Black Dawn: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Adventure (Fae Nexus Book 1) Read online

  At Seth’s nod, Gage eagerly unscrewed the lid and took a sip of the potent stuff. “Oh, damn that’s delicious.” He sighed happily and passed it over to Peri, who took a sip and passed it to Seth.

  Gage pulled the skewers of meat off the grill and pulled the foil-wrapped potatoes from the coals. “Okay folks, soup’s on.”

  They ate at the picnic table with the fire on one side and the cabin on the other, passing around the moonshine and swapping stories about their summers. Seth’s job guiding drunk college kids in canoes through the whitewater of Fiddler’s Gulch sounded like it had basically been one continuous disaster. The Buffalo River ran right through Clearwater, drawing a slow but steady stream of tourists into the little town. For his part, Gage regaled them with stories about the crazies he worked with restoring old log cabins while traveling everywhere from Kentucky to Arizona. Peri told them about being flown to Colorado to fight wildfires for six weeks. The conversation flowed, feeling like old times again.

  Finally, with their bellies full, Peri started rummaging through her notes again. “We’ll start in a few minutes.”

  While she got ready, Gage pulled a small block of basswood and his whittling knife from his pack. His scarred and calloused hands moved almost subconsciously, as he started to whittle away a tiny, bulbous nose that would become a three-inch tall gnome with a beer belly and a wizard’s hat. He’d carved hundreds of these with his grandma to sell to the tourists passing through town.

  Seth sat down at the picnic table with a purple velvet bag that rattled. He glanced over at Gage’s whittling. “Did you swing by to talk to Grandma?”

  Gage’s hands froze. Guilt washed over him, but Seth’s voice wasn’t full of the condemnation he’d feared. “Not yet. I was running late already, trying to get up here. Figured I’d see her in a few days when we head back into town.”

  “I know she’d love to see you,” Seth said in a quiet voice, obviously being careful to keep the accusation out of his voice.

  “I’ll make sure to catch up with her.” Gage hesitated, and then added, “I might stick around for a while. If that’s alright.”

  Seth gave him a quick nod. “I think that would be good.” He spilled dice out of his Crown Royal bag and started rolling them, tossing the unlucky ones back in the bag and threatening the worst offenders with incineration.

  Gage glanced at the handful of dice his brother had dropped. Five of them had landed on a one. “Damn. You could finish fourth in a three-person race.”

  “I know,” Seth said. “Good thing the cross-country team didn’t make us roll, right?”

  “Thank goodness.” With a snort, Gage laid down lengthwise on the bench seat of the picnic table, gazing up at the velvet black sky. They were a full day’s hike from Clearwater, and it was home to just two thousand people. That meant the cabin had some of the darkest night skies in the country, especially on a moonless night like tonight.

  While he whittled, Gage watched the shimmering lights of the aurora, which now stretched almost halfway across the sky and were picking up speed, spreading faster and faster. The curtains of color gained complexity, branching into dozens of luminous filaments wending their way across the sky. As they did, flamelike tendrils of orange and yellow joined the strands of red.

  A feeling of foreboding washed over Gage. Setting down the gnome he’d been carving, he stood and stared at the sky.

  Seth stopped threatening his dice and glanced over. “What’s up with you?”

  “Do those lights seem strange to you guys?”

  Peri followed his gaze and muttered, “They are really moving.”

  All three of them craned their necks to watch the lights creep further south, until they were straight overhead. More colors appeared, with greens and blues joining the red, orange, and yellow from before. The lights now shone with all the colors of the rainbow.

  “What’s causing all the colors?” Seth asked.

  Gage said, “If the particles from the solar storm hit different gases, like oxygen or nitrogen, all kinds of different colors can appear, even pink. But I’ve never heard of them being a full rainbow. They were nothing like this in any of Dr. Whelan’s photos.”

  As they watched in wondering silence, the lights spread the rest of the way across the sky, stretching east and west as far as they could see, and finally all the way to the southern horizon, covering the entire night sky in a web of lights that undulated like a cast net sinking into the river.

  A feeling of being trapped made Gage shiver. “Something’s not right here.”

  Short lines and geometric shapes in all colors began to coalesce amid the lights in the sky. In seconds, the myriad shapes were opaque and superimposed over the aurora. They were sharp and swooping, like knife blades welded together into glyphs. The symbols shifted their positioning, organizing themselves into groups, then lines.

  “Are those supposed to be words?” Seth wondered aloud.

  “Maybe it’s a text message from beyond,” Peri suggested.

  “It’s no language I’ve ever seen,” Gage said. “More like notes from some mathematical theorem.”

  Then the symbols blurred, going through another transformation, until they formed letters in English.

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Applying universal translation algorithm.

  Initiating the Fae Nexus reconnection sequence...

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Chapter Two

  “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” Gage said.

  With a clatter, Seth dropped the dice he’d been fiddling with onto the picnic table and rubbed at his eyes. “This has to be a hallucination, right? What kinda mushrooms did you put on those shish kebabs?”

  “They were not the kind you get at Burning Man, I swear,” Gage protested. “I picked those morels myself this spring.”

  Seth stood up and stared into the trees around the clearing. “This has to be someone’s idea of a joke. A high-powered projector or some kind of trick with drones.”

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Attempting to stabilize this node’s connection to the Fae Nexus...

  Connection idle time: 7242y 3m 18d 21h 3m 58s

  Connection re-established.

  Connection stability at 23%.

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  “What the hell is the Fae Nexus?” Peri asked.

  “And that idle time...” Gage said.

  “As old as some of the oldest civilizations on Earth.” Peri’s voice was awestruck.

  The text in the sky vanished, and for a long second, Gage wondered if it would all be over, leaving them to wonder forever if they’d really seen all this. Then, the text returned, this time blazing in a bright red hue.

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Warning: This node’s natural laws are outdated and incompatible with the Fae Nexus. An update is required to maintain connection. Expect volatile substances to become unstable, and the energy transfer characteristics of many materials to become unpredictable.

  Estimating population impact...

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  “What the hell does that even mean?” Peri asked the sky angrily.

  “Population impact?” Seth said. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  Gage looked around the clearing at their gear. Several canisters of Coleman fuel hung in a mesh bag from the porch railing behind them. Worse, a small twenty-pound propane tank sat outside the cabin, hooked up to the tiny gas range and chest freezer inside. They used the freezer to keep meat fresh during extended hunting or fishing trips, but he didn’t know how much propane was left in the tank.

  “Uh, guys?” he said, panic filling his voice. “It mentioned volatile substances, right?”

  Before anyone could answer, another message appeared.

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Analysis of node’s distribution and density of life forms, combustible materials, energy sources, and infrastructure complete.

  Estimated death toll: 93.8%

  Applying update...


  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Above them, the web of writhing rainbow lights intensified until they were difficult to look at, and then the lights rapidly sank toward the ground.

  Gage launched himself toward the porch railing. He seized the mesh bag of fuel canisters and swung it like an Olympic hammer thrower. He hurled the bag across the clearing and into the forest.

  Seth and Peri lifted the picnic table up onto its edge, positioning it so it shielded them from the cabin’s propane tank.

  “You read my mind,” Gage said as he darted behind it with them.

  A second later, the swirling vortex of colors reached ground level, enveloping them. It brushed against their skin, soft as silk, and Gage couldn’t help reaching out to grab it.

  Peri slapped at his hand. “What the hell are you doing?”

  The wisps of color sank into the ground leaving behind only faint remnants that lit up the forest before they dissipated entirely.

  The sky went black again, except for the stars.

  “Where did all the colors go?” Peri asked, her hoarse whisper startling in the stillness.

  “It’s like the ground just... absorbed it.” Seth’s voice was shaky.

  With a whoosh, the puddle of moonshine they’d spilled off of the table went up in a ball of bright purple flames.

  “Not Annie’s moonshine!” Gage lamented.

  A heartbeat later, the cabin’s propane tank exploded so violently that shrapnel smacked into the picnic table and flames licked at them around its edges.

  A series of pops announced the detonation of the butane canisters Gage had hurled into the woods. They all ducked as bits of aluminum peppered them.

  Blood trickled down Gage’s scalp onto his neck. As the explosions died down, the acrid smell of burning electronics filled his nose. He risked a quick look around the edge of the table toward the cabin.

  On the porch, the small wooden box where they always stuck their phones sizzled. Tiny arcs of electricity spidered out from inside, leaving charred streaks on the wood. With a sharp crack, the phones exploded inside the box, shattering it and sending shards of plastic, glass, and wood flying through the air.

  Gage ducked in time to avoid losing an eye. “Good thing we have a no phones at the table rule.”

  Seth shook his head. “Only you could joke at a time like this.”

  The smell of melting plastic filled Gage’s nostrils, and a lump of red-hot steel and a smoldering ammo box fell out of Seth’s pack onto the ground.

  “Is that the Smith & Wesson?” Peri asked.

  Seth nodded sadly. “Sure was.”

  They always brought the .357 magnum along with them. You never knew who or what you might run into in the backcountry. The cylinder of the loaded revolver was a twisted lump of metal, and the handle was scorched. Melted lead and hot brass dripped from it, testament to the intense heat of the burning ammunition.

  Dark red flames rose from the box where Seth kept extra ammo and some cleaning supplies. It didn’t take long for it to melt, leaving behind a solid lump of brass and lead.

  “Holy crap,” Seth said, backing farther away from it. “I’m sure glad that didn’t explode, too.”

  Grabbing a stick, Peri pushed the hot steel farther away from the picnic table so it wouldn’t catch on fire. “I would’ve bet my bottom dollar those bullets would go off.”

  “Seems like the rules have definitely changed,” Gage replied. “Looks like the worst of it’s over, though. For now at least.”

  A crackling sound proved him wrong, and he turned to see flames snaking their way up the wall of the cabin. The propane tank explosion had caught the timbers on fire, and the dry, cracked boards of the window shutters caught quickly. From there, the flames leapt to the roof, catching the wooden shakes on fire.

  A shiver went down Gage’s spine as he remembered watching his parents’ house burn down with them trapped inside. That was the night everything had begun to fall apart. He couldn’t believe it was happening again, and on his first night back home.

  They didn’t keep much stuff in the cabin, but some of the old books meant a lot to Gage, and the old board games and toys that their grandma and grandpa had made for them when they were kids. Gage stepped forward, ready to run inside to save what he could.

  Seth stepped forward at the exact same moment, his expression grim, but determined.

  Peri latched onto their arms, her fingers hard as iron. “Boys, don’t be stupid. It’s going up way too fast. Get your packs, and let’s drag the table away from it a bit.”

  “Surely there’s something we can do,” Gage argued.

  She shook her head sadly. “It’s too late. Look.” She pointed at the porch where sparks from the exploding phones had caught the stacks of firewood on fire, too.

  They tipped the picnic table back onto its legs, quickly scooping up the dice and the little wooden gnome that had been spilled into the dirt. Seth grabbed his bow from the hook on the railing just before the flames got to it. They put their packs and everything else on top of the table and dragged it across the clearing. They stood and watched the fire spread like someone had doused the cabin in lighter fluid. Gage felt like he was reliving a nightmare.

  “There’s so much blue in those flames,” Peri said. “They’re burning really hot. It seems like most substances became more volatile. That isn’t the only weird thing, though. The way those phones blew up, and the gunpowder burning so slow and hot instead of exploding...” Peri trailed off, shaking her head in confusion.

  Distant rumbles and groans from deep in the Earth told them clearly that other, far greater acts of destruction were occurring elsewhere as the laws of nature were altered.

  The sound of a huge explosion cut through the roaring of the cabin fire. To the south a thick column of smoke rose into the sky above Clearwater, blocking out the stars.

  “Oh, no.” Peri sounded stunned.

  The estimated death toll ran through Gage’s head—93.8 percent. Were nine out of ten of his friends and family gone in a flash of light? Did Grandma make it through that? “We’ve got to get back home as fast as we can.”

  Before they could take a single step toward home, more bright orange text flashed, and Seth groaned. “Now what?”

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Warning: Individual analysis mandated prior to reconnection.

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  “Individual what now?” Peri asked.

  “Hey, it’s not in the sky anymore,” Gage said. He turned his head, and the text moved with it, pinned in the center of his field of view. “It’s in my head!”

  Seth was moving his head around, too. “That’s messed up.”

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Individual analysis commencing...

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Beneath Gage’s feet, an iridescent disk appeared, looking like an oil slick with a spiral galaxy of stars trapped deep inside it. It swirled hypnotically, and Gage was taken off guard when it started to slide up his legs.

  He tried to twist away from it but could not move so much as an eyelid. He stared down in horror as it proceeded up his entire body, sending an icy sensation through him as if it were slicing him into atom-thin layers and then putting him back together.

  Gage panicked as it hit the halfway point. He’d thought wading into an ice-cold spring was uncomfortable for the family jewels, but this sensation put that entirely to shame. If he had been able to breathe, he would have screamed his lungs right out of his chest.

  The disk progressed up to his head, and the worst ice cream headache he’d ever experienced exploded inside his skull.

  Against that backdrop of pain, something sorted and filtered through his every memory, watching him grow up running through the woods, sleeping under the stars, learning to forge and whittle, hunting and fishing, and lying in a hammock, reading stack after stack of books and daydreaming entire afternoons away.

  Whatever it was, it wasn’t only interested in pleasant me
mories, though. Gage’s mind erupted into the nightmare that plagued him almost every night. One last glimpse of his parents, their burning house collapsing around them while he watched helplessly from the back of a police car. It dredged up his memories of fights in school, arguments with his grandma and brother, and of packing a bag in the dead of night to leave it all behind.

  Then it was over, and the disk rose above his head and vanished. His rubbery legs refused to support him, and he collapsed onto the ground, slumping against the bench of the picnic table and gasping for breath.

  The others followed suit, collapsing on either side of him.

  Seth lay on the dirt, panting. “Holy shit, that was the worst feeling ever.”

  Gage closed his eyes and wished the throbbing in his head would stop. Slowly, he regained his senses. The flames from the burning cabin roared as the wind gusted, whipping the fire into a frenzy. He kept his eyes closed, unwilling to watch the family cabin burn any longer.

  More glowing text flashed, this time a subdued blue color. This text seemed to be written on a sheet of parchment paper with rough, charred edges, bound into a thin, battered book that floated in front of his closed eyelids.

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Gage ==> Character Sheet

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Level: 0 (Player Candidate)

  Class: None

  Profession: None

  Experience Points (XP): 0

  Attributes

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Strength (STR): 0

  Constitution (CON): 0

  Dexterity (DEX): 0

  Intelligence (INT): 2

  Perception (PER): 0

  Willpower (WIL): 2

  Spirit Points

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  6/6 (0 available)

  Potential Fae Affinities*

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Dream, Forest, Starlight, Storm, River, Workshop

  * You may select WIL (2) initial Fae Affinities.

  Class Recommendations:

  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  ==> Player Character (PC) Classes

  Rogue

  Wizard

  ==> Non-Player Character (NPC) Classes