Page 67 of The Misplaced Warrior

From her vantage point, she spied the enemy ship draw closer. Ropes were thrown over the banisters of the rocking boat where Gen stood. They were being commandeered.

The pirate ship’s crew swarmed over the railings hungrily, their eyes blazing with the fierce joy of battle. Grappling hooks arced through the air, biting into the splintered wood of the mizzenmast and brought the ships more firmly together with a bone-jarring crunch. Swords clashed against swords as the air grew thick with smoke and blood, the noise almost deafening in its intensity.

Gen crouched behind the sparse, dwindling cover of the quickly-crumbling crates, her heart pounding in her ears. The enemy were already thundering across the deck, barking orders and apprehending men to walk the plank. She knew she had only moments before they’d be upon her, and there was no talking her way out of this, like the last time she was apprehended by pirates. Instead, Gen had to do the one thing that felt the most unnatural in that moment.

She closed her eyes and focused, using her breath to try and calm her nerves. Then she tuned out the cries of men and the sounds of fighting. Instead, she remembered where she was. Gen focused on the noises and smells and feels of the skeletal building where she’d been. That was her actual reality. This was a façade. And all she had to do was believe with true conviction to make this nightmare stop.

Suddenly, the rocking under her feet halted. The salty air was absent from her nostrils. And the noise of the sea and the attackers were replaced by traffic in the distance and the flapping of plastic tarps.

Gen opened her eyes to find herself crouched on the ground of the tenth floor of the Oceanwide Plaza building. To her horror, she was inches from the unprotected edge of the framework of the tower. Clambering back, Gen realized how deadly this game had just gotten. If the virtual reality didn’t scare her to death, then it might trick her into jumping to it.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

BEYOND THE ILLUSION’S EDGE

Oceanwide Plaza Tower 1, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

Emperor, Gen called out frantically in her mind. Emperor!

“I’m here,” the dragon said both in her head and aloud. Then she saw him float up from the side of the building, fluttering his wings only a little to rise. The dragon looked so peculiar hovering on the edge of the open building, but the sight of him also filled Gen with relief. His golden eyes glinted with sincerity. “I was going to catch you if you fell.”

She nearly choked from relief, sputtering out a breath. “Oh, thank you. I was so worried that our connection had been severed.”

“It is when you’re stuck in the virtual reality,” he explained, maintaining his hovering as he stared at her from the side of the tenth story. “I can’t break you out of it. So, you’re going to have to remember where you are and wake yourself up.”

Gen gulped, nodding. “It was harder than I thought. The whole thing felt so real…” She sighed. “I get that’s the point, but I wasn’t prepared for that. It sent my body into fight-or-flight mode instead of even considering waking from the whole thing.”

“But in the end, you were able to relax and remember the truth,” he encouraged. “Just do that again. And you need to get to the hub. I’ve done a quick scan and think it’s on the twentieth floor, but it’s buried in the middle of a ceiling area and I can’t get to it.”

“Well, that’s helpful then,” she replied. “I’ll just race up there now. If I stick to the stairwell then I should avoid any more virtual reality intrusions on the other floors.”

“Okay, and I’ll keep an eye on you from the side of the building,” Emperor stated. “But remember that I can’t help you inside the skyscraper. The floors are simply too narrow for me to get in there.”

“Thanks,” Gen said, turning and making her way for the stairs. “I have Bellumferrum and I’m not falling for that virtual reality again. It will take more than some pirates to scare me off the edge.”

“Pirates?” he questioned, curiously. “That’s what you saw? But pirates don’t scare you. Didn’t Alicia think that the VR magitech could sense what scares a person most and serve that up to them?”

“Yes, that’s what she said. And no, pirates don’t scare me, but being shot at does and also drowning. It’s definitely on the list, but not at the top,” she replied, pausing at the foot of the steps. “As long as my greatest fear doesn’t come up, then I should be able to beat the virtual reality and tear it down immediately. Then I’ll find the hub and destroy it.”

“Good,” Emperor said with a confident expression. “You’re almost there. And I’m here for all of it.”

CHAPTER SIXTY

LEAP FROM THE GALLOWS

Oceanwide Plaza Tower 1, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

Taking the stairs two at a time, Gen didn’t stop until she was on the twentieth floor. But as she took a few steps out into the open space, she knew that she hadn’t cleared all the challenges. The next virtual reality would try to steal her mind. Her vision blurred and then new images took over, erasing what she’d been seeing and replacing it with something much more sinister than anything she’d been served up thus far.

Gen’s hands were cuffed by chains. She was wet and cold but worse than that were the guards ushering her forward. And like the past had come alive, Gen was haunted by the visuals around her. It was as if she’d been dropped in 15th century London.

The village square was a sea of jeering faces, their eyes alight with a cruel hunger as they watched Gen being led to the gallows. The stage stood ten yards away. On it stood her executioner, his face masked. Beside him was the method in which he planned to end her. A platform with a post and attached to it, a noose. This was Gen’s worst fear—and somehow Charlie Sloane had figured it out and was delivering that reality to her.

The packed-dirt ground beneath her feet was damp with the morning dew, the chill of it seeping through her thin, tattered shoes. The air was thick with the stench of unwashed bodies and rotten produce. The pungent odors mingled with the bitter trace of woodsmoke from the nearby houses.

A stiff breeze tugged at Gen’s hair as she stumbled forward, her hands bound tightly behind her back. The cold, unforgiving chains chafed against her skin, a constant reminder of the fate that awaited her at the end of this grim procession. Her chest vibrated with the rapid pounding of her heart, as if it were trying to escape the grip of fear.

Although Gen knew that she was supposed to be asserting her true reality, it was incredibly difficult with anxiety crashing down on her. Her thoughts raced. Her breath hitched in her throat. She felt helpless to fight this, just as she was to escape the chains on her hands or the noose hanging close by.

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