing on the Druid revealed patches covered in moss and leaves that dropped with every step.

Opening the chatbox, he direct messaged Abel.

"Hey, fool," He mumbled as he typed. "In the starter zone, where are you?"

As Riley waited, he inspected his starting spells and combat skills. Eventually, bored of waiting for Abel, he wandered his character off to a nearby tree. It was the green glimmer around the tree's bark that initially drew his attention, and as he approached, he was rewarded with a pop-up.

"Only Druids can speak the words of Nature—" Riley muttered as he read the text and clicked next. He laughed as the following text box was filled with gibberish. "Now, that isn't English."

Clearing his throat, Riley muttered to himself in an attempt to translate. "Fuh ach'quooie'whyjay ze'el Ak'zi'key'my,"

Thwomp. A loud thud beat beside him, nearly causing him to jump out of his seat. Clutching the chair's arms with a deathly grip, he peered back in the direction of the sound, but nothing was there. Rubbing his eyes, Riley stared at the thick, leather tome that rested at the edge of the computer table.

"I..." Riley mumbled to himself as he reached over and touched the book. "I don't remember—"

Ding! A ping from the speakers caused Riley to jump in his chair a second time.

"Fuckin, hell!" He yelped and then looked back at the monitor and the pale purple line of text from Abel.

"Dude, I think I'm tripping," Riley typed to Abel without reading his friend’s message. "Where are you?"