Chapter 50 The Fallen Comet

He might have just been a weapon. There may not have been a single tactical bone in his body, but at what he did, boy did Ironclad do it well. Despite no strategy at all, other than to fight us where we appeared, when he did enter the fray it was decisive. Things weren’t working out to quite the slam dunk I thought they would. I needed to get to level ten. Fast.

I didn’t know what awaited me, but I knew I’d need to go alone. Miggy and Ayla, two of the strongest warriors among the resistance, were needed on the front lines. And besides, once I’d entered the zone for the fallen comet quest, it warned me this quest had to be done alone.

I rode hard upon Larry, heading further north than I’d ever been, further in fact than I realised there was a north. I had checked my mini-map half a dozen times. I thought the quest had glitched, but there it was, the icon for the quest off the edge of the map. Past any known zone.

I rode.

The humid air retreated. The air began to thin, and trees became more sparse. Snow was falling. I’d never seen snow other than that at the summits beneath the Stone Gate.

I kept going.

It even seemed quieter, like I’d entered a bubble. I came to a canyon pass, a narrow passageway through. A notification appeared.

[Once you pass this zone, you will enter the quest The Fallen Comet. Warning: you must complete this quest to return to this zone. Would you like to proceed?]

So that was it. The quest itself was in its own instance, in an entirely different zone. I rode up to the canyon, Larry gnashing at the snowflakes. Clearly he’d never seen snow either. I saw it then. That faint shimmer. The boundary between zones. The only one I’d ever encountered before was between the starter zone and that of the Disputed Lands. That had been a vast increase in challenge, tougher mobs, tougher quests.

And I wondered, what lay beyond this boundary?

[Noted. Please proceed.]

I walked Larry up, but he stopped in his tracks, almost throwing me off. ‘What is it?’ I asked him, hopping off. The sovereign beast looked bemused, as though his legs were tangled in vines, but when I looked down, nothing was holding him back.

‘It’s okay,’ I said, giving his great chin a scratch. ‘Hunker down. I’ll be out in no time.’ He gave a little growl that sounded like a wail. ‘Come on, you have to have at least a little faith in me?’ He turned his head to one side. I rolled my eyes, and saw there was at least a little cave off to one side. There was a fire too, though I couldn’t see there was anyone, avatar or otherwise, for miles around.

I watched as Larry ambled in, content by the fire, all thoughts and worries about me immediately evaporated from that primal mind. What I wouldn’t give sometimes to have that clarity of purpose, or lack thereof. I grinned, turning to the boundary and crossed.

The canyon disappeared, the cave, Larry. Everything. I’d teleported, been moved to a new instance, though there was not that familiar flash of blue. There had been nothing. It had been like falling asleep. One moment I was there, the next I was…

It was a snowy plain. A light snow was falling, and in the distance the sun hung high in the sky. I felt no warmth from it, hugging my hide armour tight around me. Even with my cold resistance, this place would wear me down. It would make me tired, drain my stamina.

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I moved forwards, trudging through the snow that came up to my ankles. I heard nothing, other than my own footfalls crunching the snow. There was something in the distance. Fire. Even from here I felt a heat. If nothing else, it would be good to get warm.

I got closer and closer. I must’ve walked half a mile until I came to it. So fallen comet wasn’t a metaphor. It was literally a fallen comet. The impact crater was thirty feet wide, the comet itself a charred, smoky sphere at its centre. It was glowing slightly. At least the cold was kept at bay. It was as warm as a sauna here. I climbed down, and saw it wasn’t just the comet. There was a person laying next to it.

Were they dead? Would that person spring to life and battle me? Anything was possible at this point, but when I came close enough, I halted, still in my tracks. It wasn’t an avatar, or a mob.

It was me. Or at least the me that had fallen from the skies all that time ago. Skinny, naked, not a muscle to his name. Not yet Reaver, not yet a hunter or beastmaster. Just Felix.

‘What is this?’ I said, my voice echoing despite the lack of any structures. ‘What is this supposed to be?’

‘This is you.’ The me on the ground got to his feet. As broken and bloodied as the man I’d been. There was no menace to him, though. There didn’t seem to be anything at all. This wasn’t me. This was the system’s fucked up idea of a quest. ‘This is us.’

I equipped my bow, nocking an arrow, aiming right at him. ‘So what, we throw down? Because I’m not afraid to defile myself. Wouldn’t be the first time.’

The me cocked his head to one side. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘fight. Face your fear.’

‘Fear?’ Whatever. I loosed an arrow, but it was as though it hit treacle. Slowing, slowing before clattering harmlessly to the ground. ‘I’m not afraid of anything!’

‘Yes. You. Are.’