The
Virtual
Realm

Chapter 3

A Shot in the Dark

There was the sound of giggling.

(That was odd) There shouldn’t be giggling. (Are you sure?) Yes! Of course I’m sure… I think.

The giggling grew louder.

There really shouldn’t be giggling. (But there is). I know. But there shouldn’t be (And it’s dark). And my head hurts. (This is a familiar feeling, you know!) It’s the headache that’s the give away. (Why does this always happen?)

He could remember a narrow bridge, and running, and a horrifically long drop down into nothing. There had been big, nasty, flying things (I think they’re called “bats” actually, Presto) and then something else had appeared, something huge.

But that didn’t explain how he had been knocked unconscious.

He lay still, keeping his eyes closed, trying to remember what had happened. After a few moments he realised that they giggling that had woken him had died away, leaving a low hiss behind.

Presto. (Hmm…?) Presto? (W-what) Presto! C’mon, wake up! (But…) ‘Presto. Please wake up!’

‘Presto! Please wake up!’

He couldn’t really recognise the voice. It was familiar, and he knew he should know who’s it was, but everything was still very fuzzy.

‘C’mon Presto, open your eyes.’

Now he came to try, the Magician realised how difficult it actually was to prise his eyelids apart. It was as if they’d been glued shut. Instead, he tried to move slightly, and a shooting pain came through his arm. He tried to say something, but when he spoke he could only hear a distance “Uh” noise.

What’s going on?

‘That’s right Presto, but take it easy.’

‘Uh…’

Something cool was pressed against his forehead, and the sudden change in temperature made him twitch. He tried once again to move, to pull whatever it was away, but his arms were too heavy, and too sore.

‘Whiz-aah?’

‘It’s ok Presto, we’re safe, for the moment. Try to keep still and regain your strength. Here.’

A small cup was pressed against his lips, and he tasted water, lovely ice-cold water. But that wasn’t the only thing he could taste. He could taste blood too.

(I’m not sure I want to wake up anymore) Me either.

Something bad had obviously happened. But the others were bound to be safe. They really didn’t need him to… In spite of my warning one of your number has already been captured. But even I cannot be sure which one without proof.’

He spluttered the water, choking, as Dungeonmaster’s words came back to him.

(Oh, yes) I’d forgotten about that…

‘Presto! Are you ok!’

That voice suddenly sent a chill through him. He knew who it was.

‘Are you ok?’ asked Hank gently. ‘Presto?’

His thought from earlier came back to him: Logically, Hank would be the obvious choice for the Doppelganger; he was the leader, and could lead them anywhere he wanted. They all trusted him.

Ignoring the stickiness of his eyes, Presto prised his eyes open.

He was in a small, gloomy cave, but even in the low light he could clearly see that winning, “Hank” smile was wide across the other boy’s face, possibly trying to reassure the Magician. But it only served to make Presto more worried. He pulled back in fright.

‘Take it easy Presto! It’s me!’

‘H-Hank?’

The smile grew wider. Presto looked past the Ranger into the gloom behind, but he couldn’t see anyone else. They were alone. This isn’t good!

‘Thank goodness you’re ok!’ said Hank with a sigh. ‘I was starting to get really worried!’

Presto was sorely tempted to add that he was already really worried, but he didn’t have the strength. Besides, he needed to keep calm, and try to think logically.

But it was difficult to get past the fact that his arm and head hurt; and the fact that this Hank could be the Doppelganger. He could be alone with a Doppelganger! Trying hard not to panic, Presto took as deep a breath as he could. He needed a chance to think. He had to buy himself some time.

‘What happened?’ he asked cautiously.

‘Well, what do you remember?’ Presto shrugged in reply. ‘Do you remember the bats?’

The Magician nodded gently, so as not to make himself feel any more sore or dizzy. Yes, He definitely remember the bats. (Great big bats!) With big, pointy teeth! (Nasty)

‘There was something else there too,’ Hank said, now sounding more worried. ‘I didn’t see it properly, but it was big. And dangerous.’

‘What about the others,’ Presto said. ‘What happened to them?’ It was odd, shouldn’t Hank have been worried about them first…

But then he saw the deep, creased frown on Hank’s face.

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It all happened too fast. The bridge started to give way, and we had to run.’

Oh, yes. The bridge! He could remember that all right. He’d almost fallen off. (Haven’t they invented guardrails here yet?) Hank was still talking.

‘Well, whatever it was, when it saw us it tried to bring part of the cave wall down to stop us getting out.’

Presto gulped. That sounded really dangerous!

‘No one had much of a chance to react, not even Sheila could use the Cloak,’ continued Hank, not noticing Presto’s reaction. ‘I didn’t really see what happened to them, but since they were ahead of us, I think they got out ok. I hope so, anyway. I don’t know…’

Hank had looked away, looking behind Presto, with an unpleasant expression on his face. Presto slowly pushed himself up, his body aching, and turned to look at what Hank was staring at.

Even in the dim light, Presto could see exactly what was worrying the Ranger; behind him was a wall of boulders that blocked the whole of the tunnel behind them. Presto turned back, noticing that the view didn’t change. There were rocks all around them. In fact, there were rocks everywhere.

There was no way out.

He looked at Hank, seeing his own fear mirrored on his friend’s face. But before he could say anything reassuring or helpful to Hank he suddenly remembered what Dungeonmaster had said: one of your number has already been captured! It could easily be Hank, after all a Doppelganger would be just as worried about getting out!

Desperately, the Magician grasped for a way of getting Hank talking again,

‘Hey, we got out of Ur!’ he blurted out, hoping this would get a reaction and help make some progress in figuring out if Hank was really “Hank”.

But the Ranger’s reaction wasn’t what Presto expected, either from a real Hank or a double. The boy just frowned.

‘Yeah, he muttered, ‘we got outta Ur.’

‘What’s wrong, Hank?’ Presto had spoken before his mind had caught up with what was going on.

‘I just… wanted to get home.’

The admission took Presto by complete surprise. He understood, completely, and for a moment he was sure his fears were unfounded. But wouldn’t a Doppelganger know enough about us to know what to say? (And know what Hank would say?) But he sounds so sad! (It could be and act.) It could all be an act!

Presto shivered at the thought that the boy sitting beside him was just acting and was saying just what he was expected to say. For a moment, he remembered the time, with the Cloud Bears when he thought that Hank had betrayed them to Venger. That feeling of being stabbed in the back by a friend was suddenly just as strong as it had been. He hated that feeling. He trusted Hank, he thought he knew Hank, so surely he would know if this was the real deal, or an impostor.

They faced each other in the gloom, Presto feeling more wretched than he could have imagined in this situation. He couldn’t go on with this suspicion. This person in front of him looked like Hank, he acted and spoke like Hank, with all his soul, Presto believed that this was Hank.

Despite Dungeonmaster’s words, he had to know if that really was Hank. He had to know. There was only one way to be sure.

‘Hank,’ he said. ‘Pull an arrow.’

The Ranger looked distrustfully at Presto.

‘Why? What’s wrong?’

Presto gulped. Maybe you’re wrong! (Maybe you’re right). I have to know!

‘Am I you’re friend?’ asked Presto.

‘Of course!’

‘Do you trust me?’

‘Of course, Presto! What’s…’

‘Just pull and arrow. Please.’

Hank stared at him for a long moment, a frown of concern across his face. Presto stared back, willing him to do as he asked and just pull an arrow.

Suddenly, Hank smiled.

‘Ok, Presto. I don’t understand, but if you want an arrow, you got it!’

He picked the Bow up from the ground where it had been lying. The moment Hank picked it up, the weapon gave off a very faint glimmer and Presto’s heart leaped. Within moments there was a huge, glowing arrow lighting the cave with a brilliant gold glow.

Nothing had ever looked so good, and Presto closed his eyes, giving a small sigh. It was Hank! He’d been right!

When he opened his eyes, Hank was smiling, but obviously confused.

‘What’s going on, Presto?’ he asked. ‘You gonna tell me what’s up!’

This was going to be the difficult part, how could he explain his doubts and his mistrust?

The Magician took a few moments to try and think of a good way to start. The last thing he wanted to do was offend Hank!

‘I saw Dungeonmaster,’ he said at last, ‘after I fell. He said that one of you guys had been captured, and he couldn’t tell which.’ Hank’s face darkened in confusion, as to him all of his friends had been there. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought, you were all there, so one of you must have been replaced.’

‘A Doppelganger,’ murmured Hank. ‘You thought one of us was a Doppelganger.’ There was a pause. ‘You thought I was a Doppelganger.’

He didn’t say it in an accusatory way, but Presto felt wretched anyway. He hung his head slightly, and nodded.

‘It’s ok, Presto,’ said the Ranger, putting his hand on the Magician’s shoulder. ‘I understand. It must have been tough.’

‘I didn’t know what to do,’ he said. ‘You guys just seemed to be acting all weird! I made no progress with figuring out who was how. It could be any of them!’

‘Well, it can’t be Sheila,’ said Hank firmly.

Presto hesitated. That wasn’t what he’d thought earlier! It could have been anyone of the others! Hank noticed his reluctance to answer, and scowled.

‘But it might be,’ Presto forced himself to say. ‘We won’t know unless she can use her weapon.’

The scowl stayed were it was. It was clear that Hank knew that there was nothing that actually proved his statement, but still Presto could see that it wasn’t a pleasant thought for the Ranger.

In the short silence that followed, hank started looking around at the gloomy cave, his scowl now just a frown. Presto could take a good guess at what Hank was thinking; he was thinking the same thing. They had to get out of there, and find the others. Then they could worry about Doppelgangers.

‘I wonder what it wants,’ said Presto at last. ‘The Doppelganger, I mean.’

‘I guess it wants the same thing as us,’ replied Hank with a heavy sigh. ‘The Lance!’

‘I wonder what else the Lance can do, expect point the way home,’ murmured Presto. ‘I mean, it if was a weapon, maybe it has extra powers as well.’

Presto looked around again, at the wall of boulders behind them.

‘And how are we gonna get out?’ he asked.

Hank looked as if he had been waiting for Presto to say something about that. He glanced down at the ground, to where the Hat was lying in a crumpled pile.

‘You think the Hat will work?’ asked Hank hopefully. ‘I don’t want to risk firing an arrow with all those loose rocks’

Presto nodded, and tried to give Hank a confidant smile. He reached down to the Hat and tentatively looked inside it. It was empty.

‘I’m sure I can come up with something,’ he said. Something good would be nice for a change! (Or at least something that doesn’t make it worse!)

He waved his hand over the Hat staring at the huge mountain of loose rubble that blocked their exit, trying to think of the right way to phrase “just get us out of here!” without being transported to somewhere even worse. The Hat glowed in a friendly, reassuring way.

“Abraca-day! Get those rocks out our way!”

A few moments passed, and Hank was looking at him curiously. The rocks behind them hadn’t moved, not even an inch. The Ranger was about to say something, when suddenly his expression changed and a smile spread over his face.

He pointed to Presto’s left.

‘Look! It’s gone!’

Presto turned to look at what Hank was pointing at, and grinned. There was a narrow hole in the wall behind them, leading away from the rock fall. It looked like the wall itself had only been a foot thick. The Hat had just found the easiest way to get out!

‘Cool!’ he said, with a sigh of relief.

‘I’ll go first,’ Hank said, pulling an arrow to give off, lighting the cave with a soft gold glow. ‘Follow carefully.’

Presto was about to say something about being fine, but then he tried to move. A sharp pain ran over his chest and down his arm. He gasped, and Hank was immediately by his side.

‘You gonna be ok, Presto?’

The Magician nodded slowly.

‘I’m fine, I’ll be fine.’ (Oh, really?) This hurts! (Everywhere!)

He moved to his knees and started to crawl gently forward, making sure his didn’t put too much weight on his left arm, and followed Hank through the hole in the rock wall. The gentle glow from the crystals in the wall all around made him feel better; though it wasn’t bright there was enough light to make sure they didn’t fall down any holes or trip up, or anything else, and Presto was relieved not to have to conjure anything quite at the moment.

The emerged into another tunnel that was clearer and smoother than the last one. It sloped gently upwards to the right, and as they stood still, Presto could almost imaging a slight waft of fresh air coming from somewhere ahead.

It seemed better to both of them to start climbing, and so they turned right and headed up the tunnel.

It didn’t take long for the slope to level out, and they came to a high but narrow cave. Hank stopped and looked around warily.

‘I don’t like it,’ he whispered at last. ‘I keep hearing strange noises. Don’t you?’

‘Um, well, not really,’ admitted Presto, not liking to lie. ‘But it does feel kinda creepy.’

Hank nodded.

‘Let’s go on, carefully.’

They crept forward, their pace slowing to a virtual stop. Every now and again, Presto would hear something very faintly, almost like someone laughing. Or crying.

After the first cave came another, and another, each one getting bigger and more convoluted, so it was increasingly difficult to keep track of where they were and where they had come from. Often Presto was afraid that they were just going round in circles, but Hank seemed to know what he was doing.

Suddenly, the Ranger stopped.

The strange whispery noise was clearer, and Presto was sure that it was the sound of voices ahead. But they were not happy, whoever they were.

The cave they were in flattened out near what seemed to be another archway into yet another cave, but it was difficult to make out exactly from where they were.

‘You hear it?’ asked Hank. Presto nodded. ‘We need to get closer.’

Presto nodded once again, and the two boys crept slowly forward. The exit turned into a very short tunnel, and then it widened out once more. But this time it wasn’t a normal cave they found themselves in. Apart from the sheer sides and the glittering rock, there was also a well-worn path, and a tiny village, all lit with a dim, baleful greenish light.

Hank and Presto looked at each other in surprise. This was the last thing either of them expected.

The voices were louder and clearer now they were close to the village.

Treading as quietly as they could, the two of them moved forward toward the source of the noises. Presto was sure he could make out words, and with that came the growing idea that they were actually on the way to finding the others. He couldn’t be totally positive of course, but the voice sounded whiney enough to be Eric. It seemed that Hank agreed, and he was grinning!

The voices grew louder as they moved forward. The voices of their friends were clearly audible, especially Eric, as well as a few others Presto didn’t recognise. There seemed to be some sort of debate going on, judging by the intensity of the sound.

Hank looked at him with a frown.

‘This doesn’t sound good,’ he whispered to the Magician. ‘I wonder what’s going on.’

They popped their heads carefully round the corner of the nearby house, hoping to get a chance to see their friends.

It was difficult to see clearly in the low light, but there was a gathering of people; maybe “creatures” was a better description!

They were small, shorter than Gnomes or Dwarves, and very thin and gangly, but humanoid nevertheless. They were dressed in scruffy rags with ill-fitting shoes. They were huddled together, babbling in loud voices.

‘The others are here somewhere,’ whispered Hank. ‘We’ve gotta find them as quickly as we can.’

Presto listened carefully for a moment, hoping to hear Eric’s piercing voice to help give them the correct direction, but he didn’t hear his friends’ voices again.

‘Any suggestions? ‘he murmured.

Hank pointed to the right, and Presto nodded.

‘We’d better keep out of sight, too,’ Hank added.

Presto nodded. Those people seemed harmless enough, but there were a large number of them. And they didn’t sound very happy about something!

The two of them moved off again, heading right towards the far end of the village.

They started peeking in windows and doors if they were open, and there were no sounds close by, but they didn’t find any clues. Then, at last, they found themselves outside a tiny but thick-set stone cottage, with narrow windows and a well-locked door. Inside they could hear the voices of their friends, Eric’s angry tone was unmistakeable. Hank and Presto looked though the window.

At the back the Magician could see Diana, Bobby, Uni and Eric, all locked in a metal cage and looking very cross. To the side, in an untidy pile just out of their reach, were the four weapons; the Shield with the Cloak draped over it, and the club resting beside it with the Javelin on the floor.

Presto was busy looking inside, trying to think of a way out, when he realised Hank was shaking.

‘What’s wrong?’ he whispered. ‘Hank?’

The Ranger’s expression struck fear into Presto’s heart.

‘Sheila’s not there!’

Presto jolted round, looking between the weapons and his friends. The slowly he turned back to face his friend. No wonder Hank looked so devastated.

The Cloak was there, but Sheila was not!

= = =

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

Double Trouble

Season 4

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