Game Play (4 page)

Tareah's new adult
body was difficult to control, grown too fast. She seemed like a stranger
inside herself.

In the deserted
bath chamber, after the others bedded down for the night, Tareah listened to
quiet sounds, nightbirds and insects in the cooling air. Autumn would arrive
soon. On the equinox the characters would celebrate Transition Day, the
anniversary of when all her forefathers had transformed themselves into the six
Spirits. Delrael had promised her they would make a big celebration in the
village this year. He said he would do it for her. She smiled at the thought.

The most important
anchor in all her turmoil was the friendship of Delrael and Vailret. They
poured so much attention upon her that she felt special again, as when her
father Sardun cared for her. Delrael reminded her of the monumental heroes in
the old legends of the Game, adventurous, sure of himself, brave and strong.
Vailret had all the intelligence and background of a respected scholar
―
he could talk intensely about many subjects, but he was often self-conscious
around her. She sighed and forced a smile.

The open fire on
the hearth heated another cauldron of water in case Tareah needed her bath
warmed again. The hissing and snapping of the flames soothed her, eased her
into a doze. She drifted. She let her eyes sink closed as she smelled the
water, the damp wood.

A sharp pain
snapped inside her head. Tareah became dislocated, floating, with nothing to
hold onto. She felt the Sorcerer blood within her -she knew what it could do,
but all at once it didn't seem strong enough.

Tareah blinked her
eyes again and stared at the fire. The flames throbbed, running together like
melted wax. She grew dizzy. She seemed disembodied.

Without knowing
what she was doing, Tareah slipped under the water of her bath.

She opened her
eyes, but through the bath water she saw clear images.

She didn't need to
breathe, didn't even think of it. She felt no alarm at all.

The water she
smelled and saw was not from inside her bath ... but from the Barrier River. She
felt a swaying raft beneath her feet. She saw giant, shadowy shapes, hooded
figures, heard booming voices.

A man with wild
dark hair and black beard stood on the raft. Like an invisible observer, Tareah
felt the anger in his heart, the alien fury that controlled him from far away.

Her Sorcerer blood
recognized that this was Enrod, the Sentinel from Taire.

She heard the
Deathspirits pronounce judgement on Enrod, she learned what he had been about
to do to the land. In horror she stared at him, but she could feel no sympathy
when the Deathspirits stripped him of the Fire Stone.

In her head, she
heard the words ringing out, spoken to
her
:

"The Fire
Stone was meant to assist the characters of the Game. As the last full Sorcerer
character, you must now receive the Stone. We trust no one else with the
decision. Take it and win the Game. Or lose. We have done our part. We care no
longer."

Then the vision
left her completely.

As she blinked,
Tareah found she was under water, in her own bath, cramped and unable to
breathe. She pushed her head up above the surface, sputtering and spraying
water from her mouth. She blinked her eyes. Thick brown hair streamed wet down
her neck.

Her eyes focused,
and she saw something different about the fireplace.

The flames curled against
the split logs like yellow tatters. Wisps of steam danced up from the surface
of the cauldron of heating water. Smoke rose into the chimney, but left the
room filled with the smell of burning wood.

Gleaming at the
foot of the hearth, among the orange coals, lay the brilliant eight-sided ruby.
The Fire Stone, red and pulsing with magic.

The musty dampness
of the stonecutter's caves filled Delrael's nostrils. The torches and lanterns
they carried flickered in the drafts of sluggish air, throwing light against
the hewn rock walls. The smoke mixed with the heavy smell of stone dust and
earth.

Delrael crossed his
arms over his leather jerkin, looking at the dim chamber. He brushed dirt off
his pants. Vailret followed him in, found a rock outcropping to sit on, and
lounged against the wall. He looked thin and gaunt in the uncertain light; but
his eyes were bright and intense.

Bryl the old
half-Sorcerer sat by himself, glancing around as if frightened by the shadows,
the oppressive weight of rock around them. Tareah waited next to Vailret.

In the silent hours
before dawn, no one knew they had gone to the caves. They had much to discuss,
in private, away from the villagers and -they hoped
―
away from
the prying eyes of the Outsiders.

Vailret coughed and
wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "We've got half a hilltop of rock over our
heads to shield us. Maybe the Outsiders won't be able to hear us here."

Bryl cringed at
Vailret's mention of the weight of the rock. Delrael looked at the low ceiling
and nodded, but he kept his voice quiet anyway. "The Outsiders must not
know anything about this. It's something we have to decide."

He didn't know
where to begin. He had already told them in a brief whisper about the
Earthspirits. At the same time, Tareah had burst out of the bath chamber,
wrapped in a blanket but dripping onto the wooden floor.

Wide-eyed, she held
the glowing ruby Fire Stone in her hand....

"The
Earthspirits promised to help us destroy Scartaris," Delrael said.

"We might have
a good chance now, especially if Tareah has the Fire and Water Stones, and Bryl
has the Air Stone."

Bryl fondled the
Air Stone, the four-sided diamond that created illusions. Gairoth the ogre had
used it to overthrow the Stronghold by making the other characters believe he
commanded an indestructible army of other ogres.

Tareah fumbled at
her waist to undo the lashings of a small cloth purse. She drew out the
sapphire Water Stone, shaped like a cubical six-sided die. For centuries it had
been held by Tareah's father, Sardun the Sentinel.

At Vailret's
urging, Sardun had used the Water Stone to create the Barrier River; now, after
Sardun's death, Tareah took the Water Stone herself. She held it next to her
new Fire Stone, blue fire in one hand, red fire in the other.

Delrael smiled.
"Scartaris is still there, and the Outsider David still wants to destroy
us
―
but we can fight back now. This is our Game, too!"

Vailret rubbed a
finger along his lower lip. "We've got to be careful about this,
though."

Delrael grimaced
―
he hated to hear his cousin say that.

"Scartaris
must know we're trying to stop him. It's rather hard to hide something like the
Barrier River, you know. And when we confronted the Outsiders in that deserted
Slac fortress, we learned all about each other's intentions."

Bryl and Tareah
muttered, and Delrael fidgeted in impatience. But Vailret looked at them.
"We should assume that the Outsider David is already sending something to
kill us, a monster or two. If he wants to end the Game so much, he won't take
any chances. He'll come to get us directly
―
and the longer we sit
here, the easier a target we make."

"Not unless he
thinks it might liven up the Game," Delrael said.

"Remember what
we're here for. Rule #1
―
always have fun."

Vailret snorted.
Bryl squirmed, nervous and trying to avoid the issue.

Tareah put hands on
her hips in an awkward, unsure gesture. "Well, what are we going to
do?" she said.

"First and
most important, we have to make sure the Outsiders don't learn about the
Earthspirits and their involvement," Delrael said immediately.

"That could be
our loaded dice." He touched his silver belt, but he felt nothing unusual.
"I have to carry them to Scartaris
―
but we need to make it look
like we're just going on a quest to find out more about our enemy."

"
We?
"
Bryl said. "Who all is going on this quest? We just got back from
one!"

Delrael frowned at
him. "We're supposed to enjoy going on quests, Bryl.

That's what we were
all created for. It's just a game."

"This just
might take the Outsiders by surprise." Vailret smiled.

"That'll teach
them to leave loopholes in the Rules!"

"So are the
four of us going on this quest?" Tareah asked. Her voice carried an
impatience for banter. She had been brought up studying the famous historical
quests of the Game. Delrael knew she considered it to be very serious stuff,
nothing to be made light of.

"I have to
go," Delrael said, running his fingers along the silver belt, "since
I'm carrying the Earthspirits. And Vailret, because you can think fast, and you
know
things we wouldn't even consider. That might help. I'd like you to
come too, Bryl, so we can use your Sorcerer magic."

Delrael lowered his
voice. "I want you to stay here." He touched her shoulders, then slid
his palms down to hold her arms, hooking his thumbs on the insides of her
elbows.

She bristled.
"Stay here? But I owe it to Gamearth to fight as much as you! Now that
Enrod's gone, I'm the last full-blooded Sorcerer on the map. I have to come
with you!"

Delrael held up one
hand to stop her. "Tareah, you've been at the Ice Palace all your life
―
you never gained any experience. Questing isn't something you learn offhand. It
would be too dangerous to you,
and to us
, to have an inexperienced
character in the party. You know the Rules, you know the probabilities."

Tareah was angry
with him. He'd thought about this so much, but when he explained it to her it
seemed a weak and simple excuse. He wasn't good at explaining things. But when
Tryos the dragon had kidnapped her, Tareah sat around waiting to be rescued
because that's what she
thought
she was supposed to do. He didn't want
to count on someone who would play according to what she remembered of
distorted legends and cut-and-dried interpretations of the Rules.

He sighed and
softened his voice. "Look, I'm not just being overprotective. I need
someone powerful to stay and guard the Stronghold while we're gone. Vailret
just said it ― there's no telling what Scartaris might send here. I want
somebody at the Stronghold who can fight back. You have the Water Stone and the
Fire Stone
―
you might need them. The characters in the village
might need you."

Tareah still said
nothing to Delrael.

"I'm going to
speak to Tarne, too
―
he's a fighter, an old veteran from the days
when my father ran the Stronghold. He kept the characters safe when Gairoth
took over. I think the two of you can stand against anything Scartaris
has."

Tareah seemed to be
considering what Delrael said; finally, she nodded.

"You're right.
That goes along with the other adventures I've studied. I'll stay here."

Tareah clicked the
two gems together in the palm of her hand. "But it doesn't seem practical
for me to have
two
Stones, if I'm just sitting behind a wall all day
long."

She held out the
eight-sided ruby to Bryl. The ruby glowed like a blazing coal. "Take the
Fire Stone with you. The Deathspirits told me I should do with it as I see fit.
The Water Stone was my father's. The Fire Stone ... I don't feel comfortable
with it, not after I know what Enrod was going to do.

Not after the anger
I felt in his mind."

Bryl reached out
his hands in amazement and took the gem. He stared with twinkling eyes and awe
written on his face. "I don't really want to go on another quest," he
said, "But now I feel a lot safer."

"None of us is
going to be safe," Vailret said. "Not until this is all over."

INTERLUDE: OUTSIDE

Melanie arrived at
Tyrone's house for the Sunday gaming session.

Standing on the
doorstep, she watched a trail of her breath rise into the damp air. She tucked
the heavy map of Gamearth wrapped in an old blanket under her arm. It had begun
to drizzle outside, and she did not want the wood or the paint to get wet.

Melanie was
surprised to find herself the last one to show up. Normally David came late
just to annoy them, but this time he appeared anxious, as if he knew exactly
what he wanted to do. That worried her.

David's eyes were
bloodshot and he looked tired
―
Melanie wondered if he had been sleeping
well, or if he had been plagued by nightmares.

She greeted
everyone as Tyrone returned from the refrigerator carrying a round of sourdough
bread. The bread's center had been hollowed out and filled with a white and
green coagulated mass.

"Leek, spinach,
and feta cheese dip," Tyrone said.

Scott frowned at
the loaf and straightened his glasses. "I thought you were kidding when
you told us that."