Page 2 of The Glass Unicorn: Part 1
“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 anelf?” 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 spellcomponents, 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 haveone minuteto 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.
