Inferno (Play to Live: Book # 4) Read Online Free Page A
Author: D. Rus
this."
I handed him the quivering staff. Gimmick hid his hands behind his back, shrinking into the safety of the throne. "I don't want it! It scares me!"
"Just take it, I say! I want you to make a hole in it with a catch next to it. Are you a crafter or just a pretty face? Or do you want me to ask this little boy to do it?"
Gimmick shook his head and said with a pained expression, "Max, you don't understand. This is a self-contained game item. It can't be modified. You could, I suppose, submit a patent request to the Admins and create a new recipe, and then..."
"What game are you talking about? Look at this kid! He lives here, and he does what he wants to do! He makes whatever takes his fancy! You're a perma too — it's your world, not the Admins'! Just forget their restrictions!"
Gimmick cast a helpless look around. "I need my tools, too..."
"That's your problem! Take this and drill a hole in it!"
I forced both items — the adamant blade and the malicious staff — into his hands. His shoulders stooped under my insistent glare. Then Gimmick pulled himself together and took in a couple of lungfuls of air, calming himself down and concentrating. He closed his eyelids and began mouthing something, copying the boy shaman.
The sharp tip of the bayonet dug into the side of the staff. It struggled in rage but Gimmick's calloused hands held the wood tight, pressing the bayonet harder, turning it slightly. A thin shaving of black wood dropped into his lap.
Ding. High in the sky yet another thread snapped, weakening the bond between our two worlds.
Chapter Two
T he City of Light. The Temple of the Sun God.
The Sun God's personal quarters.
The girl's heart contracted one last time. The wet rattling noises in her throat finally stopped.
Normally, paralyzation immobilized a sacrificial creature but it didn't lower his or her pain threshold. For two reasons: firstly, because it greatly increased the victim's energy output and secondly, it was more fun this way.
With a benign smile, the Sun God shook off the scarlet drops that covered him to the elbows. Today had brought him one step closer to perfection. He'd managed to take the altar-bound junior priestess apart into nineteen separate fragments, stretching out her organs while still connected to her body by the veins pulsating with the life-giving blood flow.
He gave the ritual a name: Crimson Sunset. In his last reincarnation, the Sun God had lost his battle against the forces of Chaos, unable to withstand a direct attack from Blood Magic backed up by their enormous sacrificial ziggurats. Shame. That particular world had shown lots of promise.
The Sun God never failed to learn from his mistakes. He eagerly welcomed any opportunity for potential growth in power. On that day he'd taken a peek over at the Dark side — and perceived the true Force lurking in the torrents of Chaos. And very soon Chaos had noticed him too...
The Sun God nodded to the Patriarch waiting patiently next to him. The withered old man with an unpleasant squint in his pale eyes immediately set about removing the ravaged body, cleaning the altar and fetching the incense bowl and a pitcher of warm water to wash his master's divine hands.
In the meantime, the High God listened to the celestial spheres. Excellent. The young priestess had failed to resurrect, forever losing her identity. What an unexpectedly good side effect! He absolutely had to try this ritual on the Immortal Ones. What an annoying race! How unbelievable was that — the mortals getting access to divine power, stripping him of his main instrument of fear: their dread of death and his choice of their afterlife. It had been so much easier in other worlds!
Never mind. If push came to shove, he could always summon Hades, God of the Underworld. Zeus' brother would surely bring law and order unto the world. He could use the occasion to lure some of the Fallen One's dwarves away. Hades had plenty of underground treasures to tempt
I handed him the quivering staff. Gimmick hid his hands behind his back, shrinking into the safety of the throne. "I don't want it! It scares me!"
"Just take it, I say! I want you to make a hole in it with a catch next to it. Are you a crafter or just a pretty face? Or do you want me to ask this little boy to do it?"
Gimmick shook his head and said with a pained expression, "Max, you don't understand. This is a self-contained game item. It can't be modified. You could, I suppose, submit a patent request to the Admins and create a new recipe, and then..."
"What game are you talking about? Look at this kid! He lives here, and he does what he wants to do! He makes whatever takes his fancy! You're a perma too — it's your world, not the Admins'! Just forget their restrictions!"
Gimmick cast a helpless look around. "I need my tools, too..."
"That's your problem! Take this and drill a hole in it!"
I forced both items — the adamant blade and the malicious staff — into his hands. His shoulders stooped under my insistent glare. Then Gimmick pulled himself together and took in a couple of lungfuls of air, calming himself down and concentrating. He closed his eyelids and began mouthing something, copying the boy shaman.
The sharp tip of the bayonet dug into the side of the staff. It struggled in rage but Gimmick's calloused hands held the wood tight, pressing the bayonet harder, turning it slightly. A thin shaving of black wood dropped into his lap.
Ding. High in the sky yet another thread snapped, weakening the bond between our two worlds.
Chapter Two
T he City of Light. The Temple of the Sun God.
The Sun God's personal quarters.
The girl's heart contracted one last time. The wet rattling noises in her throat finally stopped.
Normally, paralyzation immobilized a sacrificial creature but it didn't lower his or her pain threshold. For two reasons: firstly, because it greatly increased the victim's energy output and secondly, it was more fun this way.
With a benign smile, the Sun God shook off the scarlet drops that covered him to the elbows. Today had brought him one step closer to perfection. He'd managed to take the altar-bound junior priestess apart into nineteen separate fragments, stretching out her organs while still connected to her body by the veins pulsating with the life-giving blood flow.
He gave the ritual a name: Crimson Sunset. In his last reincarnation, the Sun God had lost his battle against the forces of Chaos, unable to withstand a direct attack from Blood Magic backed up by their enormous sacrificial ziggurats. Shame. That particular world had shown lots of promise.
The Sun God never failed to learn from his mistakes. He eagerly welcomed any opportunity for potential growth in power. On that day he'd taken a peek over at the Dark side — and perceived the true Force lurking in the torrents of Chaos. And very soon Chaos had noticed him too...
The Sun God nodded to the Patriarch waiting patiently next to him. The withered old man with an unpleasant squint in his pale eyes immediately set about removing the ravaged body, cleaning the altar and fetching the incense bowl and a pitcher of warm water to wash his master's divine hands.
In the meantime, the High God listened to the celestial spheres. Excellent. The young priestess had failed to resurrect, forever losing her identity. What an unexpectedly good side effect! He absolutely had to try this ritual on the Immortal Ones. What an annoying race! How unbelievable was that — the mortals getting access to divine power, stripping him of his main instrument of fear: their dread of death and his choice of their afterlife. It had been so much easier in other worlds!
Never mind. If push came to shove, he could always summon Hades, God of the Underworld. Zeus' brother would surely bring law and order unto the world. He could use the occasion to lure some of the Fallen One's dwarves away. Hades had plenty of underground treasures to tempt
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