Brynn was searching through the creature’s clothes. “I found a coin purse, and he also had this on him.” She tossed a long club on the ground. She seemed to have no trouble with beating the crap out of the Trogger.

  I tried to pick up the club, but it was far too heavy. And I was stronger here than out in the real world. “I can barely lift it. You are strong, lady.”

  “You know shieldmaidens. Strength is our highest stat. I’m stronger than I ever dreamed possible.” She grinned. “This sure beats sitting in my office, staring at the computer screen.” She poked the Trogger again and then opened the purse, pouring out a handful of silver coins, along with two rings. One had a ruby in it, the other—an emerald.

  “What are those? Are they just jewelry or are they magical?” I asked.

  Reggie held out his hand. “Let me see them. I have an Identify Magic spell.”

  Brynn handed them to him. Reggie held them in his right hand, and waved his left hand over them, closing his eyes and whispering an incantation. The rings glimmered, sparkling as though the sunlight had hit them directly.

  “Oh that’s so cool! I know what they are,” he said. “The emerald is a ring of health—it adds to your hit points. The ruby, a ring of power—it strengthens your swings with a blade or a hammer.” He looked at us. “We could either sell these—they’d fetch a pretty penny—or we can use them. There are no curses on them.”

  Everybody looked at me. I was the tacit leader of the party, given it had been my idea to come here.

  “What do you want to do?” Ray asked.

  “Who has the least hit points?” I asked.

  Reggie raised his hand. “Wizards and mages always seem to. Mine are pretty pathetic.”

  “Then you take the emerald ring. Either Thornhold or Brynn should take the ruby ring.” I glanced at both of them. “Who wants it?”

  Thornhold cleared his throat. “It would be fun to have, but Brynn struck the final blow. She’s a tank. Go ahead and take it.”

  Brynn smiled at him. “Thanks. All right.” She slid the ruby ring on her finger and it conformed to her ring finger. The same happened with Reggie and the emerald ring.

  “We got experience points for that, so we’re on the way to leveling up,” Ray said. He grumbled. “I want a new robe. This thing feels like burlap.”

  “Don’t you think we should wait and spend our money on food and supplies, instead? We’re here for two weeks,” I said. We’d signed up for the two week package, and except in cases of emergency, we were in here for the duration.

  “Well, let’s make the most of this,” Ray said, glancing at the sky. “It’s closing in on midday. If we’re going to head into the woods, we should get a move on. It’s quite a hike down the hillside.

  “Remember, the forests are swarming with all sorts of critters.” I spotted a well to one side. “Over there—we should make certain our water bottles are full.” I led the way, using the water already in my bottle to rinse the taste of puke out of my mouth, spitting several times until all I could taste was clear water.

  We filled our bottles. Then, after a moment to pause and appreciate what we were about to do, we headed toward the path leading to the forest.

  The sky overhead was clear, the sun beating down on us warm, but not hot. The Game-Guide had told us that we’d be entering Abarria during early autumn. It was early September in the real world, and apparently the seasons here matched those outside.

  The hill was steep, but not so much so that it was dangerous. I did, however, regret that we’d gone on the cheap. It would be so much easier if we’d sprung for horses. But it was too late for that, and we were stuck going on foot.

  All around, the droning of insects filled the breeze. To either side of the path—which was large enough for a wagon to traverse with horsemen alongside—the knee-high grass rustled in the wind. The distance between us and the woodland were clear of any signs of habitation, though I knew there was a small village somewhere near the forest. There were copses along the way—small thickets, but the massive forest was unmistakable. Miles of whispering grassland separated its borders from us.

  “How far to the forest?” Ray asked.

  I stared at the road, and was suddenly aware that I actually knew the answer. “Fifteen miles. I hope you’ve all built up your stamina.”

  But we could manage it. Our change in physiques weren’t only in looks, but we were road worthy warriors, meant for the nomadic life. It still felt odd to be in a body unlike my own, but somehow, Abarria Game-Guides had managed to engineer the shift so that there wasn’t a huge disconnect. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I were to look in a mirror. Would I even recognize myself? But that I had chosen this helped. As did the fact that this was for a limited time. Though I already planned on signing up for a gym when I got home, and maybe even for archery classes.

  “Why aren’t we going to the village first? I forget,” Reggie said.

  “Because…I guess we got sidetracked by the Trogger, I said. “Though you know that trouble always starts in villages like Dusmaria—” I stopped as the breeze picked up. My senses felt overloaded. The air was thick with moisture and rain was on the way. “Great, we’re due for rain. Let’s get moving.”

  “All the better to go to the village,” Brynn argued. “We don’t stand a chance of reaching the forest before the storm hits.”

  I didn’t want to go to the village, but the others were giving me looks that said I could either override them and listen to them complain when the rain hit, or we could turn around and head for the village, and make them happy.

  I debated a few moments longer but finally decided to give in. A good leader knew how to compromise.

  “Fine, we turn around and head for Dusmaria. But once we’re there, keep your guard up. If years of playing the game has taught us anything, it’s that villages are rife with dangers. Everyone from pickpockets to slavers roam the streets. We’ll get a room at the inn for the night. Then, tomorrow at first light, we hit the road, rain or not. Happy now?” I knew I sounded sarcastic, but the others knew me well enough and they cheerfully began to discuss what they thought the village would be like.

  What the hell, I decided. What could one night in the village hurt?

  Against my better judgement, we returned to our starting point and, skirting the landing pad area where it looked like yet another party of adventurers—this time three elves—were preparing for their quest—we headed toward the stinky village.

  As we headed for the village, I decided to squelch my fears and go whichever way the wind was blowing. That optimism lasted until we hit the gates of Dusmaria.

  CHAPTER 3: THE SMELL OF DANGER

  We encountered the smell of the village of Dusmaria before we reached the village.

  The odor of sewage was overwhelming and I grimaced as we came to the outskirts. From here, we could see that the village was laid out in a grid fashion, with wide streets and narrow alleys. I suddenly realized my eyesight was far better than what it had been back in the regular world, because I squinted and could see someone standing on a balcony over an alley, pouring something from a slop bucket into the back streets. I had a feeling that I knew what it was, but I really didn’t want to think about it.

  “What can you see?” Thornhold asked.

  I grimaced. “A lot of filth. Stay clear of the alleys.”

  “Why?” Brynn asked.

  “Just trust me,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “Okay, let’s get down there, get what we need, and then head out tomorrow morning. I think we have enough for a room and some food, if we all sleep in the same room. We don’t want to spend all our money on the first day.”

  Ray blushed. “I’m not sure what my girlfriend would think about that⁠—”

  “Dude, I said sleep. I’m not about to take off my clothes in this dive. My armor? For the night? Yes. But not my clothes.” I motioned for them to follow me.

  In our weekly games, I always took the lead and I wasn’t about to give that up now. Even in the paper RPG format, I was the most level headed of the group. During the next couple of weeks, we were going to need common sense.

  As we approached the village, I tensed. Just as I’d feared, the mood was one of thinly veiled chaos. Everywhere I looked, questionable vagabonds eyed us. Our clothes were shiny clean and we had that newly minted look. I wondered if any of them were other players. Or were they all Syms? In-game denizens? So far, there seemed to be no real way to tell, unless they gave themselves away. That’s why I was loathe to get in any conflicts with anything relatively humanoid—the fees and fines could be steep.

  “What are you looking at?” Thornhold asked, tapping me on the arm.

  I glanced down at him, shaking my head. “Not here,” I whispered. Raising my voice just enough to be heard, I said, “Everybody, be cautious. We’re getting some greedy looks.”

  “Right,” Brynn said. She placed her hand on her sword as we entered the gates to the village.

  The smell was rank, so much so that I untied the bandana from my backpack strap and folded it into a triangle, tying it around my face and nose.

  “Use your handkerchiefs as masks. It helps a little,” I told the others.

  They followed suit.

  It was late afternoon, and I was getting hungry. “We need to find the inn and see if we can afford a room.” We should have compiled all our money so we knew in advance how much we had. The last thing I wanted to do was to flash any coin here in the village.

  “Do you remember how much money you have?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “I have ten silver coins and a gold one.”

  The others each had the same amount, which meant we had fifty silver, and five gold. There were ten silver to each gold coin, and 100 copper to each silver. We weren’t well off, by any means, but we had enough to comfortably cover a room.

  “All right, so we find an inn?”

  I was suddenly aware that I needed to pee. “Cripes, I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “There’s a row of outhouses up ahead. We can go in one at a time while the others keep watch.” Ray motioned to a row of individual toilets up ahead.

  The last thing I wanted to do was walk into one of those, but I couldn’t wait till we reached the inn. I grudgingly agreed and we gathered by the toilet on the end of the row. The wood was rotting, and the stall—about four feet square—looked like it was ready to come crashing down.

  As I reluctantly opened the door and peeked in, the inside was surprisingly clean. Oh, it wasn’t spotless, by any means, but the floor was covered with footprints, not filth, and the walls were surprisingly clean. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but this was better than my fears.

  “I can’t light a match in here to see what I’m doing—too much methane.”

  “Your watch has a light on it,” Reggie reminded me.

  I’d forgotten about that.

  “Right,” I said, slipping inside and shutting the door. As I pressed the button on the Game-Guide watch, a bright LED light shone forth. One nod to technology that I was grateful for. I set my backpack on my feet to keep it off the floor and opened it to pull out my bath tissue—there wasn’t any in the stall. It took me a moment to figure out how to unbutton the leather pants I was wearing. But a moment later, I was hunching over the opening, trying to keep my ass from touching the wood.

  After I finished, I buttoned my pants again, and took a moment to stuff the little bag of coins down my top. The brass filigree over my crop top was form fitting, so I patted myself down and found a hidden pocket on the side of my pants. Pleasantly surprised to find it was a zipped pocket, I slipped the coins inside, then zipped it tight.

  As I returned to the others, I glanced around. “Any water nearby?”

  “There’s a pump over there,” Reggie said.

  I darted over to the pump and washed my hands, then decided to wash my face as well. Brynn took a turn next, and then Thornhold.

  “Damned armor, so tight I can’t…” His muffled voice came grumbling from out of the toilet. Finally, he reappeared. “I think we should have taken more time in the dressing hall to figure out how to work this blasted armor,” he said, letting out a huff.

  “All right, shall we head to the inn? I saw one down the street as we passed by,” Brynn said.

  “Sounds good,” I said.

  As we turned around, heading back the way we came, there was a sudden flurry of movement as we passed a tavern and two very large men tumbled out, drunk off their asses. They were dressed in skins and rags, but they were taller than any of us, and they looked burly enough to crush a skull with their hands.

  “Well, lookie here,” one of them said, setting his gaze on me. “An elf maiden. Nice abs, girlie,” he said, slurring his words.

  “Ignore him, just keep moving,” Ray muttered under his breath.

  I took a deep breath and stepped to the side, determined to move around him. But apparently he and his buddies weren’t done with the conversation.

  “Where do you think you’re going, wench?” The asshole reached out to grab me. His bros laughed as he wrapped his fist around my wrist.

  “Let go of me,” I said, staring up at him. He was at least a foot taller than I was, but I didn’t care. Nobody threw hands on me and got away with it. I immediately reached for my dagger with my other hand. Beside me, Thornhold stiffened and lifted his axe.

  “Let her go, or you’ll regret it,” he said.

  I suddenly realized that these were Syms—not other players. There was a subtle energy to them that told me they were fair game. And then, I knew. They were ogres.

  “Oh, I don’t think I’m going to regret it,” the first said, his face darkening. His buddies, both drunk as well, lifted their clubs.

  “This is your last warning,” Brynn said, unsheathing her sword. “Let her go. Now.”

  There was a moment of silence, as we eyed one another. I waited for him to loosen his grip, but he didn’t. In fact, he began to squeeze tighter, yanking me up to his chest.

  “Fine. Your choice,” I said, then slashed at his arm with my dagger. Reasoning with drunken ogres wasn’t on my bingo card for the day, but there you go.

  Thornhold charged forward with his axe out, as one of the other ogres headed for Brynn.

  My dagger bounced off the ogre’s skin.

  “Crap,” I muttered.

  And the fight was on.

  CHAPTER 4: CAN WE PLEASE JUST GET SOME SLEEP?

  “Get your filthy hands off me or I’ll cut off your balls!” I grimaced. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to use every trick possible. So I leaned forward and bit him. Deep. Right on the inner wrist.

  The ogre shrieked.

  At that moment, Thornhold swung with his axe and hit hard, right across the ogre’s knee. The creep shrieked again and let go of me. I jumped free, letting Brynn take my place. There was a time and place to play hero, and right now wasn’t my turn. The fighters were best against brutes, and ogres were brutes.

  I backed up, glancing around to make certain we weren’t attracting even more dangerous attention. Apparently, the streets of Dusmaria were used to drunken brawls, because nobody paid any attention. I doubted if the local authorities were much better than the ogres.

  Thornhold hit hard, again, smack into the stomach of the ogre. A bright light flashed and the ogre doubled over. A critical hit!

  Thornhold swung again, the double-bladed axe connecting with the ogre’s forehead. I grimaced, watching as the blade slashed through the skin and blood began to fountain.

  I couldn’t just stand back and let them fight my battles for me, but I didn’t want to get in the way. I backed away, taking aim with my arrow, and then let it fly. The arrow pierced the ogre’s side, going deep, and the crimson blush of blood spread through the creature’s tunic.

  My heart was racing so hard that I thought it was going to play face-hugger and rip through my chest. But I didn’t have time to be squeamish. I brought up another arrow, but the ogre started to tumble forward and Thornhold let go one more swing, landing the lethal blow.

  Meanwhile Brynn and Reggie were battling the second ogre. She was using her sword, and as she did a spin-jump, she brought it cleanly around to cleave through the ogre’s back. The gash bit deep and long. Reggie held out his hands and an orb of sputtering fire appeared, flying directly into the ogre’s face. The ogre shrieked again, clawing at his face, and Brynn took the opportunity to thrust her sword into his chest, piercing his heart. The ogre froze, then began to topple, landing next to his friend.

  I stared at them, then—trying to keep my lunch down—I said, “We’d better get out of here now. We don’t know if they have any friends⁠—”

  But before I could finish, Brynn and Reggie were looting the bodies. They finished while I kept a nervous watch, and when they finished we made tracks, heading back toward the inn that we had passed.

  The foot traffic in the streets grew as dusk settled into evening. Darkness came early here in Abarria—there wasn’t any electricity to stave off the darkness. Only lanterns and magic, and we hadn’t seen a great deal of the latter yet.

  Vendors from the town square headed home, pulling small carts or pushing wheelbarrows of their unsold wares. While their stalls were generally safe in the market square, it would have been foolhardy to leave their wares there.

  Up ahead, the inn waited like a beacon. Even though it was a dive joint in a sketchy town, it beckoned like a safe haven in this rat-infested village.

  I was so conflicted about the day that all I wanted to do was sleep. I’d never thought about what it actually meant to kill creatures. It was all so academic when we were gaming, but here—here we were responsible for taking life, and we saw it face to face. No guns, no distance…just blades and spells and blood and severed flesh. And even though I knew they were constructs of the game, it was real. They died. But it was also a very real thing that we would be dead if we didn’t fight back. Right now, I just wanted a place to decompress and to reconcile myself to the reality I’d chosen for myself…Well, at least for the next couple weeks.