The three of them then left the cave once the funeral was over. Dramix was pulling a wagon behind him as the other two lead the way. His spirit, Peter, had left again to rest, so all he could do was think to himself. He thought about the night before and what comes next. To him, it really seemed like outside forces were making a game of his life. He was rather annoyed while thinking about it. Once he calmed down, he started observing the two people in front of him. Naleeit is a strong woman, but her confidence and self-security has been tested, causing her to change after her first kill. As for Gulliver, it seemed like he was just putting in the motions without any hope. The repeated losses have worn him down.
As they traveled, he noticed that they were heading south.
When they came to a river bank, they stopped to gather wood for a fire and Dramix set the wagon down. It wasn’t long before they were sitting in front of the fire eating bread.
It was obvious to him that no one was going to say anything, so he leaned against a tree and closed his eyes.
He then felt Naleeit walk over to him and he heard her say, “You don’t have to stay.” (Naleeit)
He kept his eyes closed as he responded, “My spirit says that my fate is now entwined with yours.” (Dramix)
Naleeit laid down next to him as she said, “You might die though. You have no stake in this conflict.” (Naleeit)
Dramix grunted, “Beats going back home and becoming a tailor to the jerk shamans that think they’re better than me.” (Dramix)
Naleeit sighed deeply as she asked, “So you’re here for an adventure?” (Naleeit)
Dramix opened his eyes and earnestly said, “If I do something noteworthy, I will honor my father and my ancestors. I won’t be called a lesser being anymore. If I should die….” (Dramix)
Dramix paused to look into the water and saw the reflection of the moon.
“If I die and your war arrives to the Drakan, I will be remembered in war songs.” (Dramix)
Dramix then chuckled as he continued, “So will you, warrior princess. You’re the first person to slay one of our enemies. You will show every ignorant male and gazing female that women can be strong.” (Dramix)
Naleeit smiled and relaxed after he said that.
“Do you really think that they’ll see women differently?” (Naleeit)
Dramix dodged the question by lowering himself and turning his back to her.
“May the ancient ones watch over us. Let our deeds deem us worthy.” (Dramix)
…
Peter left his trance and rubbed his eyes. He played the game a few more hours than he intended to, so he walked over to his computer to make sure he didn’t miss anything, but nothing of note was displayed on the screen. He then ate some leftover pepperoni pizza before going to sleep.
As he slept, he was feeling rather uneasy as he thought about how Dramix was doing.
…
Brrrr! Brrrrr! Brrrr!!!
He woke to the blaring of his alarm clock and quickly got dressed. He grabbed some pop tarts before rocketing out of the house and jumping on his bike. He arrived at the college campus soon after and headed to his first class. As usual, economics is such a bore, but he listened to the lecture about commercial trading before the bell rang and he headed to his second class.
…
By lunch, he found himself thinking about the game more and more instead of his lessons.
He wanted to talk about the game with his friend Justin, but he was absent today. He figured he must have gotten detention again for skipping class. After two more classes, the final bell rang and Peter went to his day job. It wasn’t much of a job though; all he had to do was go to the post office and pick up the mail for the web business it belonged to.
It was an easy $20 a week and fulfilled the enrollment requirement that he must be employed.
When he got home, he ordered some pizza and worked on his homework until it arrived.
Once he ate, he returned to his room and logged back into the game.
