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

it killed them. Their silent communication and knowledge of just what to do made it all the creepier.

Sinister sounded panicked this time: The fucking fountains just…oh, my gods!

Murmur knew exactly how she felt. More cranking sounds joined, and this time it seemed like there was more power to them, as if the fountains had lent them their weight, and now everything was turning as it should. The quaking beneath her feet made it difficult to hear anything else over the guild speak. Which Murmur found strange momentarily because, after all, the speak sounded in their minds; it wasn’t like it played on a speaker. At some fundamental level, they should always be able to hear it.

Quest UPDATE: The Fountains

You now understand the true purpose of the fountains. They have long since channeled the power of the species they depict, the restlessness, the danger, and the magic of Somnia.

Thank you for seeking their explanation. You will be rewarded after their revelation is dealt with.

Murmur sighed. Great. Just then, Snowy pressed himself against her legs, growling, his hackles up. Maybe he was trying to protect her from the statues, but she didn’t think it was as simple as that. Just like she could sense through her nets, she knew that whatever was being cranked up wasn’t going to be pretty.

People braced themselves in doorways, shied away from the appearing cracks that ran everywhere and huddled in groups as if the company might make imminent death better. Again the wave of fear that ran through the NPCs, it was unsettling, enough to make Murmur reconsider hunting anything ever again.

“Oh, shit!” She heard someone call out. It must have been one of the players or NPCs who were standing watch. “Look over there. To the northwest.”

Murmur ran to the balcony overlooking the side of the city and shaded her eyes and looked. Slowly, as the grinding of stone on stone and the rumbling began to die down, as the shaking began to subside, a massive rock formation appeared to be emerging out of the water. Off in the distance, like an extra continent. Liquid sluiced down its sides, gushing to reach the ocean again as the structures, so large they were even visible from the shore, emptied themselves of that burden.

Trees ran all around the edges of the jagged cliffs that barred entrance. Barren and rickety is how it appeared to her. And it might have been slightly foreboding if it looked less like a bedraggled cat.

The horn that sounded across the channel rang through to her bones, even as the waves from the emergence pushed at the already existing shores. That sound resonated in her teeth, setting them on edge, and making them chatter. It hurt, a cold pain that ran all the way through her.

She’d do almost anything to get rid of it. This feeling of utter desolation, loneliness, and defeat.

“Wait,” Telvar cautioned as people began to move. “The portal should appear momentarily, and only those who’ve completed the necessary dungeons to be here will be allowed passage.”

Devlish righted himself, pulling out his tower shield just in case. “So we get to walk through the portal any moment?” He inched closer to Murmur and Telvar, reaching out a hand to idly pet the wolf.

Telvar nodded, but Murmur could see the hesitation in his expression. Something wasn’t going the way he’d expected it, and he was rather put out.

“Should it already be here?” She decided to ask, even though he probably knew she’d already guessed the answer. After all, it wasn’t like anything had gone to plan since Michael came and exploded his brain onto the scene.

“Yes. It should.” His words were crisp and clear, just on the nice side of snapping. “It should have appeared before the horn sounded.”

Like a trigger, a large, white and round barrier of foamy clouds formed around them on the ground where they stood. She took a split second’s glance to look down at her feet and groaned. This was so typical of her dungeon experiences so far. They had but a moment’s notice. Murmur screamed out: “Brace yourselves!”

Then the area inside crackled a dark purple-blue like the starry night sky, and all eleven of them fell through the portal.

Somnia Online

Cenedril - City of Verendus

Day Thirty-Two

Dirsna stood outside the Verendus Enchanter Guild and watched the surroundings as the sky darkened. It wasn’t supposed to storm; he didn’t even realize it was supposed to snow, being in the mountains as they were. There were multiple reasons this could be happening, but from the fluctuation he could feel in Murmur’s energies, he knew they were likely and finally ready to do battle with that intruder. He eyed the incoming weather and turned to his friends. “I think they’re up to something. Again.”

“Really? You think?” mumbled his aide, Geshua. Without Geshua, the whole Verendus Enchanter Guild would fall apart. Dwarves were a solid chance for the class, and it was surprising the number of players who had chosen either enchanter as a hybrid class, or else enchanters who were hybrid warriors.

Geshua was still grumbling. “Look, they’re always up to something, creating an imbalance where there should be none. Usually it turns out well for us, though. Just look at us?”

Dirsna chuckled, but the sound caught in his throat as the world around them began to shake fiercely. He grabbed the door jamb, bracing himself against it as Geshua came to stand with him. Their eyes widened as the earthquake leveled their clock tower, and slowly but surely transformed their fountain.

The dwarf statue in it twisted, becoming languid and pliable, and the fountain jets faced inward, pushing down and yet draining the water. All the while, loud whirring and clanking sounded through the village, setting Dirsna’s teeth on edge as he watched the transformation take place.

The massive statue stepped out of the pool, casting glowing red eyes around as it tried to find willing victims. Instead, it heaved a rumbling sigh that resembled the way the ground shook, and