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The “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” Series
Interdimensional Monster Hunting / Weird Fantasy Sci-fi
Cosmic Horror / Action-Adventure Survival
Shortcuts:
Main Series: Book 1 – The Wyvern in the Wilderlands
Main Series: Book 2 – The Minotaurs of Mazeworld
Main Series: Book 3 – The Heart of a Necromancer
Main Series: Book 4 – The Giants of Shattered Swamp
Main Series: Book 5 – The Manticores of Pristalline Paradise
Main Series: Book 6 – The Dragon of the Quantum Void
Main Series: OMNIBUS ONE – Box Set of Books 1 – 3
Main Series: OMNIBUS TWO – Box Set of Books 4 – 6
Fan Exclusive: A Bond Between Man and Monster
Related Short: Goran the Slayer
Related Short: The Helion Depths
READ A PREVIEW OF BOOK ONE HERE!
“The Wyvern in the Wilderlands”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Book 1
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
Jason always loved dinosaurs as a kid. He never thought that one day he’d be trapped on a dinosaur world struggling to stay alive.
This is the story of Jason Leaper of Earth, universe 934. In the mind-bending expanse of parallel universes and higher dimensions, the unexpected death of an alternate Jason Leaper launches our hero’s boring life into a wild adventure of survival, fantastic creatures, and bizarre other worlds!
All Jason Leapers across the infinite multiverses have the ability to rift–to open portals through other dimensions to shift between alternate realities. And when the last survivors of the Reality Rifters–an interdimensional Monster Hunter crew–come looking for Jason 934, the directionless man suddenly finds his latent powers awakened and his life is changed forever. When he is unexpectedly teleported to the Wilderlands, a vicious and primordial alternate Earth overrun with dinosaurs, primitive savages, and epic wilderness, Jason is cast into a visceral struggle for basic survival and needs to figure out his rifting powers in a hurry if he expects to get home. And when the monster hunting planeswalkers finally catch up to him, will Jason Leaper 934 slay the apex predator in the region and take his place in the Reality Rifters?
The Wyvern in the Wilderlands is a fast-paced survival adventure story and is the first book in the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … read this today!
Read The Wyvern in the Wilderlands, Book One
of the ‘Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit’ Series NOW!
— Available on Kindle and in Paperback
.
“The Minotaurs of Maze World”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Book 2
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
Jason Leaper 934 is back from his survival adventure in the Wilderlands, and is about to go on his first mission with his new friends, Riley the cybernetic soldier, and Gliath the shapeshifting leopardwere.
The new guy’s more than a little nervous…
When Jason is introduced to the wild and mind-bending concepts of planeswalking and visits ‘the Market’ for the first time, he’s definitely intimidated by Riley’s expectations of him. With little to no direction, he’s supposed to figure out his rifting powers in a hurry while on the job to hunt and kill minotaurs on a bizarre maze-like world and harvest their hides. Riley himself is upset about losing the last Jason and essentially starting over–he never wanted to be the leader of the Reality Rifters! As the three of them hunt for bounties on Mazeworld, Riley’s patience is put to the test and Jason tries to forge himself in the fires of determination while wondering whether or not he’s cut out for this kind of life.
And when the hunt becomes more complicated as competition with a rival mercenary group turns deadly, Riley and Jason must both face their difficulties with skill and good sense, or all three of the new Reality Rifters might end up dead–either at the hands of the other hunters, or under the horns and hooves of monsters!
The Minotaurs of Maze World is a fast-paced adventure story and is the second book in the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … read this today!
Read The Minotaurs of Maze World, Book Two
of the ‘Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit’ Series NOW!
— Available on Kindle and in Paperback
.
“The Heart of a Necromancer”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Book 3
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
What an amazing new life of gold, guns, glory … and dinosaurs!
Enjoying some rest and relaxation between bounties while waiting for his new minotaur-hide jacket to be ready, Jason Leaper 934 feels like he’s really getting the hang of his rifting powers. And when the Reality Rifters are at the right place at the right time, Jason earns his team an exclusive job involving a necromancer and hunting gargoyles on a world similar to his own that’s been long-cast back into the dark ages.
But after a sad and shocking twist, Jason is left struggling with the meaninglessness of an infinite omniverse, and Riley’s answer of “don’t think about it” isn’t enough for him. As the Reality Rifters delve deeper into their ‘exclusive’ bounty, the evil politics of a backward, brainwashed village–as well as a beautiful local girl with a dark and tragic past–tempt Jason to become involved in more than just the grisly business of monster hunting. Will guns, armor, and rifting powers be enough for the Reality Rifters when the Darkness comes…?
The Heart of a Necromancer is a fast-paced adventure story and is the third book in the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, time travel, DINOSAURS, and exploring strange new worlds … read this today!
Read The Heart of a Necromancer, Book Three
of the ‘Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit’ Series NOW!
— Available on Kindle and in Paperback
.
“The Giants of Shattered Swamp”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Book 4
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
When things go wrong on a world of giants, they go wrong in a big way…
Jason 934 and his Reality Rifters (including Morgana!) are enjoying some serious rest and relaxation after that gruesome gargoyle bounty. When the team rifts to the Market to identify their magical loot from the necromancer’s tower, Jason signs them up for a quick ‘exclusive’ job to collect a troll’s head from a swamp-world of giants.
It should be an easy job, then more R&R. In and out, right?
But when the ‘shattered swamp’ turns out to be under the dominion of a mysterious, invincible, and totally insane primordial giant who captures most of the Reality Rifters to become ‘pets’ in his sky castle, Jason is in for the trial of his life to save them! Wounded and alone, Jason must use his wits and rifting knowledge–and some new tricks up his sleeve–to rescue his friends before they’re killed by the giant’s split and raging mind…
The Giants of Shattered Swamp is a fast-paced adventure story and is the fourth book in the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, time travel, DINOSAURS, and exploring strange new worlds … read this today!
— Available on Kindle and in Paperback
.
“The Manticores of Pristalline Paradise”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Book 5
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
What can you do when a Rakshasa is after you?
Jason Leaper 934 and his team of Reality Rifters feel so great after their last bounty that they’re ready to jump right into a big, new job. It’s dangerous, and it’s lucrative: a free-for-all with countless mercenary teams all striving to hunt down manticores and unicorns on a strange world called Pristalline Paradise. But, last night’s rakshasa attack back at home weighs heavily on Jason’s mind. His own universe doesn’t feel safe anymore with that demonic tigress knowing where he lives.
Things get even worse for Jason when he’s kidnapped by a twisted, alternate version of the Reality Rifters, and he realizes the hard way that he still has quite a bit more to learn about his rifting powers. Stranded on an Eden world where space-time is controlled by a powerful Sphinx, will Jason figure out how to ‘free rift’ and beat the Sphinx’s challenge? And will he and his friends make it home with that evil rakshasa stalking them at every turn?
The Manticores of Pristalline Paradise is a fast-paced adventure story and is the fifth book in the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, time travel, DINOSAURS, and exploring strange new worlds … read this today!
— Available on Kindle and in Paperback
.
“The Dragon of the Quantum Void”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Book 6
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
It’s an interdimensional game of cat and mouse with lethal consequences…
Jason Leaper 934 and his team of Reality Rifters are in a bad spot. Grieving the death of a dear friend while in the Wilderlands, Jason is really feeling the stress of their enemies coming after them. There’s a demonic rakshasa who wants to eat him. Several undead creatures–nightmarish, mirror-image versions of themselves–are trying to capture Jason and his friends to deliver them to a mysterious, unknown nemesis. Hell–even Jason’s own government is after him now. Trying to avenge their murdered friend seems like the only thing the Reality Rifters can do.
But when Zayden Skinner (the manager of the Bounty Boards) summons Jason for a special job to hunt down a dangerous, dimension-jumping cosmic dragon, such an assignment might be just what the Reality Rifters need to help them evade their numerous foes. They have problems. Jason needs to unlock his full rifting abilities to complete the job and get the edge on their enemies. Riley, stricken deeply by his inability to save his dead friend from being slain by the rakshasa, is struggling to cope with his despair. Morgana is wracked with guilt for not doing more to stop the demon in their midst. Gliath is … well … Gliath. Will Jason and his friends survive a grueling battle between his Reality Rifters, the undead creatures after them, the rakshasa demon, and now … a cosmic dragon?
The Dragon of the Quantum Void is a fast-paced adventure story and is the sixth book in the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … read this today!
— Available on Kindle and in Paperback
.
“Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” OMNIBUS ONE Box Set
Books 1-3
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
Love a Good Deal?
If you’ve been reading the Monster Hunting series, purchase this Kindle Box Set to SAVE ALMOST 30% off of the cost of the first three books! Get Three in One with this special Boxed Set!
Includes:
Book 1 – “The Wyvern in the Wilderlands”
Book 2 – “The Minotaurs of Maze World”
Book 3 – “The Heart of a Necromancer”
The Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit series is a fast-paced adventure story about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … and love saving money … read this today!
Read the Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit OMNIBUS ONE Box Set … NOW!
— Available on Kindle
.
“Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” OMNIBUS TWO Box Set
Books 4-6
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
Love a Good Deal?
If you’ve been reading the Monster Hunting series, purchase this Kindle Box Set to SAVE ALMOST 30% off of the cost of the last three books! Get Three in One with this special Boxed Set!
Includes:
Book 4 – “The Giants of Shattered Swamp”
Book 5 – “The Manticores of Pristalline Paradise”
Book 6 – “The Dragon of the Quantum Void”
The Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit series is a fast-paced adventure story about Jason Leaper 934 and his planeswalking Reality Rifters, Monster Hunters for hire. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … and love saving money … read this today!
Read the Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit OMNIBUS TWO Box Set … NOW!
— Available on Kindle
.
“A Bond Between Man and Monster”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Special Feature
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
A FREE NOVELLA just for Fans!
How did Riley Wyatt the cybernetic gunslinger meet Gliath Voidheart the Deathhand, the Krulax leopardwere?
While on a particularly horrific bounty to assassinate a pair of Night Hag sisters on a lightless, obsidian world, the Reality Rifters–led by Jason Leaper 47 at the time–are beset by disaster! Afterward, back home and trying to figure out what to do about Jason 47’s crippled condition, Riley regales the group (upon request) with the story of how he first met Gliath and how their unique relationship was forged…
There was a time when Riley Wyatt was a mercenary in a prestigious outfit called the Ninth Fists. After working with the company for just over a year, Riley was deployed with Third Squad to a strange world full of sentient, shapeshifting animals. Their aim was to forcibly acquire something specific and unique, but Intel was bad, and the squad was thrust into the middle of a chaotic war between the Krulax people and the dreaded shadowstriders. After what was to be his last mission with the Ninth Fists, Riley left Gliath’s homeworld as the sole survivor of Third Squad … but he didn’t leave alone…
This story within a story is a special treat JUST FOR FANS, going into some exciting and bizarre backstory of the Reality Rifters and the cyborg/beast-man duo that rescued Jason Leaper 934 in “The Wyvern in the Wilderlands”. This novella is not available in stores–it’s a FREE GIFT for anyone who enjoys the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series and signs up for the Eddie Patin Fiction mailing list. Download your copy NOW!
— Only Available to Fans on my (no-spam) Mailing List
.
“Goran the Slayer”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Short Story
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
Goran the Slayer is the BADASS of the Reality Rifters interdimensional monster hunting group.
He knows it, and he loves his job. Hunting deadly beasts across the omniverse for a profit is violent and challenging as hell, and business is good.
When a particular bounty sends Goran and the other Reality Rifters to a backwards world to eliminate some demonic warp spiders that have decimated a small dark ages village, the job seems like nothing out of the ordinary. While looking for their quarry, it’s strange enough that the village has become something of a ghost town, but the predicament of the townspeople darkens when the Reality Rifters run into more startling twists inside the fortified keep. And when their leader’s device protecting the group’s minds from the warp spiders’ influence is unexpectedly disabled and everyone is separated, Goran mysteriously finds himself the only member of the team still able to think clearly.
Will Goran the Slayer save his teammates from the horrific, mind-bending monsters and save the day? Will the Reality Rifters be able to recover and succeed in their mission? Will Goran ever meet a rainbow unicorn like he wants to??
Goran the Slayer is a (very fun) fast-paced adventure story related to the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series. Before the events of “The Wyvern in the Wilderlands”, the Reality Rifters was led by other Jason Leapers and had other exciting and exotic members of the team. This is a glimpse into the monster hunter team’s backstory and its heavy weapons specialist, Goran the Slayer. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … read this series today!
– Available on Kindle
.
“The Helion Depths”
Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit – Short Story
Explore other Universes.
Hunt Deadly Monsters.
Make a Profit.
Recruit Riley Wyatt is a little nervous, even though he’s gone through portals to other universes before.
The prestigious mercenary group the Ninth Fists isn’t easy to get into–Riley made the cut because of his special augmentations, skills, and a personal drive that only a member of his military’s special forces could develop. Now, on his first mission with his new squad to a living, multi-layered planet in a strange universe, Riley is determined to do his best to protect the company’s Helium miners deep underground from the increasing aggression of the world’s subterranean wildlife.
However, across infinite space-time, other universes and multiverses can hold very bizarre secrets, and as the situation in the depths of the helium mine worsens, Riley finds himself separated from his squad and trying to save himself and the others with his intellect instead of raw firepower. Will the young monster hunter’s first mission with the Ninth Fists end with frigid oblivion in the Helion Depths?
The Helion Depths is a fast-paced adventure story related to the “Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” series. Before Riley Wyatt was the smirking cybernetic gunslinger in Jason Leaper’s Reality Rifters Monster Hunting Team, he was a mercenary in a corporate acquisitions team called the Ninth Fists. This is a glimpse into Riley’s backstory. If you love books about guns, survival, vicious and terrible mythical monsters, cosmic horror, DINOSAURS, and traveling to strange new worlds … read this today!
– Available on Kindle
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Preview of “The Wyvern in the Wilderlands”
“Monster Hunting for Fun and Profit” Book One
Chapter 1
The colors were as brilliant and varied as they were terrifying.
“Jason!” Riley shouted against the noise. “What do we do? How can we stop it?” He could hardly hear his own voice above the din that sounded like white-hot lightning arcing around them, tearing constantly through the world. Underneath all of the deafening chaos was the crinkling noise of cracks and splits spreading through glass.
Above the soldier was a prismatic spread of blue and indigo; shades of red and yellow. The tearing and crinkling racket—Riley was sure that the deafening roar would rupture his ears if they weren’t cybernetically fortified—was shaking the house to pieces. Crystals constantly erupted into vast and rapidly shifting geometric patterns as the world was being torn apart. Rainbow fractals built upon themselves, bigger and bigger, expanding to the size of clouds. The slashing sound scratched and tore at Riley’s synthetic eardrums—bizarre noises of glass shattering and crawling along the earth and metal; piercing through the concrete foundation and the walls of Jason’s living room. From here, Riley could only barely see the deadly rift, still yawning open in the garage. It twisted violently. The colors lashed out all around the portal’s swirling form. As the roof of the house was being torn away with each shriek of the crystalline air expanding from the incompatible universe, the soldier could see Earth’s sky filling with rainbows and streaks of color that glimmered in the sunlight as if made of stained glass.
The other Reality Rifters were dead, and Jason Leaper 113 lay dying.
Riley Wyatt crouched down next to his friend, afraid to touch him because it looked like Jason was melting. Parts of Jason were melding into the floor. His boss’s warped and half-crystalized body was bathed in dangerous shades of violet, green, and orange.
Jason Leaper 113 tried to speak, and broken bits of colored glass fell from his lips.
Riley’s good friend and employer struggled to stay conscious.
Half of Jason’s wizened face had hardened into translucent, ever-sharpening gemstones—one of his blue eyes was like a sapphire, half of his salt-and-pepper dusky blonde hair had stiffened into translucent crystalline growths. His distorted hairs expanded into a brittle lattice—growths finer than Riley could make out even with his enhanced vision—reaching and branching off in endless symmetry until cracking under its own weight and falling to the floor.
“Riley…” Jason croaked. “Gliath…”
Riley’s Krulax bodyguard ran up to Jason’s side, crouching down with an easy grace, his huge and bipedal feline form a stark contrast against the brilliant and colorful crumbling landscape. Gliath’s glossy, black fur was bristling all over, and his brilliant yellowish-green eyes darted around at the incomprehensible madness around them. The leopardwere’s long, dark tail swished back and forth frantically.
“Jason, tell us what to do!” Riley exclaimed. “How can we close the rift?”
“Listen,” Jason snapped, the crystals of his hair growing like spreading ice as a flash of red and violet rippled over his face. “There isn’t time—the light won’t last. You’ve got to take this…”
Jason pressed his OCS into Riley’s hands. The soldier felt the hard, metal lines of the device—it hardly ever left his employer’s side—and saw that the screen was still on. Riley stared down at the large gadget in shock but didn’t protest. He knew that Jason wasn’t kidding. They were surrounded by an intense sphere of white light, which was blocking the weird atmosphere of universe 1240 from overtaking them for now, but the sphere was using a hell of a lot of power to keep it blazing. Those fusion cells wouldn’t last for much longer.
If Jason was giving Riley his OCS, then this was bad.
“Aren’t you gonna come with us?!” Riley asked, running a hand through his short beard in fear. A broad, vivid rainbow suddenly streaked across the room outside the light sphere, crashing through the wall near the couch. It punched through drywall and wood framing as if the house was made of paper. The young soldier saw the fragile structure remaining suddenly overwhelmed and crawling with rapidly-growing crystalline forms and beautiful colors. Time seemed to be moving strangely as adrenaline coursed through the soldier’s enhanced system. “Jason, I don’t know how to—”
“Shut up and listen!” Jason cried. Gliath drew in closer, his large, black form shading Riley from a yellow and orange flare that popped by on his right. “I’m going to open a rift here before the light goes out. It’ll take you to Earth of universe 934!” Their leader stopped to cough. Jason’s voice was turning hoarse and scratchy, and the dying man grimaced for a moment as his legs and left arm spread more into the floor like rainbow jelly. “Find Jason 934! I’ve watched him. He’s a good fit—no attachments. There’s a portal to—oh God, it’s happening!—portal to the Wilderlands behind his house!”
“What’s the Wilderlands?” Riley shouted over the noise. He suddenly felt too young for all of this. He and Gliath were about to be on their own again…
“Take a portable gateway!” Jason cried in pain. He tilted his head and grimaced, then gestured to the big satchel near his overturned armchair, still protected within the sphere of light. “Use it to—holy hell, this fucking hurts!—to get to the Market from there if you need to. Other Jason … might not be able to use the focus key. Give Jason 934 this infinity crystal and—”
They were interrupted by a loud crash of one of the house’s exterior walls falling down into a sea of green and purple, then disintegrating into colorful dust. Riley looked around and gasped—his cybernetic eyes let him see through the glare and brilliance of the light sphere protecting them. The walls between here and the garage were now gone and the rift to Universe 1240 stood brilliant and horrific, swirling like the center of a storm, spitting colors out all around it like a monstrous tesla coil bursting with lightning and rainbows. The piercing streaks and sizzling hues crackled and boomed and hissed. Even the concrete floor of the garage below it—and the earthen ground below that—was gone. It was all gone! Crystal branches like the nightmares of fractals and lightning frozen in time extended in all directions, swallowing clouds, reaching for the stars themselves…
Riley felt disoriented, trying to make sense of the incomprehensible details all around him. It was as if the passing seconds pulsed in and out of minutes and moments; speeding and slowing…
Time was becoming weird, but everything was happening so fast!
“Gliath!” Riley shouted over the noise. “Get the bag with the gate!”
The tall, black leopardwere stood and dashed over to the bag on long, nimble beast-legs, hefting its weight onto one muscular shoulder. It was no doubt pretty damned heavy with those fusion cores inside, but Gliath was strong.
“Riley!” Jason exclaimed again, and the soldier leaned in close. He could hardly hear his friend’s voice over the deafening sound of unmaking. His words were distorted by the crystals growing in his throat. “The infinity crystal is special … focus key to the Wilderlands! Get more, start over!”
The soldier felt a stab of panic and sadness.
He didn’t want to lose Jason. He didn’t want to lose his leader.
“But we need more gear!” Riley replied. “We’re low on ammo and everything after… Shet! And all of my guns—”
“No time, Riley!” Jason shouted. Fruk—it really looked like he was melting into the floor! Did that mean that the invading crystals under the floor were coming up to them, too? There really wasn’t much time at all! “Give Jason 934 the OCS! I’ve tuned its informational … set point to 934! I’ve also restricted—” Jason voice hitched up and he writhed through a spell of being wracked with pain then he focused on the two of them again. “I’ve restricted ninth dimensional travel to within … a 95% tolerance to the physical laws of—” He clenched his good eye closed in pain. The other eye remained open and unmoving like a solid gemstone, no longer part of a man. “… Laws of 934 … so this doesn’t happen again! Now go!”
Riley Wyatt stood, his duster jacket flaring out around him. He felt Gliath’s powerful hand encouraging him to his feet as Jason opened a rift right next to them. The portal unfurled and roared—loud as hell but drowned out by the madness around them—protected for the moment within the brilliance of the white light sphere.
One last rift.
“Jason…” Riley offered, not knowing what to say. I love you? I’m sorry? Jason was his good friend of four years now, and the soldier had failed to protect him. His boss was dying. Riley didn’t want to leave. He felt like he’d never see Jason 113 again, and a crushing feeling in his chest grew like bags of sand keeping him from breathing. What was probably a second or two felt like much longer…
Dust and splinters of wood showered down around them through the white light.
“Gliath, get him out of here!” Jason shouted. Riley felt the firm push of his feline friend, guiding him toward the portal, which swirled and spit and fluttered at the edges, revealing a vista of a dark mountain town covered in snow with wet streets and rows of quiet houses under a grey night sky. “Find Jason 934! He can get you to the Wilderlands with that infinity crystal!” Everything roared in Riley’s ears, and he could hardly understand Jason now. “Use the portable gate … Reality Rifters … start over!”
Riley looked around at the apocalyptic, prismatic sky.
The colors were bold and deep—as deep as space—and he could easily lose himself inside that infinity of blue … indigo … violet…
Shaking his head and scratching his beard with a trembling hand, Riley looked back down at Jason 113 with a frown.
“Goodbye, Jason!” Riley finally said, shouting above the chaos.
“Yes, goodbye, Jason Leaper 113,” Gliath added with his low, rumbly voice.
“Goodbye, you two…” Jason replied. “Now hurry before I die and this portal goes away!”
Riley glanced up at his leopardwere friend when he felt Gliath’s strong, black-furred hand on his shoulder. The Krulax looked back down at him, grim and stoic, all the colors of the rainbow bursting and flashing past behind his shadowy face. Then, the two planeswalkers—the last of the Reality Rifters—both looked at the swirling rift together and stepped through to the other side.
Chapter 2
“All of you make a reflex save,” Tom said suddenly, putting down his diet soda and gathering several six-sided dice from behind his cardboard DM’s screen.
“Wait!” Jason cried. “I’m at thirteen—don’t I get to go next?”
“Jeez!” Amanda scoffed. “Patience!”
“We’re still at the cult leader’s initiative,” Tom replied to Jason flatly. “He’s at fifteen. Do your reflex saves.”
Ben rolled a twenty-sided die, sitting across from Jason. His green die tumbled to a stop against the man’s ratty Player’s Handbook, then, he read his result aloud after running numbers in his head. “Twenty-two,” Ben said with a wry smile. He took a sip of his own diet soda, plucking up the can with his dark, nimble fingers.
Amanda also rolled.
Jason Leaper frowned. The big bad guy was almost dead, and Jason was looking forward to finishing him off. He already had nine six-sided dice clattering around in his hand. Disappointed, Jason put his clutch of dice down onto the table and rolled his d20 instead.
His lucky red die rolled to a stop on a 12.
“Damn it,” Jason said, then, after doing some math in his head, announced, “sixteen.”
“Fifteen for me,” Amanda said, sitting back in her chair with a nervous sigh. The light of the kitchen seemed harsher since all of her and Tom’s stuff was packed away, and all of the wall hangings had been taken down. Now they played in an almost empty room, and Jason could see that Amanda was really starting to look older. They’d even taken down the Halloween stuff, which made sense since they wouldn’t be around for the 31st…
“Okay,” Tom said, rolling a frightening amount of dice behind his screen. The DM furrowed his brow, and the light reflected off of the areas of Tom’s head where his hair was thinning. Jason hardly ever noticed these things, but now that the comfortable environment of Amanda and Tom’s apartment was changing—back to blank walls and empty spaces—everything seemed different in little ways. “So, the minotaur leader is in rough shape, and he’s coughing up blood as he glares up at you all, but when you drop his champion, he suddenly points to you all…” Tom pointed for effect across the table cluttered with books, dice, and empty diet soda cans. “He grunts out some words in his dark language, and you guys see a single point of inverted light fly at the champion’s body! It lands in between all of you and explodes in a huge burst of black fire! Amanda, your character takes thirty-four damage. Jason, you barely made it, and take half … seventeen.”
“Ouch,” Amanda muttered, scribbling on her character sheet with a frown.
“Holy shit!” Jason exclaimed, crossing out his hit point total and penciling in the new number below. “Is he a higher level than—?”
“Of course he is, Jason,” Amanda interrupted.
“I have improved evasion,” Ben said with a smirk.
“I know,” Tom replied. “So, Ben’s character flips and tumbles with great skill—maybe using the body of the minotaur dark champion to get away from the explosion—and Jason, your guy manages to dodge back quickly enough to just take the edge of the attack. But Amanda’s paladin is caught right in the middle of it. The minotaur leader laughs with his low, bellowing voice, then pulls his great-axe, looking like he’s thinking of charging. Jason, now you’re up!”
Finally!
“I cast lightning bolt at him!” Jason exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he collected nine d6’s from the mess of papers on the table in front of him.
“Okay, roll,” Tom replied, as Ben took another sip of soda. The DM then rolled his own d20 to see how the monster would be able to resist, but Jason knew that it was hopeless—they had this battle. It was already won. Unless the minotaur wizard was immune to lightning or something, there was no way it would survive…
Amanda lifted up her sheaf of papers and started scrutinizing her inventory.
“Don’t I have any healing potions left?” she asked herself.
Jason rolled his big handful of dice, and counted up the damage as Ben pulled out his phone to check its screen.
“Thirty-six damage!” Jason exclaimed.
Tom sighed, then gave a thin smile.
Must have had something else planned, Jason thought with a broad grin.
“Okay, well,” the DM said, “that definitely did it. So … as your lightning bolt streaks from your hand to the wounded leader, the magic hits him full force, and the minotaur throws his big bull head back, crying out in pain and dropping his axe to the floor! He falls, disintegrating bit by bit, but to all of your surprise, he laughs with a booming voice, saying ‘Fools! You cannot stop Baphomet from rising out of the abyss! It has already begun, and he will be here soon to bring about a vicious, dark world of beasts and slaughter! There’s nothing you can do to prevent the end of your world! Bwahahaha!’ The minotaur’s laughter fades into the crumbling and crashing of the castle’s black walls. The whole place starts to fall down all around you as he falls down dead…!”
“Crashing?” Ben asked, cocking his eyebrow. “The castle is literally falling down around us?”
“Yes!” Tom replied, his eyes gleaming as he looked at all of them over the rims of his glasses. “Huge chunks of the black stone walls are falling inward as the entire castle begins shifting under your feet! A huge crack opens in the middle of the room, and some of the dead minotaurs’ bodies slip down into darkness. It looks like mere moments before the ceiling collapses on your heads! What do you do?!”
“The amulet!” Jason exclaimed. “Get the amulet!”
“I’m on it,” Ben replied, looking at Tom. “I go in as fast as I can and take the demon lord’s amulet from the minotaur’s neck…”
“You do that,” Tom replied.
“I pick up his great axe,” Amanda said, then, she looked to Jason. “Time to use that teleport scroll!”
“Okay!” Jason replied with a grin. “I pull out the teleport scroll and get to where I can reach everybody…”
“You do that,” Tom said, looking at his wife, “Amanda, you’ve got the axe. It’s big, made of a shiny, black metal, and looks either really ornate, or like it’s probably enchanted. Are you guys going to let Jason’s character touch you for the teleport?”
“Yes,” Ben and Amanda replied at once.
“The castle continues to fall around you, huge pieces of stone smashing down nearby. Where do you teleport to?”
“Okay,” Jason said, rubbing his hands together. “Teleport to … the magical forest!”
“Alright,” Tom replied with a smirk. “Where in the magical…? Oh well … you already said it.” The DM looked down at his papers, and started rolling dice, hidden behind his screen. “Let’s see where you end up…”
“The magical forest?” Ben asked dryly, raising his eyebrow again. Even though Tom and Amanda were starting to look older, Ben was still as thin as he was ten years ago, and didn’t look much different. The faintest lines showed around his eyes. “Not somewhere more specific? If you don’t know exactly where you’re going—”
“It’s just regular teleport,” Amanda added. “Not teleport without error. Besides, the magical forest is magical! Areas with high magic might make you more likely to miss!”
“Well, hey … it’s better than the collapsing castle, right?!” Jason asked, hiding behind a long sip of soda. He smiled uneasily as his friends sighed.
“So,” Tom said finally, capturing all of their attention. “You guys all teleport away from the dark castle with a flash, and reappear in a beautiful green meadow surrounded by a forest of tall pine trees, with the colorful lights of tiny fairies drifting around you, high above the ground. The problem is, you also teleport in too low, and each of your characters appears waist-deep in the ground, taking nine points of damage.”
“Damn it!” Jason exclaimed.
“See what I mean?” Amanda asked, adjusting her hit points.
“Through the extreme pain of having rocks and dirt mingled with your legs,” Tom went on to say, “you recognize the village in the distance where they told you about the minotaur cult and gave you the map to the castle.”
“Trying to get out of the ground,” Ben said.
“Okay, all of you can roll strength checks until you hit … fifteen.”
All three of them started rolling their d20’s. After a short while, Tom looked down at his papers again, and rolled more dice.
“What are you doing?” Jason asked. He rolled his red d20, getting a twelve, then a nine, trying to break free…
“I’m out!” Amanda said.
“Random encounters,” Tom replied. “Okay, while your characters are trying to pull your lower bodies out of the ground, you all hear a terrifying screech in the distance!”
“That’s not good…” Ben muttered.
Tom went on. “If any of you choose to look in the direction of said screech, you’ll see a large creature flying through the air, heading your way. It’s got long wings, scales, looks reptilian, with a long neck and lots of teeth and spikes on its head. The long tail behind it is tipped with a big stinger, like one on a scorpion’s tail, and—”
“Wyvern!” Jason exclaimed, rolling his lucky d20 again and again, but not passing fifteen. “Come on!”
“Okay, seventeen—I’m out,” Ben said. “I’m helping Jason’s character.”
“Alright, add two to your rolls, Jason. The wyvern is flying toward you guys quickly!”
“Does anyone have a healing potion I can have?” Amanda asked. “I’m almost dead…”
“I have one!” Ben replied, looking up at Tom. “I give her one.”
“Finally!” Jason exclaimed, rolling a sixteen. “I’m out! Running for cover!”
“Running for cover,” Amanda echoed.
“Running for the village!” Ben said. “Come on, guys!”
“As you three run for cover and toward the village, the wyvern catches up. It’s much larger than it seemed when you first saw it, and it dives down in your direction! Roll initiative!”
Everyone grabbed for their dice…
“Mommy?” a small sleepy voice said suddenly, pulling Jason out of the fantasy world and making everyone gasp.
Coming from the hall leading away to the bedrooms, Tom and Amanda’s little boy stood, rubbing his eyes. Josh, Jason thought. They must have been making too much noise; getting too excited.
Amanda stood, rushing over to the little boy standing in Minecraft pajamas, and hugged him close to her legs.
“Hi, Joshie,” she said. “You okay, honey? Did we wake you up?”
Ben took another drink from his soda, tilting the can all the way back to empty it. He set the empty can down on the table with a ting.
The little boy made a small sound. “Is it tomorrow yet?” Josh asked, mumbling against his mom’s leg.
“Not yet, baby,” she said. “Go back to bed now. It’s late. Get some sleep, okay? We’ve got a long drive in the morning.”
With that, little Josh turned and disappeared down the hall, his little feet padding away on the carpet. Tom chuckled, looking after the boy with a smile. He gazed up at Amanda as she made her way back over.
The energy changed in the room, and Jason felt a stab of loneliness.
It was over. Everything was over…
Ben stood, pulling all of his papers and books together.
This was the end.
“Yeah…” Tom groaned with a stretch, folding up his DM’s screen, revealing his dice and papers behind it. “It’s probably a good time to stop.”
“It is getting late,” Amanda added with a sigh, walking up and giving her husband a little side-hug.
Seeing his friends starting to pack everything up, Jason suddenly felt a crush of disappointment. This was it. It was finally the end of the group. It’s not late, he thought. It’s only—he looked down at his phone—not even midnight, after all!
“Come on, guys!” Jason said, staying in his seat. “Let’s kill the wyvern and finish the quest! How long will it take to get back to town and total everything up? Not even an hour, I bet!”
“No, it’s alright,” Ben replied, pushing in his chair. “It doesn’t matter. This is the last game. We don’t need to total up.”
The words were chilling, but for some reason, Jason noticed that his friend didn’t seem all that broken up about it. Ben’s thin, black face was serene, and he smiled at Tom and Amanda while he packed up his things into his laptop bag.
“But we used to play until like three,” Jason said. “Hell—it’s the weekend, right? Do you guys even have to work?”
“Well, we don’t have to work,” Amanda said, “but we do have a long drive ahead of us. Sorry, Jason, but it’s nineteen hours to Portland, and Tom’s new job wants him there on Monday morning. We’ve really got to wake up early to get going.”
“Yep, unfortunately,” Tom added, organizing all of his stuff into a neat pile. The longtime DM smiled at all of them, then looked warmly at Amanda and pulled her in close. “Hey, it’s gone on a long time, right? Good, long game. Things change. I’ll miss our gaming, but, you know, we’re really looking forward to the move. It’s a good thing!”
“Bittersweet,” Amanda said.
“But how about just another hour?” Jason asked. “If you wake up an hour later, what difference will it make?”
Jason felt comfortable with Tom and Amanda, and Ben was the closest thing he had to a best friend. But still, after his last-ditch effort, Jason decided to pull back and preserve some form of his dignity. He didn’t want to beg. But it felt bad—terrible—like the end of an era. Ever since Jason’s accident, he’d been playing DnD with these guys since … God, had it really been over ten years now? A little more? Players came and went over the years, and some of them were part of the group for a long time, but eventually, they all moved on to something else. They all moved on with their lives.
But he, Ben, Tom, and Amanda were the core of the group.
And now the core was breaking. The game was over.
Jason didn’t want to face it.
They were leaving him all alone…
Amanda sighed and gave Jason a smile, which also became a hug when she sauntered over. Jason stood and returned the hug, squeezing her tightly, feeling a strange, intangible desperation in that she was almost gone from his life. Jason felt like Amanda understood him more than any of them. She had to know that their moving away would be hard for him. As Jason moved around the edge of the table with her hug, his bad right knee complained.
“We don’t want to get into Portland too late on Sunday,” she said gently.
“Yeah, we’ve got to be prepared in case there are any delays,” Tom added.
Jason sighed miserably. “I’m gonna miss you guys. Ten years, you know?”
“Thirteen, actually,” Amanda replied.
“Yeah, and I’ll miss you, too,” Ben added, directed at the two of them. Then, he walked up to Tom and gave him a long, solid handshake. “Good luck in Portland, Tom. Keep in touch.”
“Of course, Ben.”
“And hey—I’m always looking for new clients all over,” Ben said, “so if you come across anyone in the company that needs some web design or content or anything…”
“Sure, we’ll pimp you out, Ben,” Amanda said with a smirk.
Ben walked over and gave Amanda a hug while Jason stood, feeling like he was drifting away on an iceberg, broken off from a very large piece of his life…
“Bye Amanda,” Ben said with a broad smile. “And you guys be careful on the road. It’s probably still pretty slick over the pass.”
“We will,” Tom said. “Jason…” Tom extended his hand, and Jason shook it.
“Maybe we can play some more next time you guys visit, if you do,” Jason offered. He smiled, desperate for a glimmer of hope that one day he’d have his friends and his life back again…
“Sure, probably,” Tom replied quickly. “Take care of yourself, Jason. Take care of your folks’ house, alright?”
“Okay,” Jason said, giving one last uncertain look at Amanda. She smiled and gave him another hug.
“Bye, Jason,” she said. “I’ll let you know when we get there safe and sound, okay? I’ll call you.”
“Alright.”
Jason picked up his things, wanting nothing more than to rewind several minutes and stay there forever. But then Tom walked to the door to see them out and Amanda started picking up around the kitchen. Ben lifted his bag and turned to leave as Tom opened the door to the apartment building’s bland and empty hall.
Grabbing his books, his CamelBak backpack, and picking up his cane from the corner of the room, Jason cast one last look and smile at Amanda, who smiled back, then followed Ben to the door. Tom clasped Jason on the shoulder as he limped through.
Everyone quietly goodbye said to each other then Jason made his way out into the hall, leaning on his cane to take the stress off of his right knee.
He didn’t want the night to end just yet. He didn’t want to feel alone.
“Ben, hold up!”
These were the first two chapters of
“The Wyvern in the Wilderlands”
