It wasn’t long before they reached the obsidian room. At Tess’s command, G pressed the button to open the iron door. Once it had swung all the way round, Tess gave Jayden a kick in the back, sending him tumbling. He face-planted on the floor of the now vacant obsidian chamber. G glared at Tess with burning hatred but forced himself to curb his anger as she turned to face him.
“I’m coming back shortly,” Tess decreed sternly. “And I will expect you to bring me his weapon.”
And with that, she stepped back into the hallway and pressed the stone button again, swinging the iron door shut.
“What were you thinking?” bellowed G, spinning round to face Jayden the second the door closed.
“Don’t yell at me!” Jayden retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you have any idea what I just did for you?”
“You almost left me without a best friend?” spat G. “You made Tess expect me to kill you? You put me into an incredibly difficult position? Take your pick, they’re all true!”
“Oh, open your eyes, man!” cried Jayden. “It was only a matter of time before Tess realized that you let those prisoners go. Since I took the fall for you, you can stay in Nocturia for as long as you want! You can free the villagers, you can find out so much information, do so much damage to the Alliance. For the first time since we started fighting this war, Element City has eyes on the inside of the Noctem Alliance, and that’s not something worth giving up, even if it means I have to die. Actually, the fact that Tess ordered you to kill me makes all of this so much better!”
“How do you figure that?” exclaimed G incredulously.
“Because now she’s going to have total faith in you!” Jayden said, sounding as if this should be incredibly obvious. “She’s already rearing you up to be her little lackey. If you do this, then she’s going to trust you with anything and think that you’re totally devoted to the Noctem Alliance, and to her.”
“Oh, my apologies. You’re right, Jayden!” G replied, a mock cheerful tone in his voice. “I mean, gee whiz, why didn’t we do this in the first place? Oh, yeah, that’s right! Because in order for this plan to work, it still required me killing you!”
“Oh, don’t be so sure,” Jayden replied with a smile. And with that, he reached into his inventory and pulled out a bottle. The potion within it was transparent, almost clear, but it had a definite grey tint to it. G gasped.
“Jayden. Where did you get that?”
“I swiped it,” he replied, taking the bottle and tipping it down his throat in one giant gulp. “Yesterday, we went to the Brewing Plant in the Nether while you were surveying the grounds with Tess. Here, catch!”
Jayden’s hand plunged into his inventory for a second time and out came his diamond axe, which he tossed through the air towards G, who caught it. “Just wait until the potion takes effect, then show the axe to Tess, and I’ll slip out through the door, invisible, and make my way back to Element City!”
“Wha … wait,” G said, as he put together what Jayden was saying. “You’re … you’re leaving me?”
“Well, the alternative is that you kill me, and I think that option is considerably less appealing to everyone,” Jayden replied, sounding a little annoyed.
“But … you can’t leave!” cried G. “I need you here! Tess has been working me into the ground, never leaving me alone, making me be with her all the time, taking me away from everyone else so she can train me. The fact that she’s so nice to me isn’t even cool any more – it’s just uncomfortable! I can’t lose the only person that I can still talk to!”
Jayden simply stared at him for a moment in disbelief. Finally, he managed to get out, “Dude … do you … realize what you’re saying? Do you see any hint of irony at all in anything you just said?”
G stared back, looking confused. Then, without warning, Jayden began to fade away, becoming dimmer and dimmer by the second.
“The potion’s taking effect!” exclaimed Jayden, pulling off his armour and frantically reaching into his inventory and tossing random items to the ground, making it look like a player had died. “G, go open the door now, and hurry! I don’t have much time before the potion wears off, and I have to get all the way into the tundra. I’ll say hi to Kat and the others for you when I see them … bye!”
And with that, Jayden disappeared.
G stared at the place where his best friend now stood, invisible, and then down at the diamond axe in his hand. He knew that Jayden was right. He forced himself to walk to the iron door. He gave three sharp knocks on the iron face, and seconds later the door swung open. G stepped out and felt a rush of wind behind him, indicating that Jayden had silently taken off down the hallway.
“Did you finish the job?” Tess asked.
G took a deep breath, reached into his inventory, and pulled out Jayden’s diamond axe. He handed it to Tess, who took it, looking thrilled.
“Well done, MasterBronze!” Tess exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder, which made his skin crawl. “In honour of your loyalty to the Noctem Alliance and to me, I am promoting you to the rank of Corporal. You will, from now on, have the duty of being my assistant commander in the training programme.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” G replied. He knew he ought to be thrilled at this promotion, which would allow him access to even more high-level secrets, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of total isolation now that Jayden was gone, and he was stuck with this Tess, this player who had total control over his life.
“Now, come with me, Corporal MasterBronze,” Tess continued, a grin crossing her face. “It’s time to go and see your fellow trainees, and present their new second-in-command to them.”
G’s stomach churned as he followed Tess down the hallway. She was talking to him so affectionately, like he were her prized show dog instead of another person. It made him feel powerless, degraded and humiliated. G shuddered and wished that somehow, he still had Jayden to talk to.
“Charlie, please … let me take a turn, I can see how bad you’re hurtin’ …”
“Leonidas, for the last time, I am fine!” Charlie bellowed, whipping around to face him. “Stop interrupting me or we’re never gonna get to Element City!”
“OK, fine, calm down, man!” Leonidas cried out, raising his blocky hands defensively.
Charlie shot one last steely glare at him before turning back around, and continuing to hack away at the solid cave wall with his stone pickaxe. Leonidas stared at Charlie’s back, illuminated by torchlight. He had been baffled by the hostility Charlie had been showing towards him. Since they had joined up with him and Stan, Leonidas had been pleasantly surprised by how quickly everybody had warmed up to him. Everybody, that was, except Charlie. And even as Leonidas watched Charlie mining, it was clear that he was hurting. Every swing of the pickaxe brought another grunt of discomfort, and every step he took through the newly mined cave saw another limp.
Leonidas was the only one who even noticed Charlie’s outburst, however. Commander Crunch was busy tunnelling forwards alongside Charlie, while Stan, Kat, and Cassandrix walked behind, talking among themselves. Stan put torches on the wall as they walked, and Rex trailed lazily behind Kat.
“I still can’t believe that we’re being forced to sneak into our own city,” Kat spat in disgust.
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear. Allow me to play you a sad song on the world’s smallest violin,” Cassandrix replied, sticking her bloated lip out in mock sadness before reverting back to a scowl. “Kat, we’re all down here together. There’s no need to whine about what we’re all feeling!”
“Shut up!” cried Kat, so loudly, that Stan cringed and raised his hands to his ears. “There’s