Grey looked up at the stairs, the centre of this hall, surrounded by money and gold and bile. Figures in suits stood on the stairs and on the balcony. Their faces were empty, but Grey could feel their eyes. Grey heard the voice behind them.

  I have seen that home is quite beloved for the others. Is that the case for you?

  Grey tried to look behind them, but they couldn’t move their neck. They weren’t used to being stuck like this.

  “Why did you bring me here?” They growled.

  To learn.

  “There’s nothing to learn here. Get out.”

  Curious. The others liked their memories.

  “Didn’t you hear me before? Get out.”

  Their body started to move, fighting against imaginary bonds.

  Is there nothing for you in the past?

  Grey turned around and swung their arm wildly, trying to hit whatever was behind them, only to hit air. The voice continued speaking, coming from behind them once again. They formed a sword in their hands, just like they always did in dreams.

  I am not here to hurt you.

  “Oh, you’re just here for a nice chat about my trauma? Sorry if I don’t believe you.”

  Grey spun around, trying to see where the voice was coming from, but it always came from behind them. They tried to reach out directly behind them, but even then there was nothing there.

  I simply wish to ask questions.

  “About what, exactly? My past? Is that all you want to know? I told you before: I won’t let you learn anything.”

  Don’t worry: I already know everything about your past.

  “Then why bother with this shit?”

  I want to know what it means to you.

  “What it means to me? It means helplessness. That’s…that’s all I want to say. That’s all it means. Is that satisfying for you?”

  I am satisfied that you are of no use to me. I reject you as a candidate.

  Grey smiled as they closed their eyes and let everything fade away.

  >>>

  “Why?” Draconautis screamed. “Why did it choose you? Was this Nathan’s doing?”

  “I don’t know,” Amelia admitted, “but if it can kill you, I don’t really care.”

  Draconautis roared and slashed its claws at Amelia, but she managed to parry them: even outside of the game, she still had some muscle memory when it came to swordplay, although this body was nowhere near as athletic as her in-game avatar. James ran over to Patrick and helped him to his feet.

  “Come on,” James said. “Let's move while they're distracted. I have an idea.”

  James and Patrick ran up the stairs and examined what was on the second level. Like the first level, it was mostly discarded tools and equipment that wasn’t much use to them.

  Patrick looked down on the fight. “We don’t have much time. What are you planning?”

  “This is a construction site,” James said. “There’s gotta be something heavy we can drop on him.”

  “And if there isn’t? Or if we miss?”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “We live with the consequences. Or die by them.”

  As they looked around, Draconautis swung its claws at Amelia hard enough to knock the sword out of her hands, making her collapse onto the ground. Before it could eat her, Grey staggered over and swung the crowbar like a baseball bat, smashing a chunk of Draconautis’ face in. As the monster reeled back, Amelia picked up her sword and the two attacked him together. Draconuatis blocked their attacks on either side of it with its claws.

  “Why did that girl save you two?” It growled as the two humans were pushed away. “Why didn’t the garden bring you back? How could my lord allow such a vile heresy to go unpunished?”

  “You talk a lot of shit,” Amelia shouted. She staggered away and tried to stab Draconautis in the chest, but the monster spun around and grabbed the blade within its teeth, forcing Grey to stagger away to avoid being smacked by the creature’s hip. Amelia tried to pull the blade out, but it shattered like glass within Draconautis’ jaws.

  “Nathan clearly did not teach you this,” Draconautis said, regaining some of its haughty composure that had been broken over the course of the fight. It tried to eat Amelia again, but she rolled under the bite.

  “Can you make another one?” Grey asked.

  “I don’t know how I made the first one to begin with,” Amelia replied. She shook the handle as if another blade would pop out, but nothing happened. “I really hope he just bleeds out.”

  Meanwhile, James’ search on the second floor eventually paid off. Among the junk that had been left out on the construction site was a cluster of canisters with flammable warnings plastered on the front. James picked one of them up slowly.

  “Propane,” Patrick said “What the hell do they need this for?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” James replied “How do we blow it up?”

  “Open the valve, light a fire and hope it has really bad safety mechanisms.” Patrick pulled a lighter out of his pocket. “It’s Rhiannon’s. Don’t tell her I used it to blow things up. She'd only be happy about it.”

  The two of them ran back to the fight with Draconautis as Amelia and Grey backed away from the monster.

  “Move it!” James shouted as he unsealed the valve and chucked it towards Draconautis as best he could. Patrick chucked the lighter as the propane canister smashed Draconautis in the face. The group all ran, expecting an explosion, but nothing happened. Draconautis laughed and glanced up at James.

  “You think that will kill me?!” Draconautis shouted up to them.

  “No,” James said, as he and Patrick returned, chucking two more open canisters. They ran away, covering their noses from the smell, as the gas finally ignited. A chain reaction went off and the canisters exploded. Draconautis screamed as its body went up in flames, metal shards slicing through its skin and organs. Everyone dived for cover as shrapnel flew through the air, splattering across the girders like bullets. The flames from the gas towered up above them, higher than the tower of junk they were in currently was.

  Grey found a ladder nearby and laid it out to help Patrick and James climb down from the second floor, avoiding Draconautis’ smouldering remains that were next to the stairs: it would be very embarrassing if they killed a dragon only to die from smoke inhalation. They glanced back at the creature's corpse, making sure it was dead, before they all hugged. It felt like a long time before they stopped and an even longer time before anyone said anything.

  “You guys were so damn cool,” James smiled. “Grey smashing his face in, Patrick coming in clutch with the lighter, and Amelia! I never knew you could do that. It’s good to see that thing dead. He was really starting to piss me off.”

  None of the group shared in his enthusiasm. They all look scared and confused, even Grey.

  “James,” Grey muttered, still struggling to breath. “You…you knew this would happen didn’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?” James asked. “Who expects a zombie dragon from their video game to appear in real life?”

  “You really shouldn’t be talking,” Patrick told Grey, but they ignored him and kept talking to James.

  “You’ve known something ever since we finished Corigrad. I wanted to believe that you’d tell us when you were ready, I didn’t think Amelia was right, but after this? I can’t ju-” Grey collapsed and started coughing blood again. Amelia helped them up.

  “We need to get you to a hospital,” she said, but Grey kept talking to James like she wasn’t even there.

  “What do you know, James? Tell us what happened, because I don’t want this shit to happen again.”

  “He discovered the truth,” Draconautis said.

  The party turned around in horror to see Draconautis lumbering out of the flames. Its body was mostly charred and blackened bone, with barely any skin left. Most of its internal organs were dragging along the floor, with the only thing still in its proper place being its left eye. Despite that, it talked with no problem.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Draconautis continued. “With the damage I have taken, the master’s magic cannot keep me sustained in this world for long. I’m in no state to kill you, so I might as well tell you what James Marlow figured out in travels without you. The truth he tried to protect you from.”

  Draconautis’ left leg collapsed as it reached the party, who backed away slowly. It crawled towards them, and even without lips they could tell it was smiling.

  “Why won’t you just fucking die!” James shouted. He went to try and kick Draconautis’ head, but Patrick pulled him back.

  “Because I can no longer kill you,” the monster continued. “The best I can do is to show you the true hopelessness of your situation. The truth about Sable Online that will see you hunted down, looking over your shoulder for the hunters as your world crumbles around you. Even if I fail, it will make sure that others succeed.”

  “What is it, then?” Grey asked. “The truth?”

  Draconautis locked it’s single eye with James as it continued.

  “Sable is real. Maximilian Kable has subjugated a world.”