I got around to writing the second part of this fic. So, enjoy it and
review. or else. I know where you live.
I wandered around the camp for about half an hour. I met a few people, including the kind and innocent blacksmith, Charsi, a merchant of questionable character, Gheed, and a fiery commander of the camp's archer, Kashya. I had yet to find this Akara person, and was becoming quite irritated with the whole situation.
As I wandered around blindly, I bumped into a small old women wrapped in a purple cloak.
I said to her," Sorry about that. You okay? I'm looking for a person called Akara. Do you know of her?"
"Aye. I am she"
"Good. Maybe you can give me some answers. I know for a fact that I'm not supposed to be here. I want to get back to my own world. People tell me that you are a priestess. Perhaps you can help me?"
Akara held up a hand to stop me, and said, in a kind yet frail voice," I have foreseen your plight. Your name is Greg, is it not?"
"How do you know that?"
"The sightless eye speaks to those who listen. I know that you live in a place called Morgantown, yes? You are also correct in your assumption that you should not be here. The forces of the prime evils have drawn you here. Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal know that you and all of your kind are a threat to them. They are trying to kill you all one by one, but, somehow, you, or a projection of you, already existed in this realm. Thus, you inherited all of his, or her, strengths when you traversed from your world to this"
"That's all fine and dandy, but how do I get back?"
"That, I do not know. Perhaps an Archangel by the name of Tyreal can help you"
"Where can I find such a person?"
"Tyreal works for the good of the common man. When he sees that you are the savior of man, I am sure he will reveal himself to you"
"What do you suggest I do?"
"Our monastery has been overthrown by the evil demoness, Andariel. If you help us, Tyreal may help you"
"Okay. Kill Andariel, and liberate your monastery. Anything else?"
"Yes. There is a cave nearby that is filled shadowy creatures and horrors from beyond the grave. I fear that they are massing for an attack against our encampment. If you are sincere about helping us, find the dark labyrinth and destroy the foul creatures within."
"Well, I'll be off then"
"Wait one more moment, Greg the Druid. I sense that the prime evils will use those that you love against you. They may not have an avatar in this world as you do, and will be quickly subdued. You must find them quickly."
"Everyone?"
"Yes. I believe that someone very close to your heart has been trapped here. You must go to her. May the great eye watch over you"
Akara had told me all that I needed to know. Joe, my Dad, even Erika could be here. They could be under attack at that very moment. Diablo had done one thing that ensured his demise; he had really pissed me off.
I exited the camp, took my sword off my back, and propped it up on my shoulder. It was kind of heavy, but I could still use it with relative ease. I began to think on how I could stand a chance against the prime evil. I mean, on my computer, I had the Jamella character-editing program. I could make my characters invincible if I wanted, just like I did with Cloudyous. However, I had no idea if it still worked with me. This was no longer a mere game. This was my reality now.
I was jarred from my thoughts when heard a growling noise next to me. I looked down to see a very odd looking creature that resembled a porcupine. I knew, from my experience in the game that this was a minor demon known as a quill rat. Its quills stood on end for a moment, and, with one smooth motion from the rat, it sent a swarm of razor sharp needles at me.
I dodged most of them, the remainder reflecting off my armor. I grasped my sword with two hands, and, with a blood-curdling shriek, slammed into the offending rat. It struggled for a moment, but then fell limp. For some reason, I kind of liked doing that.
I propped my sword on my shoulder once again, and proceeded on my way. I kept a keen watch on my surroundings as I went so I wouldn't have to relive walking into a Quill rat.
About fifteen minutes into my trek, I noticed several red demons, known as Fallen, attacking a house. This was most odd as Fallen only thirsted for shiny objects and human blood. From the looks of this house, it had neither.
Then, I heard a familiar voice scream in utter terror," For the love of god someone help me!" I knew this voice as precious as the sun over the sky. It was Erika, and if I didn't do something right then and there, the Fallen were going to kill her.
There were too many of them to combat directly, so I decided to try something. I focused all of my spiritual power in front of me, and released in a scream of help to nature. For a moment or so, nothing happened, but then a raven landed on my shoulder. Then, a white wolf bounded toward me from out of nowhere. I thought it was going to attack me, but, instead, pressed up against me in embrace. Now, I had some help. I ran at the demons, and, with a battle cry and a swing of my sword, killed one dead. The others looked at me, and started yelling something in that insane language of theirs. I paid no attention, though, and nailed another one right through the chest. The wolf I had summoned leapt at a Fallen, and, in mid-air, tore it throat out in its jaws. The raven was busy pecking at another demon's eyes. I ran at it while it was still distracted, and smoothly sliced its head off. The others took this opportunity to run. I propped my sword up in the ground while I checked my animal friends for injury. The wolf suffered form nothing but needing a bath to wash its fur clean of blood, and my raven was fine, if not a little hungry.
I walked to the house, and tried to open the door. However, I found that Erika had locked to door. I put my sword down, concentrated spirit power in my fist, and issued a flaming punch into the badly beaten door.
Against my fiery onslaught, the door fell like a sack of potatoes, forgive my ye olde metaphor. I found her backing away from me to a corner of the room.
I said," Ding. Fifth floor. Sporting goods, swords, weapons, rescues" she looked at me like I was totally nuts. "What? You didn't think that was funny?"
"Well, at least you not one of those things. But, who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me? Well, probably not with this damn wolf helm. Gimme a minute" I pried the helmet off my head, and let my hair flop down into its original position. For those of you who are kind of oblivious, I have semi-long hair that curls up all the time. "I'm Greg, from school. Remember now?"
She smiled, and said," Yeah. I remember that you always trying to date me"
"About that." I started to ask.
"I said I'd think about it"
"Damn."
"Where are we? I was just reading a book and fell asleep, and then I was lying in a field with those things prodding me"
"Those things are called Fallen. They were probably attracted to your jewelry. They like shiny things and. uh."
"And what?"
"Human blood"
"That's gross"
"Lucky for you they aren't too strong. Come on, I know a place where you'll be safe," I said leading her out of the destroyed house. Instantly, my wolf barked at her, and bared its teeth. She jumped out of her skin, and ran back inside. I kneeled down next to my wolf, smacked its nose, and said a few words to it in its language that meant to back off, but could not possibly be translated into English. "Erika, come on out! I got him on a leash now, so to speak" She poked her head out, and, seeing that I had my wolf by the folds of the back of its neck, came over to me. "This is my wolf. I called for him to kill those Fallen. You can pet him if you want"
She reached out slowly, and smoothed his hair back. At this, he stopped growling, and became semi-trusting.
"Nice dog," she said," Now, where is this place you want to take me?"
"It's the rogue encampment. Ninety five percent of everyone there is female, so I think you won't be short on people to talk to." She merely nodded her head, and we were off. I kept quiet, as even talking to Erika made me sweat a bit. My wolf, which I had named Chisato, followed us. Also, the raven I had called for flew overhead, keeping an eye out for danger.
Suddenly, I heard it caw out in warning. Before I was able to react, a small, four legged reptilian creature leapt at me, its claws bared, and, if it weren't for my wolf helm, my head would have cut clean off. However, it did daze me for a moment. Chisato growled, and bounded after it. I knew that this creature was called a leaper. It was strange though. I only encountered leapers in acts 2 and 4. It merely assumed that Diablo, or Mephisto, or Baal, or whatever other demented fuckhead demon was trying to kill me changed the game to keep me guessing.
I watched the leaper land, and skid to a halt as it readied to leap at me again. I quickly channeled my spiritual power, and made the ground open up beneath it. The vents of steam from my fissure spell instantly burned it. Using this power, I confirmed that the Jamella program was not working but still had a previously placed effect.
With the leaper dispatched, I flashed a grin at the corpse, effectively mocking its death. Again, I felt that strange sense of satisfaction. I really couldn't explain it, but I really liked it.
Erika said to me," Okay. What. was that?"
"Okay. To fill you in, this is supposed to be a game, but the three main enemies here don't obey the rules in our world or this one, and grabbed us, dragged us here, and are trying to kill us" She gave me that stare that just said," Are you nuts?"
"That's crazy, and it still doesn't explain what that was"
"In the game, I was a druid; a being that can control nature and summon animals. That was my fissure spell that opens the earth and burns my enemies with vents of steam. Does that explain everything? Any questions?"
". . Right. Um, okay. So, why am I here?" This is the part I didn't want her to know. I would scare her, and I'd never get a chance with her if she knew that three badass demons were trying to kill her in order to get to me. So, I did what any guy would do: I lied.
"I have no idea. Now, come on. It's getting dark, and, from what I know, the demons get stronger after dark," I said. I hated lying to her, but I didn't really have much of a choice. I merely wanted to protect her, so the knowledge that her life was on the line wasn't something she needed to know. She was the world to me, and I couldn't have her hanging around or I couldn't fight the way I wanted as most of my spells affected everything within a twelve-foot radius.
At this point, you may ask, what was with this idiot's painful introduction? It sounded like his life was nothing but torture. Patience, my good reader. I will get to that later.
So, after a short walk back to the rogue encampment, I left Erika in Kashya's care. Yes, definitely not one of my better choices, but she was the best archer I knew. With the knowledge that my only love was safe from whatever Diablo could throw at me, I set off, once again for the den of evil, my little nickname for the cave Akara had told me of earlier.
I wandered around the camp for about half an hour. I met a few people, including the kind and innocent blacksmith, Charsi, a merchant of questionable character, Gheed, and a fiery commander of the camp's archer, Kashya. I had yet to find this Akara person, and was becoming quite irritated with the whole situation.
As I wandered around blindly, I bumped into a small old women wrapped in a purple cloak.
I said to her," Sorry about that. You okay? I'm looking for a person called Akara. Do you know of her?"
"Aye. I am she"
"Good. Maybe you can give me some answers. I know for a fact that I'm not supposed to be here. I want to get back to my own world. People tell me that you are a priestess. Perhaps you can help me?"
Akara held up a hand to stop me, and said, in a kind yet frail voice," I have foreseen your plight. Your name is Greg, is it not?"
"How do you know that?"
"The sightless eye speaks to those who listen. I know that you live in a place called Morgantown, yes? You are also correct in your assumption that you should not be here. The forces of the prime evils have drawn you here. Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal know that you and all of your kind are a threat to them. They are trying to kill you all one by one, but, somehow, you, or a projection of you, already existed in this realm. Thus, you inherited all of his, or her, strengths when you traversed from your world to this"
"That's all fine and dandy, but how do I get back?"
"That, I do not know. Perhaps an Archangel by the name of Tyreal can help you"
"Where can I find such a person?"
"Tyreal works for the good of the common man. When he sees that you are the savior of man, I am sure he will reveal himself to you"
"What do you suggest I do?"
"Our monastery has been overthrown by the evil demoness, Andariel. If you help us, Tyreal may help you"
"Okay. Kill Andariel, and liberate your monastery. Anything else?"
"Yes. There is a cave nearby that is filled shadowy creatures and horrors from beyond the grave. I fear that they are massing for an attack against our encampment. If you are sincere about helping us, find the dark labyrinth and destroy the foul creatures within."
"Well, I'll be off then"
"Wait one more moment, Greg the Druid. I sense that the prime evils will use those that you love against you. They may not have an avatar in this world as you do, and will be quickly subdued. You must find them quickly."
"Everyone?"
"Yes. I believe that someone very close to your heart has been trapped here. You must go to her. May the great eye watch over you"
Akara had told me all that I needed to know. Joe, my Dad, even Erika could be here. They could be under attack at that very moment. Diablo had done one thing that ensured his demise; he had really pissed me off.
I exited the camp, took my sword off my back, and propped it up on my shoulder. It was kind of heavy, but I could still use it with relative ease. I began to think on how I could stand a chance against the prime evil. I mean, on my computer, I had the Jamella character-editing program. I could make my characters invincible if I wanted, just like I did with Cloudyous. However, I had no idea if it still worked with me. This was no longer a mere game. This was my reality now.
I was jarred from my thoughts when heard a growling noise next to me. I looked down to see a very odd looking creature that resembled a porcupine. I knew, from my experience in the game that this was a minor demon known as a quill rat. Its quills stood on end for a moment, and, with one smooth motion from the rat, it sent a swarm of razor sharp needles at me.
I dodged most of them, the remainder reflecting off my armor. I grasped my sword with two hands, and, with a blood-curdling shriek, slammed into the offending rat. It struggled for a moment, but then fell limp. For some reason, I kind of liked doing that.
I propped my sword on my shoulder once again, and proceeded on my way. I kept a keen watch on my surroundings as I went so I wouldn't have to relive walking into a Quill rat.
About fifteen minutes into my trek, I noticed several red demons, known as Fallen, attacking a house. This was most odd as Fallen only thirsted for shiny objects and human blood. From the looks of this house, it had neither.
Then, I heard a familiar voice scream in utter terror," For the love of god someone help me!" I knew this voice as precious as the sun over the sky. It was Erika, and if I didn't do something right then and there, the Fallen were going to kill her.
There were too many of them to combat directly, so I decided to try something. I focused all of my spiritual power in front of me, and released in a scream of help to nature. For a moment or so, nothing happened, but then a raven landed on my shoulder. Then, a white wolf bounded toward me from out of nowhere. I thought it was going to attack me, but, instead, pressed up against me in embrace. Now, I had some help. I ran at the demons, and, with a battle cry and a swing of my sword, killed one dead. The others looked at me, and started yelling something in that insane language of theirs. I paid no attention, though, and nailed another one right through the chest. The wolf I had summoned leapt at a Fallen, and, in mid-air, tore it throat out in its jaws. The raven was busy pecking at another demon's eyes. I ran at it while it was still distracted, and smoothly sliced its head off. The others took this opportunity to run. I propped my sword up in the ground while I checked my animal friends for injury. The wolf suffered form nothing but needing a bath to wash its fur clean of blood, and my raven was fine, if not a little hungry.
I walked to the house, and tried to open the door. However, I found that Erika had locked to door. I put my sword down, concentrated spirit power in my fist, and issued a flaming punch into the badly beaten door.
Against my fiery onslaught, the door fell like a sack of potatoes, forgive my ye olde metaphor. I found her backing away from me to a corner of the room.
I said," Ding. Fifth floor. Sporting goods, swords, weapons, rescues" she looked at me like I was totally nuts. "What? You didn't think that was funny?"
"Well, at least you not one of those things. But, who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me? Well, probably not with this damn wolf helm. Gimme a minute" I pried the helmet off my head, and let my hair flop down into its original position. For those of you who are kind of oblivious, I have semi-long hair that curls up all the time. "I'm Greg, from school. Remember now?"
She smiled, and said," Yeah. I remember that you always trying to date me"
"About that." I started to ask.
"I said I'd think about it"
"Damn."
"Where are we? I was just reading a book and fell asleep, and then I was lying in a field with those things prodding me"
"Those things are called Fallen. They were probably attracted to your jewelry. They like shiny things and. uh."
"And what?"
"Human blood"
"That's gross"
"Lucky for you they aren't too strong. Come on, I know a place where you'll be safe," I said leading her out of the destroyed house. Instantly, my wolf barked at her, and bared its teeth. She jumped out of her skin, and ran back inside. I kneeled down next to my wolf, smacked its nose, and said a few words to it in its language that meant to back off, but could not possibly be translated into English. "Erika, come on out! I got him on a leash now, so to speak" She poked her head out, and, seeing that I had my wolf by the folds of the back of its neck, came over to me. "This is my wolf. I called for him to kill those Fallen. You can pet him if you want"
She reached out slowly, and smoothed his hair back. At this, he stopped growling, and became semi-trusting.
"Nice dog," she said," Now, where is this place you want to take me?"
"It's the rogue encampment. Ninety five percent of everyone there is female, so I think you won't be short on people to talk to." She merely nodded her head, and we were off. I kept quiet, as even talking to Erika made me sweat a bit. My wolf, which I had named Chisato, followed us. Also, the raven I had called for flew overhead, keeping an eye out for danger.
Suddenly, I heard it caw out in warning. Before I was able to react, a small, four legged reptilian creature leapt at me, its claws bared, and, if it weren't for my wolf helm, my head would have cut clean off. However, it did daze me for a moment. Chisato growled, and bounded after it. I knew that this creature was called a leaper. It was strange though. I only encountered leapers in acts 2 and 4. It merely assumed that Diablo, or Mephisto, or Baal, or whatever other demented fuckhead demon was trying to kill me changed the game to keep me guessing.
I watched the leaper land, and skid to a halt as it readied to leap at me again. I quickly channeled my spiritual power, and made the ground open up beneath it. The vents of steam from my fissure spell instantly burned it. Using this power, I confirmed that the Jamella program was not working but still had a previously placed effect.
With the leaper dispatched, I flashed a grin at the corpse, effectively mocking its death. Again, I felt that strange sense of satisfaction. I really couldn't explain it, but I really liked it.
Erika said to me," Okay. What. was that?"
"Okay. To fill you in, this is supposed to be a game, but the three main enemies here don't obey the rules in our world or this one, and grabbed us, dragged us here, and are trying to kill us" She gave me that stare that just said," Are you nuts?"
"That's crazy, and it still doesn't explain what that was"
"In the game, I was a druid; a being that can control nature and summon animals. That was my fissure spell that opens the earth and burns my enemies with vents of steam. Does that explain everything? Any questions?"
". . Right. Um, okay. So, why am I here?" This is the part I didn't want her to know. I would scare her, and I'd never get a chance with her if she knew that three badass demons were trying to kill her in order to get to me. So, I did what any guy would do: I lied.
"I have no idea. Now, come on. It's getting dark, and, from what I know, the demons get stronger after dark," I said. I hated lying to her, but I didn't really have much of a choice. I merely wanted to protect her, so the knowledge that her life was on the line wasn't something she needed to know. She was the world to me, and I couldn't have her hanging around or I couldn't fight the way I wanted as most of my spells affected everything within a twelve-foot radius.
At this point, you may ask, what was with this idiot's painful introduction? It sounded like his life was nothing but torture. Patience, my good reader. I will get to that later.
So, after a short walk back to the rogue encampment, I left Erika in Kashya's care. Yes, definitely not one of my better choices, but she was the best archer I knew. With the knowledge that my only love was safe from whatever Diablo could throw at me, I set off, once again for the den of evil, my little nickname for the cave Akara had told me of earlier.