Marny (6 page)

“I guess I’ll get settled in, then,” Marny
said. Not that it would take her long to empty her backpack.

“Welcome to your new temporary home,” Wil
said.

“Yes. I’m sure we’ll become good friends.”
Anjah sent her a gleaming smile.

Her teeth were unnaturally white. She looked
like a perfect doll, but Marny knew better than to judge by
appearances. If Anjah had scored an internship, she had formidable
brains and talent behind that glamorous façade.

When her new roomies left, Marny closed the
door and took a breath. Well. Here she was.

Ignoring the zing of homesickness in her
belly, she strode over to the window and looked down. The streets
were laid out in orderly patterns, with bars of shadow thrown
across the city from the taller buildings. The faint vibration of
traffic drifted up, and people scurried around on the sidewalks. It
was a strange perspective, like she was floating above the world.
What did the air even smell like up here?

Not that she could crank open any of the
windows and find out. Everything this far up was sealed shut, which
made sense. Didn’t want some overworked employee taking a swan dive
from the Intertech building—the PR would be terrible.

Still, half of her believed that if she
opened a window and stepped out into that high, clear air, she
could fly.

April

“M
y
liege.” The woody form of the spriggan guard bowed before the
Bright King’s throne. “It is as you said. A mortal boy has stepped
into the Realm.”

“Good.” The king brought his fingertips
together. “Bring him to me.”

“I fear… there is a difficulty, your
highness.”

The spriggan trembled, like a tree whipped by
the wind. Behind him, his brethren took a step back. It was never
wise to upset the monarch.

The clearing of the Bright Court quieted, the
harp falling silent as the king’s gaze filled with wrath.

“Pray tell me why you cannot lead the human
here. Has he dealt with the Realm of Faerie and its creatures
before, and thus is wary and wise?”

“I know not.” The guard’s voice scraped like
branches rubbing together. “The mortal appears, remains for a short
time, and somehow carries a piece of the Realm with him when he
departs.”

“Then follow him!” The king’s voice was
sharp.

“We have tried.” The spriggan gestured to his
comrades, and they nodded in confirmation. “He goes, and the way is
closed to us. We can see a part of the Realm, but it exists as in a
bubble, floating separate and unreachable beyond our grasp.”

The Bright King’s eyes narrowed, and the
light falling over the court deepened toward sunset. “Be quicker.
Next time he must not be allowed to escape.”

“Yes, my liege.”

“Go—and return successful, or not at
all.”

The king dipped one long-nailed finger into
his goblet, then flung a droplet at the spriggan. It landed on the
guard’s arm, the spot smoking and hissing, but the creature knew
better than to flinch. He made a low bow and, in the red glow of
the king’s anger, backed away and rejoined his comrades.

They patted his knobby shoulders, awkward in
the knowledge that he would never again set foot in the Bright
Court.

May

Nyx stood at the doorway of the empty
warehouse, satisfaction swooping through him like a hawk spotting
its prey.

“This could do,” he said to Babs, the
real-estate agent helping him find the perfect building to rent.
“Let’s go inside.”

She gave a dusty little sigh. For the last
five weeks—in between studying for finals, graduating from high
school, and figuring out his crazy new ability—Nyx had been
searching for the ideal space.

As far as he’d been able to determine from
hours of searching the ’net, he was the first and only person able
to create magical forests from playing a sim game. That was an
ability that deserved to be showcased. And he knew just how he
wanted to do it.

At first, the real-estate agent had been
energetic and positive, showing him office complexes and
storefronts. But none of them had been right for what his
imagination, and new business venture, required.

“Could do,” Babs said, clearly tired of
presenting him place after place with no luck.

But this…

Nyx flipped the lights on and strode forward,
his boots thudding over the concrete floor. The space was tall—over
three stories high. In addition to the huge main warehouse, smaller
offices lined the west wall and there were a couple outbuildings
butted up against the outside.

Big windows let in light, but he could paint
over the lower ones so nobody could see in. Even better, the
building took up a whole city block, just south of downtown
Newpoint. The surrounding area contained more warehouses, some
abandoned, and a beverage-bottling plant that shut down from ten
p.m. to six in the morning. No neighbors to pry and ask nosy
questions, or lodge complaints about his hours of operation.

“Yeah,” he said, the word echoing through the
quiet space. “I think this is the place.”

“You do?” Babs hurried over, her expression
perking up. She could smell the commission.

“Let’s look at the whole thing,” he said. “If
there are no surprises, I’d like to discuss terms with the
landlords today.”

“Excellent! I believe the bathrooms are this
way.” She turned to the right, a sudden bounce in her step.

Nyx glanced at the metal-girded ceiling high
overhead, and smiled. The space was big enough to host his magical
forest. He’d have to do some work with the positioning, of course,
to make it seem like it was an illusion cast inside the warehouse,
but it was way doable.

In addition, there was plenty of room to put
an espresso and juice bar in one corner, figure out the dance floor
situation, and install some comfy seating and gaming equip. Plus
fix up an area he could live in. Extra bonus: the warehouse was
even bigger than the dojo where he went to work out, and would make
a great space to practice his martial arts.

It was going to be perfect.

Club Mysteria—where enchanted worlds become
real…

Of course, everyone would think it was all
high-end mixed reality generation and special effects. Look at the
amount of convincing it had taken to get his sister to believe the
magic was actually real.

The very first thing he’d had to do, back in
March, was figure out how and why the enchanted forest had appeared
in his bedroom. It had something to do with playing Feyland, he was
sure, so he needed to spend as much time in-game as possible until
he found some answers. He’d pretended to be too sick to go to
school, making loud retching noises in the bathroom where his
parents could hear, and refusing food.

As soon as everyone left the house, though,
he’d scarf down peanut butter and banana sandwiches, pound a couple
energy drinks, and start simming. After that first night the forest
had appeared, it had taken him four days of practically nonstop
gaming to find the answer.

Day One: Nothing except a ton of in-game
questing and killing monsters. No glimmering trees growing in his
bedroom that night.

Day Two: More of the same. Still no
forest.

Day Three: Time to play smarter. He started
retracing his steps, trying to recreate the adventures and remember
the quests he’d done on the day of the magical manifestation.

Day Four: Halfway through tromping around
in-game, he finally recalled he’d done a small quest to gather
fallen leaves from the Sylven Glades. For some reason, he’d ended
up with an extra leaf in his character inventory. At the time, he’d
thought it just a glitch.

Was that it? He couldn’t imagine how an extra
in-game item could conjure up a magical forest in his room, but it
was the only unusual thing that had happened. With a shrug, he
turned his Archer character toward the Sylven Glades.

Leaping through the meadows of bright
flowers, feeling the sun and breeze on his face, Nyx had to admit
that the immersion tech of Feyland was prime. The company had done
an amazing job with the game. Seriously, he felt like he was really
there.

Ahead, the silvery trees of the glade rose
into the purple-tinged sky. He slowed down and pulled an arrow from
his quiver. There was a big, wicked boar that guarded the glade. On
his last visit, it had taken him by surprise, and only Nyx’s extra
Archer agility had kept him from failure. He’d used a Death-Defy
leap and managed to land an arrow in the creature’s eye.

This time he crept forward, arrow nocked to
the string. The mossy ground cushioned his footsteps as he moved
into the glade. Pale trunks rose around him and a faint wind
shivered the leaves, their undersides flashing like moonlight.
Breathing quietly, he moved toward the center clearing where the
huge copper-leafed tree stood.

A stray sunbeam illuminated the tree, making
the leaves glow like little suns. Nyx paused. He’d turned in the
leaf quest already. Would he even be able to pick up one of those
gleaming leaves scattered on the ground?

He took one step into the clearing, then
whirled at the sound of grunting and rustling behind him. Fast and
fierce, the wild boar charged. Its tusks were long and pointed, its
eyes full of rage.

Heartbeat racing, Nyx shot an arrow at the
creature. The shaft bounced off its armored hide, and the boar kept
coming.

Forcing his hands steady, he
grabbed another shaft and sent it flying. This one landed in the
boar’s chest, and it gave an angry squeal. But it didn’t slow
down.
Ah, crap.

Nyx glanced at the dagger strapped at his
waist. Nope, he didn’t think his chances of hand-to-hand—or
tusk-to-blade—were very good. Whirling, he dashed to the tree
dominating the center of the glade.

He circled the huge trunk, half his attention
on the animal closing in on him, half on the coppery branches. Come
on! There had to be a limb low enough for him to climb.

One time around the tree. Breath rasping in
his throat, Nyx risked a glance behind him. The trunk was so
enormous he couldn’t see the boar, but he could hear it grunting.
Getting closer. He kept going.

Twice around. Should he make a stand, hope
for a lucky shot? He pulled another arrow from his quiver, but
something made his feet keep moving. He imagined he could feel the
boar’s hot breath at his heels. Good thing the animal was too dumb
to switch directions.

Adrenaline pumped through Nyx. Running around
the copper tree yet again was ridiculous. This was it. He’d have to
turn and face the boar.

He slowed, then blinked at the big branch
just above eye level. Why hadn’t he seen it earlier?

He leaped, caught a decent handhold, and
swung himself up. Without stopping to think, he balanced on the
rough, coppery bark, nocked his bow, and shot at the boar racing
below him.

The arrow plunged into the top of its skull.
It kept running a few more steps, then suddenly fell over. No
blood, no cries of pain. A moment later, the body disappeared in a
shimmer of blue light.

Nyx let out a long breath.

“Thanks,” he said to the tree, reaching over
to give the trunk a pat. For sure that branch hadn’t been there
before.

The leaves rang together, with a sound like
jingling coins. One perfect, shiny leaf drifted down, right past
his face. Nyx swiped at it, missed, and lost his balance. The tree
shook, as if it were laughing at him.

Luckily, his enhanced agility stat kept him
from crashing too badly. He rose from a crouch, dusted off his
leggings, and bowed to the tree. The copper leaf shone against the
greenish-brown mosses and gnarled roots.

“Okay, then.” Nyx picked it up.

The leaf was smooth and cool against his
fingers. He slipped it in his pocket, and his character inventory
lit up, showing that he’d added one copper leaf.