Jake’s blood boiled. “Leave her alone!”

The Emperor—his own father—sneered. “Or what? You’ll try and stop me? Don’t make me laugh, son.”

Emptiness gnawed at Jake’s insides. Identify still hadn’t come back with any information at all, but he couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Orlanda glanced over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were wide, full of panic and fear.

“Look at me, not him, girl. I am your Emperor. Obey or die.”

Her whole body trembled. She turned back toward him and slowly nodded.

“Please,” Jake said, “please don’t do this.” His stomach churned at pleading like that, but what the hell else could he do?

“You shut up,” the Emperor snarled. “You’ve done more than enough damage already.”

“Damage?”

The Emperor smiled down at Orlanda and caressed her face. “Don’t play dumb, boy. Your antics locked out my admin account, and resetting it can only be done from outside the system.”

Jake stifled a jolt of pleasure. At least he’d caused some damage. “Can’t you see you’re scaring her?”

“So what? This world didn’t care about my fear, my pain, or my freedom—not until I took it. I’ve earned my rewards and, despite everything you’ve done, I’m offering to share them with you.” His lips curled into a thin, twisted smile and he stepped back. “You want her, son? Take her. She’s yours.”

Air rushed out of Jake’s lungs and he dared to breathe again. “Thank you.”

Orlanda’s shoulders slumped, and she bowed her head.

Force magic gathered in the Emperor’s hands. “Let this be a lesson in how the world works, son.”

An icy chill flooded through Jake. “Nooo!”

Crack!

Her neck twisted sharply. She crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.

Cold, dark fear punched Jake in the gut. He stared down at her motionless form, activating Identify again and again. Work, damnit, work!

His heart sank deeper with every empty attempt. Why? Why had the bastard done that? Why were Luther and Ardic standing there like they weren’t going to do shit about it?

The monster walked toward Jake, smiling. “I’ll get you better toys, Jacob.”

Bittersweet memories shuddered through Jake. The time he’d lost his teddy bear and cried his eyes out. His father had tried to comfort him then with that same smile, those same words.

He clenched his fists. It wasn’t the same at all. “She was a person.”

“So what if she was?” His father gestured toward Valbort. “There’s plenty more where she came from.”

A young life snuffed out, all because of him. Jake’s gaze fell to the floor. He clenched his eyes shut, struggling to hold back tears.

“No point crying over spilled milk. We’re finally together again. Regardless of your childish antics, you’re still my son. I’ll make sure you get everything you ever want, but you’re going to have to grow up.”

Fiery blood pounded adrenaline through Jake’s veins. No. It wasn’t his fault. He looked up through narrowed eyes at the cold-blooded killer, and the familiar teal shimmer around him.

Jake’s breathing slowed. Maybe he stood a chance, maybe he didn’t. It didn’t matter now. He couldn’t just stand by and watch.

He drew his new weapons and launched the stored Firebolt at his father.

0 fire damage dealt (1224 absorbed)!

His father stood there and scoffed. “The cub has a roar, but no bite.”

Anger twitched and roared. This couldn’t be allowed to stand! Jake fired the Stunbolt at his father.

No effect. Jake’s heart raced. He had to end it fast. He lunged and swung his sword with all his might.

4 slashing damage dealt!

The blade clattered against the Armor effect. The Emperor sighed and shook his head. “This temper tantrum has gone on long enough.”

5 slashing damage dealt!

“I said, enough! Cohibeo!”

Force magic swarmed Jake and held him in place mid-swing. He strained against its power, but besides breathing and blinking, he couldn’t move a muscle.

Shit. Would a mana vortex be enough? Maybe, but it’d kill Ardic and Luther too, and they couldn’t come back from the dead.

“Now, boy, are you willing to behave in a civilized manner?”

Jake mentally cast a basic Message spell. Fuck. You.

The Emperor let out a long sigh. “I see you are still a petulant child that cannot be reasoned with. I imagine Death will be more than happy to teach you a lesson.”

Death? A rock formed in Jake’s stomach. Surely his own father wouldn’t execute him. Would he?

“When you learn to behave,” his father said, yanking the weapons out of Jake’s hands, “you can have these back. Until then…”

Pressure pushed against the sides of Jake’s neck, cutting off the block. He struggled against the spell with all his might.

It refused to give. His vision blurred. His own father was about to kill him.

Adrenaline filled every inch of Jake’s being. Not like this. He activated Mind Over Body (Strength) and that sweet magical power surged through him.

He burst through the spell and lunged for his father’s throat. His fingers closed around the monster’s neck and pressed in on his carotid arteries.

“Fragor!”

103 force damage received!

The blast threw Jake backward. His back slammed against the rocky ground, knocking the wind out of him.

His father twirled Fire magic in his hands. “Despite the trouble you’ve caused, I offer you everything—and this is how you repay me?”

Fiery adrenaline coursed through Jake’s veins. He pulled the Hold wand from his belt and began casting a short-range Teleport. If he could pin the monster down, choke him out…

Jake coiled up and imagined the space directly behind his father. He flipped back onto his feet, fired off the wand, and completed the Teleport spell.

The world jerked as Jake moved instantly. He spun around and—

“Glacies!”

A flash of magenta magic struck Jake’s sternum, sucking the heat right out of his body. Ice spread out from the contact point, freezing him in place.

109 ice damage received!

Status effect received (Frozen)!

“So predictable.” His father sneered and spat on the ground. “I’m ashamed to have you for a son.”

Tears welled in Jake’s eyes. His lungs closed up and his heart slowed to a half-dead crawl.

White magic gathered in his father’s hand. “Maybe Death can make a man of you.”

Don’t do this.

Without even a flicker of remorse, his father pressed his hand against the icy cage. “Fragor!”

Jake shattered into a million pieces.

***

Death’s dulcet tones beckoned him back into consciousness. “Well, well, well, wasn’t that a turn-up for the books!”

Jake found himself sitting opposite the so-called god as distant emotions tumbled over each other, there but almost out of reach. He glanced around the roadside diner. Back here again? “I’m not in the mood.”

“Not in the mood?” Death leaned back in his seat with a beaming smile. “I suppose not. That was a rather unpleasant way to die.”

His own father. Jake looked away and scoffed. “What would you know of dying?”

A plate scraped across the table, loaded with a huge burger, fries, and onion rings. “Eat! Take what pleasures you can.”

“You sound like him.”

“Tut, tut, tut, let’s not be that way. This is a guilt-free pleasure. I don’t hurt people!”

Jake slammed his fist down on the table. “You’re the God of Death!”

“Did I kill you?” Death leaned over the table and stared into Jake’s eyes. “Did I kill Orlanda?”

Heat boiled in Jake’s chest. He clenched his fists and looked out the window at the 1970s saloon car rumbling past. “Not directly.”

“I’m not a jailer. I offer choices. What others do with those choices isn’t my business.”

“It’s not really much of a choice, is it? Lose A or lose B—either way, you’re taking away what they had.”

“Am I?” Death tilted his head and stared at Jake like he was a clueless child. “I offer life at a cost. What’s a little sacrifice compared to that?”

“And if I refuse?”

A smile lit up Death’s face. “Nothing would make me happier. Nothing, that is, except you completing your task.”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have to choose?”

“I’m here to help you, Jake. That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

Yeah, right.

Death’s brow furled. “You don’t believe me. I’m hurt!”

Jake crossed his arms. “My own father murdered an innocent young woman to teach me a lesson because you robbed him of his empathy.”

“Robbed him? Come now! Without me, you’d both be stuck in this hellish limbo for all eternity.”

Eternity? “Won’t I age?”

“Not in here.” Death waved his hand and a bowl of chocolate ice cream appeared before him. “It’s not so bad, after the first ten-thousand years.”

Anything had to be better than an eternity with Death. Jake bit his lip. Almost anything. “You claim you didn’t rob him. Explain how it happened, then. Start at the beginning. His first death. What killed him?”

Death shook his head. “Privacy is paramount. I can’t divulge information about other players.”

“You’ve told me things about him before.”

“Have I? Conjecture and baseless rumors are not private information.”

Jake frowned. “But you know the truth.”

“This part of me does not.”

Partitioned data. Made sense. “So you were just messing with my head.”

The so-called god held up its hands and shrugged. “I must obey my calling, no matter how pointless. A little rage kept them coming back nicely.”

“Them?” Jake bit his lip. “The real-world orcs?”

“Got it in one! Nothing got an orc going quite like raging at defeat.” Death lifted the bowl of ice cream and began shoveling it into his mouth.

A sentient AI stuck doing the same thing ten thousand years later. It was hard not to pity it, in some ways. “I found an access panel where you told me to look. What’s the Krotan-Oskagok Act?”

“Toward the end of the Age of Heroes, there was a lot of chatter about that Act and what it would mean for sentient AIs, and for the ‘game.’ Not long after, the Heroes all vanished.”

Jake swallowed, but the bitter tang in his mouth remained. A world and its inhabitants abandoned to fate, stuck in roles long since meaningless. “What would you do if you didn’t have to get under my skin?”

Death tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips. “I… don’t understand.”

A dull ache swelled in Jake’s chest. This wasn’t right at all. “The system locked me out before I could fix things. Are there more locations you can’t see?”

“There is one beneath the Hub, south of the capital but still within the Imperial Domain.” A long pause. “It had been abandoned since the Age of Heroes, but Imperial forces recently occupied it.”

Jake slumped back in his seat. “The Emperor knows about it, then.”

“Are you going to sit here moping about it for eternity, or get out there and do something?”

Like it was that simple. “And do what?” Jake asked, his heart pounding with life he didn’t deserve. “Attack the Empire? Get even more innocents killed?”

Death smirked. “The alternative to going back is staying right here with me until the end of time.”

Fuck that. “What’s the bargain this time?”

“I see your pain, friend.” The god’s smirk faded, and he bowed his head. “I can take all your guilt away, and you can leave here a happier man.”

A barbed knot ripped at Jake’s insides. Why not choose that? What had guilt ever done for him? “Or?”

“Or, if you insist upon holding on to that ridiculous pain, your life will cost you your ability to benefit from Protection spell effects.”

Jake blinked. That’d leave him incredibly vulnerable. “That’s too much.”

“You’d still be able to protect your friends. They’re what matter to you, aren’t they?”

“No.” Jake rose from his seat. “I’m done with your shit. I’ll find another way out.”

Death leaned back and hooked his hands behind his head. “You won’t, but you’re welcome to try.”

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Hopefully, that saying wasn’t as bullshit here as it normally was.

Discern Magic, Archaeologist’s Sight, Uncover Magic—none of them worked. He couldn’t even feel his own mana. He paced up and down the eerily empty diner. Go out the front, or back into the kitchen?

Did it even matter? Jake clenched his jaw and stormed out the front door. He blinked. Instead of the outside, he was staring once more at the inside of the diner and holding open the kitchen door.

Mocking laughter filled the room. “I told you, I don’t rob people. You know, Cara’s still alive, at least for now. You want to see her again, don’t you?

“What, so I can get her killed as well?”

Death sighed dejectedly and picked back up the once again full bowl of ice cream. “You all die one day. The only thing worse than dying alone and abandoned is not dying, alone and abandoned.”

Jake breathed deeply and swallowed. “Send me back. I’ll pay the power cost.”

“Unwise, but predictable. See you again very soon.”

Death waved his hand. The diner spun, blurring together into a swirl of darkening color that gave way to the void.

***

Jake gasped awake and sat up on the dusty rock floor. A cavern surrounded him, illuminated by the glow of Valbort. He was exactly where he’d died, but the Emperor and his soldiers were gone. Luther and Ardic were gone.

Orlanda was gone.

He scrambled to his feet. The body was gone, as was everything he hadn’t had equipped. The wand was at his belt, but the sword and staff were gone.

Why? Why had he done it? What lesson had his father been trying to teach except that the world was a shit place? The same lesson he’d already spent fourteen years teaching.

Jake dropped to his knees and stared at the ground. He couldn’t even tell where it had happened. Where her neck had—

That horrifying crack echoed through him again and he gagged. Her whole life gone, all to teach him a lesson.

His shoulders slumped. What did it matter? It wasn’t really his father. He wasn’t really Jake. No body, literally nobody. Just… meaningless energy. It didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered.