Page 1 of The Glass Unicorn: Part 1
CHAPTER 1: WAS IT A MISTAKE COMING HERE?
“I can’t believeI’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 daggerrested 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 readReady. “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.
