Book Three: Part 1 The Dusk of Hope. Sean Wolfe Fay

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ that air bubble, Stan lay still for hours, exhausted from his desperate and narrow escape. Throughout that day, he broke down on and off over the death of DZ and the thought that Charlie and Commander Crunch were being tortured mercilessly as he lay there, unable to do a thing about it.

      When he wasn’t crying or sleeping, Stan spent the rest of that day looking outside the air bubble. Squids would jet by Stan in schools, their rectangular black bodies propelled forward by a set of eight tentacles, with a rather frightening spiked mouth at the center. The surface of the ocean was illuminated with sunlight, and he could see the bottoms of dozens of wooden boats drifting to and fro across the water, undoubtedly searching for him.

      Eventually, the day slowly darkened into night, and the watery world around Stan had become black. His stomach was growling, demanding that food be supplied soon, lest his health start to fade like the setting sun. After scouting out the surface to ensure no boats were directly above him, Stan had jumped out of the top of the air bubble and, kicking as hard as he could, propelled his way back to the surface.

      As Stan looked around, he saw no ships anywhere near him, but he did notice the bright lights and strident sound that the Lesser Mushroom Island was emitting. Slowly but surely, Stan paddled his way towards the island, which held the promise of food and a temporary shelter. He had to duck underwater hastily, sometimes for minutes at a time, when a Noctem patrol boat had passed by, but in the end, Stan was able to make it onto the island undetected.

      Footsteps echoing up the stairwell startled Stan out of his train of thought. He glanced over at the opening in the floor, and slowly the head, torso, and then legs of a player emerged. She wore black leather trousers, silver metallic gloves and a zipped-up navy-blue hoodie, out of which emerged a streak of magenta hair that fell over her deep brown eyes.

      “How you doin’?” she asked in a quiet, rather harsh voice. Stan shook her tone off; he had realized that her tone was not to be taken personally.

      “A bit better,” Stan replied, propping himself up on his elbows, despite the aches flaring up again.

      “Well, that’s good,” the player replied, pulling a piece of bread from her inventory and tossing it in Stan’s direction, followed immediately by a Potion of Healing. Stan caught the two items, and stared at the bottle of red liquid in disbelief.

      “Olea!” he breathed in disbelief. “Where did you…”

      “It don’t matter where I got it,” Olea replied brusquely as she started to head back down the stairs. “A Noctem soldier just came and told me that we gotta meet in the central plaza in five minutes. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I gotta hunch it’ll destroy whatever safety you have here, President Stan.”

      “I understand,” Stan replied, nodding grimly. “I’ll get out of here as soon as possible.”

      Olea nodded, and walked down the stairs again. As he poured the red potion down his throat and watched her go, he thought about how fortunate he had been to encounter her. When Stan had pulled himself out of the water and onto the shore of the Lesser Mushroom Island less than twenty-four hours ago, he had been shocked to find that it was overrun with Noctem troops. He had ducked from alley to alley, moving with great agility despite his wounds, careful to avoid detection.

      It was only when he had passed by the back door of a shop called GoddessOlea’s Boat Rentals that he had been pulled into a building from behind by an unseen pair of hands. When he came to his senses, Stan found himself being interrogated by a player who he later found out was called GoddessOlea, or just Olea for short. When she discovered who he was, she wasted no time in bringing him up to her attic and beginning to heal him. The process of healing had been slow, as resources had been incredibly scarce on the Lesser Mushroom Island since it had been invaded by the Noctem armies. The troops had pillaged all stores that sold potions, golden apples and other healing supplies, meaning that Stan’s recovery, which should have taken just a few minutes, had been ongoing for a full day now.

      Somehow, though, Olea had managed to get her hands on a Potion of Healing. Now that the red miracle liquid was in Stan’s body, he felt all his aches disappear. Stan was sure that this particular potion had been brewed with glowstone; it was particularly strong. Stan leaped out of the bed and onto the wood-plank floor.

      He knew that now that he was healed, he had to get off the island as soon as possible. The innocent people of the Lesser Mushroom Island were already suffering enough just because the Noctem Alliance was present there. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Alliance realized that he must be on the island, and when they did, Stan could only imagine what would happen. And if the Noctems found out that Olea had been harbouring him…

      As soon as Stan had finished cramming the last of the bread into his mouth, he jogged over to the chest in the corner of the room and flung it open. It was totally empty, save one item: a diamond sword, clearly old and well worn, with a violent enchantment glimmering dangerously on the blade. Stan reached into the container and clutched the handle of the sword. He had asked Olea if there was a place that he might be able to acquire an axe, but she had told him that, as long as the Noctem troops remained on the island, it would be impossible. So as of now, DZ’s diamond sword, endowed with a Knockback enchantment, was his only means of defence against the world.

      Stan made his way over to the stairs but halted at the top. He realized that it might be wise to glance out the window and check the conditions on the street before going downstairs. Stan walked over to the wood-plank wall and ducked down beneath the open window before peeking his head up to look outside. He cursed under his breath but was quite glad that he had looked outside first, since the entire street was lined with Noctem troops. Stan sighed, accepting that he would have to wait until this big announcement was over to make his escape.

      Then Stan did a double take out the window and realized that he could see the entire congregation of citizens in the central plaza of the city. Stan realized it was risky to stay near the open window, but his curiosity got the better of him and he watched the meeting commence.

      The players of the city were gathered in a gravel plaza around a giant brown mushroom, which had been decorated with red mushroom blocks and turned into a water fountain. The crowd seemed confused, and unsure of why they were there. Then, suddenly, there was a collective gasp as two dark forms emerged onto the top of the brown mushroom.

      The player further towards the back looked identical to Stan, though slightly darker in overall tone and covered head to toe in dark spores. Stan clenched his fist in hatred as he realized that he was looking at the chief of the Greater Mushroom Tribe, who had betrayed him and his friends to the Noctem Alliance in their raid of the Specialty Base. Slightly in front of him stood another form that Stan did not recognize. He was wearing the black leather armour of the Noctem Alliance over a camo-coloured army uniform and an assault vest.

      “Greetings, people of the Lesser Mushroom Island.” The camo figure spoke in a voice that Stan was shocked to find that he recognized. “My name is Spyro, general of the Noctem Alliance.”

      Stan’s fist clenched even tighter as he heard that name. The last time he had seen Spyro, the Noctem soldier had turned Oob and his family into Zombies and recruited them into the Noctem Alliance. Stan shook with rage as he realized that this was probably why Spyro had been promoted to general. Although he knew that he couldn’t be reckless, Stan still found himself longing for the day when he could sink a blade into both players standing up on the fountain.

      “As you all know,” Spyro continued, “tonight marks the start of the third day since the Noctem Alliance established its presence on this island. Therefore, I, the commander of this legion of the Noctem Alliance, believe the time has come to make certain СКАЧАТЬ