Adam Drake - Blackout

“Hey, watch it you FILTERED!” she shouted after me.

“She’s not a fan I take it?” Thorm said as we raced off the dock onto a cobblestone street. The next gate was at the other side of the city.

“I’m not feeling appreciated,” I said.

There was a commotion somewhere behind us, but I didn’t turn around to see. I knew what it was. The other group had crossed over the gate and were chasing after us.

But this city was big, and its labyrinthine streets gave us a good chance to lose them. Soon, we would break their line of sight and our chances of slipping away would be greater.

We barrelled through the city, sometimes careening around turns to bounce off walls or knock over carts.

“Sorry!” I yelled out to a group of children whom I narrowly trampled.

“Thank the gods for auto-pathing,” Thorm said with a grin. The wind mashed his thick mustache against his face.

I agreed. Without it, Running through this confusing jumble of buildings and streets would have driven me crazy. Simply select the next destination on the map, and our mounts took over. They would get us there eventually, but it was our job not to run over or kill anyone along the way.

When we found ourselves on a long street, I looked back.

There were players on their mounts far behind us, still in hot pursuit. Their numbers were thinning from what I could tell, but they still came. The front-runner wore a bright white cloak which flapped behind him. As long as he kept us in view he could relay our location to the others.

Thankfully, our pursuers were having the same problems as us navigating the streets.

We burst into another open square, this time with three travel gates.

“That one,” I said, but with annoyance. The gate was in direct line of sight of the street we had run down.

As we jumped through I didn’t bother to check to see if we were being followed. They had to have seen the gate we entered.

We appeared on a rocky beach along a roiling ocean. Rain assailed us as a storm approached. Lightning flashed with deep rumbles of thunder.

Down the beach we rode, our mounts kicking up mud and sand. Behind us the first of the pursuing group, the white cloak, emerged from the gate and followed.

Another travel gate appeared, this one a solitary sentry against a rocky cliff. We went through.

Finally, to my great relief, we appeared within a large assembly of travel gates placed close together. A blighted desert stretched out in every direction. Shimmers of heat warped the flat horizon. Two orange suns seemed to bake our shadows into the dry ground.

“Quick!” I said and led Thorm to one of the many gates to the right.

Through that we came out within some ancient ruins in a jungle. Thick greenery enveloped the rubble of stones placed by a long forgotten people.

Six gates presented themselves.

Without hesitation we went through the next one. Then the next, and the next and the next. Each time a different setting, a different town or city, a new place.

After the twentieth gate we arrived in a little fishing village located next to a huge lake.

Thorm said, “I think we lost them, Miss Valesh.” His avatar’s face was flush from the chase.

I agreed and consulted the map. “The next gate is the last one listed.”

“And after that, Wally’s Womp?” asked Thorm.

A shrug was my only answer. At least it was honest.

We trotted our mounts away from the village and along the lake’s shoreline. A travel gate sat upon a mound of giant rocks as if waiting for us.

Thorm stopped at the gate’s base and gave me a pensive look. “I have a suggestion you will not like.”

I hadn’t even heard what it was and already I didn’t like it. “Suggestion?”

“I should go through first, in case there is a welcoming committee on the other side.”

“Why, do you think there might be one?”

“How do we know those guys chasing us didn’t send word to Ogden that we were coming? One of them might have realized our intent from the path of gates.”

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. If this happened to be the only gate that led to Ogden’s hideout then it would most likely be guarded, or watched at the very least.

But sending Thorm into a potential ambush on his own didn’t sit well with me at all. Not after Mudhoof’s sacrifice. I didn’t want to have another friend end up in the newbie zone because I couldn’t go through a gate.

Thorm sensed what I was thinking. “It will only take a moment. Once on the other side I’ll send you a chat with a situation report.”

“A situation report?” I said with a rueful smile. “A girl doesn’t get many of those now a days.”

Thorm waited for my response. He could have gone anyway without my blessing but he was just too darn honorable. Part of why I liked him so much. And didn’t want to get him killed.

“We’ll take another approach to this,” I said, and dismounted Smoke who nickered in protest.

“And that is?”

I dismissed Smoke, and the horse vanished. “I’ll go with you.”

“Without your mount?” Thorm looked confused. “You will still be seen if someone is there.”

I unsheathed my sword and slipped into Shadow which, thanks to my Legendary Cloak, made me invisible.

“Don’t worry. No one will see me,” I said, and jumped up onto Snowflake behind Thorm.

“Ah,” Thorm said. “That will work.”

“Just a solo Holy Knight looking for the next marker of a quest chain.”

“And if there is trouble?”

“Then we fight,” I said with determination.

“Very well,” Thorm said.

And we went through the last gate.

Immediately upon crossing to the other side, Thorm pulled Snowflake to a stop.

A dark marshy swamp surrounded us. Thick fog cocooned the small patch of muddy ground the gate stood upon.

Blighted trees and dead brambles appeared as murky shadows through the fog. Strange animal noises and cries undulated from all directions.

Despite the dire looking scenery, I found myself relieved.

No one was here waiting for us. We appeared to be alone.

After a few moments, Thorm quietly said, “So far so good.” He had his long kite shield pressed up against one side of us while holding Snowflake’s reigns in his other hand.

The giant cat mount warbled with distress.

“Snowflake doesn’t like it here. Maybe we should take that as a sign,” I whispered.

“Shall we continue?”

“Yeah, we came this far. Why not?”

Thorm guided Snowflake away from the gate platform and a short distance across the muddy grass. Then he paused.

“Problem?” I asked quickly scanning around.

“Yes, which direction do we go?”

“No idea. The route on the map ends at this gate.”

Thorm looked about at the grimness of the place. “This is Wally’s Womp?”

“I guess. Well, I don’t know. The cartographer at the Locators Guild couldn’t really specify. He only said that this gate was one of the closest to Wally’s Womp.”

“There may be other gates nearby?”

“I suppose. Why?”

“Then we may have other avenues of escape when it becomes necessary.”

There wasn’t a path leading from the gate to follow. I pointed to the south, then realized, even as an ally, Thorm could not see my invisible form. “Head south and see what we can see.”

Thorm nudged Snowflake forward, and we cautiously entered the marsh. Within moments the gate vanished into the fog behind us. Only the gloomy outline of trees could be seen around.

Whether it was the potential for an ambush, or the thick fog that limited our vision, we became very jumpy. Several times we stopped and did nothing but listen. Once it became apparent we would not be immediately attacked or were being followed I dropped my invisibility.