Game Play (41 page)

"Something's
wrong," Delrael said. He strode up the hill. His body was exhausted, but
he felt revitalized just by being back home.

They neared the top
of Steep Hill. The forest pressed around them, thick and ready to conceal many
things. They still heard no sounds. Delrael felt like a stranger outside his
own home.

When he saw what
remained of the Stronghold
―
the burned buildings, the shattered
walls
―
he stopped and felt sick inside. "We shouldn't have left
them," he whispered. "We shouldn't have left them all alone. They were
defenseless!"

Suddenly, seven
other characters, men and women heavily armed, leaped out of the forest
terrain, pointing arrows, spears, and swords at them.

Delrael whirled and
straightened, yanking free his own notched sword.

Then he stared as
he recognized, behind the armor and the weapons and the battle-hardened stares,
Mostem the baker, young Romm the farmer, and others from the village.

"It's
Delrael!" Tareah cried. "And Vailret! They're back."

Other villagers
cheered as they emerged from the forest where they had been practicing and
lying in ambush. They seemed terrified of an actual fight but ready to defend
their homes.

Delrael stared at
the wreckage of the Stronghold, at the fighting force Tareah had managed to put
together. She walked up to stand next to Vailret. "I missed you." She
glanced at Delrael and answered quickly, "Both of you."

Bryl shuffled his
feet, scowling and looking out of place.

"I'm sorry
about the Stronghold. Scartaris destroyed it. Tarne is dead." She sighed
and lifted her chin, showing her new strength. "But we've sent messengers
to all the other villages. We're gathering an army. We're getting ready to
fight."

Delrael saw a proud
determined look in her eyes that reminded him of something he had seen in
Mindar.

"The Outsiders
won't ever catch us unprepared again," Tareah said.

Delrael smiled and
looked up at the sky, wishing the Outsiders were watching. "If they want
to fight against us, I hope they know what they're getting into."

EPILOGUE

Scott grabbed
David's arm and pulled him over to the sink while the others stared in shock.
He flipped on the cold water tap and pushed David's raw hands under the running
faucet. David made no sound, but his hands were burned, red and blistered, from
when the map had ... exploded on them.

Scott tended David
stiffly, astonished. He went through the motions of first aid as though it
could keep him distracted from thinking
―
from thinking about what
had happened at the end of the Game.

Tyrone stuck his
head under the table and came back up, eyes wide. "The burn goes all the
way through the wood!" he said. "Wow!" Then he paused and swallowed.
"What'll I tell my mom? You're going to all have to back me up."

"And say
what?" Scott asked. "That we were just playing a game but it fought
back at us? They'll say I made some explosive with my chemistry set or something."
He snorted. Water from the tap splashed on the left lens of his glasses.
"I haven't played with my chemistry set since eighth grade."

Melanie stared at
the map. A great section of the terrain was burned black and broken. A dark,
charcoaled blot had burned through the map, through Tyrone's table. He groaned
and got a damp cloth to try and wipe away the dark stain. When Tyrone slid the
map board sideways, a couple of hexagons fell loose from the edge like tiles in
a mosaic.

But that was
impossible too, because Melanie had
painted
on a smooth piece of wood. She
had drawn the hex-lines with a drafting pencil. The map couldn't fall apart
exactly along the lines....

But Melanie found
herself feeling elated, smug. "Well, David? Are you ready to give up now?
Scartaris is destroyed. You lost. That means we keep on playing."

Over by the sink
David stared at his burned hands and kept them under the water. "I still
have my army of monsters. There's still Verne's weapon, on my territory
now." He yanked his hands away from Scott and stood dripping on the
kitchen floor. "Now your characters are going to have to fight against
me
."

David twisted his
head to look at her, and Melanie jumped back. For a moment, she swore his eyes
were blazing yellow and
pupilless
. He turned back to dry his hands.

Melanie swallowed,
blinking her eyes until she felt confident again.

"After this
―
" she indicated the devastated portion of the map. "I don't think we
need to be afraid of you anymore.

"Gamearth is
learning how to fight back."

―
END
―