Tower of Gates Omnibus by Paul Bellow

Author:Paul Bellow [Bellow, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-16T22:00:00+00:00

19

How to Befriend a Dragon

Josh

Waking up after my fall, things got a lot worse. The Four Wizards literally enslaved me in an unknown location high in the mountains somewhere.

A week after first being imprisoned, I glanced down at the snow-covered ground as I pushed the wooden handle of a grindstone in a never-ending circle.

Were they going to use me to grind wheat into flour? Or did they have other, more devious plans for me? Either way, I regretted leaving Monky behind.

According to my internal (and spotty) calculations, it was four months after I had originally spawned back into the game. That meant I had eight months left.

Could I last that long? What would happen after that amount of time? I wanted to see Sarah more than anything. Even seeing Eric would help a bit.

I had been playing the stupid game so long, I routinely forgot it wasn’t my true reality. The Tower of Gates had a way of sucking you in deeper somehow.

Halfway around the rut I was walking in, I saw Wiley magically chained to the ground nearby. The wizards were using him to burn their garbage.

“Are you doing okay?” I asked.

Wiley twisted his head toward me, fire in his eyes.

“No,” he grumbled. “I’m a bloody dragon. This is humiliating.”

“At least we’re still alive,” I said to cheer him up.

He passed out of view as I continued pushing the grindstone. On the way around, I blocked out the pain of my aching muscles. Hard labor was well named.

“I should’ve never followed the Four Wizards to this new timeline,” Wiley said.

“Wait,” I said, confused. “How do you know about something related to players, unless…”

I stopped talking as the dragon came back into view.

“Exactly,” he said. “My name’s Jason. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re a player, too?” I asked, still not understanding.

He nodded his reptilian head, light from the setting sun reflecting off his scales.

“One of the oldest prisoners,” he said.

I kept walking, afraid to stop. Last time I had tried, they’d taken away my food for an entire day. I hated the Four Wizards with every ounce of my being.

“They shouldn’t be treating a new player like this,” Wiley said.

He came back into view as I kept walking in my rut.

“Thanks,” I said. “And they shouldn’t be mistreating an old player like you.”

Wiley laughed, smoke rising into the air.

“You’re the newest, and I’m one of the oldest,” he said. “The Tower of Gates knows how to mess with your mind. Don’t let it get to you.”

“Easier said than done, my friend.”

I went around one more time as Wiley burned more garbage.

“Do you know a Drex or Bernard?” he asked after starting another fire.

“No,” I said. “Why?”

“I ran into the two of them at the Four Wizards’ tower where I stay sometimes,” he said. “I thought they might be more new players.”

“He should’ve been traveling with a female elf named Sarah,” I said.

“I don’t remember seeing her, but I may have slept through it,” Wiley replied.

Both of us grew silent again, not concentrating on our mindless tasks.

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