Ona

Level 12

The gates of Castle Bromme were sealed.

The icons for Loaf and the Source Aura were blinking red and standing in the center of the castle, the status updates indicating a battle.

I was attempting to contact my friend as we marched closer to the castle, but there was no response. I turned to Onisa and said, “The small secret tunnel at the base of the keep is another way into the castle.”

Onisa considered the number of fighters marching in the group. She said, “The tunnel is good for one or two people to sneak in, but full army on the march would be noticed before we could get close.”

I noticed a message in the shared virtual reality connection. “Hey Bromme! I won the battle! I had a character stats notice about reaching the highest possible level and the game ended.”

The Trynn-Ror soared above the castle walls in an impressive formation then dropped, motionless into the courtyard. The castle gate dropped and the army I recruited broke into a loud chorus of victory cheers.

Ona ran to the front of the army and looked at the sky. “The Source Aura made a wrong move.”

I said, “What happened?”

Ona said, “Loaf defeated the final boss with a single battle cry.”

I said, “He wanted the virtual world of Ona to be the first virtual game world he completed. And the Source Aura used the Castle Bromme encryption codes to end the battle.”

Ona said, “Yes.”

The sky turned dark and I looked back at the army, low murmurs of concern raising the question of another monster attack.

Ona began to chant in a unknown language then raised her hands. The glow from the power behind the mysterious girl, and the world of the virtual reality game, slowly began to draw a pattern of bright ribbons across the horizon.

“Aurora to celebrate the victory or the end game..?” I said, recognizing the pattern as similar to the northern lights. I was interrupted by a ping from the virtual connection and noticed an invitation from Loaf to join him in the castle courtyard.

The army was celebrating a victory on a plains in front of the castle as the drawbridge dropped with a loud bang over the moat.

Onisa and I ran into the castle. She was close behind and calling my name. “Future husband, wait for me!”

I was soon greeted by Loaf to congratulate him on the victory. He was standing alone in the courtyard, surrounded by hordes of monsters piled as high as the castle walls.

Ona entered the courtyard and with a wave of her hand, the monsters evaporated into a blue pixel mist, rising above the height of the castle walls, and floating through the ribbons of light, and vanishing out of sight.

Onisa looked around impressed. She said, “The champion was a gamer with no skills…perhaps the designers of the world could learn a lesson.”

The Source Aura was nowhere in sight.

The sky changed to day within another hour of real time game play as we began talks to end the campaign.

I was crowned the king of Castle Bromme, and requested a knighthood for Loaf. I tried to change Ona’s mind about a marriage to her sister Onisa, but soon found myself standing in the great hall.

Onisa was silent, unusual for her, and stood holding my hand,. She and I were dressed like royalty, and listening to a toast from Loaf. “The world of Ona is in good hands with the newly crowned king and queen of the land. I feel honored to be the leader of the Castle Knights.”

The gathering of resurrected player characters, the army Eternal Pond raised their mugs and shouted “King, Queen and Castle!”

© J. Bateman

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