The building I’d been held in was an empty office building that had several ‘FOR LEASE’ signs on the outside. It seemed that Nadine and her crew had been squatting in it, which was one of the reasons they’d been so hard to find. Apparently, since they were so big on hunting down champions outside of the competitions, they’d all taken precautions to make it difficult for other champions to do the same thing to them.

I managed to slip out of the building without running into March or Harker, much to my relief. I wasn’t in any shape to fight either of them at the moment, much less Robe’s patron. So as soon as was free, I hurried to the next building over, and then the next, trying to stay hidden and out of sight. Eventually, I collapsed in exhaustion behind a parked car.

My hands and feet were killing me, and I suddenly wondered if I might have broken a bone or two during my escape. Until now, desperation and adrenaline had kept me from really noticing just how bad they were. Out of a morbid since of curiosity, I brought up my status page.

NAME: HEATHER MARIE SIEVERS
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
PATRON: MAELYNE, GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 76%
MANA: 23%
STATUS: MODERATE CONTUSIONS AND MINOR LASCERATIONS ON ALL HANDS AND FEET. MINOR TO MODERATE CONTUSIONS OVER REST OF BODY. MINOR BURNS ON LEFT THIGH AND RIGHT FOREARM. MAJOR EMOTIONAL TRAUMA.

“Okay,” I said with a sigh of relief. “Nothing broken, just bruised.”

Of course, I noticed my mana level, which had recovered a bit during my dash from the building. I immediately took advantage of that to heal myself several times in a row. It took three heals before my health was back to 100% and all the physical damage on my status bar was cleared.

My body might have been healed, but I was still physically and emotionally exhausted. I wanted to just curl up and take a nap, but at the same time, I had no doubt that when I closed my eyes, I’d only have nightmares. Besides, I wasn’t really safe yet. I was too damn close to my enemies…to Nadine.

“I need to get home,” I said, shaking a little as I did so.

I had to make sure that Cassandra was all right. I was pretty sure that if they’d captured her like they had me, or if they’d killed her, then Nadine would have bragged about that while torturing me. Since she hadn’t said a word about Cassandra, I could only assume that she got away. However, I still had to see that for myself.

With a great deal of effort, I managed to get back to my feet. Then I looked down at myself and grimaced in disgust. My armor was little more than rags. If those bastards attacked me again, my armor would be useless. In fact, it was worse than useless. It would make me stand out, drawing attention to me so that it would be far too easy for them to track me down.

A second later, I sent my armor and weapon back into storage. I was now dressed in my normal street clothes, which were clean and undamaged. Of course, I was still covered in blood and grime, but a lot of that was beneath my clothes so wouldn’t be as noticeable.

“Not like I can do much better at the moment,” I muttered.

My next step was to get home, hopefully before the competition started. Even if there hadn’t been any other reasons, I still had to warn Cassandra about Robe. It didn’t take me long to figure out my next move.

A middle-aged man was coming towards a car parked a short distance away from me. It only took me a couple seconds to make my decision, then I shifted my posture and body language as I prepared to use every bit of charisma that I possessed.

“Help me,” I gasped. “Please…”

The man froze and stared at me with his eyes going wide in shock, worry, and sympathy. “What happened to you? Are you all right”

“Some guys grabbed me,” I responded tearfully. I didn’t need to fake being nervous or afraid. “I got away….”

“Oh God,” he gasped, pulling out a cell phone. “I’ll call the police…”

“Can I borrow your phone, please?” I asked. “I want to call home and let my friends know I’m all right…”

He handed the phone over without a moment of hesitation. I called Cassandra’s phone, but nobody picked up. I tried not to feel worried about that. After all, Cassandra never picked up from an unfamiliar number, so this was nothing to be worried about. I could have sent her a text, but I didn’t want to do that from someone else’s account, especially when he was right there watching me.

“Can you…can you give me a ride home?” I asked, playing up the sympathy angle. It was so easy to do, it actually scared me a little. “I’ll call the police once I feel safe…”

“Sure,” he quickly told me. “Climb in…”

The helpful stranger, Jim as I soon learned he was named, gave me a ride back to the house. Once I assured him that I’d be safe there, and thanked him profusely, he left, happy to have done a good deed.

As soon as I stepped into the house, Cassandra was immediately there, exclaiming, “JERI!” Before I could even respond, she grabbed me in a tight hug. “You’re alive…”

“I…escaped,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile that probably came off as a little forced.

Cassandra stared at me with an expression that was mixed relief and worry. “Holy fucking shit… What did those fuckers do to you?”

I sat down and sank back in the recliner as I tried to think of how to answer. I shook from the memory, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk about it. But for some reason, I suspected that the longer I waited, the harder it would be.

“Can…can I get something to eat?” I asked in exhaustion. “And drink…”

“Sure,” Cassandra told me, starting for the kitchen. However, she paused in order to yell up the stairs, “HEY! JERI’S BACK!”

Seconds later, Lauren and Matt came running down the stairs, surprising me a little to see them together. Before I knew it, both of them were by my side, simultaneously announcing how relieved they were and bombarding me with questions.

Instead of answering, I cautiously asked, “How long was I gone?”

“Two days,” Cassandra answered with a grim expression.

She came over and handed me a plate with a couple slices of leftover pizza, and a glass of water. I drank half the glass in one long gulp, then immediately began to wolf down the pizza. I hadn’t realized just how hungry and thirsty I was until then.

“They took you two days ago,” Cassandra said, her voice shaking. “I couldn’t do anything… Not a single damn thing… Those fuckers just grabbed you and ran…”

“Are you okay?” Matt asked, giving me a worried look. “You look like crap…”

“Trust me,” I responded with a forced smile, “I looked a LOT worse…”

“What happened?” Lauren asked. “What did they do to you?”

I closed my eyes for several seconds. “They… Nadine…hurt me.” I was shaking at that, and suddenly, Cassandra’s arms were wrapped around me again.

“That fucking bitch,” Cassandra snarled. “I’ll put an arrow through her…”

“I put a spear through her guts,” I offered, giving a genuine smile at that memory. “But I didn’t get any popups or points from it.”

“That bitch deserves LOT worse than that,” Lauren insisted with a flash of fury in her eyes.

“Yeah, she does,” I agreed with a long sigh. “She…tortured me. She tried making me renounce Maelyne and say I wouldn’t be her champion anymore… Apparently, they can remove people from the game that way too…”

“Fuck,” Cassandra snarled. “That’s serious…”

“It gets worse,” I said.

Matt gave me a worried look. “How could it get much worse than kidnapping and torturing you?”

I took a deep breath, not sure how to explain this last bit. Finally, I blurted out, “We’re all screwed now…”

‘What do you mean?” Matt asked. “Did you renounce Maelyne?”

“No,” I answered. “Robe… His patron…Arakthiel…showed up.”

“WHAT?” Cassandra demanded, staring at me in disbelief. “You’re shitting me…”

“I wish,” I told her grimly. “He…possessed Robe…Mason. He’s controlling him completely…using him like a frickin meat puppet… For all I know, he scooped out Robe’s soul and destroyed it…”

Cassandra stared at me with a look of horror. “Holy fucking shit…”

“From what I understand of the game,” Matt suggested cautiously, “that’s against the Gods’ rules…”

“Definitely,” Cassandra said with a worried look. “That totally changes the game.”

--------------------

I was asleep. Dreaming. I felt safe, secure, and…protected.

As awareness crept up on me, I realized that someone was holding me…hugging me. At first, this reminded me of when I’d been a little boy and when my mom held me during a lightning storm, reassuring me that I was safe. Then I realized that the person holding me wasn’t my mom, but Maelyne.

Maelyne seemed to sense that I was now aware of what was going on, because she released me and pulled back. For the first time, I noticed that we were in the same den where we’d met the last couple times, but the chairs were gone. Instead, we were sitting on an enormous couch, one that was built at her scale, which made me feel like I was just a little kid.

“I regret that I could not protect you from your ordeal,” Maelyne said, giving me a sad smile. “Just as I regret that it was your service to me which led you to that place…”

“It…wasn’t your fault,” I said, thinking about Nadine.

The very thought of my former girlfriend was enough to fill me with fear, anger, and disgust. However, Maelyne reached out and put her hand on mine. Suddenly, that thick morass of emotions seemed to sooth and recede.

“You could have ended it at any time, had you but renounced me,” Maelyne continued in a gentle tone. She smiled down at me, and again, I was reminded of when I’d been a kid and when my mom had given me a similar look of pride.

“Nadine would have just killed me,” I said, though at the time, that would have been an enormous relief.

“Indeed, he would have,” Maelyne agreed. “But that would have been the easier path, and an end to your pain.”

I scowled at that, once again feeling a rising of the fear and anger, though Maelyne’s presence helped to calm it right back down again. What she said was true, but there was no way in hell I would have given Nadine that satisfaction, nevermind the fact that I would have screwed Maelyne over if I’d done that.

“Your loyalty is greatly appreciated,” Maelyne told me with a gentle smile, “especially in such a difficult situation.”

“You’re welcome,” I responded, not sure what else I could say to that.

Then Maelyne’s expression darkened. “As you have seen yourself, the situation has…escalated. My opponents are on the move, and have begun taking direct action within my world, and within yours.”

“Yeah,” I responded grimly. “I saw that last part.”

Maelyne’s eyes flashed with anger, and even if I hadn’t seen her expression, I would have felt how pissed off she was. I was just thankful that it wasn’t directed at me.

“Arakthiel has betrayed his own champion,” Maelyne stated in a cold tone. “He has destroyed the mortal’s soul and cast it into oblivion. And while I believe that this is an appropriate fate for the one who murdered your predecessor, the fact that it came at Arakthiel’s own hand…”

I just stared up at Maelyne, realizing that she was more offended by Arakthiel’s betrayal than by exactly what he’d done to Robe. Of course, she was the goddess of loyalty, so betrayal of any sort was literally against everything she stood for.

“Why would he do that?” I asked. “I mean, Robe…Mason was his champion.”

“Arakthiel wants to end the game…and the uneasy peace it brings,” Maelyne explained. “He is the god of the abyss, and as such, he seeks the end of all things. This is merely one important step.” She shook her head and added, “The god of the abyss has always been dangerous, but he has also grown impatient, which makes him more so.”

“Each of my opponents has a reason for their actions,” Maelyne continued. “And for their alliance. Kr’aethar, god of steel, war, and resolve, wishes to end the peace and return our kind to war. He wants conflict and conquest, the kind that my people have not known for thousands of years.”

Maelyne scowled. “Pfath, god of fire and pain, seeks to burn the world to the ground, and then savor all the pain and suffering caused by this.”

I nodded at that one. If Pfath was Nadine’s patron, and was the one who’d given her ‘sadism’ as a gift, then that said everything I needed to know about him.

“Br’ieze, goddess of wind and air,” Maelyne continued with an almost sad expression. “She seeks freedom from the rules and constraints of our game. She wishes to enter your world, gather worshippers, be free to do whatever her whims desire.”

The goddess shook her head faintly, and I could see the worried look on her face. “They have other allies as well, though ones without champions. Each has their own reasons for what they do.”

“And they all want to end this game?” I asked, remembering what Maelyne had told me about it. According to her, this game was all that kept her kind from fighting amongst themselves and destroying their world, and possibly even my own.

“Yes,” Maelyne agreed with a grim expression. “Their alliance seeks to end the game, to conquer my world, and to turn yours into a playground for their amusements, leaving your entire race as little more than pets.”

My eyes widened at that, as I realized just how bad things had just become. The game was seriously messed up, but at least it kept things from being worse. From what Maelyne had just told me, the worst-case scenario was just starting to happen.

“The game is in disarray,” Maelyne admitted. “I do not know how much longer the game will stand, or how many more competitions there will be. But in spite of this, the game remains important. Victory in the game can give me the leverage I need to protect my allies, and hopefully, defeat our enemies.”

“I’ll do what I can,” I promised.

“I know you will,” Maelyne responded, giving me a gentle smile. “Our time comes to an end again. Now waken, my champion. The contest begins.”

I suddenly woke up to find Cassandra gently shaking my shoulder. “Time to get ready,” she said while handing me an energy drink, which I immediately began to gulp down.

After getting home, I’d taken a brief nap before the contest. Very brief, yet somehow, still long enough or Maelyne and I to have our conversation.

I stood up, noticing that Cassandra had changed into her armor. Matt was a short distance away, already in his armor too. And then, I saw Teri, who’d shown up while I was sleeping, and who was also ready to go.

“It looks like I’m the last one to get ready,” I said, summoning my armor and spear. When I glanced down at myself, I saw that my armor was as good as new, without any sign that it had been damaged.

“Be careful,” Lauren said, looking around at each of us with a worried expression. I noticed that she gaze lingered on Matt for a couple seconds long. “And you’d better all come back.”

“You can count on it,” Matt told her, before abruptly announcing, “Four to beam up, Scotty…”

An instant later, the sparks and sparkles began, and then we were gone.