Dream Drive: Yuri Ch. 01

The driver of the third wagon was in the mud, helping the first driver up to his feet. Yuri crouched down and swung his sword to cut the rope tethering the captives to the back of the wagon. When he stood up, the two drivers were rushing at him, trying to stab his ankles. He had eighty hit points, but he decided not to waste them. He jumped up and his glowing feet landed on the backs of the horses hitched to the third wagon.

The brute drivers shouted curses at him. Yuri placed the orange box on the jugular of the mud-covered one and tossed his knife. The dirty brute fell back, gurgling. The other one flinched away from him, no longer the fierce warrior of a moment ago. Yuri jumped at him. His feet glowed and the brute was laid out in the mud, while Yuri remained standing. Yuri immediately crouched to drive his blade through the brute's neck. Two balls of essence entered him.

Hooves came his way. He drew the dead brute's knife. "What's going on here?!"

Yuri spun and loosed his knife an instant after his gaze and the orange box landed on the mounted brute's jugular. The man fell out of the saddle, his life's blood spurting into the mud.

The drivers of the wagons he was blocking were on the ground, coming at him with blades drawn and oaths shouted. Yuri crouched to quickly retrieve the knife of the other dead brute at his feet. He used it to fell the fastest brute. He locked swords with the next one. Yuri grabbed the man's blade with his free hand, stepped closer, and slashed his throat.

The rest of the brutes paused and kept their distance after that. Three balls of essence rose to rush into Yuri. The brutes saw this and began backing up. Some were stepping aside, seeking cover between the wagons. Yuri grinned. They were more afraid of him than of the horses, who were nervous enough to start prancing and kicking out with their mighty hooves.

Yuri sheathed his sword. He crouched down and retrieved a pair of knives. He tossed them and felled two more brutes. The rest pulled farther back. Some were scurrying down the side alleys.

"That's him, Father," a familiar, female voice rose over the confused murmur of the captives on the next wagon. "That's the Savior!"

Yuri jumped up, grabbed the side of the wagon and looked inside. The girl he had saved in front of the inn was there, tied to the rest of the captives by the ankle, but she wasn't miserable and scared like they were. Her face bore a wide, beaming smile. She was shaking an old, graying man's arm in triumph.

Yuri cocked his head at her. "I thought I told you to stay hidden?"

"What makes you think he's," the old man started asking her.

She pointed at Yuri's hand. "Look! Look, Father! He bears the mark of the Savior!"

"How do you know about the mark?!"

The girl blushed. "Well, I may have overheard-"

"Never mind," the old man said. He looked at Yuri. His rheumy, old eyes had an unsettling quality about them. "Please, Savior, cut us loose before we burn to death in this-"

Yuri heard the hooves at that moment. He looked back towards the front of the column. A rider was galloping at him. His eyes were full of hatred and death as they seemed to bore right into Yuri's soul. Yuri immediately let go of the side of the wagon to drop to the ground and meet the man's attack. Time slowed to a crawl. A part of Yuri's mind was refining the winning tactic against a mounted opponent, even while he was still in mid-air. He was going to duck under the man's swing and stab at his leg as his momentum carries him past. His eyes left the brute's pools of wrath and sought the brute's weapon to adjust his timing.

It was only then that his conscious mind finally registered the presence of the lance in the brute's hand.

The ten foot long piece of wood was capped with a sharp, metal point and that point was almost upon Yuri. The instant Yuri's feet made contact with the ground, the horse's momentum drove the lance into Yuri's chest. His breath exploded from his lungs in a neutral grunt. Having a thick, wooden pole driven through his heart hurt him about the same as getting run through with a sword. It was as if a big hand had pinched off a piece of skin at the front of his chest and was twisting it around. He felt an identical pinch over his shoulder blade. Then the momentum of the pole took him off his feet. Yuri found himself lifted back up into the air.

The girl's scream was plainly audible over the lesser screams of the captives.

Yuri felt oddly fine for someone who was impaled on a lance and hoisted aloft for all the world to see. More than anything else, he felt humiliated. He looked back at the eyes of the brute lancer. The man's face was screwed up in a grimace of agony. Yuri was confused for an instant, but then he began to fall back down. His weight on the lance was too much for the rider to handle. The brute dropped the lance and Yuri found himself kneeling in the mud, two whole wagons farther down the street than where he had been impaled.

He checked his stats. He had twenty-one hit points left. He grabbed the lance and pulled it out of himself. At the same time, he willed another hundred essence into Vitality. His hit points read 73/447. He frowned. He was pretty sure he should have gotten more hit points than that. His essence was at twenty-nine, indicating that he had put a whole hundred into Vitality. He loaded his Game Menu and checked the rest of his stats, just to be sure.

Vitality was at 500, Agility at 100 and Spirit was at 50. The rest were still at the starting value of zero. He realized that the game gave diminishing returns to investments, after a while, but he didn't have the time to explore his finding. The rider had wheeled around and was charging at him again. This time, he held aloft a saber.

Yuri got to his feet and reversed his grip on the lance. Holding it by the handle, he swung at his enemy. The lance whistled through the air before impacting the rider with a dull thud and sending him flying backwards. Yuri could feel the force of the impact in his bones. The horse ran past Yuri, without touching him.

You have created a new skill: Polearm Swing

The brute landed like a sack of flour. Almost immediately, a ball of essence rose up from his body and entered Yuri.

"Stop gaping, maggots," the silver-haired leader's voice boomed down the street. Yuri looked his way. The man was mounted on a white charger and looked to be absolutely pissed off. "Rush him! Overwhelm him with your numbers!"

Yuri looked around at the brutes cowering behind wagons and corners of houses. Back when he had a sword and knives, he had been fearsome. Now they saw him take a lance to the chest and get up to wield that same lance as an instrument of murder without so much as a mark on him.

He spread his arms. "Well?" He opened the rip in his vest and shirt to reveal unblemished flesh underneath. "Come on! Do as your leader says! Come and die! I'll eat your souls!" He held up his hand with the inverted pentagram. "I eat the soul of everyone I kill!" Some of the brutes vanished down the side streets. Yuri was no longer surprised at their realistic behavior.

"Worthless maggots," the leader cried out in wrath. "I'll kill every last one of you!"

Yuri jumped towards the nearest group of brutes, faking a swing of the lance. They shrieked and scampered away. The rest of the brutes that had driven the wagons followed their lead and ran away, leaving the captives to Yuri.

"Goddamn it," the leader yelled out. "I'll not leave empty-handed! Take the first few wagons!"

Yuri dashed towards the front of the wagon column. His feet had little trouble negotiating the mud, even in the uncomfortable boots he was wearing. The leader of the brutes was forcing a few of his men to dismount at swordpoint and was ushering them to take up the reigns of the wagons. When his eyes met Yuri's, he wheeled his charger around and spurred it into a run. The four brutes that had mounted the first two wagons froze in fear.

Yuri swung the lance at the pair on the second wagon and the lance glowed white. It struck them both in the head with a loud, double crack. They fell forward and startled the horses. The horses whinnied loudly and began prancing. One caught the back of the first wagon with his hooves. The captives screamed in renewed panic.

Two balls of essence left the corpses of the dead brutes and rushed into Yuri.

The two brutes on the first wagon spurred the horses into action, but the weight of the crazed horse on the back of the wagon stopped them from pulling away. Yuri rushed at them. One of the brutes jumped out of the driver's seat. The other cracked the whip again. The horses pulled away at last, but it was too late. Yuri was already there and he swung the glowing lance at the man's head.

Blood sprayed in an arch as the man's skull caved in. He fell over dead. Yuri clambered aboard the wagon, grabbed the reigns and pulled. The horses slowed to a walk, whinnying nervously and stomping their hooves. The last brute slipped in his mad scramble to get away from Yuri and fell right next to the wagon. Yuri stabbed down with the lance and impaled the man through the gut.

Yuri looked up. The mounted brutes were gone. Their leader was at the end of the street. He took one last look at Yuri and then rode off. Yuri could see nothing but sky and green beyond the last two houses.Probably an ambush ahead, he thought, ruefully.

The screams of the captives rendered such considerations moot. Half the houses to either side of the street were on fire and the breeze was spreading the inferno. Everyone seemed to be choking on the smoke. A ball of essence rose up from the impaled brute and Yuri jumped down to grab the man's sword.

He wasted no time in cutting the captives loose. The girl's father organized them quickly and directed Yuri to only cut loose a few older men on each wagon. Those men took up the wagons' reigns to drive them all to safety. The horses were nearly mad with fear, but the experienced men managed to control them. Yuri rode shotgun on one of the rear wagons, kicking himself. There could be an ambush up ahead and he was sitting in the back, too far from the action to be of any help.

Fortunately, the brutes were gone. Only a dust cloud told that they had ridden away to the northeast. The girl's father took the column of wagons due south, passing by the length of the town as it was burning down before their eyes. Yuri winced at the wailing of the women on the wagons. If this wasn't a video game, he'd be misting up in sympathy by now.

Just as the last of the wagons cleared the edge of town, the column was intercepted by more people were leaving town on foot. The column came to a halt.

Yuri nearly slapped himself on the forehead. He had forgotten about the captives in the burning barn. He could only hope they had all managed to get out. He jumped off his seat and jogged towards the lead wagons, wincing at the pain in his feet.

When he got to the front of the column, he was greeted by the incredibly loud shrieking of a fat woman that was pointing a finger at him. "He saved us," she was shrieking, over and over. He winced and nearly covered his ears. It was the stout woman he had pulled out of the barn and charged with getting everyone else out. She had the lungs to match her physique.

The rest of the people on foot were watching him warily, but the girl's father held his hand towards Yuri and called out, "This is the Savior the Fallen Angel had prophesized! The first of many Saviors! He bears the Fallen Angel's Secret Mark upon his hand! This man has saved our town and will lead us to safety! He will show us what God has deigned to be our destiny! Afford him all your respect!"

All eyes turned towards Yuri. He gave an awkward wave.

At that moment, the sounds of hooves started coming from the trees. Yuri drew his sword and took a combat stance.

Mounted men erupted from the tree line. They stood shocked at the sight of their town being eaten by fire. Some shouted names and tried to ride into town, but the people around Yuri shouted and drew their attention. Yuri noted that none of the mounted men wore dark green, or leather armor.

The men rode up to the girl's father and he quickly organized them into finishing the job of cutting the townspeople on the wagons loose. More men rode up on more wagons, armed with pitchforks and scythes. The girl's father called them closer and organized loading all the people who were on foot onto these additional wagons.

People spoke up against leaving the town to burn. Some screamed about their loved ones, who might yet be saved. The girl's father called for able-bodied men to restrain those that wanted to go back into the inferno. Some argued that they should try and salvage some of their supplies, but the girl's father overruled them all. He insisted they go to the clearing and camp for the night. They would return to salvage supplies tomorrow, as well as bury their dead.

"Bury their bones, more like, after they burned alive," someone called out in anger. The girl's father spoke more harshly after that and the people seemed cowed by his words.

Within minutes, all the survivors of the burning town were on a horse, or wagon, and were heading south, away from the town, at a walk. Yuri was seated on the lead wagon. A young man was handling the reigns, while the girl's father sat on the other end of the bench. The girl was standing in the wagon, both her elbows on the rear of the driver's seat. Yuri could feel her breath on the back of his neck.

The entire column was abuzz with murmurs. Most were lamentations of everything they had lost. Names of dead loved ones were being cried out in anguish. Yuri thought he could make out his new title being mentioned, here and there. Mounted men started riding up to speak with the girl's father. Yuri gathered that the man was the head elder of the town. Some of the riders only rode up to gawk at Yuri. The girl's father ordered those to get back in line, as soon as he noticed them.

The column trudged on. They forded a shallow, wide river and drove into the woods on the other bank.

Yuri's eyes ate up the trees and grass all around. He had never seen a forest in his life before. Yes, he had stalked other players in fantasy-themed FPS games during the Crux tournament, but those simulated woods hadn't been the same as this one. There was something different about this place, an intangible quality that resonated deep within him. If he didn't know he was in a video game, he'd be sure it was the real thing.

He breathed deep, enjoying the forest's smells. He did his best to tune out the voices so he could try and hear the sounds of the life all around him. Whenever he closed his eyes, the health bar was extra prominent. He noted that his hit points were regenerating at a very fast rate. He was at full health in about fifteen minutes of being in the forest. He caught motion, out of the corner of his eye, every now and then, and wondered what creatures they were disturbing. He wished he could see a rabbit. He had only seen rabbits in pictures before.

I should get a Dream Drive of my own, he thought,and spend some time relaxing in places like this one. This is beautiful.

Their journey through the forest lasted for less than an hour. They stopped at a clearing that was large enough to accommodate all of the townsfolk.

The girl's father directed the driver of their wagon to park in the middle of the clearing. The rest of the wagons and riders gathered in haphazard circles around them. The elder stood up and raised both arms to command silence. The crowd slowly complied.

"Our homes are gone," he said, "but our town lives on. We live on. The day the Fallen Angel spoke of has finally arrived." He put a hand to Yuri's shoulder. "We have our Savior."

Some of the assembled townsfolk cheered feebly. Most were staring at the elder and Yuri with stricken faces. There was crying and sobbing everywhere.

"Who burnt down our town?!" someone cried out from the back.

"They were wearing Lord Hale's colors," someone answered, "like the Savior."

The mood of the crowd shifted. Yuri could feel the eyes on him. Some were suspicious, distrustful. Others seemed to be openly reverent. A woman's voice rose above the hum of the crowd. "The Savior was one of Lord Hale's men, but he repented at the last minute. He broke down the wall of the barn and pulled us out."

"That's a lie," a harsh voice spoke up. "We broke out of there on our own, after they set it on fire! Why are you lying about that?!"

An argument broke out across the gathered crowd. Yuri sighed and stared off into the forest all around them. What he really wanted to do at that moment was to go for a walk and feel the grass beneath his feet. The elder's daughter piped up to say that he hadn't been with Hale's forces. Everyone seemed to be shouting about a family member that the brutes had killed. Yuri took off his boots and hopped off the wagon. His toes felt alive as he picked a path between the wagons and horses to get to the tree line. He smiled The grass was as soft beneath his feet as he had wished it to be.

Suddenly, mounted men got in his way. They surrounded him and seemed hostile. "Where do you think you're going," a rider snarled at him.

"For a walk," Yuri said.

"You're not going anywhere until we get to the bottom of all this!"

The argument around them seemed to pause. The elder shouted for the men to get away from Yuri. The people on the wagons insisted he was a turncloak that had saved them and had great magical powers. The mounted men seemed in the mood for a lynching. Yuri sighed. He wondered if he could just kill a few of these characters and go for his walk. The game seemed determined to push him in the direction of some plot, or quest.Not as wide open a sandbox as advertised, Mr. Mohammed?

After a few more minutes of getting on Yuri's nerves, the crowd died down at the elder's repeated requests.

"We knew this day would come," the elder said. "We've been preparing for it for five years, now. Yes, most of our supplies have gone up in smoke, but we still have most of our wagons. We will-"

"Fuck the wagons," a male voice cried out. "Fuck the food! Fuck the preparations! They killed my wife! They killed my daughter!" The crowd parted and a wiry man with silver hair at his temples stepped forward. "They wore the same colors as he wears!" He pointed a finger at Yuri. "How many of ours did you kill before you switched sides?!"

"He didn't kill anyone," the elder's daughter yelled out. The crowd immediately shouted over her.

One of the riders surrounding Yuri poked at him with a pitchfork. Yuri grabbed the shaft of the farm implement and tugged. The rider didn't let go and fell off his horse. The rest of the riders closed ranks around Yuri and looked ready to kill. The screams of the people on the wagons and the elder's repeated shouts got them to back off.

"Am I not still in charge, Marcus," the elder demanded.

One of the mounted men, the largest and meanest of them, replied without taking his eyes off Yuri. "You are, Elder."

"Then do as I say! Stop menacing the Savior!"

"Marcus, please," the elder's daughter called out. "He saved me!" Marcus looked up at her, surprised. "They pinned me down and would have... But then he appeared out of nowhere and saved me. He wasn't wearing Hale's colors, I swear. He only put them on so he could go into the square and free everyone. He saved us all, Marcus. If it wasn't for him, we'd all be dead. Or worse."

A chorus of voices backed up her version of events. People began pointing out how he had taken a lance to the chest, pulled it out, and bashed Hale's men's heads in with it.

"I saw him run through with three swords at once," the elder's daughter said. "Not a drop of his blood was shed. He is truly a warrior of God. He takes essence from the men he slays. His spirit grows fat with it and then his skin glows, like the angel that he is."