Auction of Souls: Fantasy GameLit RPG Series (Pixel Dust Book 3) Read online

  Auction of Souls

  Pixel Dust Book Three

  David Petrie

  Copyright © 2020 by David Petrie

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Logs

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About David Petrie

  About Mountaindale Press

  Mountaindale Press Titles

  Appendix

  Acknowledgments

  I started this series because I wanted to tell a story. A story of friends saving a game that they loved. I wrote it for myself because, well, it was fun.

  To my surprise people liked its quirky characters and ridiculous action. Now, with all of your support, I get to do more, and the world of Noctem gets to grow. For that I am grateful. So thank you to everyone who picked up a copy, left a review, told a friend, or commented on a post. It’s because of all of you that I get to do this.

  In addition, thank you to my betas Andy, Tara, Kevin, Sean, and Caitlin, as well as my amazing wife Sam and everyone at Mountaindale Press who keep me motivated.

  Newsletter

  Don’t miss out on future releases! Sign up for the Mountaindale Press newsletter to stay up to date. And as always, thank you for your support! You are the reason we’re able to bring these stories to life.

  Chapter One

  Coping is never easy.

  Some people accept the things they can’t change, while others…

  Well, others fight.

  Farn’s hair clung to her face as she sprinted across the rain swept rocks of Altum Cove. A trail of crimson light spilled from her clawed hand.

  “Eat death!”

  The Deep turned its writhing mass of leathery tentacles to face her as she slammed her fist into the Nightmare’s oversized beak. A wave of heat and power exploded from her hand, a life consumed by the Death Grip bound to her body.

  It felt horrible.

  Impact staggered the four-story Nightmare and blew away the rain, creating a pocket of dry space within the storm. An acrid scent filled the air before the downpour crashed down again. Farn landed in a roll, her wet hair flinging water in a circle around her head like a halo as she righted herself. She brought up the Death Grip’s barrier a heartbeat later. A plate of crimson light appeared on the back of her clawed gauntlet, no bigger than a hubcap. She braced and shielded her head as the Deep slammed a black tentacle into her stomach.

  The barrier was just too small.

  She couldn’t protect anyone.

  Not even herself.

  Waves crashed against the rocks as Farn soared into the jagged stone at the water’s edge. Her health, displayed on the tattooed stat-sleeve on her exposed wrist, slammed down to half. The surf crested over her head, filling her mouth with the sea. It burned her nose as she coughed the salty water back out.

  Suddenly, the light of a fairy’s wings streaked the sky, causing a momentary swell in her chest for an instant before her mind stomped it back down. It wasn’t really her friend.

  No.

  Kira had been stolen from her.

  The small figure spiraled down toward Farn, the spitting image of the fairy she’d loved, and lost. The avatar’s cheerful smile shined, but the dull, lifeless blue of her eyes told the truth.

  There was nothing inside.

  Her avatar should have destabilized months ago. Instead, the system kept it running, drawing input from the minds of those who knew Kira best. The result was a memory, a representation of a player who had passed away while logged in. Whether that was true remained to be seen.

  There was still so much that they didn’t understand about what Nix and Carver had done to her friend. About what Kira had become in the end; a digital entity capable of breaking into every database in the world. Her real body had been abducted, and without it, there was no way to be sure if she was really gone.

  At least, that was what Farn had been telling herself. Kira had to be alive somewhere out there, and Farn didn’t want to keep her waiting. It was the only thing keeping her and the others going.

  Farn couldn’t bring herself to call the system’s imitation by her friend’s name, so she just called it what it was: Echo.

  It was a name that stuck.

  Farn shook her head. None of that mattered now, not while she was face to tentacle with yet another Nightmare, the second of a new expansion of three.

  The fairy above spun, releasing a shower of pixie dust on Farn to bring her health back up. It was what Kira would have done, so it only made sense that Echo would do the same.

  It didn’t last.

  A glistening, black tentacle whipped through the air, catching the small avatar in the side. The light around her winked out before Farn’s health could climb to full. Echo shot across the cove like a poorly-aimed firecracker before plunging into the waves.

  Farn suppressed the urge to pull herself off the rocks and chase after the fairy. It wouldn’t have mattered; Echo wasn’t really a player. No, she was a glitch and, apparently, glitches didn’t take damage.

  Noctem’s system didn’t seem to know what to do with the mindless avatar, so it kept her impact on the game to a minimum. Echo couldn’t cast spells or join a party. All she could do was fly and take up space.

  Farn blew a lock of wet curls out of her face and pulled herself up. There was no point in dwelling on the past, the fight now was still winnable. Gunshots barked over the sound of crashing waves and thunder as Max raced to her rescue.

  “Good hit. That punch dropped the Deep twenty percent. We’ll have to make sure you kill a few more players to feed the Death Grip for the next run, if we don’t survive this one.” The Fury’s voice was harsh and callous.

  Farn tried not to think about the Death Grip’s ability. Necessary or not, of late, she had been using the evil contract more than she felt comfortable with.

  She pulled a wooden cylinder from her item pouch and pulled on one end wi
th her teeth. It snapped open, revealing a glass vial full of shimmering light. Tossing it at the rocks by her feet, it exploded on impact. A burst of shining dust rushed out to surround her and top her health off.

  Echo might not have been able to help much in battle, but at least she was able to give them a steady supply of healing dust. With a little creativity and the help of a good crafter, pixie-bombs had helped them scrape by without a proper Breath mage.

  As Farn recovered, a grappling line flew through the air and Ginger, the lady of House Lockheart, swung by with her dagger at the ready. The Coin landed a slash to one of the Nightmare’s thicker limbs, scraping the length of the beast with a streak of green light. The Deep froze as her passive Venom Bite took hold, its skin lighting up with a variety of debuffs. Ginger leapt out of the way.

  “Everyone, let loose!”

  The party pounced. Max slammed in a fresh pair of magazines and opened fire. Kegan joined in, the Leaf launching a handful of arrows into the Deep’s hide. From above, Corvin leaped off a ledge, the Blade’s sword carving down through the Nightmare with a crimson streak of damage.

  Farn glanced at the boss’s health, still sixty percent left. It was going to take more than that to bring it down. She slammed her gauntlet against her breastplate to activate her Taunt skill.

  “Come at me, tentacle-ass.”

  It wasn’t a clever taunt, but Kira wasn’t there to disapprove anymore. The Deep turned to her regardless.

  “I’d be careful with that taunt.” Kegan dashed to the side. “I’ve seen what these tentacle monsters get up to on the internet.”

  “Um, that’s not something you should admit to.” Corvin swatted at an overly grabby tentacle.

  “Cut the chatter and stick to the plan!” Max shut the joke down hard and fired another round at the Deep. “We have to lure it over to those rocks.” He hooked a thumb back at a pair of jagged stone formations near a cliff.

  Farn took a step back as the beast heaved its body out of the water and crept across the cove. Max held his ground, waiting. It rose up on a few thick tentacles to reveal the massive beak at the center of its mass. Then it dropped back down in an attempt to catch the Fury in its ravenous maw.

  Max rolled out of the way, a hair’s breadth from being consumed. The monstrous form dragged itself closer as Farn and Max acted as bait until, finally, it got into position. Corvin rolled in close to Farn’s side just as the Nightmare reared back up, its beak open wide for a meal.

  “Ready?” Max shouted as the beast’s dripping form towered over them. Corvin answered with an audible gulp as Farn backed up to the edge of the cliff, the waves crashing on the jagged rocks below.

  “No way out now.” She brought up her gauntlet, ready to deploy her barrier.

  “Here it comes!” Corvin ducked under her arm.

  The Nightmare let out a gluttonous roar as it came down on top of them.

  Moist heat and darkness engulfed Farn’s world, slimy walls closing in on her. She threw out her legs and braced her back against a ribbed surface. The sounds of her friends struggling filled the space.

  Gah, what just touched my neck? Farn thrust her gauntlet behind her head and shoved, activating her barrier. The Death Grip’s glow lit the space within the beast’s mouth.

  “Oh shit! This is really the plan?”

  She struggled to lock her legs in place to hold the Nightmare’s beak open, her back pinned against the roof of its mouth. Rows of teeth circled the cavernous throat that hung just above her head as a fleshy tendril licked at her cheek and neck. Corvin’s foot held firm beside her, his back braced against the opposite side of the Nightmare’s mouth.

  “I am really uncomfortable with this plan.” He leaned away from another small tendril that attempted to slither into his furry ear while more coiled around his arms. Saliva dripped from his matted hair. The razor-sharp edge of the creature’s beak surrounded them, held at bay by their bodies alone.

  “Keep it together. We have it where we want it.” Max stood between them, his guns thrust up into the gaping darkness of the Deep’s throat. He fired.

  Bellows of protest drowned out the sound of the storm that raged outside as the beak struggled to close. Farn gasped and thrust her legs out to keep the walls from closing in. Corvin did the same.

  “Hold steady!” Max lurched to the side, putting a round into the Deep’s jaw as the beast tried to rise up to cough them back out. “Oh no you don’t!” He raised his house ring to his mouth to speak to the others outside. “Get it tied down!”

  “We did!” Kegan shouted back over the house line, sounding like he was struggling just as much as they were. “This thing is really freaking strong.”

  Ginger’s voice came next. “I have four grappling lines tying it down to the rock, but I’m not sure how long we can hold it. It’s snapping them as fast as I can secure them. I’ll run out of wire if it keeps up.”

  “Damn, not enough time.” Max switched his pistols to full-auto and unloaded both before holding them out to his sides. “Reload!”

  Farn used her free hand to pull a magazine from Max’s belt while Corvin did the same. They slipped them into Max’s guns in unison and he unleashed another burst of damage into the beast’s throat.

  “Again.” He held out his pistols as soon as their slides locked back. Farn caught the Nightmare’s health on Max’s stat-sleeve as she shoved in another mag. It was working. The Deep was nearly dead after taking so many critical hits.

  Suddenly, the sound of cables snapping all at once struck the air. The ground below fell away as the beast rose up with the three of them in its mouth. Max holstered a gun and grabbed Corvin’s legs to keep from being left alone on the cliffside. The entire space flipped upside down and Farn began sliding head first toward the rows of teeth that circled the Deep’s throat. A thousand jagged points waited, ready to tear her apart. She braced with all her strength to keep from sliding further.

  “Almost there!” Max slipped down to dangle from Corvin’s tail, hanging further into the Deep’s throat. He fired another shot down into the belly of the beast as his hand slipped through the Blade’s slime covered fur.

  “Grab hold.” Farn reached out for him, hoping to catch his hand before he lost his grip. He ignored her.

  “I have to finish it!” Max fired again just as his fingers slipped and he vanished into the void of teeth and darkness.

  He was gone.

  Farn stared down the beast’s throat, her hand still outstretched.

  The world lurched again as the creature dove back into the sea. Salt water rushed in, flooding the jaws of the beast past Farn’s head. She took a breath just before she went under. Corvin’s panicked eyes locked with hers through the murky water. They were out of options. They could move and be crushed by the creature’s beak or they could stay and drown. Escape was impossible.

  Well, almost impossible.

  Farn clenched her clawed fist and fed the Death Grip another player’s life. One of the many she’d taken in the last few months. As her health dropped by twenty percent from the lack of air, she slammed her gauntlet into the wall behind her. A blast of power blew the beast’s beak open wide enough to fling her free. She kicked off a rock toward the surface with everything she had, Corvin following right behind.

  Struggling to swim in her armor, she expected a tentacle to wrap around her foot at any second. Her health dropped another twenty percent, then another. Rain met her as she burst through the surface and gasped for air.

  “Where’s Max?” Ginger reached a hand down to help Farn up onto the rocks.

  “Did he kill it?” Kegan asked as he hoisted Corvin from the waves nearby as well.

  Farn’s heart sank as she glanced at the boss’s status bar on her wrist. It blinked with a sliver of health remaining.

  We were so close.

  Then she took a sharp breath. Max’s health was blinking too. A few hit points hung in the space next to his name. Tension raked across her nerves as she stared
at the two health readouts, unsure of which would vanish first.

  A flash of lightning blinded her for an instant as the waves swept her and Ginger back to the water’s edge. Farn landed on her rear, waist-deep in the surf as a black tentacle rose from the water before her.

  No!

  It loomed over her, ready to strike.

  Then, it stopped and grunted.

  Max emerged from underneath a second later, throwing the limp form off his back before collapsing to his hands and knees in the water. He let out a wheezing cough before speaking.

  “I had to finish it. We don’t have time to keep trying.”

  “I know.” Farn looked off into the storm. “We can’t keep Kira waiting forever.”

  As if on cue, Echo stumbled out of the water and shook off her silver locks like a dog. She wobbled afterward as if the act had made her dizzy. Her dress clung to her skin as she tapped a bare foot on the stone, splashing in a puddle.

  “Yeah, hurry up, I’m not gonna wait forever.”

  “We’re trying.” Max brushed off Echo’s complaint.

  Of course, the mindless avatar hadn’t actually said anything out loud. Rather, it had mouthed the words. The system couldn’t seem to replicate her voice, making lip-reading a new required skill. Farn had trouble, but Max seemed to have a knack for it, always getting Echo’s point.