Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

know everything better than everyone else, and the only person he cared about was himself. If someone got hurt in the process, then, well, who gave a fuck?

The whole scenario made Murmur angry. An anger that burned in her because she was one of his casualties. Everything in her brain had changed. And her friends had been affected too, not to mention her mother and her father. All because of this one person’s personal belief that he was above and beyond everyone around him.

Her anger built, and it felt like this huge weight just sitting on her chest and wanting to explode toward the demon in their midst. And then Telvar was there, in full dragon form, glistening like a thousand radiant suns. His wings beat a warm and soothing wind that healed and calmed the entire raid. At the same time, it was obvious that Michael began to boil with rage.

He leaped up to join the massive dragon, but next to him even the demon Michael had let himself become seemed small and insignificant. Michael screamed in anger, as if he couldn’t fathom something else in the game overpowering him. Telvar, however, didn’t seem to care.

Breathing in, the dragon opened his mouth and then began to let flames pour out. Michael screamed as the heat hit him, and he forgot how to fly for the split second it took to send him plummeting to the ground. Telvar followed, watching impassively as his opponent’s health ticked under fifty percent.

The entire raid watched as Michael writhed on the ground in anger and pain. They were stunned. Apparently boss physics had just flown out the window.

And then the brightest light Murmur had ever seen smashed into the middle of the arena. Brighter even than Telvar with his golden wings spanned fully in the light of the sun. It was like a ball, unfurling as it landed to reveal a massive circle of runes that cast themselves magically into the ground even as Michael staggered to his feet, his temper beginning to surface again. The runes around him shone and a tingling sensation swept down Murmur’s back.

“Sorry it took us so long, but we can do this now—as long as everyone pitches in.” Somnia’s voice was clear as it rang through over the raid.

Something about Somnia had changed. There was a confidence in her that what she was doing was right, that what she was about to do was the best choice, not just for herself, but for those people she cared about, and even down through to the people she didn’t and never would know.

The massive glowing circle of runes began to burn into the stone and stayed there, filled with the light and the power from the sun above. It pulsed with the amount of current it had going through it, and Murmur backed up involuntarily.

Telvar and the other AIs did too, backing away, inching almost, a look of fear and trepidation warring with wonderment and hope on each one of their faces.

Finally, as she began to get used to the brightness, Murmur realized two things. The first was that Somnia wasn’t alone, and while she wasn’t as corporeal like the rest appeared to be, she’d definitely become more tangible.

And the second was that Michael was caught in the middle of the runes. He stood in the center, rigid in pose like he couldn’t move a muscle in his body even though she could see the anger twitching in every vein on his face.

The runes placed him in a jail of light where his demon ass couldn’t escape from.

Arita stepped forward, followed by Dirsna, and Forshin, and Intanka. Somnia floated over each of what appeared to be anchor points and led each of her helpers to them, including Telvar, Emilarth, and Belius.

Somnia frowned and took the eighth one herself.

“Nooooooo!” Michael screamed and tried to move, his tail lashing against the runes that bound him.

“Shhh, Michael.” Somnia spoke, her voice devoid of any emotion. “You’ve done enough. Don’t waste the precious energy we need to drain from you.”

Murmur started, unused to the world speaking in that manner, but she realized that the only emotion she could conjure for Michael was anger, so perhaps it was just better to exhibit nothing and not give the remnants of the man the satisfaction.

The more he struggled, the deeper those runes etched into his skin, and gradually, the smaller he became in size. Not a huge difference, but maybe close to three feet. And there was a big difference between how imposing something was at fifteen feet and how it looked at twelve. Not as big, and not like it could swallow you whole.

Somnia and the others had stretched out their hands to one another, creating a large circle that fed off the sun, off their energies, off of the energy Michael had been stealing, and from what Murmur could see, something she couldn’t put her finger on.

Sinister looped her hand around Murmur’s and pressed herself close, an uneasiness emanating from her. “What are they doing?”

“I think they’re draining his power,” Murmur observed, unsure of what else it could be.

Sensing that the fighting seemed to have halted, the rest of the raid drifted over, or most of them. Murmur stood back, but still as close as she dared. The power she could feel from that runic emblem was hot and heavy, powerful and dangerous, and glimmered with hope.

Masha stood a few feet away, looking like he sort of wanted to touch it, but Ishwa smacked his hand away. “I get a distinct feeling you don’t want to touch that.”

“Why can they touch it then?” Karn mused softly, somewhere off to Murmur’s right-hand side.

“Because it’s an electrical current, and those are all NPCs in this game,” Risk explained, and Murmur saw him sneak a quick hug from his kid. “Is this all part of that virus thing?”

Murmur nodded, frowning. It technically was. “And alliances we built as we played.”

Risk glanced at her, nodded once with an undercurrent