Zaena goes for her weapons, fumbles the draw, and slides off the stool in a clatter of dropped cutlery.
Iridescent white magic flows from the cleric’s hand to his shoulder; the wound heals completely and the bloodstain vanishes. “Is this a game you’d really like to play, boy?”
“It’s a game I’ve already won.”
Ryuk fires two more knife marbles directly into the cleric’s throat.
Tonsil Shot! Instakill!
(0)__(0)
Skill level up!
Skilclass="underline" Tonsil Shot
Level Three: 1 in 9 chance of connecting.
Damage: 28% if enemy is less than level 30; 15% if enemy is greater than level 30.
Odds of instakilclass="underline" 11%
Requirements for instakilclass="underline" LUCK > 9
That’s odd, it skipped a level. Ryuk swipes the prompt away and chalks it up to the fact that he attacked with his marble gun. The next prompt is one he hasn’t seen before.
Marble level up!
Your knife marbles have now become SWORD MARBLES! Sword marbles are larger and provide +25% more damage than knife marbles. You can toggle between the two marble classes by voicing a command.
Sword marbles? Ryuk fires a single sword marble into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Thunk! Sure enough, the blade is now the length of a wakizashi, and a bit thicker too.
Ryuk tries to help Zaena to her feet, but she’s rag-doll limp, drooling, and unresponsive. He slaps her five or six times before she slowly blinks her eyes open. “Whuzzup? Where are we?” She tries to lift her chin and drops it; her eyes flutter closed.
He slaps her again because he doesn’t know what else to do. “Open those eyes!” he cries. “Stay with me!”
Ryuk: Zaena’s been poisoned and I don’t know what to do! This PKer gave her some tea. At first I thought she was drunk, but I can’t wake her up and she’s breathing funny. She’s been poisoned.
FeeTwix: PKers? Poisoned?
Tamana: Player killers – they kill other players for their goods.
Hiccup: Did you say she was drunk or did you say she was poisoned? I know some would disagree, but there’s a fickin’ difference Ryuk and you know it. Parsing – it’s a way of life.
Ryuk: I don’t know. She’s slurring her words and she can’t stand!
Hiccup: All right, already. I’ll be there in a jiff.
Ryuk looks to the dead cleric on the floor. He’ll likely alert his guild as soon as he respawns. He could also do so from the real world, which only adds to the tension he feels closing in around him.
“It’ll be okay, Zaena.” He holds her head in his lap and she opens one eye.
“Ryuk?” she coughs, smiles, and her eyes roll back into her head.
“Hiccup will be here soon.” His foot hits something solid and invisible as he moves closer to her. Her ghost limb.
“Why’d you kill him?” she asks, her eyes half-open.
“He poisoned you and he tried to kill me,” Ryuk tells her. “I was protecting you. Just keep breathing.”
Where the hell is that goblin?
Ryuk: Hurry, Hiccup!
Hiccup: For fick’s sake Marbles, I’m coming!
She snorts. “You? Protecting me? Thuleans don’t need … some … some commoner protecting them!” She laughs, gasps, chokes, and brings up three cups of poisoned tea right into Ryuk’s lap. “Sorry,” she says as a frown spreads across her face. “I was … only joking. You’re a good guy, Ryuk. Getting stronger too.”
Zaena makes a gun with her hand. “Pew! Pew! Pew! Marbles!” She laughs, and becomes suddenly serious. “Do you think FeeTwix really cares about me?”
Ryuk knows that there is no correct answer to that one. Luckily, she doesn’t wait for an answer.
Her face morphs from curious to deadly serious. “There are … things I haven’t told you, things I haven’t told any of you about my past. It will complicate things. Not now, but later.”
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“I have something I need to tell all of you; something that … ”
Hiccup’s form takes shape. “Jeez, Marbles, you really ficked that dude up!” The rotund goblin with the pink topknot and the mechanical steampunk arm scuttles over to Zaena. Apparently, they don’t make the sanitation getup to fit the full-figured goblin, as he looks like he was melted down and poured into his. He gives Zaena a double take and all the funny drains right out of him. “Oh FICK! Gotta move fast on this one! Why didn’t you tell me!?”
“I did, dammit!”
“Hold her head and tip her nose up. When I say GO, let go of her and roll clear. Ready?”
Ryuk nods uncertainly.
Hiccup equips a small bag of white powder and two Big Gulp straws which he jabs into the powder three or four times to pack the ends. He jams the powdered end of the straws way up into Zaena’s nostrils, tells Ryuk to get ready and blows the powder up into her sinuses.
“GO!”
They both leap clear, a split-second before the Thulean woman snorts, coughs, and explodes into angry, roaring, frenetic life. She tosses chairs, overturns a table, and rips a tapestry from the wall.
“Fickin’ hell, Lizzy, bring it down a notch, we just saved your emerald green ass!” Uncle Goblin exclaims as he covers his head.
Ryuk, his hands up in a placating gesture, nods rapidly. “The cleric poisoned you; Hiccup brought you back. Please, relax!”
Zaena bristles then calms slightly. “And just what did you ‘bring me back’ with?”
“Well, it sure wasn’t Fluffy Bunny Cuddle Milk,” the goblin scoffs. “Wizardous, of course. How the fick do you think FeeTwix and I kept our bloodshot peepers open and our wits about us with all the boozing we did last night? Hoo, baby! That shit doesn’t just bring you back, it’ll go out and get you!”
“Yhai doomak bawano poolakh!”
“A bearadillo’s chapped anus, huh?” Hiccup looks at her fondly for a moment. “That’s a good one! Now perk the fick up and let’s get the hell out of here. Tammy and Twixy are waiting for me in the street, and we’re waiting on you two to get your asses into position.”
With a parting poot, the goblin dematerializes. Zaena rubs her temples for a moment.
“Do you want to sit, or something?” Ryuk asks. He knows they don’t have a lot of time, but he also knows she’s just been brought back from death by funky tea poisoning. “How are you feeling?”
“The wizardous worked. My ears are ringing, my ghost limbs itch, and my scalp is on too tight. I feel pretty good, actually, but don’t tell the goblin.” She turns to Ryuk, walks right past him and nods for him to follow. “And I don’t know exactly what happened back there,” she finally says over her shoulder, “but thanks.”
(0)__(x)
On their way out the back door, Ryuk wonders how the cryptic hints about her background could complicate things. What is she holding back? He watches her walk in front of him. The lean Thulean is hiding something from them, surely, but now isn’t the time to try to figure out what it is.
The backyard is small; Shinigami’s exterior wall towers over the low stone wall in front of them that separates the property from the alleyway. Ryuk follows Zaena to the shorter wall, where she pauses. A message flashes on his viewing pane.
Zaena: Do you sense anyone in the alley?
Ryuk: Give me a moment.
He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and waits for his senses to focus inward. The silence comes to him in waves. Background noise from the Guild District recedes as he deepens his focus. He notices a soft orange web of force extending from the wall in front of them to the exterior of the Shinigami’s wall.