Cyber Mortality

Chapter 65:

 I awaken to the sound of Jez shuffling around to repack her satchel.

"Morning," she smiles when she notices my eyes watching her. "We weren't murdered in our sleep, so I guess that's a win."

"Gotta take the small wins," I rasp and clear my throat.

Jez tosses me a canteen of water and I greedily drink it.

"Thanks," I pull the sheets off and step onto the slightly warm wooden floor.

"Flint thinks we will make it to the castle today," Jez says as she pulls the covers up on her side of the bed and props the pillows back in place.

"I just hope there aren't bugs like in the last dungeon..."

It takes about an hour to get everyone out the door, but our faces are chipper and our cheeks practically glow.

"I don't think I've slept so well in a long time," Zephyr floats lazily through the air while stretching his back. "IRL I sleep in a cozy cotton hammock. But that bed was pretty nice."

"Uh huh," Nyle purses a lip. "Would have been nicer to sleep in it alone so I could stretch out."

"Wait, you all slept in the same room?" Jez snorts and covers her mouth quickly.

"I slept on the floor," Flint juts out his chin and starts into the front walk of the mansion.

"Lucky you," Nyle and Zephyr both say at the same time.

"You kept trying to snuggle me!" Nyle points at Zephyr.

"Well you kept farting!" Zephyr glares back.

"Okay," Jez holds up her hands and follows after Flint. "Let's go."

I chuckle as I walk past and catch the look of horror on Nyle's face.

"I don't fart!" He shouts.

I burst out laughing as I jog to catch up to Flint and Jez.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm eighty and not nineteen," Flint scowls.

"Heh, I'll always been nineteen," Jez shrugs and tugs at the front gate.

"I don't know when I turn nineteen," I purse my lips. "We've been here like a month right?"

"Twenty-three days," Flint replies as we step through the gate.

Behind us, Zephyr and Nyle still argue.

"You're so annoying!" Zephyr shouts.

I feel the wind stir up behind me and then a loud thuup sounds. I look back to see only Zephyr standing behind us with his arms crossed. My eyes dart to the left and right, then up. In the sky I spot a blue blur quickly descending.

"Zephyr!" I scowl and brace for Nyle to fall back to earth. My tongue floods with mint as I put everything I have into making sure Nyle reaches the ground safely. It is different catching someone else rather than yourself, like when you are a driver verses a passenger. I cannot feel the strain on Nyle's body when he hits my air cushion.

I brace my legs and call upon the wind to nestle Nyle safely in her arms as he reaches our level. I set him gently on the ground and brace him if he is unsteady.

"You good?" I gaze up into his angry blue eyes.

"I'm fine," Nyle grits his teeth.

"He doesn't have magic! Why did you do that?" I growl at Zephyr and step toward him with my hands raised.

"I'm sorry," Zephyr shakes his head. "I lost my composure for a moment. Thank you for fixing my mistake." He looks down at the ground sadly.

"This is how it started, isn't it?" I reach out and touch his arm gently.

Zephyr nods.

"How what started?" Flint questions after checking to make sure Nyle is alright.

Zephyr and I lock eyes and he nods.

"The curse of wind magic," I squeeze Zephyr's arm.

"Have you ever wondered why you don't see more people using wind magic?" Zephyr pats my hand and steps toward Flint.

"I just thought it was rare," Flint raises a brow and crosses his arms.

"Oh, it is," Zephyr nods. "May is the tenth wind mage to ever exist in this game. The eight who came before us got banned."

"Banned?" Nyle's eyes go wide. "All eight? That's so hard to do. It takes a whole counsel of people."

"When I was learning wind magic, my teacher and I, studied around seven other wind mages. At first everything was great. We defended cities with powerful magic, but slowly things started to change. They each went down their own dark paths and had to be stopped until finally it was just my teacher and I. Then my teacher was consumed by darkness." Zephyr explains. He glances at the ground. "I don't know if the amount of magic we use or just our exposure to wind magic is what drives us to madness, but I don't know if there is any way we can stop it."

"This could happen to you and May?" Jez blinks slowly. "I had heard there was something bad that happened with some wind mages in the past, but this is something all together evil. The game shouldn't be able to affect someone like that."

"The game also shouldn't have been able to lock us inside," Flint scowls. "Perhaps it is just another thing the maker did to stir up trouble here. You two should stop using your magic if it will eventually drive you crazy."

"That's just it," Zephyr shrugs. "Magic is all around us. What do you think you're breathing in? Not using our magic might slow the process down, but the only way to stop it would be to stop breathing."

"So the only option is to beat the game and somehow try to stop whatever code is corroding your brains," Flint groans and shakes his head in dismay. "Just another thing to worry about."

"If it becomes too bad," I start but Flint holds up his hand.

"We aren't going to kill you, May," he scowls. "That's not an option."

"If I, we," I gesture between Zephyr and myself. "Go crazy then you need to stop us. No matter what it takes."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Jez clasps my hand and squeezes it. "But I promise to stop you, May. From one magic user to another."

"Thank you," I squeeze her hand back. "Let's hope I have plenty of time before it comes to that though."