Framework of the Frontier, Sain Artwell [read me a book .TXT] 📗

a droplet of divinity, but your mind is mortal. There is no guarantee your mind will survive.”

“So, about four? Wish us luck.” He cracked her a desperate grin.

Rulu clutched his shoulders tight. “You fool. You absolute fool.”

Running through a narrow alley, William managed to put distance between them and the leviathan. As night neared, the outer bits of Dreaming were pouring out thick, shrouding the steps of the temple-structure where they came from. Magic feeding corals and polyp blooms writhed gently in the flow and swarms of tiny mana eaters and shrimps swam happily between William’s legs, blissfully unaware of the impending doom crawling to crush them at forty miles per hour.

William paused to make sure Isha had not turned to chase any of the others He stepped forward, diving into the magic mist. “A quick dip in, wait until it follows, sprint out, and close the door.”

“Do not let go of me. Stay by my side and I will shield your mind,” Rulu said.

They fell through the self illuminated clouds.

Everything was white.

And more white.

Only white.

It didn’t feel all that dangerous. Somewhere above, or below, or in some direction around William, the muffled sounds of a leviathan’s roar caught his ear. It was as if a snowstorm raged between them. Warm fluffy snowstorm.

William chuckled. “Alright Rulu, now let’s sneak back out and — Rulu?”

He was holding nothing.

Standing on nothing.

In fact, he could no longer even hear the leviathan, only a susurrus of whispers, distant echoes of distorted voices, and an unearthly yet spine tinglingly familiar hymn. William closed his eyes as a warm calming sensation seeped into the cynical cockles of his heart, and a pleasant scent filled his nose.

A pleasant scent of Ember, of Rulu, of their hair and skin and sex. The scents of food followed it. Ember’s wraps had been divine and those skewers on day one? Fuck, they were to die for, though not quite a good grease flap from Cheesus Deliveries. Mmm-mh! Ten bucks for mega-size with four toppings.

He could nearly taste them already. William drew in a deep breath, licking saliva off his lips.

“It’s sixty bucks plus tip. No discounts,” Jake said as he chewed gum absentmindedly.

William was in a hurry to get to the game table and open his box. “Here you go. Sixty six.”

“Thanks. Enjoy.”

William knew that the kid didn’t mean either, but he didn’t mind. Delivering pizza wasn’t a job to smile for in this kind of neighbourhood. He hefted the delicious steaming boxes and climbed the stairs to the barren white kitchen of grandpa’s house.

Rain tapped a lazy tune against the window. An occasional truck passed by, rattling the flimsy fluorescent lamp and Mitchelle’s empty soda glass. Daniel slammed a thick wad of cash on the table, grinning smugly as he stroked his irritatingly perfect blonde hair.

“I’ll pay, since I’m more successful Willie.”

“Seems reasonable,” Abraham agreed with a nod while tapping away at a laptop.

Mitchelle blushed like she was in highschool. She was that same stunning beauty as ever and wore the tight blue dress she’d worn at the dance. It was sad to see her life had gone down the drain, though William couldn’t remember exactly how on the spot.

“Fuck you all,” Thomas whined, taking a deep drag off a joint while cooking a spoon of coke on William’s new stove.

“Hey!” William raised his voice. “That’s my stove asshole. I’ll get banned from working sec they find one drop of that shit on me.”

“Not my problem duuuude.” Thomas let the smoke billow out of his nose, mouth, and ears.

William stood in a fury, picking up his hammer. “Gonna make it your…” He calmed down, realizing that no way was he going to whack someone in the head with a hammer. That would suspend his security license for sure, and probably even take away his Ranger star.

“Come now. Let us move to the part where the spell is cast,” said the sixth person.

“Yeah, and if you don’t behave I will… I will deduct one point of charisma from your character,” Mitchelle threatened Thomas.

The table calmed down and William sat his ass back on the bench. He finished his character sheet in a rush without reading any of the rules for how blessings and auras and other abilities worked. Sure, it would be a pain in the ass to figure them out later, but oh well. It was going to be boring to play a buff focused healer, but William knew that the game was going to suck either way already.

Thomas had seemingly fucked up his life down the drain. Abraham seemed cool, but… Well, he was like on a mountain — untouchable. Daniel had become twenty times smugger, and Mitchelle… Mitchelle looked a bit too thick for that dress actually. Ew.

Mitchelle organized her notes and licked grease off of her fat fingertips. Thunder clapped behind the window and shadows deepened as she assumed a voice that pulled them right in. “Goblins blahblah, you met up and heard a mysterious incantation, and then—”

“Sorry,” interrupted a voice. “Could you repeat the ‘mysterious incantation?’”

“Who cares?” William groaned, rolling his eyes.

Mitchelle began to repeat it, “Across the closed spheres of vastness, through the twelvefold bridges of Dreaming, I call upon the Core of Eden: Awaken the portal’s closed once more. Take the assembled as your sacrifice hurl our souls into vessels described so that we may once more serve the Framework.”

The fucker? She had sacrificed us? Did she know?!

“Much obliged…” A voice faded out of the room.

The anger surging in William distorted the white around him, revealing a distancing silhouette. Something else disturbed the mist, dispelling the last of the dreamy illusion. A pale hand grabbed his.

“William, are you alright?” Rulu pulled on his eyelids, inspecting frantically. “Do you know the year? What is my