Didn't I already go that way? Apollo asked himself, pausing for the third time in the last ten minutes. Glowing steady at his side was a small flame cuffed in his right hand, he waved it around to try to judge the area. Apollo checked his peripherals, and then behind his back. I could've swore I've already passed all of this. Apollo sighed and sat on a large boulder shoved into the wall of the cave.

According to the date on his menu it had been three days since his encounter with the Black Knight, yet only three hours since he had woken. That boss fights already happened, they've all gone and done it without me. Apollo noticed when he checked the menu, yet he couldn't help but feel a ting of excitement when he saw the 66% replace the 33%. Guess whoever has been killing the bosses really means business. He found himself wondering about his companions, TankGod and his devout group from down under. They'll out level even me soon if they're hanging out with all the high level guys.

Apollo exhaled loudly and closed his eyes. He slowly let his body fall back against the cool, jagged stone. He let his hands go slack, the flame disappearing almost immediately.

Without his thoughts or footsteps Apollo found the cave unnervingly quiet, his thoughts seemingly fighting trying to fill the void. I need to figure where I am, I need to figure how to get out of where I am. I need to get back to the surface. I need to reach the others. I need to help the others. He opened his eyes. I need to warn the others about Defil3d.

Apollo stood up, a small wave of motivation washing over him like a hot shower. With a flick of his wrist the flame reappeared, brighter than before. Without hesitation he continued on the path ahead, ignoring the strange familiarity he felt from it. I just have to keep looking, there will definitely be something. Minutes later the room cavern changed into something he did not recognize.

The jagged, rough walls of stone faded into neatly carved statues. While the dirt and rocky floor gave way to neatly carved, yet long decayed stone. Apollo let his flame die out as several torches began to pop up along the path. Finally getting somewhere. He thought with a smile. Ten minutes later he reached it.

Apollos heart sank, and his motivation evaporated under the burning bright heat of fear. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and took a small step forward. His instincts pulled him right back immediately after.

"No way…." He said aloud, creating a faint echo in the cavern. In front of him was a deep, abyss of a hole in the ground. It was as wide as a car while at a quick glance its depth resembled that of a small skyscraper. He shook his head and took another step back. Apollo reached down to his side picked up a small pebble from the ground, tossing it down into the depths. He held his breath and counted.

Several moments passed.

Droop.

Ten….seconds? Are you kidding me? He looked back at the hallway behind him. This can't be right, there has to be another door or something. There's no way I'm jumping down that damn hole. He picked up his feet and followed his previous footsteps back into the jagged area of the cavern.

Three hours passed before Apollo found himself back at the edge, staring down the black pit. The cave behind him wasn't as big as he anticipated, and the endless passages he thought he was lost in proved to be much smaller and easier to navigate once he went at them a second time. He swallowed another lump in his throat. Apollo check each and crack and indent along the wall, but there was nothing. Even the large cavern of water that he floated in on looked to be impassable. He took a step forward.

This is the only way.

Apollo took one last, deep, prolonged breath. He had thrown several more stones in prior, and was sure he could hit nothing but water. Yet only when he lobbed down a fireball to illuminate the depths did he get his full confirmation. He took another step forward, and then another.

Apollo ran at it with a lunge.

He was quick to scream, his voice following him all the way until a cold rush of water enveloped his body.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The night hung heavy in the sky as Maia opened her cavern door. Insomnia proved to a condition that followed the girl even into the virtual world. She took the few steps down from the wagon to the dirt and eyed the camp around her.

Empty. She saw, even the normally outgoing NPCs all shut and closed behind the doors of their own wagons.

Sorry Quill, but I can't just sit by. She thought as she glanced at her friends room next to hers. Hopefully we'll meet up some other time. Maia turned her attention away and towards the exit. Outside of Gallinero the sky opened up with even a brighter array of stars. Combined with the lunar light above the lake practically sparkled on the horizon. Maia made her way down the path, the reflection from the lake illuminating her way.

Hopefully the next group will have gathered in Docktown by now. I hope the ship will still run at night. She walked along the cobblestone path that bordered the lake, a knee-high stone wall and a small grassy shore the only thing separating it from the blackened blue of Bower Lake. Keeping her eyes ahead, Maia desperately tried to avoid imagining any sort of horseman riding in on the distance. There's lots of players in the area now. She told herself. I should be safe.

The path proved to be much quieter than Maias imagination had created for her. Despite the small bugs in the forest to her left and the gently waves hugging the shore to her right, she could still hear her heartbeat over any of the other sounds. It'll be alright. She assured herself. Maia glanced over the lake as she walked, the distant image of Bower Island a blackish blur on the horizon. She wondered if the players had arrived yet.

"Damn it boy I told you this wasn't no road!"

Maia froze, her sword drawn before the man even finished his sentence. Shit, shit. Scenarios raced through her head. She wasn't sure if he the steps she heard were her own or that of a horse. I'll swim if I have to. She shuffled her feet, looking around in all directions. Where is he, where is he, where is he?

"I was just trying to help."

"Yeah and now you've gone and made us miss the boat. How we gonna get there now?" Maias ears pinpointed rhw sound. She swiftly turned her body around and held her blade in the direction of the forest. Two figures emerged from the treeline. Maias muscles twitched, she readied her special move.

"Yeah, yeah…okay."

Maias eyes widened, they weren't the knight. She lowered her blade, but the two didn't seem to notice her.

FistOmen stopped and stared at the other, smaller player, HermansTheBest. "What did you say to me, boy?" He reeled back a fist and smacked Herman over the head. Pain wasn't a factor in the game, yet the boy still clutched his head.

"Ow! Uncle what was that for?"

"Don't what was that for me!" Fist smacked Herman again. "When this shit ends I'm not bringing your ass back to your momma with an attitude."

Herman didn't respond to the older dark-skinned man, or even glance at him. Maia founder herself staring at the boy like he did her. FistOmens face twisted.

"Are you even-"

"Who's that?" Herman pointed. Fist turned and looked at Maia, his expression changed immediately.

"Um…" Maia began, her mind blank. It took a few seconds, but FistOmens face quickly twisted into a smile. He straightened himself up.

"Sorry about that, we've just been lost for a bit." Fist took a step forward, extending his hand out for shake. "I'm FistOmen, and this over here is my nephew Herman." He pointed at the child behind him, Herman waved.

After a moment Maia slowly shook his hand. "…uh yeah….nice to meet you guys." There was another brief pause before FistOmen spoke again.

"We were just on our way back from a quest in the region. I think we're on track now but just to confirm it, this road takes us to Docktown, right?"

The thoughts slowly returned to Maias head. "Yeah I'm actually on my way there myself."

Fists face lit up, a different kind of smile then she had seen before. "You hear that Herman?" He hollered at his nephew. "This girl said she going to Docktown! Told you I knew the right way!"

Herman crossed his arms and made what Maia could only describe as a pout face. "Whatever..."

"You guys wanna come along I guess? I'm just trying to make it to the next ship to Bower Island."

"Us too, we we're actually in town for the Titus fight a few days ago."

"Really, so you saw the people who beat it?"

Fist shook his head. "Person. It was only one guy."

Maias eyes widened. "One player beat the boss?"

Fist nodded. "Craziest shit I've ever seen. Must be at least ten levels above us, minimum."

Images flashed through Maias head of another high leveled player. She had to be sure. "What was his name?" FistOmen thought for a moment.

Maia held her breath.

"Kungen, I think?" The man looked back at his nephew. Even with his pout face Herman still gave Fist a reassuring nod. Maia let out a sigh of relief. FistOmen noticed. "You know him?

"What? Oh no, it's nothing." She looked over at the path ahead. "We're only about twenty minutes away, you think the ships will still go at night?"

FistOmen shrugged. "I think someone said something about multiple trips. He did say he wants all the help he can get."

"Well let's get moving then." Maia said as she started to move down the path.

FistOmen and Herman nodded, and were quick to follow. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but far in the center of the lake it seemed as if a distant spark of light shown from Bower Island.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The warrior stared out at the oncoming landmass, proving to be much larger in person than from a distance. Ahead the wind bellowed as clouds rolled in to cover the star speckled sky. Fitting. Kungen thought before he turned around.

"Tell everyone to get ready for landfall." The NPC he spoke to nodded and shouted at the other sailors. The ship became alive with movement as other players got word as well.

"So what's the plan?" A female voice said from his side. Uloveme leaned against the wooden railing. Her green eyes nearly bright enough to glow in the night.

"Land at shore. Make base camp. Wait for everyone else to get here."

"That seems pretty straight forward"

"Like always."

"But what comes after that?"

Kungen gazed up at the rapidly approaching landmass. The rocky formation of Hero Hill jutted out of the forest with height comparable to that of Fairfax Castle. "We'll be a hundred players strong. I don't care how strong Oceanus is I'm planning on marching right up to that things doorstep."

"Is it really going to be that simple?"

Kungen shrugged. "I don't see why it shouldn't be."

Uloveme sighed. "But this is Adrian Blacks game. That man never makes anything simple. I'm not saying we shouldn't try, but I can't help but have a bad feeling about this." The vessel began to slow as they neared landfall. Ahead a small dock came into view, a fraction of the size of the ship itself but the water was still deep enough to stop at.

"I know, but we don't have a choice. We either escape or die trying." Kungen turned around and walked down to the bottom deck. Uloveme followed soon after. There the players had already begun to gather in a cluster as the NPC sailors steadied the ship.

"Kungen, how's it going man?" One player asked, the warrior responded with a smile.

"The legend himself!" Another shouted, Kungen nodded at him as well.

"Can't wait to see you kick some more ass!" Kungen wasn't sure what response to give the last man, so he just went with a small smile and a thumbs up.

If it weren't for the ship docking and the board going down, Kungen was sure he would gotten a standing ovation to follow. Hope it won't always be like this. He thought as he took his first step upon the dock of Bower Island. The players followed in droves. The water-logged wood of the dock creaked as Kungen made his way to the shore, his companion Edward Gwynne following like a shadow. Once the warriors boots touched the grass he turned back towards the ship.

"Everyone off! Come on, the sooner we leave the sooner the sailors will be able to pick up the rest alright?" The players hurried in response. Satisfied, Kungen once again turned to face the island.

The path ahead lead into the small, yet dense forest that covered nearly the entirety of Bower Island. Which Kungen guessed to be no more than a square mile at most. Yet the sheer volume of trees made it seem much larger. As long as we stick together we should be able to get through. He walked up the small hill that transitioned the sandy shores to the thick tree-line, stopping when he reached the top. There he saw a small clearing in the woods ahead. Basecamp, Kungen thought. He watched as the others slowly came up and joined him.

The ship departed less than a minute after the last player stepped onto deck, five minutes after that and it was already too far out in the lake for Kungen to be able to make out any of the sailors on board. He looked back towards the cluster of players that had gathered in the clearing. There were several dozen of them packed onto the grass, but just to be safe…

"Make yourselves comfy guys!" He shouted. "It'll probably be another good hour before the others get here, so for now we just wait. And no, before you even asks, we can't go out in the forest yet. I don't want to trigger any sort of-"

From the back of the crowd, the player closest to the forest screamed

Shit.

As if they were on cue several beasts appeared from the woodwork. Listening to their sound and seeing the faint outline of their square-size in the night, it didn't take long Kungen to recognize them as Hobbes. He went to shout, but by then other screams had joined.

"Stay away, don't let them grab you!"

A girl screamed from the other end, down by the ship. Kungen looked down to see several Hobbes grabbing her by her arms and legs and hauling her off along the shore. Kungen gritted his teeth and withdrew his blade. Yet the Hobbes already had theirs sheathed, and were starting to fade back into the forest. You got to be kidding me.

"We gotta stick together, wait!" Kungen tried to shout, the responses were few and far in between.

"They took my friend!"

"My brother was over there, I got to get him!"

As if they were cockroaches spotted by the light, the group of players, Kungens raid party of over three dozen, disintegrated as they all ran into different directions in the forest. Everywhere he looked there was another player going somewhere else. No, no, no…

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, she spoke quickly.

"I'll go left, you go right, we got to save as many as we can." With that Uloveme was off into the tree line. Leaving only Kungen and a handful of confused players left among the crowd. They looked to him. Kungen counted no less than five.

"Well, come on then!" He started jogging, not bothering to check for any familiar faces. "Looks like we're going to have to improvise!"