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

Murmur had never really been one for the actual roleplaying aspects of a game, but in this case, she was hamming it up for their audience. This was what she’d been aiming toward since she first glanced over her mom’s description of this game. This was what they’d been working toward. Even if it was in a more hectic way. Even if it wasn’t just her guild she ended up with beside her.

“Hold out your hands, Murmur. Spread the keys across them next to their matching partners.” Emilarth spoke softly and yet somehow loud enough, her ears twitching as the only giveaway that she was excited too.

Murmur did as instructed, with all nine keys splayed out in her hands. Her throat felt as if it was about to close over, and for some reason she felt like she might just cry. All of them, strange sensations she wasn’t used to experiencing. She reined them in, trying her best not to let her emotions leak over to influence the raid.

Belius stepped forward first.

“I, the keeper of Vahrir, the creator of a third of this world, hereby bind these keys to their partners.” He placed the key he held in his hand above hers, and then let it go. It hovered there, glowing in that solid black as it spun around, drawing the others to it, beneath it, like a pyramid.

Then it was Emilarth’s turn. “I, the keeper of Tieflos, the creator of a third of this world, hereby bind these keys to their partners.” Hers stood up straight, pulling the others to dangle beneath it as it floated over Murmur’s outstretched palms. Heat emanated from the both of them, turning Murmur’s skin warm where she hadn’t realized she needed it.

They hung there, suspended next to each other over the palms of her hands as the other members of her guild, and those of Exodus and Spiral, looked on. It was strange how tangible that felt, how much warmer she was just for having magical keys in her hands.

Next, Telvar stepped forward. He looked like a proud big brother, the one she’d wanted and never had. His smile reminisced all of what they’d been through and didn’t appear half as awkward an expression as it usually did on a lacerta face. The warmth he exuded held protection and a vow to keep her and her friends safe. Everything Telvar had been from the moment they first encountered him.

His voice came out softer than she’d ever heard it, giving her a light feeling of safety that prevailed over everything in her hands. Eight of the keys swirled already while three of them waited patiently.

“I, the keeper of Glacier Lake, the creator of a third of this world, hereby bind these keys to their partners.” The golden keys floated straight up to the one he let go, fanning out around them like an upright windmill. Then all of them began to do the same thing. Like tiny amusement park rides held in her palms, they twirled and swirled up and down and all around, faster and faster.

The heat coming off them made Murmur break out in a light sweat as she held her palms steady.

“Don’t drop them,” Telvar warned, the caution in his voice soft and gentle so as not to startle her into doing exactly what he was telling her not to. She inclined her head briefly, knowing that she didn’t want to drop them anyway. The heat was welcome, and the colors and patterns they created as they spun around just out of her grasp were beautiful.

Sound surrounded her, like a whirring but in song. A beautiful crescendo that spiraled up and then burst out over everyone in a shower of sparks so bright they resembled fireworks. And then there were weights in the palms of her hands again. Solid, much larger, and oddly foreboding.

“Here we present to you, Murmur of Fable, the three keys for the final dungeon of the first level of Somnia.” Telvar’s tone took on importance with a reverence for what they’d created. “We know not what dangers await you, but we will accompany you, lest our duties be left unfulfilled.”

A murmur ran through the crowd at her back. The NPCs were going to come with them on this quest?

Quest:

Completed: The Twelve Keys Part One

In her darkest days, Somnia held monsters beyond the imagination, the fodder of nightmares. Over time, those creatures were bested and locked away where they could harm none. But time passed and adventurers, reckless in their pursuit of glory, weakened the prison seals. With the twelve keys thus combined, you gain access to the final task of this world at this stage in its life.

Make preparations for this journey, for it will not be taken lightly. It is dark where you must go, and not just in the absence of light. Take with you courage, strength, and any preparations you can make. What awaits you has been sealed away for eons and will finally be brought to the surface.

In more ways than one.

Remember. Once you have raised the final step, it cannot and will not be easily sealed away again. For all purposes it will remain up on the same plane as the rest of you.

Do not summon these monsters before you are ready.

And when you are, take heart, and good luck.

The notification must have shone over everyone’s vision, because Murmur saw the entire raid take in a nice deep breath as it was being read to them. She wasn’t expecting the next notification to be a global one.

The guild Fable, in alliance with Exodus and Spiral, are the first to gather all twelve keys. Be wary, citizens of Somnia, for shortly, this world will never be the same again.

“Bit dramatic, don’t you think?” Devlish raised an eyebrow, but even under the bravado, Murmur could see he was a bit uneasy. She couldn’t blame him. It was a lot of fanfare around a set of keys.

“Not really dramatic as such, more like