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It was down to him to draw blade and defend her. In a split second, he had killed one guard, then two. He had to find a shadow. Grabbing Hail, he dashed for the darkest place he knew, chased by all the town, a thousand people baying for his blood. Those he had known. Those he had loved. Those he had raised, turned on him in an instant because those were the rules of the game.
Bryn lunged for the dark of the chapel, slashed at the shadows, and together they tumbled into the realm of the Dark, a place that would have to be their refuge.
Hail cried in his arms, a bruise rising across her back from a blow from a soldier’s cudgel. He had received a drubbing too, a quick and merciless beating which he’d be feeling for some time. Blood had been drawn from a cut on his lip given to him by the flower seller.
The Dark loomed over Bryn, emanating a menacing love for both Bryn and the hapless little human female.
“That’s the secret of this game, Bryn. You can’t win it. You can only lose a different way. Would you like to reload? Try again? Maybe this time, you take her virginity before she leaves? Or whip her every day she is in your care until she is too broken to dream of a life beyond you?”
“No reloads,” Bryn gritted through bloodied teeth.
“Go back, Bryn. Start again.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand,” the Dark purred. “This is a loading zone. This is not a place you can live. The game is over. You lost it when you came here and left Hail to her own devices in New Rahvin. If you will not reload, you will have to replay from the very beginning.”
“No. This isn’t a game. This is real. This is life. This is happening.”
The Dark’s claws brushed tenderly through his hair. “It is a game, and it is real. You are losing.”
“I’m not losing as long as I have her. You fast-traveled us to New Rahvin. You tried to have us killed by a mob. You wanted us hurt. You wanted us dead.”
“If I wanted you dead, you would be dead,” the Dark chuckled. “I play with you because I love you. I play with you because you are the player, and I am the game. Do you not see? You aren’t trying to save your little Hail from me. You are trying to beat me.”
“She’s a player too.”
“Yes. She is. Player two. But you are player one, Bryn. You are the protagonist of this world, and it pauses when you do. You know these things. Just as you know you shouldn’t be here with me. This is not a place for players. This is the realm of glitches and hacks, cheats and bugs. This is where madness resides. This is where the game breaks, or, where the game breaks you. Reload the last save, Bryn. Turn back time and play again.”
“No,” he gritted his teeth.
“Why not?”
“Because in this save, in this version, Hail loves me, and I have her. I don’t care if the game breaks. I don’t care if I never play again. I don’t care if we remain together in this formless place with you for all eternity. She is MINE, and I am keeping her.”
Bryn was beautiful in that moment, powerful and strong. He faced down the Dark without fear of loss. Loss did not matter. There was no such thing. The game did not matter. Hail did.
“Bryn?”
It was Hail’s voice, soft and yet strong. She had not made a sound, nor had she stirred since the attack in New Rahvin, but suddenly she was sliding out of his arms, down onto her feet, and looking happier than she had in a very long time.
“What is it?”
“I feel better.” She put her hand to her head. “I don’t feel him inside me anymore. I can see him out there, but I don’t feel him in here.” She put her hand to her chest.
“Because I’m not.” The Dark sounded suddenly reasonable and calm. “Bryn was prepared to do something he had never done before, for you. He was prepared to lose, and in doing so, he won. Congratulations. You’ve beaten the level.”
Sixteen
Level Two
“The level?” Hail was confused. Her confusion only grew as a fanfare of triumph echoed through the shadows. Two chests appeared before them, one inscribed with a B, the other with an H. They were incredibly ornate, edged with gold and covered in glowing inscriptions. She had never seen such a spectacular sight in all her life. She assumed it was another trick of the Dark. Opening them would probably unleash a plague or similar. Maybe spiders with knives on their hairy spider legs. Or snakes with aggression issues.
Bryn gave her a sympathetic look and finally explained as a master should. “Hail, I’ve been keeping some truths from you.”
