The Dead Fortress: A LitRPG Epic (World of Samar Book 3) Read online

  “We won’t let you die, today at least,” Benji promised as they fell in line behind Jimmy and Maverick. “Maybe tomorrow, but not today.”’

  The guild laughed as they moved down the road, Giles muttering under his breath, “Thanks, I feel so much better now.”

  Bishop grinned until a voice whispered against his ear. His feet yelled at him to go back, but he forced himself to push forward. There was nothing back there for him, nothing at all.

  Chapter 02

  Bishop paced down the road, listening to the rest of the guild tease and laugh along the way. He had tried to join in earlier but, every time he laughed, his gut twisted as if he was going to be sick and the fuzziness in his ears worsened. There had to be something wrong with the connection to the game. He checked the map and noticed a small structure appear up ahead. Not big enough to be a village, but a gathering of huts maybe? Or tents?

  “What do you think it is?” Calista asked beside him.

  He flinched, not having even noticed her falling back to be with him. “Not sure yet. Think we’ll let Jimmy keep walking until he hits it and see what happens,” he mused with a wink. “It’s kind of off the road…and that road there, wonder where that leads,” he said, motioning to a path leading out of the small grouping and farther north. “Dead Fortress?”

  “What do you think’s in there?” she asked.

  “Death,” he replied, and she smacked his arm. “What? Just saying it is in the name.”

  “I’m sure there’s more in there than that. Level thirty dungeon, it’s going to be intense.” She turned serious, running her fingers over her mace. “We’re going to need upgrades eventually, which means I need to get back to my shop and the Crafting Hall.”

  “We can use the one in Hillside, right? Avoid Weston?”

  “No bounty’s been put on your head yet, you know,” she reminded him. “I doubt they would arrest you on sight. Besides, we haven’t even found a trace of Winston. How are you supposed to bring him back for questioning if we can’t even find the man?”

  “I doubt King Godfrey would argue semantics with me. If I return with no Winston in tow, or knowledge of where he might be, I’m sure he’ll take that as a sign I’m planning on betraying him.”

  Bishop did not like being threatened, but his hands were tied. The ties of the game were changing must faster than he had anticipated. They were only level 26. What would happen when they were 30? Or 50? Would he ever be able to return to Weston? No one spoke of another big city, but there had to be more than one. Unless the only other big city was for the Demons, but that he assumed was in the Demon world.

  A whisper brushed across his ear and he couldn’t hear the words Calista spoke to him, or his guild mates. He went deaf to the world around him and his feet stumbled in the dirt. Calista reached out to grab him before he fell, her mouth moving quickly, but he frowned. He couldn’t hear her.

  “What are you saying?” he tried to ask, but was unsure if he even said the words aloud.

  A sharp pain shot through his mind and he was falling through darkness.

  ***

  “Deep breaths, Harrison, hold on, man,” Tyler urged as Harrison blinked his eyes open.

  He sucked in air, clutching at his head once the gear was removed. “What…what happened?” he gasped, resting on the table. “I couldn’t…couldn’t hear, and the pain…” He cringed as another agonizing jolt exploded behind his eyes. “Damn!”

  “There was an issue with your connection. I’m going to have to dissect your gear and see what’s wrong.” Tyler squeezed his shoulder. “Rest here for a while and then I’ll take you to the infirmary. Lunch isn’t for another hour. Do you want me to tell your friends, or send them a message and say you’re alright?”

  “I am alright, aren’t I?” he asked.

  Tyler smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, you’re fine. Just the gear.”

  “Tell them to stay in game. I’ll wait for them.”

  Tyler sent the message from his computer as Harrison shut his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain. This was worse than the last time the game glitched and pulled them out of the game. That time, it had happened much faster. This time around, it took all morning for the gear to fail.

  “Are you sure it was the gear?” he asked.

  “Pretty sure.”

  “It happened all morning long,” he told Tyler. “I kept having these weird blackouts.”

  Tyler frowned. “That’s not supposed to happen. If the gear fails, it should pull you out of the game completely, not throw you back and forth. I’ll have to speak with Dennis, but you might have to take a few days off until we figure this out.”

  “Time away from the game might not be a bad idea.”

  When he didn’t feel like he was going to fall over, he had Tyler tilt the table back upright so he could step off. He told Tyler he’d be in the infirmary lying down and that his friends didn’t have to come see him. He was going to take some painkillers and wait for his head to stop pounding. Each step shot a new explosion of pain behind his eyes and he cringed, squinting his eyes against the bright lights in the hall.

  “Do you get migraines?” Dr. Sanchez asked as she helped him to a bed.

  “Never had them before, but times change, right?”

  “I told Dennis this game would take its toll after a while. Here, take this and drink the whole glass of water,” she said, setting a paper cup and two pills on the table by his bed. “Should help take the edge of. Rest for a while and you are not going back in that game, not today and maybe not tomorrow either.”

  Harrison swallowed the pills and chugged the water. “Yes, mom,” he teased.

  Dr. Sanchez rolled her eyes. “Gamers. Sleep, Harrison.”

  He closed his eyes, listening as her heels clicked away. She flipped the lights off for him and his eyes relaxed beneath the lids. He doubted he would sleep, but his mind drifted and before long, he felt himself floating away through a maze of faces and memories from the game and his real life. He saw Callie, her face shifting from her warrior in the game to the woman she was outside of the game. She smiled at him in both guises, but it was the worry in her eyes that made him reach out for her. She was too far away and, each time he tried to get closer, she stepped back.

  The worry in her eyes shifted to fear and she screamed, running from him.

  Harrison hurried after her, trying to call to her, but it wasn’t his voice he heard coming from his mouth. It was a snarl and, when he stopped running, he turned in a circle to see himself surrounded by mirrors.

  “No…no!” he rasped, holding up his hands in horror.

  Except they weren’t his hands, not anymore. His skin was darkened and scaled and his fingers were long, jagged claws. His face was no longer his own and two great black horns protruded from his light-colored hair. Yet, it was his eyes that struck terror into him. Those green eyes glowing with flames as they stared with malice back at him.

  “Demon!” Callie yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Demon!”

  She was in the real world. He glanced around and stared at the walls of the facility. This wasn’t possible. Nothing from the game could slip out of the computer system. But here he was, storming towards her and roaring in rage. He screamed inside his mind to stop, but his hoven feet refused to stop and stalked ever closer. He lifted his hand and Callie screamed as he brought it down—

  Harrison yelled, leaping up out of the bed and clutching his hands to his face.

  “Harrison?”

  He jumped with another yell and sagged when he turned to see Callie with Alana and Jimmy. “Sorry, I uh…I…” He didn’t know what to say. That dream, it was far too real, and his mind fought to catch up with the present and tell him it wasn’t real. None of it was real. Callie was safe, sitting on the edge of the bed. She was alive. He hadn’t turned into a rampaging demon and killed her.

  “You alright?” she asked, reaching out tentatively to hold his shoulders. “Nightmare
?”

  “Yeah, guess so. Why are you guys here? I said I’d be fine.” He rubbed his forehead. At least, his headache was gone, but his hands shook as he held them out in front. Callie grabbed them, holding them hard in hers. “I’m fine, really.”

  “No, you’re not,” she argued. “What happened today? Tyler said there was a problem with your gear?”

  “Yeah, it’s why I was distracted all morning. I might be out of the game for a few days.”

  “What? No, man, we can’t keep playing without you,” Jimmy said.

  “Yes, you can and you will. We’re four levels away from the dungeon. I can catch up and, worse case, you guys do it without me.”

  Might be better if they do it without me, he thought.

  Tyler said it was the gear acting up all morning, but he knew better. What he saw, that shadowy figure and the voice? That was not from his gear. He frowned as that whispering voice brushed over him again and he shuddered.

  “I’m going to get Dr. Sanchez,” Alana said. “You’re really pale.”

  She hurried away before Harrison could tell her not to worry so much about him. He hung his head, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. If he could act normal, he had a chance of convincing them there was nothing to fret over, even though his heart pounded in his chest and panic made him want to bolt out the door. He wasn’t sure having Callie so close was a good idea, but if he told her to leave, she’d wonder why and get mad at him. He’d never hear the end of it.

  Dr. Sanchez returned a few moments later with Alana. She pressed her hand to Harrison’s forehead. “Hmm, you feel feverish. This might not be just a migraine. I’m keeping you here for the rest of the day and night,” she told him. “And the rest of you, I have to ask you to leave. If he’s contagious, I’d prefer to keep exposure minimal. Go on, he’ll be fine here with me.”

  Callie kissed the top of Harrison’s head. “We’ll check in on you when we can and we’ll try not to get too far ahead in the game.”

  “Go, play, kill demons, maybe Dennis has a screen I can watch you guys on.”

  Callie hesitated, but Dr. Sanchez gave them a friendly nudge out the door. “Right, we’re going to take your temp and run a few tests, see what you’ve got.”

  “I don’t feel that bad,” he lied.

  “My responsibility is to keep you well along with the rest of the players,” she informed him. “You’re staying here until I feel you’re well enough to leave. Got it?”

  He couldn’t help but smile with her. “You’re the boss.”

  “That’s right.” She took his temp and her brow wrinkled. “Hitting one hundred. Can’t give you anything for another two hours, but I’ll give you a cool cloth to keep on your face. Are you hungry?”

  He barely touched breakfast and was missing lunch, but food didn’t sound appetizing. “No, I’m alright for now.”

  “No appetite at all?”

  “Not really.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “Right, lie down, try to get some more rest.”

  “Could you see if Dennis has a way for me to watch my guild while I’m here at least?”

  “I’d prefer you rest from that game entirely, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  Harrison settled in for a quiet afternoon in the infirmary. At least this time, he wasn’t here because of Valen injuring him. He was sick. It could very well explain everything he had experienced today. If he had a fever all morning, making him see things, hear things. That’s what he told himself as he pressed the cloth to his forehead and lay back down, trying to sleep. He didn’t think he would be able to fall asleep again, not after the nightmare he had, but he did, not even hearing when Dr. Sanchez stopped by his side to check his temperature. He was barely awake when she handed him more Advil and water. He took them and went right back to sleep.

  His dreams were less dark this time. He was walking through a field of wildflowers and tall grass. The field was unfamiliar, but he felt like he should be there. He needed to see something there. The ground rumbled beneath his feet, but it didn’t scare him off. Instead, he walked faster, needing to see what lay in the center of the field. With each step, his pulse pounded in his ears and his stomach fluttered with anticipation. What was there? It had to be important to draw him so strongly. Smoke rose from the tall grass and he frowned, yet he hurried on, running his fingers along the long blades, not minding when they pricked him. Smoke billowed around him, shooting up out of the pit he stood on the brink of. Fear was the last thing on his mind as he stared down into the depths, calling to him. He knew what awaited him down there.

  Knew who awaited him.

  He lifted his foot and, arms flung wide, fell off the edge and into that darkness.

  The fall jolted him awake and Harrison blinked. Why was he standing? He glanced around him at the hall. He was in the facility, but this wasn’t the infirmary. He squinted in the darkness. Night, it was night and he stood outside the lab doors. His breathing turned ragged and he stumbled backwards, way from the doors beckoning him to step inside and find her. He needed to find her, reach her.

  Shaking his head so hard it hurt, he sprinted through the facility, praying no one watched the cameras, and flung himself back in his bed in the infirmary. Like a kid afraid of the boogie man, he drew the blanket up over his head and wished for morning to come and, with it, an end to these nightly walks his mind decided to start taking without his permission.

  ***

  When Harrison woke the next morning, Callie sat by his bedside with a tablet in her hands.

  “How you feeling?” she asked.

  Harrison grunted. His dreams were horrible all through the night and he swore he was up walking around the facility again, but his memories were hazy. “Like crap. Dr. Sanchez let you in?”

  “For a few minutes. Dennis sent me with a gift since you’re going to be out for another few days.” She handed him the tablet. “You can watch our stream from here. It’s hooked up to all of us so you can choose who you want to watch while we play today.”

  “That’s nifty, thanks.” He sat up as he took the tablet. “Wish I could be in there with you guys.”

  “We already had a meeting last night, so don’t worry. We’ve decided to stick to mostly crafting and side quests. None of us are going to touch the main storyline until you’re back with us. Doesn’t feel right.” She smoothed his hair back, feeling his forehead. “You don’t feel as warm as you did yesterday, but you’re still so pale.”

  He smiled, wanting to kiss her. However, if he had the flu or anything else, he didn’t want to get her sick. “I’ll be fine, really.”

  Her lips screwed to the side. She didn’t argue with him, though. “I’ll come visit you again at lunch.”

  He couldn’t wait to see her again, but Dr. Sanchez stood close by and tapped her watch. Callie hurried out of the infirmary as she walked over. “Let’s take your temp and see if we can get you to eat something today. Anything sound good?”

  “Bacon?” he asked before she stuck the thermometer in his mouth.

  “Nice try. I was thinking toast and a glass of OJ.” She frowned when she checked the thermometer. “Still hovering around one hundred. Looks like you’re stuck with me another day, but at least you have entertainment this time,” she said, nodding to the tablet.

  “Yeah, I’ll keep myself occupied.”

  “Hmm. If you don’t get better soon, I might not be able to allow visitors.”

  “Really?”

  “I can’t have the entire facility coming down with a virus, or worse.”

  Harrison frowned. “Right, you’re right, sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize to me. Let’s just get you better. I’m going to hook you up to some fluids today if you are alright with that. See if we can get ahead of this virus of yours and here’s your dose of Advil for the fever. Go to the bathroom if you need to. When I come back, we’ll get the IV hooked up.”

  Harrison set the tablet on the table and stood, but hi
s legs wobbled and he crashed onto the nearby bed. “Damn,” he groused as Dr. Sanchez hurried over to help him upright.

  “Feeling weak?”

  “A bit, but I can make it.”

  She supported him to the bathroom at the other end of the infirmary. “If you need help getting back to your bed, call. I’ll be right over there,” she told him. The supply closet and lab were right next door and he promised he would.

  Once inside the bathroom, he relieved himself and washed his face with cold water. It soothed his skin, but his mind was in turmoil as flashes of his dreams broke through. Violent dreams. Filled with so much screaming and pain. He shut his eyes firmly against the onslaught of images, grabbing hold of the sink hard until his fingers cramped. Callie. Callie was in his dreams and a demon? A demon had been chasing her. He opened his eyes and flinched when he swore he saw green flames staring back at him instead of his own gaze.

  Harrison closed his eyes again, splashing more water on his face. When he opened them again, he was normal. There were no demons outside the game and he was not turning into one, no matter what his dreams told him.

  “Harrison?” Dr. Sanchez knocked on the door again. “Everything alright in there?”

  He opened the door and smiled. “Yeah, sorry, just washing my face a bit.”

  She helped him back to his bed and he sank onto the mattress. She hooked up his IV in seconds and he watched the fluids dripping down through the tube. “I ordered a light breakfast for you. Try to eat a little bit at least, but if you start to feel sick, let me know.”

  “Aye, aye captain.”

  “Oh, this is going to be a fun few days with you around,” she mused and walked away.

  His breakfast arrived and he managed to eat half a piece of toast and drink some of the juice before his stomach gave a weird flutter and he stopped before he made himself sick. The players would be logging in soon and he brought up the live stream. It notified him the moment they logged in and he decided to follow Jimmy around for a bit. It even let him send messages so he sent one to Jimmy to let him know he was being stalked.