ENTERING THE GAME

Chapter Nine

"Time To Go, Or Too Late?"

Penny woke up suddenly when her face dropped under the water of the tub and she sat up sputtering. The tub was just big enough for both girls to lie down to relax in side by side, and the two had talked for awhile about kitty cats and singing birds and flowers. Anything to keep from talking about going home. The longer they stayed in this strange world, the more likely it was permanent, and neither of them wanted to consider that. Penny noticed Linda was asleep. Since her face wasn't underwater, Penny decided to let her rest while she dried off and got dressed. Her friend had been acting weird ever since she'd played that organ.

The towel Penny had was rough and made her skin red as she dried off. Gross! Why was everything in this magic world so gross! Fantasies sounded so sweet and nice and fun, but now she knew they were full of danger and smelled bad. She sighed as she got dressed. Kind of defeated the purpose of taking a bath if she was going to put the same old stinky clothes right back on, but there was nothing else for her to wear. Did she have enough money to buy any new clothes? She knew Andy and the other guys had gotten money killing the rats and bugs, but knowing her brother, there was no way he'd share.

Penny finished dressing then went back to wake Linda. The other girl was muttering softly in her sleep. Was she having a nightmare? Penny shook her shoulder. "Hey!" she called. "Wake up! You're having a bad dream!"

…

Linda found herself in a dark cave. She knew it was a cave she was in, because a dim glow gave her just enough light to see the sides of the cavern walls. How had she gotten here? Last thing she could remember, she'd been in that ugly old bathtub with Penny. She looked around. "Penny?" she called. She cringed as her voice echoed, but called again. "Penny! Where are you?" There was no answer but the echoes. Where had she gone? Or was she still there in the temple, wondering where Linda had gone?

It was very warm in the cave, not hot like it had gotten in that room when she'd been playing that organ, but too warm for her liking, and, she realized, it was getting warming the further she walked along the cavern. She looked over her shoulder. She couldn't see anything behind her. She reached out.

The cave behind her…it was gone! There was nothing but a solid wall behind her. Nowhere to go but forward. But forward towards what?

Suddenly she heard laughter up ahead. It didn't sound human. She heard something like glass breaking. She stopped as she reached a door. She backed away from it. Something told her if she went through that door she'd die. But there was only about a couple of feet of cavern for her to back through away from it.

Please don't open, please don't open, please don't open! She thought. But the door suddenly began to sway slowly, oh so very slowly, open. Linda closed her eyes as she felt great heat in her face, hotter than that room had been. Hotter than she had ever felt or could even imagine it being. She coughed as smoke hit her in the face, making her eyes water.

COME IN, LINDA! COME IN! The voice echoed through her head and all around her. She tried to back away but the wall wouldn't budge.

The room beyond was dark, lit only by fires here and there that flickered wildly. Linda saw something coming towards her in the gloom. She couldn't quite see what it was, but it was huge and seemed to have horns on its head. As it came closer Linda squeezed her eyes tightly shut and screamed her head off.

…

Russet sighed as she continued to follow her brothers. Copper, the younger by three years, seemed in a reasonably good mood. She wasn't sure about Bronze, the eldest. With their parents gone, he took the responsibility of being head of the family very seriously. Too serious, for Russet's taste. He was quiet now, but whether he was thinking of the future and where they were going, or just brooding about how their lives have been torn apart by the orc tribe that had destroyed their village when she was still a child, she couldn't guess. He said little about his plans or goals to Copper and almost nothing to her, saying girls didn't need to know anything but cooking and cleaning and weaving. Too many dwarves felt that way, and Russet would have been laughed at and thought touched in the head if she told about her dreams of adventure and excitement. Oh, Copper might accept her as an adventuring partner, even though he'd tease her about trying to be a boy. But Bronze would never accept her as anything but his baby sister.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Just the howl of a wolf," Copper said. "Not afraid of them, are you?"

"Certainly not," Russet said, although she wasn't at all sure. While her brothers had trained her to defend herself, they'd never let her join them in a battle, and so far hadn't needed her help.

"Keep your eyes and ears open and remain close to us," Bronze told her. "A single wolf wouldn't dare attack three armed warriors."

"And if there are more than one?" Russet asked, immediately wishing she hadn't. It made her sound cowardly.

"Don't worry, baby sister," Copper said, patting her on the head. "Big brother will take care of you."

Russet stuck her tongue out at him. "Oo, what a pretty face," he added. "Wolves will take one look at you and run."

She started to make a sarcastic statement back, but Bronze ordered them both quiet. "Hear that?" he demanded. "Something moving nearby!"

Russet listened. Sounded like something was moving through some bushes. She noticed her brothers had moved until they were standing back to back, on either side of her. Still protecting her. And with their weapons not yet repaired. She clutched her hammer, ready to step into battle if she had the chance.

The sound came closer. No. It was from a different direction. There were at least two of them. Then another howl came, but nowhere near the other sounds. Three of them! Russet could see their eyes now, red and angry looking.

"Stay close!" Bronze demanded. "Don't let them get between us!"

"Well, little sister," Copper muttered. "You wanted some excitement? Here it comes!"

Despite wanting to impress her brothers by showing how calm she could be in battle, Russet couldn't help but cry out as the wolves suddenly showed themselves, rushing towards them with bared fangs!

…

"Come on, Linda, wake up!" Penny yelled, shaking her friend, who was moaning and crying and tossing and turning in the tub. She jumped as Linda suddenly screamed, and screamed herself.

Linda sat up in the tub. "Penny!" she sobbed. "Where'd you go?"
"Huh?" Penny said, really confused. "I didn't go anyplace. You were having a bad dream. Did you see monsters?"

"I saw…something…" Linda said, rubbing her sweaty forehead. What was it? And why did she have that dream? Because she was in this weird world? But she'd slept here last night and hadn't had any dreams.

"That organ…" she whispered.

"You want to play the organ again now?" Penny demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "I think you should stay away from it!"

"Don't worry, I will!" Linda said.

"Hey!" came a voice from behind the door. "What's going on in there?" Penny recognized the voice. It was her brother's. The door started to open.

"Don't come in here, Andy!" Penny yelled, running to the door and leaning her butt against it. "Linda's still naked!" Linda scooched down in the tub, feeling her face getting warm.

"She is?!" Andy cried. "I-I mean…I mean…what the heck are you two doing in there? Having a screaming contest?"

"We're sticking pins in dolls of you!" Penny said. "Now get lost!"

"You better not make a voodoo doll of me!" Andy told her. Penny had been making a smart aleck remark. It hadn't occurred to her that she was a magic-user now. She wondered if she really could make voodoo dolls of people? She'd love to stick pins in one that looked like that jerk that called her a fat retard back on Earth!

…

Prudence shivered as the rain poured down on her. She'd found a tree branch and tried using it as a crutch to walk, but it was slow, painful, and exhausting moving that way. She managed to get to a tree and dropped to the ground, moaning.

Prudence felt her ankle and cried out. It was swollen and really hurt. She looked up at Midnight Mountain again, then back towards the town. There was no way she'd make it to either place. And lying on the wet ground was going to make her sick. She'd seen people gasping for breath, wheezing until they suddenly stopped breathing. She didn't want that to happen to her!

She was just about to try crawling back to town, hoping, if she somehow made it, that she'd be able to find a dry spot to rest until her ankle was better, when she heard a howling sound. Her blood ran cold. A wolf! She clutched the stick to her chest, knowing it would be useless as a weapon.

Her eyes bugged out as she looked around for the source of the howl. Where was it? She couldn't see anything. It was too dark, and there were too many trees and bushes nearby to block the light of the moon, even though it was close to being full, for her to see anything moving about.

She struggled to get up. To hobble to the nearest tree. Wolves couldn't climb trees, could they? She wasn't a very good climber, and her ankle hurt worse than anything had ever hurt before. But she reached the tree and forced her injured leg to climb, pain shooting through her like arrows. She kept sliding back down, and every time she tried again, her swollen ankle hurt even worse than before. But when she stopped she heard something moving. Leaves crunched. Another howl split the air, this one much closer! She whimpered and forced herself up the tree until she could grab the nearest branch. Luckily it was thick enough to support her weight, which wasn't that much since she was a poorly fed little urchin.

Prudence dragged her good leg over the branch. She sat on the branch, hugging the tree trunk, and struggled to catch her breath. Realizing her bad leg was dangling low towards the ground, she forced it up, biting her lip hard as her swollen ankle made contact with the tree branch, desperate not to scream and attract the attention of whatever might be approaching.

There it was again! Another howl! And it was much closer!

Prudence was afraid to look, but she finally opened her eyes, which she'd squeezed shut once she'd climbed onto the branch, and looked around. Her heart leaped and her blood felt like it had turned to ice water.

There was definitely something moving slowly in her direction. Something dark and shadowy, walking stealthily on four legs. Prudence shook violently, shaking the branch a little. She tried to make herself stop. Any sound or movement was liable to attract its attention!

But it seemed it had already noticed her. Didn't wolves have a very keen sense of smell? Prudence shut her eyes. She had no strength left to try to climb any higher, and would probably fall if she made the effort. If the wolf-or whatever it was-could reach her, it would pull her down and rip her to shreds! She said a prayer to Berei, the goddess of home and family as well as agriculture. Not that she'd ever had a home or a family, but she seemed the most likely goddess to protect a young girl alone and helpless.

She heard a snuffling sound. Then she heard footsteps very close, and coming closer. There was a low growl right beneath her. She opened one eye and closed it again as she saw what looked like a very large black dog leap up, fanged jaws snapping shut frightfully close to her leg. She realized if she hadn't pulled it up despite the agony, that snap would have closed on her calf or ankle, and pulled her down!

She struggled to drape her legs across the branch. If the wolf jumped much higher, though, it might hit the branch. She held on tightly, hands starting to hurt as she desperately gripped the trunk. Her heart beat wildly.

Prudence's strength was ebbing fast. She knew it was only a matter of time before she lost her grip and fell. She sobbed, tears filling her eyes.

She was going to die! And she'd never found true love!

…

"Hey! What's that noise?" Andy asked.

"It's that organ again," David said. "But it sounds terrible! Why is Linda playing so lousy?"

"That's not Linda!" Penny said, coming in. Her hair was still wet and she kept wiping it out of her face. "She's asleep."

"Hey, Greg's not here," Tom pointed out, looking around. "You don't think he's trying to play it, do you?"

"No way," David said, shaking his head. "That old priest keeps that room locked. Greg couldn't possibly have sneaked into there."

"He wanted one of us to play it," Andy remembered. "And Greg said he could play a kazoo."

"It's not the same type of instrument at all," David told him. "It doesn't even make music anyway, just noise."

"But the priest wouldn't know that," Penny reminded everyone. "He said he didn't know what a kazoo was. I guess they ain't been invented yet, huh?"

"So he might have thought if Linda didn't play it right, maybe Greg could," Andy finished.

The organ, if that was what it was, made an especially loud and especially off-key clunker.

"Sounds like somebody's killing a goose," Tom said.

"That racket could wake the dead," David added.

"Don't say that!" Penny told him. "In this world that might really happen!"

"Don't worry," Andy said smugly. "I'm sure the priest will throw him out in a minute with all the awful noises he's making."

Sure enough, the sound soon stopped. They heard footsteps coming towards them. Then they all gasped in shock. Greg was coming towards them, looking really angry. As he came close, they noticed something seemed different about him. What was it?

"Hey!" Andy said. "How'd you get so tall?" He was right. Greg, always taller than the others, was now even taller!

"What?" Greg asked, hitting his ear. "I can't hear anything!"

"I think we'd better get out of here," Penny said. "That organ cursed Linda, and now it's cursed him! What if he gets the rest of us to play it, and weird things happen to all of us?!"

"I'm not playing it!" Andy said quickly. He turned around. "Let's get Linda and leave!"

"Yeah, this is getting too creepy for me," Tom agreed.

"Hey, I think that organ must be the one in the Dungeon Master's Guide!" David said.

"We never read that book, remember?" Andy pointed out. David had always insisted they not look at it. They might learn too many secrets about the game.

"It's an artifact or relic," David said, as they hurried down the corridor to pick up Linda and make a run for it. He motioned for Greg to follow them.

"A what?" Penny asked.

"They're the most powerful type of magic items," David explained. "They can give you great powers, but they can also curse you."

"Curse you how?" Penny asked, wondering what might have happened to Linda.

"Well, it can make you temporarily bind or deaf or unable to smell," David said, struggling to remember. "Or turn your hair white. Or change your sex."

Penny made a face. "Gross!" she said. "I don't want to be some dumb ol' boy!"

"But those aren't the worst ones," David added, walking faster. "Some are possessed by a demon or devil or something, and after a certain number of uses they change back to themselves and turn the user into the same item. Or they age them until they become skeleton guardians of the item! Or…all kinds of awful things!"

"Don't tell Linda that! She'll freak out!" Penny said.

"Don't tell Linda what?" Linda demanded. She noticed the way they all jumped when they heard her. Had they been talking about her? About what happened with that organ? "Where's Greg? Is he the one playing that awful thing so bad?"

…

No one noticed the puff of smoke that suddenly appeared in a dark and filthy alley. A girl stepped out of the smoke. She walked down the alley, placing a hand to her left eye, which was swollen shut. Her other eye, a blazing green in color, looked about her. The wind lightly blew about her flaming red hair. Her gold cups and gold girdle jingled as she walked.

Eyes watched her from the shadows up ahead in the alley. She noticed she was being watched, but pretended not to as she kept walking towards her stalkers. She smiled. After her unfair mistreatment by her mistress, hurting someone else would make her feel better. But first she'd have some sport with them.

"Hello, beautiful," came a voice ahead of her.

She stopped, pursing her lips and looking about her, raising her eyebrows in worry. "Wh-who's there?" she asked in a high-pitched, childish voice. She bit her lower lip. "I-I don't have any money!"

A man about nineteen or twenty stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed in an open leather vest and wore a pair of short pants, somewhat tattered at the bottom. He had an expensive pair of black boots. Too expensive, in fact, for someone that looked as seedy as he did. No doubt stolen. Another guy about the same age stepped out of the shadows on either side of him. The one on his left was taller and wore a leather jacket and long pants with cheap looking shoes with pointy toes. The other was short, fat, and barefoot, and wore a suit of padded armor.

"That's all right, honey," the tall one said. "I'm sure you have…other things to offer us!"

The three laughed. The girl noticed the tall and short ones were moving to either side of her, blocking off her path of retreat if she tried to make a run for it.

"I don't have anything to offer you!" she said, acting the innocent.

"Oh, but you do!" the one in the middle said, reaching out to touch one of her cups. She squealed and crossed her arms across her chest.

"No!" she cried. "I'm saving myself for my husband!"

"Hey, I'll be your husband!" the fat one said, touching her shoulder.

"We'll all be your husband for the day!" the middle one, clearly their leader, said, drawing a wicked looking jagged knife from his belt. "Now let's have those clothes off, baby!"

The girl backed away, letting out a scream. "No!" she cried. "Oh help! Help me someone!" If anyone heard, they pretended not to.

The three laughed again. Six grubby, grabby hands reached for her.

The girl knocked the fat one over and ran down the alley. "After her!" the leader barked.

The girl ran into the darkest part of the alley and stopped. She could see her pursuers, but they couldn't see her. Yet. She grinned, and her teeth grew back into fangs. She drew her own dagger, a dainty looking but sharp instrument.

As the first of the three, the tall skinny one, reached her, she struck out, carving a long jagged scar across his face. He yelled and backed into the fat one.

"I'll kill you for that, you trollop!" the skinny one roared, pulling a shortsword from his belt.

"Let's have some fun with her first, Slim," the leader said, waving his own dagger at her. She deflected his attack, realizing he was toying with her. She wasn't a fighter. But only magical weapons and those made of cold iron could harm her. Most weapons in this age were steel she'd been told, and surely these simpletons would not have any magic among them.

And she had ways to defend herself. Ways they were about to find out. And they weren't going to like it.

…

Greg had been walking down the corridors of the temple, bored, when he'd ran into the priest, who had somehow talked him into trying out the organ, because he played the kazoo. He hadn't told him you didn't exactly play a kazoo. That would have sounded uncool, and being cool had always been very important to Greg. He was the youngest of three, and had always felt he had to prove he was as good as his older brothers, both of whom had made better grades in school than he did.

Once sitting in front of the organ, Greg had been stuck for what to do. Then he hit a few keys, playing "Shave and a haircut…six bits!" Dum da-da dum dum dum-dum! That didn't seem to be what the old guys wanted, so he tried the only piano he kind of knew, Chopsticks with two fingers. Well…it hadn't been too bad, although he started feeling kind of weird before he finished. He'd then tried to fake it, saying he was going to play a song popular where he came from. He hit a bunch of slow, low notes, saying it was a song about dead people. From the look on the geezer's face, Greg decided the old creep was starting to get wise that he didn't know what he was doing. So he played a bit longer, then pretended he'd hurt his hand.

As he walked away, Greg noticed over his shoulder that the priest was looking kind of angry. He walked faster, hurrying out of the room and down the corridor, where he passed the acolyte that had led them down to that dungeon or whatever it was. He made a face at him behind his back, then kept going. He was getting tired of this big boring place. As gross as the fighting had been, and as bad as it had hurt when he'd gotten bitten, Greg had always had a mean streak and liked fighting. It was something he could understand, since he wasn't all that smart. But he wished he'd picked fighter or ranger instead of monk. He couldn't use any decent weapons, and couldn't get any exceptional strength like Andy had. And it would take several levels to get any powers! Wait. Couldn't he change classes? He'd read something like that. He just needed to find a fighter or a ranger that would teach him how to start. Yeah. He'd change classes and beat that smart aleck Andy! And then…and then maybe Linda would like him.

"What was all that racket?" Andy demanded as Greg came across the others. "You sure can't play the organ."

"Aw shut up!" Greg told him. Yeah, he'd fix his wagon one of these days. "Let's get out of this stupid place! I'm bored!"

"We were just talking about leaving," Linda said. "I don't like it here."

"Then let's get out of this dump!" Greg said, grinning because Linda had agreed with him about something.

"We should tell the old priest we're going first," Linda pointed out.

"I think we should just get out of here," Andy said. "He looked like he was up to something."

They discussed this for awhile, then decided to just walk out, telling anyone they passed to tell the priest thanks for helping them, and maybe they'd be back again one of these days. But when they reached the door leading out, they found the old priest and Brother Haro standing in front of it.

"Surely you don't intend to leave our hospitality so soon, children?" the priest said.

"Um…we really have to be somewhere…" David said.

"Nonsense," the priest insisted. "We wouldn't hear of you going yet. We have things to discuss."

...

Originally Lendor was god of time in the Greyhawk world. Pelor was god of the sun, strength, light, and healing.

Never heard of rolling to heal. I think that's a 5th edition role and I haven't seen 5th edition yet.

I'm not really sure what a dragon born is. They're not in the books I'm using for reference.