Chapter 10
June 10th, 2025
Floor 51, Broken Gate Inn
Israel spun out of his chair, ducked the first man's punch, and brought his steel fist up under his jaw. The uppercut shattered the jawbone with a sickening crack, along with the NPC's entire bottom row of teeth. Blood and tiny bone fragments went flying and a scream tore from his ruined face.
Israel ducked another punch, sidestepped a dagger about to be thrust between his ribs, and blocked a meaty fist headed his way with his left forearm. The NPC it belonged to tried to disengage, but his steel fist was already swinging. He bashed the burly farmer's face in with one solid punch, crunching nose cartilage and cheekbones with ease.
A giant of a man launched him into the countertop. Israel barely evaded a follow up punch that would've knocked him out cold, instead dodging just enough that the massive fist smashed into the countertop beside him. The huge, beat-red farmer struggled to pull his hand free. Israel seized the small, jagged statuette of Alara, rolled back into range, and jammed it deep into his eye socket. The mass of muscle dropped like a sack.
More NPCs swarmed him, utilizing their numbers and the crowded confines of the inn to limit his ability to fight back. He dodged a hatchet and watched the weapon carry on straight into another man's neck. Blood showered out in all directions and another scream joined the crescendo.
Hot pain lanced up his side- one of the knives had gotten through. Another he stopped midair by seizing the attacker's wrist, but before he could counter attack, a fist exploded into the side of his face, throwing him off balance. Stars streaked in his vision.
Israel tasted blood and snarled.
He wasn't done yet.
He blocked two more blows and batted aside a third, ducked a cleaver aimed at his throat, and kicked an attacker in front of him square in the chest. The NPC was thrown from his feet and knocked backward, catapulting into the men behind him. Israel rushed forward to gain the precious space opened up, but more men were on him in a heartbeat. They threw fists, jabbed at him with knives, and swung wildly with farm hatchets and clubs. Israel evaded most of the onslaught, but when one of the clubs smashed two of his ribs in, he had to channel the pain lest it double him over.
He seized one of the NPCs by the scruff of the neck and smashed his face into the counter, then shoved him forward like a shield into a half dozen incoming daggers. The man spat blood and exploded into shards before he could be of much use, but that was all the time Israel needed.
Panting and sweating, with hot blood running down his face, he elbowed an attacker coming up from the rear, broke the wrist of a second, and punched a third so hard in the chest with his steel fist that the NPC's entire sternum imploded and his body flew backwards into the men behind him. A chair shattered across Israel's back, blinding him with pain and twinkling stars, but he channelled the hurt without hesitation, letting his injuries fuel his flagging strength.
Two men grabbed him from behind and tried to hold him as another ran up with a raised axe. Israel snapped his head back into one of them and felt a nose break. The hold loosened just in time. He dropped to a knee as the axe soared overhead, swung his steel fist, and shattered the kneecap of the wielder. The NPC let out a blood curdling scream, but before he could even fall, Israel wrapped an elbow around his throat and snapped his neck.
His health was dwindling rapidly, but so were the numbers arrayed against him.
A skinnier farmer darted between his bigger allies to get a lethal stab in. Israel broke his arm and slit his throat with his own dagger, then tossed the weapon into his sword hand.
Better than nothing.
He slashed and punched at the mass of thrashing bodies before him, killing several and sending many more to the ground screaming in agony. He took a stab to the shoulder, cuts across the face and arms, and a glass bottle over the head. In the recesses of his mind he heard the beeping of his health bar.
Someone procured a crossbow and took aim behind a table. Israel hurled the dagger and watched as it buried itself in the archer's eye. He broke whatever bones he could get his steel hand on, kicked and curb stomped several to death with his boot, then seized someone's head and squeezed until brains started seeping from the ears. An instant later the NPC shattered apart, dead.
No one else came to take his place.
Dying moans and choked gurgles issued from the bodies writhing on the floor. A thick mist of glowing, pixelated shards filled the tavern, making it hard to see. Most of the tables around him were smashed to bits, and the chairs seemed to have disintegrated entirely. Puddles of crimson blood pooled and dribbled down the counter, and someone's bloody kneebone crunched beneath his boot.
Israel's health was down to eight percent; not the lowest he had ever been in his life, but still a critical condition.
He limped forward, exhausted. Blood was running down his face and into his swollen right eye, blinding him, but he couldn't be bothered to lift an arm to wipe it away. More pain shot up his right side when he took a step, revealing a dagger buried in his leg. He tore the weapon out and stepped over the writhing bodies towards the destroyed counter for something to lean on.
Wait. Where was the innkeeper woman?
Sara.
He staggered upright and scrambled down the hall, icy panic already flooding his veins with fresh adrenaline. What if Sara was still asleep? What if that NPC bitch snuck into their room as soon as the fight broke out?
The door to their room blew off its hinges and exploded into smoke and fire just before he reached it, prompting a rapid drop to the ground before a hail of splintered wood impaled him on the spot. He coughed up the smoke and waved it away. The innkeeper was little more than a charred assemblage of bones melted into the destroyed door before him. Her remains shattered apart, but the blotch of her imprint remained.
Sara came running out of the smoky room with rage in her eyes that instantly transformed to fear.
"Israel! Oh my god, are you alright?"
She pulled her rarest, most difficult to create health potion from her satchel before he could say a word in reply. "Heal!"
The bottle evaporated at once, and the pain he was channeling all over his body lifted. The blood running down his face disappeared, and his swollen eye returned to normal. He was back up to full HP.
His heart was still pounding from the worry over Sara, so he leaned back against the semi-charred wall to catch his breath.
"You shouldn't have used that one-"
"That's your concern right now? Not the fact that NPCs just tried to murder us?"
"Good point."
His right hand throbbed; his steel coated fingers, absolutely covered in blood and gore now, were still clenched into a tight fist. He shook out his hand, spattering the wall in bright red.
"We need to go," he said. "Now."
She nodded and fished through her satchel for teleport crystals.
"What happened out there?"
"The innkeeper must have spread word to the nearby villagers. When I came out for some food I was greeted by a mob of angry farmers."
Sara's face twisted in utter confusion.
"But why would she want to kill us? Why would they want to kill us? We didn't even pass through those villages!"
"I don't know, just get us out of here, Sara. We need to get back…"
Both his and Sara's eyes widened.
"David," they said at once.
They left the Broken Gate Inn behind in a flash of white light and materialized an instant later at the Teleport Gate in Garnet.
Chills shot up Israel's spine. He froze.
Sara put a hand to her mouth in horror.
"We need to…" he forced his slow moving hand to swipe open his menu. "...need to message Avari…"
"We need to message everyone," Sara whispered. "We need to get everyone here right now."
It took only a few minutes for everyone to emerge at a sprint out of the Teleport Gate, but it might as well have been an eternity.
The town had become something out of a nightmare.
Happy birthday banners bearing Avari's name drooped limply down the front of buildings, most torn and ripped to shreds. Boxes of fireworks and wrapped presents lay scattered and mud covered across the street, either stepped on deliberately or during the struggle that must have taken place. A small carnival, clearly handmade, was little more than chopped kindling now. A few horses- Avari's favorite animal- with bows tied around their heads trotted nervously behind buildings and in corners, wide eyed and frothing at the mouth.
And just outside the general store, streaks of blood was mixing with the mud pools left by wagon wheel tracks. Silence hung heavy in the air. The whole town was deserted.
Jae and Vivienne scanned the scene with a mixture of rage and caution. Meifan couldn't stop staring at the blood on the ground. Avari tore through the Teleport Portal like a whirlwind, greatsword drawn and disbelief etched into her enraged face.
"He's not on my friend's list!" she shouted as she ran through the deserted street. "David's not on my friend's list!"
A long forgotten fear was beginning to inch its way up Israel's spine. A single, brief image of Naomi, and another of Tristan, flashed before his eyes.
"Not on mine either," Meifan muttered, his voice shaking.
Everyone opened their menus and saw the same.
"Everyone search for his name in the player log," Jae ordered. His voice was calm and calculated, but the terror in his eyes was unmistakable.
Avari didn't bother and kept on running through the streets searching for something to kill.
"Where is he?" she screamed to no one in particular. "Where is he? Why is there no one in this fucking town?!"
"Who did he message last?" Vivienne asked.
"Me!" Avari's voice wavered. "He told me he was staying late to finish...to finish…" tears began trickling down her face. "...setting up for my birthday."
Israel's eyes went blurry. He wiped the tears away and dropped to a knee.
"The prints are hard to read and badly trampled, but I can make out some-"
"Then make it out!" Avari's hands shook around the hilt of her sword. Helplessness, terror, and anger seeped into her movements, her every confused step. "Tell us what happened, Israel! Please!"
He cleared his throat and pointed at the ground before the general goods store.
"David's prints are mixed in with many more there. He hadn't been attacked before that point, it's evident by the prints. He was walking, not running, meaning he thought he was-"
"What does that mean?"
"Avari." Jae said nothing else, just looked at her in such a way that brought some semblance of control back to her eyes.
She nodded for Israel to continue.
"David approached the store, probably to grab something, when he was…" a lump formed in his throat. He tried to swallow it down but couldn't get any more words out.
"When he was attacked," Sara finished for him. "The tracks are all human, which means only thing: the NPC townsfolk are behind it. They surrounded him. Attacked all at once."
"Why would NPCs do that?" Jae asked. "How is that even possible?"
"NPCs attacked us not half an hour ago," Israel said. "Sara and I were almost murdered in our beds at the inn we were staying in."
Everyone but Avari blinked in shock.
Sara stepped towards the blood, mud, and the mess of dozens of wild bootprints.
"There was a struggle. He probably killed several judging by the large imprints smudging some of the tracks- fallen bodies. The blood could be his, or it could be those he defended himself against."
"But…" Avari was devolving into a fit of crying now. "What happened to him, Sara? Please...just tell me."
Sara wiped the tears from her own face. Israel stood and took her hand. Now it was his turn to finish for her.
He met Avari's watery gaze. "We don't know. It's impossible to tell beyond that. I'm sorry, Avari."
The short haired woman went red with rage.
"You call yourselves fucking trackers?! You-"
She stopped herself.
"Sorry. I'm sorry. I just w-want David back."
Vivienne approached and pulled her into a hug. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Avari. Nothing."
"What do we do?" Meifan cried. He turned to Jae and Israel. "What do we do?"
"I need to find him," Avari said firmly, quietly. "I need to know if he's…if…"
"He's not," Jae said. "I'm sure of it. David can hold his own in any situation. He probably had to run for it-"
"Then why wouldn't he teleport back home?!" Avari shouted. "Why is his name gone from the database? Why is the game reacting as though he's not in it?"
Silence.
"There must be some way to know where he is," Meifan muttered. "Some way to identify…"
Avari headed for the Teleport Gate. "There is. I'm going to the Town of Beginnings."
Jae grabbed her arm. "Avari, no. I know you're probably going crazy with fear and worry and you want answers. I am too. I want answers too. We all love David. But if the NPCs are now a threat, all cities and towns are too. And the Town of Beginnings is the biggest city of them all."
"I don't care." Avari ripped her hand away and started forward. "I'm not about to sit here wondering if he's even...no. I need to know. Right now. The Monument of Life will provide the answer."
Jae stopped her again. Avari swung at him with a snarl, but he seemed to have expected it and stopped her fist with a palm.
Israel ran forward, as did Vivienne, and together they separated them before the situation could escalate.
"Jae's right, Avari," Israel urged as he held her back. "We have to be smart about this if we're to find out what happened to David. We can't throw ourselves in danger. We have to be careful and think."
"Let go!" Avari roared.
Vivienne cupped her face in her hands.
"Avari, listen to us! You think we'll be able to help David and find out what happened if we're dead or battling for our lives against an army of NPCs?"
"Then don't come with me!" Avari bellowed. "Just let me go!"
Jae beckoned for Israel and Vivienne to unhand her. Vivienne was reluctant, but slowly released Avari and took a protective stance beside Jae. Israel took a step back but positioned himself to be ready for another bout of fury.
Jae began slowly. "Avari. We will find David. I promise you that. We will find out what happened and get him back to you. I swear it. Have I ever lied to you before?"
"Stop talking like you don't know what this means!" Avari shouted. "Stop with the denial! We can't message him! We can't send him friend requests! He's not on the player database, Jae!"
"And we will get to the bottom of why that is!" Jae shouted back for the first time. He clenched his hands into fists. "How can you be so quick to assume that his name is on the Monument of Life, Avari! How! I thought you loved him!"
"It's because I love him that I need to know the fucking truth! Stop delaying it! Stop being a coward and hiding from answers, Jae! We're not all like you! We wouldn't all rather be in the dark and continue on in blissful ignorance when our loved ones are missing!"
Jae's face turned dark.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know damn well!" She stormed forward until she was an inch away from his face. "You avoided answers, avoided the truth for over a fucking year back when Israel became a red player and ran out on you! You never once mustered up the courage to find out if he was dead or alive when all it would've taken was a trip to the Monument of Life! You never once attempted to put two and two together and figure out that he was the Shadow of Death when that truth was clear as day! You just kept on turning away from answers because that was the easy thing to do! You chose the coward's way out back then, and you're doing it again right now! Well I refuse to!"
"You're grieving," Vivienne said stiffly, "and you're right to be, but so are all of us. It doesn't give you the right to start attacking Jae."
Meifan scrambled forward, his face shattered and miserable.
"Jae is right, Avari. I wish it weren't so but it is. David wouldn't want us to divide and throw ourselves into needless danger right now. We need to follow Jae."
Israel nodded. "Avari, please. We are not your enemies. We all love you. We all love David. I will track him down no matter what it takes to get some answers if that's what you want me to do. I will go with you to the Monument of Life if that's what you want me to do. But it has to be done safely and with caution. That means careful planning and scouting beforehand. No one else can go missing. No one else can split from the group. Don't forget that we're in this fucking horrible predicament right now solely because we were foolish enough to split up."
Avari was breathing heavily. Her bangs were ruffled and hanging low in front of her bloodshot eyes. Her knuckles were white on the hilt of her greatsword. She stared at him, then slowly looked at the others all facing off against her. At Jae, at Vivienne, at Meifan. Her eyes fell to Sara last, as if pleading for at least one ally to help sway the group. Sara couldn't bring herself to look her way.
The hatred slowly died away in Avari's eyes, replaced by something much worse.
Misery.
…
Avari was working on a handmade rope by the window when Sara stepped inside. Dried tears stained her cheeks, and fresh ones were still leaking from her puffy eyes.
"So I'm to be guarded now?" she muttered. "Didn't take Jae long to turn me into a prisoner."
Sara closed the door behind her.
"First off, don't exaggerate. You're not a prisoner. You chose to ignore the meeting and asked to be left alone in here. Second off, I'm here to help you get to the Monument of Life."
"I don't need your help."
"Avari, we both know Israel will track you long before you make it out of the forest, let alone to the Teleport Gate in Garnet."
"Wouldn't need to if they hadn't taken my teleport crystals."
Sara sighed and pulled out her invisibility potion.
"I'm going to help you find out what happened to David. Right now."
Avari froze and looked up at her for the first time. Then she jumped to her feet and tossed aside the ramshackle rope.
"Why were you silent back in Garnet? Why didn't you agree with me?"
"We were going to be outvoted anyway," Sara replied. "I didn't want to make anyone suspicious. Now listen. These are my potions, so you need to do what I say."
Avari crossed her arms. "Alright."
She handed one over. Avari eyed the tiny vial and shook it, stirring up the translucent liquid inside. Her eyes widened when it started glowing.
"Vivienne told me about the time you and her drank one of these to sneak into Laughing Coffin's camp in Brakrun. If I remember right, sharing one only grants three minutes of invisibility to both of us."
"Good thing I have more than one, then." Sara pulled out another. "Six minutes each. Just to be sure we have enough time. We take them, teleport to the Grand Plaza, check the Monument of Life, and come back before any NPC even sees us."
"You wouldn't happen to have an extra one of those, would you?"
Vivienne closed the door behind her.
Sara cleared her throat. "Viv-"
"Relax. I'm coming with you two."
"Oh really?" Avari snorted. "I seem to remember you agreeing with everyone else down there."
"That's because everyone else is right. This is the absolute worst time to split up, let alone go running into the lion's den now that, for some insane reason, the NPCs all want us dead."
"Then why would you want to help us?" Sara asked.
Vivienne sighed in true weariness. "Because I know Avari is going to stop at nothing to get down there. And you too apparently. And I don't know who's more stubborn. So I might as well go with you in case things go south. Two swords are better than one."
"Or you're lying," Avari hissed. "And just waiting to tell Jae what we're doing."
"Save the animosity for after we find out what happened to David. Time is short and we need to get out before Jae and Israel get suspicious." Vivienne looked at Sara. "If you need me to create a diversion once we're in the Town of Beginnings, I can-"
Sara shook her head. "No need. I have an extra invisibility potion. Everyone take one and get ready."
She waited until both women upended the vials and vanished before she activated her Corridor Crystal and linked it to the Teleport Gate in the Grand Plaza. She drank her potion and the tasteless liquid went down smooth and creamy. A heartbeat later, her limbs disappeared from sight.
The corridor portal hummed with energy, beckoning them forward.
"Now," Sara whispered.
She stepped into the portal.
The usual vortex of white light filled her being, and when the world materialized once more, she was standing in the sparkling marble field that was the Central Plaza of the Town of Beginnings. And she wasn't alone.
The entire Plaza was packed. A vast crowd of thousands of NPCs filled the area, surrounding the Teleport Gate as far as the eye could see. Some that couldn't fit within the Plaza limits were standing in balconies or rooftops overlooking the area. She was completely surrounded.
Panic froze her in place for a long moment.
I'm invisible. It's fine. They can't see me.
That much was true at least. Not a single NPC in the vast crowd was looking her way. All were focused on something at the front of the Plaza.
"Sara?" Vivienne whispered somewhere to her right, so quiet that she barely heard her.
"I'm here."
"Come on," Avari cut in on the left. "The Monument of Life is just back there."
Sara hesitated. "Avari, our little plan didn't include cutting through a mob of-"
"Citizens of Aincrad!"
A short, squat man stepped up on the platform at the front of the Plaza, his arms spread wide as he smiled at the thousands looking up at him. He was dressed humbly in medieval style monk robes and with a small cap on his bald head.
"Citizens of Aincrad!" he shouted again. "The day is finally upon us!"
The crowd broke out into a deafening cheer, raising fists to the sky and chanting with religious fervor.
"Blood, blood, blood!"
"Down with the Players!"
"Let us banish them from our world!"
"Alara! Hail Archangel Alara!"
The priestly man waved them down with his hands, but the smile on his face only widened.
"Yes, blessed is She who has shown us not only the error of our ways, but also the purge that will rid our wondrous world from the alien invaders!"
"Sara," Vivienne whispered just beside her. "I think Avari is moving. I felt something brush past me. We have to follow her to the Monument."
Sara's mouth had gone dry. She shook her head, then remembered no one could see.
"We need to leave," she breathed. "We need to get out of here."
"Don't panic. The Monument is right here in the back of the Plaza. We have more than enough time to get to it, confirm David is still alive, and teleport back out before the invisibility wears out."
Vivienne's calm, calculated words thawed the frozen fear ensaring her. Sara blinked. This was no time to lose her head. She turned to take in the back half of the Plaza. The huge, black stone slab towered above the heads of the NPCs around it, still standing where it had always been. The Monument of Life.
"Let's go," she whispered.
"I'm right beside you."
Sara stepped off the platform and into the mass of bodies celebrating the demise of Players. She wormed her way through men and women alike, from city guards to bakers to housewives, always careful not to touch them in any way. The Plaza was a sea of humanity, but small gaps between each NPC could still be utilized to move through the living maze. Slowly, very slowly, the Monument of Life grew closer
"Let the holy war for Aincrad commence!" the monk shouted, riling up the crowd with his preaching tone and booming voice. "Let the blood spill as we fight to end the devastation to our Floors, the destruction of our livelihoods, the upsetting of our ecosystem with the monsters that dwell in the dungeons and the caves! Let us take back our homes, our land, from the blasphemous invaders! For understand this, brethren-" he raised a finger in deadly accusation "-they do not know or care about our most blessed mother, the angel of light and wonder, Alara!"
"Let us teach them then!" the rabid crowd roared.
"Let us teach them to fear and respect her holy name!"
"Kill them! Kill the Players!"
The Monument was just thirty feet away. Twenty feet. Ten. Sara zipped between two strong chested NPC knights in full plate, then ducked under a mother violently waving her hands.
"Yes, indeed." The monk's voice carried like a wave over the crowd. "And what better way to begin this righteous cleansing than by clearing our home city of this alien filth! These cowards who attempt to hide in the corners and sulk in the alleys!"
Sara froze.
"Bring out the prisoners!" the monk cried.
The crowd surged forward with murderous intent, nearly toppling Sara over. Several men stumbled in confusion at hitting nothing but air, but she darted away before they could reach out their hands or raise a fuss.
"Oh my god," Vivienne whispered behind her.
Sara didn't want to look back over her shoulder as she walked, but it was impossible not to.
Three players- the green icons over their heads glaring bright- were brought to the platform in chains and forced to their knees. One, a young woman with tears in her eyes, was wearing the emblem of the Knights of the Blood-Oath. The other two were men, one no older than sixteen. Both faces were vaguely familiar, though she didn't know the names of either. Then it hit her.
These two had been among the three hundred Army followers loyal to Thinker. The three hundred who had been willing to make a stand against overwhelming odds in the village of Horunka so long ago.
"Please," the young man cried out in raw, unbridled panic. "Please! Don't do this! We came back to live here because we love this world! We love Aincrad! We treasure it the same as you! We-"
The monk slit his throat with a long handled knife fashioned with angel wings.
"Silence, heretic! Forever more!"
The player's health bar plummeted as his blood poured down the platform steps. The crowd went wild, cheering and cursing the dying boy. The KoB member cried ever harder, her mouth crying out a name that was drowned out by the chanting and yelling of thousands. The older man went red with rage and sputtered profanity and defiance until the monk killed him too.
The crowd roared with delight.
When the Monument of Life stood before them, Sara hesitated before opening her mouth. NPCs were all around, bloodcrazed and in full mob mentality.
"Avari?" Vivienne dared to whisper.
"I'm here," came the quiet reply.
"Are you ready to get going? We have to tell the others about this. David's name isn't here, so let's…"
Her words trailed off.
Sara saw it as well.
And if they could see it, Avari did too.
There, carved alongside thousands of names in the timeless black rock, the horrible, terrible truth was revealed.
David006
June 10, 2025
A lump formed in Sara's throat, catching her breath.
June 10th.
That was today. Which means they might have arrived too late in Garnet by only an hour or two.
Not that it mattered now. David was gone.
Dead. Really and truly dead.
The cheers of the crowd dissipated. The monk's preaching faded away. Quiet enveloped the recesses of Sara's mind. David's smiling face, his kind words, his constant concern for his friends and those he loved. It all came flowing in like a torrent. Just like it had with Jeffrey.
Tears trickled down her face.
The crowd of NPCs surged forward again in excitement, and the world came back in a rush. The KoB woman had just been killed.
"A fine start!" the monk laughed and waved his hands through the mist of pixelated shards floating around him. "A very fine…"
He faltered, and the crowd stilled.
Sara felt it too. A sense of wonder and power filled the air with energy she had felt once before. The sounds of flapping wings filled the air, and an instant later Alara the Archangel appeared atop the platform in all her glory.
She was clad in the same superior silver and gold armor as before, and armed with a longsword similar to the old one she had given Vivienne. A majestic mane of golden hair tumbled down her armored shoulders and part way down her back, adding lustre and brilliance to the noble, proud, intelligent, and breathtakingly beautiful face. High cheekbones, smooth, silken red lips, and a narrow, feminine jaw complemented her regal bearing, but her eyes...her eyes were quite different than before.
Gone was the kind, otherworldly glowing green. Now, they were red as blood and swirling with fury.
The entire Plaza, thousands upon thousands of NPCs, dropped to their knees as one and went deathly silent. The monk too touched his head to the platform dripping with blood.
Two great white wings unfurled behind Alara's back, and she eyed the worshipping congregation with an eagerness that sent shivers up Sara's spine.
"We have to go," she whispered, praying that Avari and Vivienne could hear. "We have only a few minutes of invisibility left."
"Avari," Vivienne breathed nearby. "I'm so, so sorry, but you have to listen to us. We have to go now. You can't stay here. You can't just keep staring at the Monument."
Avari said nothing.
"Arise, my children," Alara's powerful, motherly voice sounded.
The massed crowd slowly rose to their feet.
Alara brought a sandal clad foot before the monk, who kissed it eagerly. She gazed out at the crowd.
"We have some work to do, my chil…"
Her regal smile faded. Her face darkened. Her red eyes slowly turned towards the Monument of Life. And looked straight at where Sara was standing.
In that moment, PoH and all the things he had done, all the nightmares she had ever had about him, were nothing compared to the fear that now coursed through her.
How was this possible? How had this happened? How could a fictional angel from a quest have taken over the minds of the NPCs? How could she see through the invisibility potion? There was no way. It was impossible.
"It appears we have more enemies in our midst," Alara hissed. "Trying to hide. From me. How quaint."
She raised an elegant, feminine arm and pointed at Sara.
A small hmm lit the air, and an instant later, Vivienne and Avari both appeared beside her. Sara glanced down at herself. She too was visible.
No. We still had time. Entire minutes. It's not possible.
The entire crowd spun around in shock, then converged on them like an ocean tide.
Alara opened her mouth once more, her voice ringing out in an endless echo.
"Kill the Players."