THE GLASS UNICORN PART 1

  A QUEST WARS ADVENTURE

  YASMINE GALENORN

  A Nightqueen Enterprises LLC Publication

  Published by Yasmine Galenorn

  PO Box 2037, Kirkland WA 98083-2037

  THE GLASS UNICORN: Part 1

  A Quest Wars Adventure

  Copyright © 2025 by Yasmine Galenorn

  First Electronic Printing: 2025 Nightqueen Enterprises LLC

  Cover Art & Design: Yasmine Galenorn

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any format, be it print or electronic or audio, without permission. Please prevent piracy by purchasing only authorized versions of this book. NO PARTS OF THIS BOOK WERE CREATED OR DEVELOPED THROUGH A.I., AND NO PARTS OF THIS BOOK ARE TO BE USED TO TRAIN A.I.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, or places is entirely coincidental and not to be construed as representative or an endorsement of any living/ existing group, person, place, or business.

  A Nightqueen Enterprises LLC Publication

  Published in the United States of America

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Welcome to The Glass Unicorn

  Chapter 1: Was It A Mistake Coming Here?

  Chapter 2: First Encounter

  Chapter 3: The Smell of Danger

  Chapter 4: Can We Please Just Get Some Sleep?

  Chapter 5: Onward To Adventure!

  Chapter 6: And The Game Takes A Drastic Turn

  Playlist

  Biography

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Welcome to The Glass Unicorn, a new LitRPG novel serial that I’m writing. After forty years of gaming, I finally decided to try my hand at writing the adventures of one of my typical dungeon characters. Eventually, the serial will become a book. This is a new genre and format for me, and I’m having great fun with it. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I’m having fun writing it.

  Thanks to my usual crew: Samwise, my husband, Andria, and Jennifer—without their help, I’d be swamped. To the women who have helped me find my way in indie, you’re all great, and thank you to everyone. I’m thrilled to be among their ranks.

  Also, my love to my furbles, who keep me happy. My most reverent devotion to Mielikki, Tapio, Ukko, Rauni, and Brighid, my spiritual guardians and guides. My love and reverence to Herne, and Cernunnos, and to the Fae, who still rule the wild places of this world. And a nod to the Wild Hunt, which runs deep in my magick, as well as in my fiction.

  You can find me through my website at Galenorn.com and be sure to sign up for my newsletter to keep updated on all my latest releases! You can find my advice on writing, discussions about the books, and general ramblings on my YouTube channel. If you liked this book, I’d be grateful if you’d leave a review—it helps more than you can think.

  September 2025

  Brightest Blessings,

  ~The Painted Panther~

  ~Yasmine Galenorn~

  WELCOME TO THE GLASS UNICORN

  When Erenye Green, an editor at a small publishing company, and several of her gaming friends find themselves stuck within the fantasy world of Abarria, they must learn to navigate the realities of what it really means to battle monsters, zombies, and all manner of creatures, now that the stakes are life and death, and no longer a simple roll of the dice.

  Part 1: Erenye and her friends begin their vacation in the world of Abarria, unaware that what seems a simple adventure is about to become the greatest challenge of their lives.

  CHAPTER 1: WAS IT A MISTAKE COMING HERE?

  “I can’t believe I’m a freaking elf,” I said. “I wanted to be a Symcat.”

  I was the proverbial cat lady and, even though I was between cats of my own—my beloved Arwyn had died, and I wasn’t quite ready to find a new furbaby—of course, I wanted to play a cat-like character. But, apparently, I had made a mistake when I created my character. Now, I was stuck as an elf. There were no do-overs, no oopsies, no re-rolls in the real-life game of Abarria.

  I stared at my forearms. Apparently, in this world, elves had visible muscles. My biceps looked like I’d spent months in the gym. My forearms were ripped. And my abs…they were the abs of my dreams—flat and ridged, with nice curves on my hips and bust.

  But for all that, I was no Symcat.

  Stepping to the side of the launching area—where we were phased into the game—I checked out my clothes. Ornate leather trousers that fit like a glove, a leather and metal bodice that left my abs open to the air, lace-wrapped boots with brass fittings. A bow and quiver of arrows rested on my left shoulder, and on my right, I carried a backpack. In my real life, I probably could barely lift it. But here, the weight was minimal. A sharp dagger rested against one side, strapped to my belt. At least Abarria Game-Guides had gotten my class right. As far as I could tell, I was a ranger.

  “Well, I guess that’s what you get for multitasking,” Thornhold said.

  “Hey, I can watch TV while I create my character,” I said. “Well, I thought I could. Anyway, let’s see what we have here.” I tapped my watch and waited till the screen read Ready. “Hello? Anybody there? This is Erenye Green.”

  A moment later, the Game-Guide’s voice crackled out of the speaker on the watch. hello ms. green. what can we do for you?

  “I made a mistake. I didn’t mean to choose an elf. I wanted to be a Symcat. Is there anything I can do now?”

  i’m sorry, but according to the contract you signed, you agreed to the stipulation that we cannot make any changes once you have been transported into the game. we’re positive that you’ll enjoy your adventure, though, and we encourage you to give the elf character a chance. The voice echoed around us.

  I sighed. “Well, so much for that.” I thanked the Game-Guide, then shrugged. “I suppose it could be worse. I could have accidentally turned myself into an orc.” And that was a choice I wasn’t prepared or willing to play.

  “I’m sorry, Erenye.” Thornhold shifted, looking uncomfortable. “Hmm…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t get it,” he said. “I thought leather armor would be easy to wear, but it’s already chafing. And I’m sweating. A lot.”

  “What did you expect? Dwarves are sweaty. Remember the Hobbit? You didn’t really think you were going to smell like roses, did you?” I snorted.

  “I suppose not. It never occurred to me during our weekly games.”

  Thornhold and I, along with three other friends, got together every week to play the table top version of Abarria, and we all played in the MMO online.

  “Well, it is what it is,” I said. “I’m an elf, you’re a dwarf, and we’ll just have to embrace it. Let’s see what the rest of the party decided on.”

  We were standing at the top of a hill, at the launching area where players entered and exited the games. We were downwind of what looked to be a village. It was early morning, and the sun was rising rise crimson against the lemon and robin’s egg blue sky. The world of Abarria stretched out before us. It seemed like a miracle, and in some ways, it really was. I was so used to seeing it on our gaming consoles that it felt surreal to be standing in it.

  At that moment, the wind swept past, assaulting our noses with a rank smell, like an overripe outhouse.

  I grimaced. “Sewage? Really?”

  “They don’t have sewer systems here, I guess. Remember? We signed up for the basic package. We don’t get the Golden Castle level until later.” Thornhold reached down and scratched himself.

  I stared at him. “Did you just scratch your balls?”

  “Um…yeah. I’m sorry—I didn’t even realize I was doing it,” he said, blushing. He was four-ten and bushy-haired, with a long beard. Normally, he was five-eleven, with blonde hair and pale skin. He was also my gay boyfriend. In other words, when either of us couldn’t get a date for an event that called for a plus-one, the other was oath-bound to fill in.

  “Well…I guess dwarves aren’t so fastidious. Norse mythology backs me up.” I looked around. “Where are the others? We all paid for this. You’d think they wouldn’t be late⁠—”

  A buzzing sound interrupted me. I jumped, looking around. There, about three feet away, a figure was beginning to phase in.

  “Here we go,” I said. Our gaming group—five of us—had signed up for the “adventure of a lifetime” from Abarria Game-Guides Limited, and I was eager to get on with it. We’d paid a fortune for this, and I was determined to get my money’s worth.

  The launching pads in the portal bay shimmered as two shapes began to form in the air.

  Scotty, beam me up, I thought.

  “Incoming,” Thornhold said.

  The shapes coalesced. Of course, Brynn was exactly as I’d pictured her character to be. A tall, ice blonde, fully bulked up Viking shieldmaiden, with a braid that fell to her ass. She, too, was wearing leather armor, but her stomach was fully covered. Outside of Abarria, she was a systems analyst for our office, but here, she was a warrior.

  On the other landing pad, a skinny wizard appeared. Reggie was wearing a robe that looked like it combined a Gandalf costume with a bathrobe, and he was carrying a staff. He looked a lot like he normally did, except instead of short brown hair and a clean-shaven chin, he had long straggly hair and a beard that reached his chest.

  “Brynn, Reggie! You look great!” Thornhold said, waving his double-bladed axe in the air.

  They darted off the
landing pads and turned.

  “Ray’s right behind us,” Reggie said. “He’ll be here in a moment.”

  Even as he spoke, the launching pad lit up again and our last member appeared. Ray shimmered into view. He was wearing what looked like a Friar Tuck getup. Ray was our cleric.

  “Hey!” I motioned for everyone to gather around. “Looks like we’re all here. Let’s plan out what we’re going to do.”

  “Wait, you’re an elf?” Reggie asked.

  I nodded. “Apparently I was either too focused on the TV while I was creating my character, or I drank a little too much wine. Whatever the case, I can’t change it now, and I’m fine with that.”

  We moved away from the launching area. It was player etiquette to give incoming parties space. I looked around as we moved off to the west. While PVP—player versus player—was a given and going to happen regardless of the rules, there were heavy fees if you seriously wounded anybody who wasn’t a Sym—a creation of the game, and you’d be banned for life.

  We were standing at the edge of a hill. To the west, down the slope, a large forest spread out as far as we could see. To the east was Dusmaria, the stinky village. To the north—a massive mountain range. To the south, a swath of open grassland.

  “Well, what do we want to do first?” I asked.

  “Do we have any money?” Thornhold asked.

  I shrugged off my backpack. The others followed suit. We had opted for the “basic supplies” plan, given how expensive the trip was.

  “Let’s see what we have.” I began sorting through my backpack.

  Rope. Flint. Water bottle. A supply of protein bars to help me get through the next few days. A roll of toilet paper—one of the few nods to our everyday life. A bedroll and light blanket. A rain poncho and a small first aid kit. A leather pouch containing ten silver coins, along with one gold coin. I also had a small pouch filled with little drawstring bags. Inside were a few spell components.

  That’s right, I thought. In this world, rangers had basic woodland magic. I could cast minor healing, tracking spells, a faerie-fire light spell, and a few others.

  Everyone else had the same supplies, except those who worked magic—Reggie and Ray—had different spell components, so we were good to go. Our weapons were different, and our armor and clothing.

  “Where do we want to take our chances? In the woods?” I asked.

  “I think that might be the—” Thornhold stopped as a man’s voice echoed out of our watches.

  dungeon master takes delays. you have one minute to clear the launching area. i repeat, you have one minute to clear the launching area.

  Crap, we had to boogie. The Game-Guide had spoken.

  “Haul ass,” I said. “We have to get outside the perimeter.”

  The perimeter was the half-acre area surrounding the launching pads, marked by paving stones buried spoke-like in a circle. Another player group must be on the way in.

  “I think we should go to the village. We could pick up a few more supplies. I don’t want to get caught out in the wild without enough—” Brynn paused as a voice echoed around us.

  sixty seconds… fifty-nine… fifty-eight… fifty-seven… fifty-six…

  “Run!” I grabbed up my pack, bow and quiver, and headed for the border of stones. The others scrambled as well, but in his haste, Thornhold tripped and landed hard on one knee.

  “Ouch!” He scrambled, trying to get up.

  I ran back to help him but the relentless countdown continued. It didn’t help that we had no idea what would happen when the clock ran out.

  twenty-one… twenty… nineteen… eighteen… seventeen…

  “Get up!” I tugged on his arm, helping him up. He managed to scramble to his feet and we sprinted for the border, but before we could reach the others, who were waiting on the other side of the stone circle, the clock ran out.

  you have failed to clear the area.

  As the voice echoed out of our watches, a loud noise sounded behind us.

  I turned, catching my breath as I looked up into the face of a scruffy looking creature. It was eight feet tall, pinkish, with a flat nose, a large mouth that was filled with sharp teeth, and one single eye in the center of its forehead.

  “Yikes!” Thornhold said. “What the hell do we do?”

  I fitted an arrow to my bow and prayed that the skill transferred to me when I was transported into the game would be enough to stand up against the Trogger—a combination of troll and ogre. As I took aim, it loomed down on us, and I thought the game was about to end before it could start.

  But at that moment, Reggie bounded past and held out his staff.

  “Flame-blades!” he yelled, and the fight was on.

  CHAPTER 2: FIRST ENCOUNTER

  I shielded my eyes as the flame blade spell hit the Trogger. Unlike when we were sitting around the table rolling dice, here, light really could blind you. Fire could burn. And a sword could end your life. And if your cleric wasn’t high enough level to resurrect you, you’d end up out of the game for good—both the world of Abarria and the game of life. The waivers we’d signed were air-tight. Our families couldn’t sue if we were killed, and we couldn’t sue if we were hurt.

  The Trogger turned toward Reggie, and strode toward him. Reggie let out a squeak and jumped aside—he was nimble for a mage. I trained my bow on the monster and let an arrow fly. Even though I had never lifted a bow in my life, my body here knew what to do.

  The bolt lodged itself in the left back shoulder of the creature, and he bellowed. My pulse racing, I nocked another arrow, ready to shoot again. I hadn’t been this scared since I almost drowned in the bay, four years ago when a dangerous riptide caught hold of me. Luckily, Thornhold had been there and he had managed to swim out and drag me back, before the tide pulled me too far out.

  Brynn carried both a sword and a big-assed hammer. She darted in, raising the hammer and whirling it over her head as though she were about to throw a discus. I watched her, mesmerized. She truly looked the part of a Valkyrie.

  The hammer slammed against the Trogger’s stomach, knocking him back. A glimmer of light shimmered around her hammer, and Brynn cheered.

  “Critical hit!” she said. “We have to finish him off while he’s stunned!”

  Thornhold dove in with his double-bladed axe. He brought it down across the Trogger’s neck, slicing through the thick, leathery skin. As it fountained blood, I grimaced, but I managed to shoot again. This time, my arrow lodged in the Trogger’s heart—that is, if the creature’s heart was in the same place as the human heart. Brynn swung her hammer again, this time managing to smash his head. As he fell, a chime sounded.

  The sound of experience points adding up.

  I stared at the mess of brains on the ground and promptly felt sick to my stomach, turning to the side. I waited, expecting to throw up, but I hadn’t eaten in awhile. Another moment, and I let out a long breath and turned back.

  “What are you thinking?” Thornhold asked, looking concerned.

  I swallowed, hard. “Killing someone in a game is easy. But killing someone in the flesh is a lot harder,” I said, staring at the prone monster.

  Thornhold caught my gaze and held it, nodding gently. I could see the same feeling reflected in his eyes. He reached out and patted my arm.

  “It’s okay, Erenye. Remember, the world’s full of harsh realities. Both the one at home and this one. We knew that when we signed up.” He tugged on the neck of his tunic. “The Trogger would have killed us if we hadn’t killed him. And these are Syms, they aren’t real in the sense that you and I are.”

  I ducked my head. Thornhold was right. I’d signed up for this, and if we hadn’t attacked the Trogger, he wouldn’t have hesitated to attack us. But I still wondered if this was going to desensitize us to taking life.

  “Yeah, I know. Thanks, for understanding.”

  As Thornhold had said, the monsters and characters in Abarria were Syms—generated in the laboratory. Oh, they were full flesh and blood, but they hadn’t been born, they’d been created, solely for this purpose. They were programmed to react and to speak…The Game-Guides promised they had no real feeling. Still, it seemed terribly real.